This draft needs to be a good one for the defense.

[Coach]

This has to be the worst combination I've seen at OLB and CB for the Steelers for 20+ years. Our best pass rusher is James Harrison. He's 37 years old. Our best corner is W. Gay, and he'll be a free agent in 2016, along with Heyward and McClendon.



Since the Steelers do not manage their cap well enough to add front line talent in free agency ( They like to keep highly paid players on the decline who should have been cut a year ago ( Ike and Troy ) the pressure is on the draft to fix the defense.



Regardless of who we pick, I tend to doubt he Steelers well pick the same positions high in the 2016 draft....which means if a CB and OLB is picked high in the 2015 draft that player better not bust long term. If he does, the defense will slide down another tier.



The pressure is on Colbert to find quality replacements for Harrison, Polamalu, and Taylor in the draft, in addition to keeping Gay and Heyward in 2016. An average draft won't fix this defense. Can Colbert hit one out of the park? I'll say a yes with a qualifier. He'll need the board to fall to him in round one or two, and find a mid or late round steal.

 

[TDX27]

I agree. We may not find the silver bullets we need in this draft but the D, absolutely needs retooled. I said this before in another thread but I feel we need at least 5 of 8 picks to be on D with the 1st two and probably three rounds being D. I know some won't agree and I know the Steelers pick "BPA" and not "BPA at an area of need". I think they must pick the later way this year. Then, whoever we have on the team must be properly coached and trained. We need significant production from our rookies, and those with 1 or 2 years under their belt. Practice and competition needs to be as fierce in OTA's and camp as the CBA will allow it to be. And, that must carry over into the season.

 

[freak]

we will need at least two if not 3 drafts to reload all the defense and the few holes on offense

 

[LeXX75]

Coach are you making commercial's for hotels.com?

 

[Coach]

Coach are you making commercial's for hotels.com?

Dos Equis. You could say I'm thirsty for a good draft.

 

[Litos]

I nominate this for Obvious thread title of the month

 

[FordFairLane]

This has to be the worst combination I've seen at OLB and CB for the Steelers for 20+ years. Our best pass rusher is James Harrison. He's 37 years old. Our best corner is W. Gay, and he'll be a free agent in 2016, along with Heyward and McClendon.



Since the Steelers do not manage their cap well enough to add front line talent in free agency ( They like to keep highly paid players on the decline who should have been cut a year ago ( Ike and Troy ) the pressure is on the draft to fix the defense.



Regardless of who we pick, I tend to doubt he Steelers well pick the same positions high in the 2016 draft....which means if a CB and OLB is picked high in the 2015 draft that player better not bust long term. If he does, the defense will slide down another tier.



The pressure is on Colbert to find quality replacements for Harrison, Polamalu, and Taylor in the draft, in addition to keeping Gay and Heyward in 2016. An average draft won't fix this defense. Can Colbert hit one out of the park? I'll say a yes with a qualifier. He'll need the board to fall to him in round one or two, and find a mid or late round steal.

This could be Colberts last draft if he doesn't get I star and 2 starters from this draft. I hope Butler can figure out how to improve our pass rush with a more aggressive scheme and blitzes but you still need the horses. Lets just say JJ has a breakout season with 10+ sacks. We still need another OLB that can get 8+ sacks and right now I don't think Moats or Howard Jones can. Harrison will come in and give us 15-20 snaps and give us some needed QB pressure but I don't think we can count on him much past this year.

They also traded to get Shamarko and after he flashed a lot as a rookie he seemed to regress last year. I have my doubts the Steelers think he is Troys replacement.

Personally, I think CB might be our best depth out of the three positions. I really liked what I saw from Blake last year. Gay played his best football. If Cortez Allen can do anything that resembled why we kept him over Lewis and gave him the cash I think for 2015 our CB position will be fine. Not saying we shouldn't draft a CB just saying a better pass rush would make the CB's look better.

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

via Imgflip Meme Maker

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

Coach thread #21

"The Steeler's can improve by drafting a probowl caliber player on defense."

 

[Coach]

This could be Colberts last draft if he doesn't get I star and 2 starters from this draft. I hope Butler can figure out how to improve our pass rush with a more aggressive scheme and blitzes but you still need the horses. Lets just say JJ has a breakout season with 10+ sacks. We still need another OLB that can get 8+ sacks and right now I don't think Moats or Howard Jones can. Harrison will come in and give us 15-20 snaps and give us some needed QB pressure but I don't think we can count on him much past this year.

They also traded to get Shamarko and after he flashed a lot as a rookie he seemed to regress last year. I have my doubts the Steelers think he is Troys replacement.

Personally, I think CB might be our best depth out of the three positions. I really liked what I saw from Blake last year. Gay played his best football. If Cortez Allen can do anything that resembled why we kept him over Lewis and gave him the cash I think for 2015 our CB position will be fine. Not saying we shouldn't draft a CB just saying a better pass rush would make the CB's look better.

It would be asking a lot for Gay to play as well as he did in 2015, and he's a free agent soon. Cortez Allen is a mess. Blake is okay as a #3CB. I agree the pass rush is terrible, and Colbert better get this draft right.

I did notice that Colbert and Tomlin's deals are up in 2016. IMO, this is not an accident.

 

[FordFairLane]

It would be asking a lot for Gay to play as well as he did in 2015, and he's a free agent soon. Cortez Allen is a mess. Blake is okay as a #3CB. I agree the pass rush is terrible, and Colbert better get this draft right.

I did notice that Colbert and Tomlin's deals are up in 2016. IMO, this is not an accident.

Personally, I think Blake did a very nice job. I think it was three weeks in a row he went against Johnson, TY, and Steve Smith Sr for long bombs and he stuffed all three with two passes defended and an INT. Not shabby. Not saying we don't need a CB but I think Blake did well enough to merit talk of being a starter and at worst a nickel back.

 

[Tibs]

I did notice that Colbert and Tomlin's deals are up in 2016. IMO, this is not an accident.

Meaning what?

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

Personally, I think Blake did a very nice job. I think it was three weeks in a row he went against Johnson, TY, and Steve Smith Sr for long bombs and he stuffed all three with two passes defended and an INT. Not shabby. Not saying we don't need a CB but I think Blake did well enough to merit talk of being a starter and at worst a nickel back.

That's why I am not as dooms day as most.

Blake- Solid
Gay- Solid
Webb- ??

If Cortez can regain at least half his confident, the secondary should be at least average. Even if we dont draft a CB round 1.

 

[FordFairLane]

That's why I am not as dooms day as most.

Blake- Solid
Gay- Solid
Webb- ??

If Cortez can regain at least half his confident, the secondary should be at least average. Even if we dont draft a CB round 1.

Webb is the wild card. I know Tomlin liked him in the draft and probably spent extra time watching him coming out of his alma mater but if he couldn't crack the lineup last year I don't know what to expect. Same with Shamarko Thomas. He couldn't get into the lineup (partly due to injury) last year when we needed safety help so I don't know what to expect from him. Maybe the Steelers like Blake and Thomas so much we don't even go CB or S until after round three. OR maybe we go s/cb with our first two picks.

 

[FSF]

This has to be the worst combination I've seen at OLB and CB for the Steelers for 20+ years. Our best pass rusher is James Harrison. He's 37 years old. Our best corner is W. Gay, and he'll be a free agent in 2016, along with Heyward and McClendon.

Heyward isn't going anywhere, they will not let him go via FA.

Personally I think our defense is in a lot better position than most:

• Heyward is on the verge of becoming a Pro Bowl player and even better, seems to be emerging as a true locker room leader.
• Tuitt reminds me a lot of when Brett Kiesel first became a starter replacing Kimo von Oelhoffen -- starting with flashes of potential but it's there.
• Jarvis Jones -- I have a whole article about the history of our OLBs when they finally got their chance, lets see him stay healthy for a year
• Ryan Shazier -- between Jones and Shazier, effectively we're adding 2 #1 picks to the line up on defense this year
• Shamarko Thomas -- He's spent two years waiting to be healthy and for an opportunity at SS; kinda reminds me of another safety drafted in 2002 and finally started in 2004 named Chris Hope -- he turned out pretty okay.

Veterans:

• James Harrison -- Smartly utilize him; he may have been the best pass rusher on the team last year but I would also argue he's the best the team has ever seen. Ideally we'd have someone younger, but for the moment, I'd' rather have him while we find someone to develop for a year.
• Lawrence Timmons -- The most under rated Steeler that maybe we have ever had? This guy was way overdue for Pro Bowl recognition
• Mike Mitchell -- Fact is, it took a player wiling to be a role player and cover for Troy playing very unconventional at SS. Mitchell playing more to the gifts that he can bring, I would expect a better year from him.

Cornerbacks -- yeah, they are weak. No argument. Reminds me of the 2002-2003 DBs and the 1986 DBs. Hopefully we'll get a surprise from somewhere. Willie Gay is a 3rd CB at best. We're going to get torched a lot -- but in today's NFL, that seems to be the case for a lot of teams. The Ravens were bringing in guys off the street by mid season.

Regardless, the draft is not going to solve our defensive problems this year. It's NOT going to be good. For what it's worth, consider that we're hardly the only team in that position -- the Patriots just lost both starting CBs to FA -- and that was the strength of their defense.

Since the Steelers do not manage their cap well enough to add front line talent in free agency ( They like to keep highly paid players on the decline who should have been cut a year ago ( Ike and Troy ) the pressure is on the draft to fix the defense.

I don't know that I agree with this at all.

• In 2013 Troy Polamalu was a Pro Bowler (his 3rd out of 4 seasons) -- no one realized just how fast his legs would leave him in coverage.
• Ike Taylor took a pay cut to stay with the team last year.
• James Harrison left in 2013 due to rejecting a pay cut -- a move that failed for both sides.
• Brett Kiesel didn't bring much of a cap # and was really only brought back to be a back-up.
• Lamar Woodley's deal which is still on the books is hurting the team more in FA than anything. Fact is, if Woodley didn't drop off as badly as he did, if he would have have held up like our OLBs historically have, we'd be looking at OLB as more of a strength as he SHOULD have been a staple at the OLB position along with Jason Worilds (if he actually didn't shock everyone and show that his lack of production was largely due to lack of desire to excel/be in the NFL for his own personal reasons). Point being, something no one saw coming left us incredibly thin at OLB, even though the team thought they had the position set in place back in 2011 for then foreseeable future.

The pressure is on Colbert to find quality replacements for Harrison, Polamalu, and Taylor in the draft, in addition to keeping Gay and Heyward in 2016. An average draft won't fix this defense. Can Colbert hit one out of the park? I'll say a yes with a qualifier. He'll need the board to fall to him in round one or two, and find a mid or late round steal.

I won't complain if we don't take an OLB or CB with the top pick; especially if its someone they don't rate highly. I'd rather have a great OT or OG or NT than a miss at CB or OLB. What I am hoping for is activity on draft day --- moving up or moving down, depending on their draft board. Either get the difference maker or draft more potential 2nd/3rd round talent. I don't want us to stand pat and hope the right guy falls to a spot at 22 which historically doesn't produce a difference maker.

 

[FSF]

This has to be the worst combination I've seen at OLB and CB for the Steelers for 20+ years. Our best pass rusher is James Harrison. He's 37 years old. Our best corner is W. Gay, and he'll be a free agent in 2016, along with Heyward and McClendon.

Heyward isn't going anywhere, they will not let him go via FA.

Personally I think our defense is in a lot better position than most:

• Heyward is on the verge of becoming a Pro Bowl player and even better, seems to be emerging as a true locker room leader.
• Tuitt reminds me a lot of when Brett Kiesel first became a starter replacing Kimo von Oelhoffen -- starting with flashes of potential but it's there.
• Jarvis Jones -- I have a whole article about the history of our OLBs when they finally got their chance, lets see him stay healthy for a year
• Ryan Shazier -- between Jones and Shazier, effectively we're adding 2 #1 picks to the line up on defense this year
• Shamarko Thomas -- He's spent two years waiting to be healthy and for an opportunity at SS; kinda reminds me of another safety drafted in 2002 and finally started in 2004 named Chris Hope -- he turned out pretty okay.

Veterans:

• James Harrison -- Smartly utilize him; he may have been the best pass rusher on the team last year but I would also argue he's the best the team has ever seen. Ideally we'd have someone younger, but for the moment, I'd' rather have him while we find someone to develop for a year.
• Lawrence Timmons -- The most under rated Steeler that maybe we have ever had? This guy was way overdue for Pro Bowl recognition
• Mike Mitchell -- Fact is, it took a player wiling to be a role player and cover for Troy playing very unconventional at SS. Mitchell playing more to the gifts that he can bring, I would expect a better year from him.

Cornerbacks -- yeah, they are weak. No argument. Reminds me of the 2002-2003 DBs and the 1986 DBs. Hopefully we'll get a surprise from somewhere. Willie Gay is a 3rd CB at best. We're going to get torched a lot -- but in today's NFL, that seems to be the case for a lot of teams. The Ravens were bringing in guys off the street by mid season.

Regardless, the draft is not going to solve our defensive problems this year. It's NOT going to be good. For what it's worth, consider that we're hardly the only team in that position -- the Patriots just lost both starting CBs to FA -- and that was the strength of their defense.

Since the Steelers do not manage their cap well enough to add front line talent in free agency ( They like to keep highly paid players on the decline who should have been cut a year ago ( Ike and Troy ) the pressure is on the draft to fix the defense.

I don't know that I agree with this at all.

• In 2013 Troy Polamalu was a Pro Bowler (his 3rd out of 4 seasons) -- no one realized just how fast his legs would leave him in coverage.
• Ike Taylor took a pay cut to stay with the team last year.
• James Harrison left in 2013 due to rejecting a pay cut -- a move that failed for both sides.
• Brett Kiesel didn't bring much of a cap # and was really only brought back to be a back-up.
• Lamar Woodley's deal which is still on the books is hurting the team more in FA than anything. Fact is, if Woodley didn't drop off as badly as he did, if he would have have held up like our OLBs historically have, we'd be looking at OLB as more of a strength as he SHOULD have been a staple at the OLB position along with Jason Worilds (if he actually didn't shock everyone and show that his lack of production was largely due to lack of desire to excel/be in the NFL for his own personal reasons). Point being, something no one saw coming left us incredibly thin at OLB, even though the team thought they had the position set in place back in 2011 for then foreseeable future.

The pressure is on Colbert to find quality replacements for Harrison, Polamalu, and Taylor in the draft, in addition to keeping Gay and Heyward in 2016. An average draft won't fix this defense. Can Colbert hit one out of the park? I'll say a yes with a qualifier. He'll need the board to fall to him in round one or two, and find a mid or late round steal.

I won't complain if we don't take an OLB or CB with the top pick; especially if its someone they don't rate highly. I'd rather have a great OT or OG or NT than a miss at CB or OLB. What I am hoping for is activity on draft day --- moving up or moving down, depending on their draft board. Either get the difference maker or draft more potential 2nd/3rd round talent. I don't want us to stand pat and hope the right guy falls to a spot at 22 which historically doesn't produce a difference maker.

 

[SteelerAl]

I'm not giving up on Cortez Allen. Brice McCain was the worst CB in the NFL according to PFF in 2013, and Carnell Lake coached him up to the point that the Dolphins outbid us for him. Why can't Cortez have a big bounce back year and at least resemble a capable starter at CB?

 

[LeXX75]

I'm not giving up on Cortez Allen. Brice McCain was the worst CB in the NFL according to PFF in 2013, and Carnell Lake coached him up to the point that the Dolphins outbid us for him. Why can't Cortez have a big bounce back year and at least resemble a capable starter at CB?

I guess I can see your point (and I hope like hell you are right) but didn't Lake coach Cortez last year also

 

[keslerclan]

Great post FSF! I agree. We were pretty bad at CB last year (and got better using guys who were NOT determined to be starters either). Not to say we couldn't get better depth at OLB or CB but it will take a special player to fall to us to even see the field as has been the case in the past.

 

[SteelerAl]

I guess I can see your point (and I hope like hell you are right) but didn't Lake coach Cortez last year also

Of course. Things just snowballed in a negative fashion for Cortez last year and he lost all confidence (then got injured). I don't know that any coach in the history of the NFL could have done much about that. But the offseason, OTAs, training camp etc. provide time for Cortez to rebuild his technique and confidence.

In today's NFL I look at CBs the way that some MLB teams and experts look at relief pitchers. You have guys who are absolute studs (Revis, Sherman etc.) who are elite year after year and predictably so. The rest of the pack's performance can fluctuate pretty wildly from year to year (see Brice McCain or any of the CBs that sign big FA contracts only to be cut 1-2 years later). A couple of bad performances which might even be a bit of bad luck (i.e. a CB might not be able to do anything in the case of a perfect pass to A.J. Green or Calvin Johnson) can lead to confidence suffering and suddenly you have a problem at CB...

 

[TDX27]

McClendon on the D line will be good also. I see our D line, if healthy, being the immediate strength this year for the D. McClendon, Heyward, Tuitt and McCullers rotating in should be much better than last year. We just need to get the LB's healthy and putting pressure on the QB along with the secondary actually covering someone. They have a long way to go but if 2 or 3 of the young guys step up, the D might not be as bad as last year. Many talk about losing Troy and Ike but Troy was a step or two slow last year and Ike hardly played. When he did, he was 2 steps behind and was even a step behind 2 years ago. So, the secondary may be better this year by midseason than they were at any time last year.

 

[Tibs]

I nominate this for Obvious thread title of the month

A few suggestions for Coach's thread titles in the future

- Rattlesnakes not a good house pet for toddlers
- Don't drink rat poison for an upset stomach
- Gasoline is flammable!
- Do not dry cat in microwave after bath
- Corrosive acid not substitute for make-up remover
- You will get wet if you go swimming
- You need a parachute for sky diving
- Giraffes seem to have long necks
- Do not swallow razor blades
- Jarvis Jones needs to add strength this offseason
- Dri Archer seems a tad short-statured
- Mike Tomlin, African-American, who knew?

 

[Wingman]

A few suggestions for Coach's thread titles in the future

- Rattlesnakes not a good house pet for toddlers
- Don't drink rat poison for an upset stomach
- Gasoline is flammable!
- Do not dry cat in microwave after bath
- Corrosive acid not substitute for make-up remover
- You will get wet if you go swimming
- You need a parachute for sky diving
- Giraffes seem to have long necks
- Do not swallow razor blades
- Jarvis Jones needs to add strength this offseason
- Dri Archer seems a tad short-statured
- Mike Tomlin, African-American, who knew?

Thank you Captain I enjoy your wit.

 

[jdell]

Many tend to lose weight when they initially quit smoking pot!

 

[Drink IRON City]

A few suggestions for Coach's thread titles in the future

- Rattlesnakes not a good house pet for toddlers
- Don't drink rat poison for an upset stomach
- Gasoline is flammable!
- Do not dry cat in microwave after bath
- Corrosive acid not substitute for make-up remover
- You will get wet if you go swimming
- You need a parachute for sky diving
- Giraffes seem to have long necks
- Do not swallow razor blades
- Jarvis Jones needs to add strength this offseason
- Dri Archer seems a tad short-statured
- Mike Tomlin, African-American, who knew?

See below

Thank you Captain I enjoy your wit.

Crack me up, always enjoy a snot blower...............

Many tend to lose weight when they initially quit smoking pot!

Pending upon the condition and how active you are while smoking the mary jane................ I'll take your word for it.


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