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Finding something positive - Steelers 2020

Tibs

Tibs

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This has been a *****-***, ******-up, disappointing season. I'm chapped, as we all are. Hope things turn around and pick up from this point forward. We need to get back on track.

Some things to be happy about:

- Boswell bounced back big time, had an excellent season, was clutch all year after embarrasing 2018.
- Diontae Johnson looks like an excellent, playmaking WR for years to come
- TJ Watt may very well be the best outside linebacker in football.
- Devin Bush just had the best rookie season ever for a Steelers linebacker. Steelers have had some great ILB picks, Bell, Shazier and now Bush. Let's hope he's healthy and stays on this trajectory.
- We've likely seen the last of Mark Barron in a Steelers uniform. He's proven to be the antithesis of what a Steelers LB is all about.
- Bud Dupree deserves to stick in Pittsburgh. He's everything you want in an ROLB. Against the run & the pass, Dupree had a great season by any standard. He's young, athletic and continues to improve. Would be dumb to let him go. These guys don't grow on trees.
- In Minkah Fitzpatrick, we have a top 5 safety in the NFL. Enough said.
- Haden & Nelson are the best corners we've had in a while...going back to the Chad Scott, Dewayne Washington, Ike Taylor years. That's significant, as it's been a gaping hole.

**** list players, won't shed a tear if they're gone in the near future:

- Chickillo
- Barron
- Foster
- Berry
- Rudolph/Hodges
- Holton/Switzer

James Connor disappointed, when we needed him the most. We can chalk it up to injuries, but man, that's tough when your starting RB is touch and go most of the season. That's gotta leave a mark on Colbert & Tomlin. Hard not to love Connor, great dude, awesome story. But is he a starting RB you can count on? Don't know. Benny Snell played well for a rook, that's promising for the future.

I hope Tomlin axes or demotes Fichtner. We need a revamp on O regardless if Ben is back or not. The OC has a relatively simple job. Score TD's, move the ball, get first downs, call smart plays. Fichtner was below the line on all fronts. Brutal season coaching offensive football, would love to see someone new.

Regardless, I am real proud of this team, how they stuck together, played hard, and were in it most of the way. There is hope for next season and beyond. With some smart re-tooling this off-season, I like our chances.

Figuring out if Ben will be around - or not - is step 1. Everything else will follow from there.

Props to all of you who stayed with this team all year - even after Ben went down - and rooted for a win, week in and week out. Steelers fans rock and stick together. It ain't always pretty. We'll be back.



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Steelers will also be a top candidate to be on Hard Knocks... so that'll be a fantastic start to the 2020 season.
 
After all the grief we gave Butler last year, the defense was much better this year. Of course that was after Tombert got all of our Safeties and CB's from other teams.
 
mdk2 said:
Steelers will also be a top candidate to be on Hard Knocks... so that'll be a fantastic start to the 2020 season.
Click to expand...

Oh i hope not. The last thing this team needs is distractions.
 
Ron Burgundy said:
After all the grief we gave Butler last year, the defense was much better this year. Of course that was after Tombert got all of our Safeties and CB's from other teams.
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3 out of 4 and the weak link is the one they drafted and reached on. But yeah no where near what the problem they have on offense. It is about as offensive as it comes.

Sent from my moto g(7) power using Steeler Nation mobile app
 
mdk2 said:
Steelers will also be a top candidate to be on Hard Knocks... so that'll be a fantastic start to the 2020 season.
Click to expand...

Great....more UNWANTED distractions for the Steelers. This will not be a fantastic start to the season. I have not watched hard knocks and not going to start now. Probably.
 
steelersfootball4life said:
Great....more UNWANTED distractions for the Steelers. This will not be a fantastic start to the season. I have not watched hard knocks and not going to start now. Probably.
Click to expand...

Yeah... I was being sarcastic.
 
The biggest positive is that the Steelers should have a very clear picture of where they stand and what needs improvement.

Defense appears to be fixed. Maybe you lose Dupree, but the secondary looks to be much improved. Nelson was a great pickup. Minkah brought it all together. Hilton is a decent slot guy and they have guys like Layne and Marcus Allen who could still develop.

The WRs should be great next year. Washington improved and Johnson looks like a playmaker who could become a star. Add JuJu and that's some good weapons. Cain has some upside as a deep threat. You can add another speed guy in the offseason.

You found out Rudolph is not the guy. Better to find out now than when Ben actually retires. Keep scouting QBs and drafting them.

The OL is no longer great, if it ever was. Pouncey is showing his age. Foster is near done. Big Al may be slowing down. The OL needs replacements.

You know you can't count on Conner. RB is a need because Snell is just a grinder and won't be more than that.


Draft needs
Pass Rusher to replace Dupree
OL - all 3 positions best available
RB - enough big backs. get somebody with a bit of speed. Doesn't have to be a track guy but no more plodders
QB - still need that QB of the future. Draft one of these air raid guys who have thrown a million passes (like Minshew) in a late round
TE - could use a TE but if they aren't going to use the TE, may as well skip it
WR - this draft will be very deep at WR, grab one for depth
 
There should be some help in the second round for the offense. Heck, Irv Smith, AJ Brown, and D.K. Metcalf were all there right around #20ish in this past draft. Good players can be had.

Something to look forward to..... good players whose careers can be ruined by CMT's coaching staff.
 
I said very early on. Get 6 or more wins so they did not trade away a premium pick for a safety. They won eight and are probably like what 18 - 20 range. I'm good with that. I'm not good with the other end because Tomlin looks like some genius and I really think he should be done.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
The biggest positive is that the Steelers should have a very clear picture of where they stand and what needs improvement.

Defense appears to be fixed. Maybe you lose Dupree, but the secondary looks to be much improved. Nelson was a great pickup. Minkah brought it all together. Hilton is a decent slot guy and they have guys like Layne and Marcus Allen who could still develop.

The WRs should be great next year. Washington improved and Johnson looks like a playmaker who could become a star. Add JuJu and that's some good weapons. Cain has some upside as a deep threat. You can add another speed guy in the offseason.

You found out Rudolph is not the guy. Better to find out now than when Ben actually retires. Keep scouting QBs and drafting them.

The OL is no longer great, if it ever was. Pouncey is showing his age. Foster is near done. Big Al may be slowing down. The OL needs replacements.

You know you can't count on Conner. RB is a need because Snell is just a grinder and won't be more than that.


Draft needs
Pass Rusher to replace Dupree
OL - all 3 positions best available
RB - enough big backs. get somebody with a bit of speed. Doesn't have to be a track guy but no more plodders
QB - still need that QB of the future. Draft one of these air raid guys who have thrown a million passes (like Minshew) in a late round
TE - could use a TE but if they aren't going to use the TE, may as well skip it
WR - this draft will be very deep at WR, grab one for depth
Click to expand...

Our secondary played well, only thing is that you can’t expect Haden to have another healthy season like this one and Hilton will be walking this offseason. Hopefully Sutton is able to step in fill that role.

Either way, I think the defense will take a step back again next season. While think they were good this year, they gave up a good amount of yards and just came up with timely turnovers and had a lot of luck to their way defensively. Still a lot of 3rd and Longs given up and opening drive scores were given up way too frequent especially the last 3 weeks when we couldn’t afford it.


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What sucks is we have very few picks to fill any holes. No 1st and no 3rd round pick will suck. The O line took a nose dive this year and we have no draft capital to replenish it nor do we have enough guys waiting in the wings to fix it.

Main points for next year:
1. Hopefully Ben is back and as good as he was prior to the injuries.
2. WR - JuJu will hopefully be healthy. He didn't play a single game this year near 100%. Diontae should be a legit No. 2 and Washington has shown promise as well. A late round pick is probably justified for depth.
3. We need a legitimate pass catching TE. Enough of having 2 TE's in the game for the sole purpose of blocking. Look at the teams with the good TE's. If we need 2 TE's to pass protect or run block on every play, then our O-line is not very good. And, we definitely learned that this year.
4. The D played way above par once Minkah showed up. Bringing back Tuitt and even if we lose Bud, this D should still be very good.

2020 is it, so enjoy! 2021 is, more than likely, going to be a strike year. I don't think anyone expects anything less than a long strike. After that, who knows what this team will look like. Will Ben want to come back and play his final year after taking a year off? Will he be able to?
 
Watt, Fitzpatrick, Bush.

Steelers found out the hard way JuJu and James are not reliable #1's, never were.

I don't have to listen to any of the idiots that thought they were at the beginning of the season.
 
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