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Have the Steelers Really Addressed their Need at Inside Linebacker?

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The Steelers may never come across a defensive talent like Ryan Shazier ever again. He was versatile, blazing-fast, and the leader of our defense. The defense struggled mightily in his absence, and replacing him seemed to be the No. 1 priority for the Steelers this off-season. Yet, the Steelers did not trade up for Alabama […]

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I really hope Mathew Thomas works out. A tall order for a UDFA. I just think the guy has some athleticism that would help the position.We'll see.
 
No, as long as Vince Williams is starting, it's going to be a weak spot.
 
nitsuj1225 said:
No, as long as Vince Williams is starting, it's going to be a weak spot.
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I think if Vince has a upgrade next to him it can at least not be a liability. He did do some things well, like blitz. Ok run defender. It isn't like he is a total bum.
 
We will hardly be in our 3 - 4 alignment. All subpackages anymore. Just how it is.
 
slashsteel said:
I think if Vince has a upgrade next to him it can at least not be a liability. He did do some things well, like blitz. Ok run defender. It isn't like he is a total bum.
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Vince was kicking *** when Shaz was there. Having to change how the position was being played with a 3rd stringer next to him would hinder just about every other Buck in the game, too.
 
At this time it's hard to tell. Based on current LB's I would say no. However, it seems the Steelers might be addressing the #50 missing link with a hybrid player that can split time between the safety and LB spot.
 
I trust that Coach Butler and the other coaches have a 'plan' since we KNOW that we won't have 50 all season. I agree w/ the fact that we'll see a lot more different schemes than our base 3-4...
 
A draft that was suppose to be so deep why we could not find line backer is a big question,
 
you can put Edmunds at Shazier spot in sub packages, from what I read he is very fast and his read and react looks very good in his highlights he timed several deep passes well to break up or picked them off, him in the box man to vs a guy like Eifert, Nkooju, hurst he has the speed to play them man to man. If they run a 3-2-6 more than a 2-4-5 then I see him and burnett swapping lining next to vince who they will loop or cross blitz often.
as of now if butler sticks to his stubborn way our base will be
DT heyward
DE tuitt
OLB watt
ILB williams
ILB Edmunds/burnett/ next man matthew thomas can make the team, you also have fort for pure coverage plays.
OLB Dupree
SS in the box Edmunds
CF Burnett
CB haden
CB burns
CB/S hilton
 
A LB such as Bince has their days numbered. The NFL is doing away with running the football. It will be an afterthought in the not to distant future. They are allready making it harder to tackle and much harder on the RB to productively run it, especially in traffic. We will be seeing a LOT MORE "box safeties" very soon. If you are looking for a Levon Kirkland type LB then NO we did not address the LB position. NOW if you are looking at the type of LB the league is heading to then YES we did address the LB position. Cheerio



Salute the nation
 
stillwright said:
We will hardly be in our 3 - 4 alignment. All subpackages anymore. Just how it is.
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This.
We didn't' directly address ILB enough in my opinion.
However, it is obvious that Tomlin is zeroing in on playing more nickel and dime.
I guess we see both VW and JB on the field at the same time less than 25% of the time.
 
If Davis can move to FS and actually play well, that will help the secondary immensely.
 
kev4heels said:
If Davis can move to FS and actually play well, that will help the secondary immensely.
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He will be a HUGE upgrade over mitchell, unless you're talking about verbally abusing locker room doors as then MITCHELL gets the nod.



Salute the nation
 
nitsuj1225 said:
No, as long as Vince Williams is starting, it's going to be a weak spot.
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And Bostic or Dirty Red is the other starter. Two weak links.
 
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