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young defense

BLITZ said:
Dupree looks better than last year, shazier is a beast then their is Burns and Davis. These two rookies are growing into very steady players. 1.5 sacks for Davis today. That is huge. Another interception for Burns. for the 1st time in a very long time, I do not feel that our out secondary is a huge liability. add in Hargrave we have the start of a rebuilt defense!!
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Bud is back on track! He's the closest thing we have to a pure speed rusher. I think Buffalo was 32nd rated among 32 teams as a passing offense. So the pass defense should look good.

Just imagine is Heyward was back in the lineup.
 
MTC said:
The defense is igniting. Part of me thinks they are peaking but the hopeful in me thinks they are actually still growing. Cheers to watching the young ones mature. Davis, Burns, Hargraves, Dupree and Shazier are all making a showing. Tuitt was on point today
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I think our LBs are actually healthy, see Shazier and Timmons. Dupree and Harrison are absolutely our best two OLBs. Notice that Jarvis hardly played yesterday.

The young secondary is absolutely making a difference. Burns has arrived. Cockrell is mostly steady. Davis is all over the ******* place. Mitchell is bringing some violence to the middle of the field. Gay is still Big Play Will Gay (sucks that pick 6 got called back). I would still look at adding more depth to the secondary not knowing what we have with Golson and if the kid can ever be healthy.

Its a surprise the DL is playing so well minus Heyward.
 
By the way this young defense has went from LAST in sacks as a team to now 11th overall with 31 sacks. We're right on the cusp of being a top 10 defense statistically. Pretty impressive turnaround.
 
Hines57 said:
By the way this young defense has went from LAST in sacks as a team to now 11th overall with 31 sacks. We're right on the cusp of being a top 10 defense statistically. Pretty impressive turnaround.
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Truth. And part of that came against teams that have protected their QB quite well - the Jets, Giants, Redskins, Patsies* and Raisins are among the lowest in the NFL in sacks allowed ...

As are the Steelers, by the way.
 
Hines, I was used to Blake look like he was playing on skates in ice or snow. It's good that our CBs don't even stumble and fall in ACTUAL ice and snow!
 
Why is it such a great surprise that a young defense which was starting 3 rookies is playing better as they get some experience? Too many people have unreasonable expectations.
 
SteelChip said:
Nothing pisses me off more than a third down completion to a receiver that's all by himself in the middle of the defense.
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Not only that, but when it's the opponents best and most dangerous player.

Dupree looks like he's getting his legs back, if he can win some one v ones consistently, that's huge for us, plus Burns and Davis should get better the more they learn, just sucks losing heyward
 
You guys realize our young D held the top rushing offense in the league to 67 yards? Nearly 100 yards under their average. That even considering that half that yardage was on pointless plays to close out the first half!
 
Cope said:
You guys realize our young D held the top rushing offense in the league to 67 yards? Nearly 100 yards under their average. That even considering that half that yardage was on pointless plays to close out the first half!
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And without 2 of our 3 starting DL.
 
obxsteeler said:
Why is it such a great surprise that a young defense which was starting 3 rookies is playing better as they get some experience? Too many people have unreasonable expectations.
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Those rookies have developed quickly to help out a defense in dire need of an upgrade. A lot of young defensive players in the Tomlin era have never come close to meeting even reasonable expectations. Like Jarvis Jones.

Pardon us for being pleasantly surprised for a change.
 
obxsteeler said:
Why is it such a great surprise that a young defense which was starting 3 rookies is playing better as they get some experience? Too many people have unreasonable expectations.
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I quite honestly don't understand the question. when was the last time we had a rookie really contribute on defense toward the latter part of the season let alone 3? I for one am extremely excited about what is going on with our defense
 
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Now if Golston can make it through the off season without dying, MAYBE we have another CB.

Looks nice that me may not head into the draft with 13 holes and 7 picks.

Thinking OLB, S, DL, RB, OLB, not necessarily in that order though.
 
topseed said:
Those rookies have developed quickly to help out a defense in dire need of an upgrade. A lot of young defensive players in the Tomlin era have never come close to meeting even reasonable expectations. Like Jarvis Jones.

Pardon us for being pleasantly surprised for a change.
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How about Dupree/Shazier/Tuitt/Heyward/Williams. Who else was like Jarvis?
 
black and gold apex said:
The secondary still gives up way to many 3 and long plays. When we send more than three, four rushers the secondary looks much better. It is still our weak spot going into two very tough games.
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While this is true, Burns and Gay have good ball skills. I can live with a big play against if we get a turnover. Cockrell is haveing a solid year, and many top AFC WR's are not going to be in the playoffs.
 
obxsteeler said:
How about Dupree/Shazier/Tuitt/Heyward/Williams. Who else was like Jarvis?
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How about Dupree? The guy went 11 games played without a sack before this past Sunday. Not exactly sold on him yet. Shazier is great when he's healthy. Tuitt and Heyward have been solid for the most part. I guess you're referring to Vince Williams, who was a sixth round pick and is a current backup. Yeah, he's OK. Yet, despite all these guys' contributions, the Steelers' defense hasn't performed well over the last few years until just recently, with Burns and Davis solidifying the secondary.

Let's talk about first through fourth round failures, who usually have a higher level of expectation, and see if it helps jog your memory:

2007: Ryan McBean (4) Never a factor.
2008: Bruce Davis (3) Sucked from the start.
2009: Ziggy Hood (1) Never materialized into Hampton's replacement, average career at best.
2010: Jason Worilds (2) Tomlin was high as a kite on this guy, never amounted to much at all, "retired" in his mid-twenties.
2010: Thad Gibson (4) Never a factor.
2011: Curtis Brown (3) Never a factor.
2011: Cortez Allen (4) Showed some potential early, fizzled out in a hurry.
2012: Sean Spence (3) Hung around a for a few forgettable, injury-plagued seasons.
2012: Alameda Ta'amu (4) Worthless pick most noted for his off-the-field troubles.
2013: Jarvis Jones (1) Very little return from a #17 overall choice.
2013: Shamarko Thomas (4) Has somehow managed to remain on the team even though he can't start, and continually makes special teams mistakes.
2015: Senquez Golson (2) Has yet to play a single snap in the regular season in two years.
2015: Doran Grant (4) Cut early, came back and was cut again.

Good enough?
 
topseed said:
How about Dupree? The guy went 11 games played without a sack before this past Sunday. Not exactly sold on him yet. Shazier is great when he's healthy. Tuitt and Heyward have been solid for the most part. I guess you're referring to Vince Williams, who was a sixth round pick and is a current backup. Yeah, he's OK. Yet, despite all these guys' contributions, the Steelers' defense hasn't performed well over the last few years until just recently, with Burns and Davis solidifying the secondary.

Let's talk about first through fourth round failures, who usually have a higher level of expectation, and see if it helps jog your memory:

2007: Ryan McBean (4) Never a factor.
2008: Bruce Davis (3) Sucked from the start.
2009: Ziggy Hood (1) Never materialized into Hampton's replacement, average career at best.
2010: Jason Worilds (2) Tomlin was high as a kite on this guy, never amounted to much at all, "retired" in his mid-twenties.
2010: Thad Gibson (4) Never a factor.
2011: Curtis Brown (3) Never a factor.
2011: Cortez Allen (4) Showed some potential early, fizzled out in a hurry.
2012: Sean Spence (3) Hung around a for a few forgettable, injury-plagued seasons.
2012: Alameda Ta'amu (4) Worthless pick most noted for his off-the-field troubles.
2013: Jarvis Jones (1) Very little return from a #17 overall choice.
2013: Shamarko Thomas (4) Has somehow managed to remain on the team even though he can't start, and continually makes special teams mistakes.
2015: Senquez Golson (2) Has yet to play a single snap in the regular season in two years.
2015: Doran Grant (4) Cut early, came back and was cut again.

Good enough?
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Not really. You named 6 out of 36 players who never made the team. That's not a bad percentage.
 
Fiji Mariner said:
The third and long thing definitely needs tightened up.
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I don't think we've been bad in 3rd and long situations. Probably no worse than league average. It's just fans tend to remember only the failures, not the successes. I'd bet the fanbases of 29 out of the 32 teams would say their team sucks in 3rd and long situations.
 
obxsteeler said:
Not really. You named 6 out of 36 players who never made the team. That's not a bad percentage.
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Not really sure how or where you're coming up with your figures, or your "not a bad percentage" classification for players making the team.

First of all, there were 10 drafts from 2007-2016. During that time the Steelers drafted 42 guys in the first four rounds, 24 of whom were defensive players. We're not looking at the offense in this discussion, remember?

Secondly, using the 2015 draft for an example, exactly THREE players drafted in rounds 1-4 did not make their original team's 53-man roster. That's 3 out of 136 players. That's 2.2%, not 16.7%. Again, I'm not sure how you arrived at your "6 out of 36" number, but as a stand-alone statistic about not making the team, it's nowhere close to "not bad." It's absolutely horrendous.

So either you're making up numbers and talking out of your ***, or you're completely wrong. Maybe it's all three.
 
SteelerAl said:
I don't think we've been bad in 3rd and long situations. Probably no worse than league average. It's just fans tend to remember only the failures, not the successes. I'd bet the fanbases of 29 out of the 32 teams would say their team sucks in 3rd and long situations.
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I agree that my perception is based on what I see the Steelers do, for the most part.

That said, I do watch other games. And from what I have personally seen over the past 3 seasons, the Steelers give up a ****-ton of 3rd and long conversions.
 
I wouldn't label Worilds and Spence as failures. JAson would be still playing if he didn't focus on his faith. And Spence was a nice comeback story.
 
topseed said:
Not really sure how or where you're coming up with your figures, or your "not a bad percentage" classification for players making the team.

First of all, there were 10 drafts from 2007-2016. During that time the Steelers drafted 42 guys in the first four rounds, 24 of whom were defensive players. We're not looking at the offense in this discussion, remember?

Secondly, using the 2015 draft for an example, exactly THREE players drafted in rounds 1-4 did not make their original team's 53-man roster. That's 3 out of 136 players. That's 2.2%, not 16.7%. Again, I'm not sure how you arrived at your "6 out of 36" number, but as a stand-alone statistic about not making the team, it's nowhere close to "not bad." It's absolutely horrendous.

So either you're making up numbers and talking out of your ***, or you're completely wrong. Maybe it's all three.
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To be clear, you are still on the team if you are on IR. That will help the numbers a bit.
 
obxsteeler said:
Not really. You named 6 out of 36 players who never made the team. That's not a bad percentage.
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Some of the defensive picks hurt the team for sure. We also took in the shorts with giving Woodley a new contract, and giving Allen a new deal, DEAD money on the cap in the millions ( Over 10 ) , which prevented the Steelers from adding more quality free agents.
 
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