Carnell Lake....your Steelers DB coach.....

[xjx]

The front 7 played well. The db's played poorly. Looks like we won't see the playoffs. Another "tomln" year.

 

[ZACKB]

I would play Boykin ahead of Blake and mix in Grant. Will Allen is awful too.

 

[xjx]

Time for changes. It's not like this team is going to the playoffs.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Man our front office is dumb as ****. Look at the team right now, there is ONE glaring weakness. They need to spend multiple picks on CB early in the next draft. You know we aren't signing a significant FA, and frankly the way a lot of those work out that may not be a bad thing.

They drafted a playmaker in the second round, though he may be limited to the slot and then Grant in the fourth. Then they traded for Boykin and picked up Cockrell. Not much you can do with Golson's injury and Cockrell is in the top 3, but it's on the coaches that Boykin can't get on the field and their worst non-rookie cornerback is in the starting lineup.

 

[obxsteeler]

They drafted a playmaker in the second round, though he may be limited to the slot and then Grant in the fourth. Then they traded for Boykin and picked up Cockrell. Not much you can do with Golson's injury and Cockrell is in the top 3, but it's on the coaches that Boykin can't get on the field and their worst non-rookie cornerback is in the starting lineup.

Maybe they are wrong-but what have you seen of Boykin in practice that makes you think he's a better option?

 

[slashsteel]

Maybe they are wrong-but what have you seen of Boykin in practice that makes you think he's a better option?

If you didn't see something in him they shouldn't have brought him in.

 

[chipped ham]

Maybe they are wrong-but what have you seen of Boykin in practice that makes you think he's a better option?

None of us truly knows what Boykin does in practice. However, if it were a problem, I think tomlin and/or lake would've said something to that effect when asked why he's not playing. Shades has no problems throwing heat on dumbass shamarko and not being good "above the neck" so i can't imagine he would hold back when asked about Boykin. Instead, they make us all really scratch our heads and say that "someone would have to be playing VERY POORLY in order for him to see the field."

 

[SteelerFan448]

Maybe they are wrong-but what have you seen of Boykin in practice that makes you think he's a better option?

I haven't seen him in practice since training camp, but I have seen what Antwon Blake brings to the field each week and can evaluate that he is not a starting-caliber cornerback in the NFL.

 

[Pens]

We have some great tape Boykin with the Eagles, we have horrible tape of Blake and it gets worse each week. I could give a shot about practice, we talking about practice in the words of version.

 

[keslerclan]

Perspective.

Ben put up 456 against arguably the best secondary in the NFL. Maybe the way the NFL is now you just can't cover nobody. Hell, if they were consistent, Sherman wouldn't cover anybody, either, because he would get called all the time for his grabbing and pulling.

There is a lesson in that, though. I believe that the refs are not going to call it all the time, so the best guys, Sherman, Revis and so on grab and pull and figure, "Well, it's only 5, and they won't call it too much." I wish the Steeler DBs had that mentality.

The Seahags at least ADMITTED that this is what they are taught to do knowing the refs won't call all of the illegal contact. The problem is, EVEN IF we were to switch to that mentality, bigger corners "illegal contact" almost looks incidental. With the tiny CBs, it looks more like "holding on for dear life".

 

[Black & Gold Bleeder]

#$/^? Yeah blame Lake. That's the easiest route.

If he fails to develop talent thats worth a **** then maybe he needs to go, but I think the last time we had a complete secondary that was worth a damn was when he was playing with Woodson. I sincerely believe that Troy singlehandedly made up for the gaps in our secondary for so many years and the no talent secondary is really exposed now.

Who the hell recommended we extend cortez allen and hand him a big contract? Lake? Dumbass Tomlin? Colbert?

We have drafted corners since lake has been here. Who picked them? We usually cut them before the end of camp.

I knew our Defense and the dbacks looked like the weakest group coming into the season. But they look like hot garbage.

 

[diver]

The question to me is can you cover people with any game to game consistency in the NFL today? I say no. With the rules enforcement, the teams that try to follow it are going to get beat. If you pull and grab, you maybe can have more success. Even then though, maybe you take one guy out, but you still give up 456 yards to the QB and 201 to a complimentary WR. Even more of an issue as it pertains to the rules is where QBs can be hit. If you don't have to worry about them coming in high or low, that is going to improve accuracy one hell of a lot.

I just don't know if it is wise to spend a 1st rounder on a CB today, unless he is down right special. Or maybe even throw huge money at the position like the Eagles did with Maxwell. I won't criticize too much them on how they have handled the CBs because I cannot say with any confidence if they approached it differently it would be all that much better.

 

[Vincent]

I disagree. He has zero drafted talent. It is a patchwork of FA'S and late draft picks. They have made some Guesses and plays this year and do cause turn overs. It would be easy to play DB if you are Richard Sherman and get to hold down field.

Ditto. Carnell entered his tenure in 2011. Our pass D was #1 in 11 and 12. It lapsed to #9 in 13 and #27 in 14. Carnell is a quality human being that didn't turn into a slackard in 14. You may recall numerous threads over the last few years pummeling our DBs into gruel.

If there is an argument to be made that he's the problem in 14 and15, the same argument can be made that his was the best secondary over the years 11-13.