rats swoop in and pick up Matthew Thomas
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Who reported that? He sure did not look confused in the pre-season games where he lead the team in tackles, provided solid coverage, and flashed ability as a pass rusher.
He also played well with the first unit, though they only gave him that chance for one game.
Our silly coaches ask slow linebackers to cover wide receivers. And it took them a near season to figure out AJ Fort is better than Bostic in the nickel role.
Giving Vince Williams a new deal was foolish as well. His skills are out dated. He's a two down, inside the box type of ILB. Yet his cap number for next year is [FONT="]6,700,000. Way to high for [/FONT][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]what should be a part time player.[/FONT]
Tomlin let the wrong player go. I see zero value with Brian Allen in the pre-season. Yet Mikey kept him?
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A better question is why didn't the Steelers draft Leonard?
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How did we screw up? The guy was small, short and not fast. When drafted I thought he a practice squad guy, or maybe the last WR on the team.
HE ****** up by not signing when he was offered the chance...instead he signed elsewhere.
Ayers problem (as I posted when he was drafted) was his inability to stay healthy in camp
That was Harrisons exact same problem. Couldn't grasp the defense in years 1-3.
and he went to the ravens then came back and kicked some ***......could history repeat itself?
Works for me...I can remember Harrison kicking *** on special teams before he left (in his early years). He was a freakin monster and laid out some enormous hits. It was a mystery as to why he wasn't making it onto the field. We attributed it to Cowher catering to his veterans
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Yeah totally agree that Brian Allen over Thomas was a bad decision. As far as Williams and Bostic as starters go, I think that was a result of how bad we got gashed vs. the run last year.
Maybe it was in 2004 or 05 or the preseason before he was cut but I can remember him getting his start on ST and making an impression. (In the field using the opponents body to make a divot)
he was a special teams guy both 2004 and 2005, but they weren't going to take Porter off the field to let him play, at that time Porter was one of the top OLB's in the NFL.
Tomlin kind of got lucky with him like Belicheat did with Brady, Brady was #4 on the depth chart in NE, the two guys ahead of him got injured making him the back up. If those guys don't get hurt, Brady may never get a chance in NE. Tomlin cut Porter, drafted Timmons to be the OLB, needed a stop gap until Timmons was ready, but once Harrison got in there, he wasn't coming out.
Thanks for the refresher. I had him starting under Cowher's tenure.. A mind is a terrible thing to waste
Speaking of Brady, if memory serves (that's a big if), didn't we knock out Bledsoe in a playoff game and Brady came in and won the game for them? That was the beginning of our hell... Again if memory serves
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Several weekly chats from PG, DKSports and Depot all referenced his play was limited to ST because he hadn’t caught on with the playbook. Yeah he had a great preseason....exceptional game against Carolina with players no longer in the NFL. No actual defensive scheming and just being on the field playing ball. A lot of players achieve that.
He wasn’t drafted for a reason. Probably because he was academically ineligible and had multiple suspensions in college. Chris Carter on DKS had a great write up about him back in the summer outlining his potential, but has to limit mental mistakes he made in college.
As for you acumen for ILB coverage....it’s nil. Bostic wasn’t brought in for coverage duties, Burnett was. Bostic was brought in for his run defense and tackling ability. Of which he performed well.
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Thomas lead the team in tackles in the pre-season. 22 tackles games 1 - 1 tackle, game 2 - 3 tackles, game 3 - 7 tackles and game 4 - 11 tackles Game 4 included a sack-fumble.
So, he "shined" in games 3 and 4....
when Thomas was making all of these plays in the 3rd and 4th preseason, was it against players who are actually in the NFL?
Looking at the Panther game, it appears as if their QB was Kyle Allen (UDFA now on the PS). That was a sack fumble and another tackle. 3 of his 11 tackles were against a guy who, may be, on the PS and doesn't even have a Wiki page, 4 against a guy who has all of 6 carries on the 2018 season and a couple tackles against two guys not in the NFL. A couple of guys in the TN game are still in the NFL. One is in his 4th year and has 37 yard rushing in 2018.
he must have only "played well with the first string unit" in game 3.
Looks like the starters listed in the game book for game 4 did not include but a couple of normal starters. And he didn't have his first tackle until 3:21 left in the 2nd quarter. The rest of his 10 tackles that game came against what level of players, do you think? Keep in mind Carolina's QB's for that game were Allen (PS player) , heinicke and Gilbert.
7 tackles in game 3: 7:35 left in the 1st (1st string in for us), 10:36 left in the 2nd (starters still in for us), 2:00 left in the 2nd (starters still in for us) To start the 3rd, ST tackle. 4:25 left in the 3rd (some of our starters still in, but to say it is the 1st string would be a stretch.
So, with our first string in the game he had 3 tackles. In that same time period Bostic had 4, one of which was a TFL. In that same time period V Williams had 3 tackles, a sack (I assume that is one of the tackles), one of the tackles was for a loss and a QB hit. Is that outshining Bostic and Williams while playing with the 1st string?
the other 3 tackles he made in this game came against what level of competition, do you think? Keep in mind that Mariota threw 8 passes in that game and Blaine Gabbert was the QB who threw the most for TN in that game.
So, again, against much lower level completion, Thomas did well in game 4. In game three, while on the field with starters he did not do as well as Bostic OR Williams.
So, he "shined" in games 3 and 4....
when Thomas was making all of these plays in the 3rd and 4th preseason, was it against players who are actually in the NFL?
Looking at the Panther game, it appears as if their QB was Kyle Allen (UDFA now on the PS). That was a sack fumble and another tackle. 3 of his 11 tackles were against a guy who, may be, on the PS and doesn't even have a Wiki page, 4 against a guy who has all of 6 carries on the 2018 season and a couple tackles against two guys not in the NFL. A couple of guys in the TN game are still in the NFL. One is in his 4th year and has 37 yard rushing in 2018.
he must have only "played well with the first string unit" in game 3.
Looks like the starters listed in the game book for game 4 did not include but a couple of normal starters. And he didn't have his first tackle until 3:21 left in the 2nd quarter. The rest of his 10 tackles that game came against what level of players, do you think? Keep in mind Carolina's QB's for that game were Allen (PS player) , heinicke and Gilbert.
7 tackles in game 3: 7:35 left in the 1st (1st string in for us), 10:36 left in the 2nd (starters still in for us), 2:00 left in the 2nd (starters still in for us) To start the 3rd, ST tackle. 4:25 left in the 3rd (some of our starters still in, but to say it is the 1st string would be a stretch.
So, with our first string in the game he had 3 tackles. In that same time period Bostic had 4, one of which was a TFL. In that same time period V Williams had 3 tackles, a sack (I assume that is one of the tackles), one of the tackles was for a loss and a QB hit. Is that outshining Bostic and Williams while playing with the 1st string?
the other 3 tackles he made in this game came against what level of competition, do you think? Keep in mind that Mariota threw 8 passes in that game and Blaine Gabbert was the QB who threw the most for TN in that game.
So, again, against much lower level completion, Thomas did well in game 4. In game three, while on the field with starters he did not do as well as Bostic OR Williams.
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Because he was rated a second rounder and wasn’t available at their 2nd round pick. Genius.
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Crap!!! OK time to turn over my keys...
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I thought Harrison’s coming out party was when Peezy got thrown out of a game (Cincinnati?) before it even started (fighting during warmups). Harrison took his place and had a monster game with multiple sacks and tackle for losses.
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Porter got thrown out of a Browns game, I think that was 04. Harrison had a big game vs the Bills late in 04 when we had #1 locked up
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I remember seeing Thomas multiple times totally lost on the field pre snap. Yes he is physically gifted but he was out of place wandering flailing around like a fish out water multiple times. Yes he has the ability to make plays but I think he might lack the mental acumen to be anything other than a guy that does one thing and can’t be relied on to make any kind of adjustment or understand even a basic defensive scheme out side of a base formation defense.
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He would have been a great 1st round pick.
Leonard > Edmunds.
Edmunds was rated as a 2nd round pick. We took him in the first. So much for you logic.
Do you even think before you post?
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Let's give it a few years. From the looks of it, so far, you are right?
Leornard played at a small school against subpar talent, right?
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So what you are saying is we cut a fast player with high upside that the coaches felt might not be in a position to make the play because he wasn't yet acclimated to the playbook and instead kept and played slow players with no upside who grasped by the playbook but we're too slow to ever be in position to make a play? Makes sense especially when are so good at communication on the field!!!