• Please be aware we've switched the forums to their own URL. (again) You'll find the new website address to be www.steelernationforum.com Thanks
  • Please clear your private messages. Your inbox is close to being full.

Present shape of the team

Guys I'm pretty sure the "Graham" referred to above was Brandon, not Jimmy
 
We don't need to make a big splash in free agency. How well has that worked out over the years for Washington, Oakland and Philly? Like I've said several times already, I long for the days that we had boring drafts. O-lineman in the first two or 3 rounds and then BPA after that and develop them. Problem is, our player development under Tombert sucks balls. THAT is what needs to change.
 
hook said:
We don't need to make a big splash in free agency. How well has that worked out over the years for Washington, Oakland and Philly? Like I've said several times already, I long for the days that we had boring drafts. O-lineman in the first two or 3 rounds and then BPA after that and develop them. Problem is, our player development under Tombert sucks balls. THAT is what needs to change.
Click to expand...

If you look back to the article about big free agents and also include the trade for the Bus you can see we were players in free agency for a while. We did not go crazy with it and attempt to buy a team but we did pick some higher quality players than we have done so in the last few years. Those players were starters and very good ones and were difference makers for the team. That with solid draft picks allowed us to get to some of the super bowls we were in. I suspect that to do it only by drafting players will have us repeating the 80s.

Adding quality free agents was the difference between what Bill did and what Chuck did. To get the team you need now will take both methods, otherwise the players you draft become free agents faster than you can replace them or are out of the game before you can draft enough good ones.
 
Wingman said:
If you look back to the article about big free agents and also include the trade for the Bus you can see we were players in free agency for a while. We did not go crazy with it and attempt to buy a team but we did pick some higher quality players than we have done so in the last few years. Those players were starters and very good ones and were difference makers for the team. That with solid draft picks allowed us to get to some of the super bowls we were in. I suspect that to do it only by drafting players will have us repeating the 80s.

Adding quality free agents was the difference between what Bill did and what Chuck did. To get the team you need now will take both methods, otherwise the players you draft become free agents faster than you can replace them or are out of the game before you can draft enough good ones.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying abstain from the free agent market totally. Yes, the Bus was a nice pick up as was Farrior and Kevin Green. But to try to turn things around in a hurry by signing several FA's that folks have mentioned on this board is not the way to go either. I'm ok with what little they did so far. They just need to do a better job evaluating, drafting and developing the talent that they bring in. It's mostly not worked now for several years. We've lucked out on a couple picks but it had more to do with God given talent that development.
 
I also don't think they need to try and go crazy but generally under the time period in the article we signed one or two players that were good starters for at least two or three years some much longer. All we have been picking up lately say last 5 years have been role players at best and usually depth players. When one considers the talent that we had on defense that was better than what we were signing it is really missing on both the draft and free agency. Not freeing up money early took us out of the free agency hunt and we could have used a good player from there.

I consider failing to get one of the prospects that others had talked about on here that went in the under 6 million range a major loss early in the season.
 
Wingman said:
I also don't think they need to try and go crazy but generally under the time period in the article we signed one or two players that were good starters for at least two or three years some much longer. All we have been picking up lately say last 5 years have been role players at best and usually depth players. When one considers the talent that we had on defense that was better than what we were signing it is really missing on both the draft and free agency. Not freeing up money early took us out of the free agency hunt and we could have used a good player from there.

I consider failing to get one of the prospects that others had talked about on here that went in the under 6 million range a major loss early in the season.
Click to expand...

Who went under 6M that you consider a "major loss"? I'd consider a major loss to be a pretty sure fire productive starter-who did I miss?
 
I do not remember their names but there were a couple of players at either corner back or linebacker that were signed by others in that price range. The guys that talked about them seemed to think they were upgrades for us, I do not know. However by not being able to do anything by keeping a dead horse kept us out of the market altogether. I would rather have been in the position to look at those guys even if we decided not to than to have been eliminated from the possibility completely by our lack of funds.

I believe they were in the thread about free agents and I generally do not follow other teams players much so I based that on the opinions of others who post on here, generally we have some folks that are quite knowledgeable on here, in spite of the hyperbole regarding many players.
 
Last edited:
hook said:
We don't need to make a big splash in free agency. How well has that worked out over the years for Washington, Oakland and Philly? Like I've said several times already, I long for the days that we had boring drafts. O-lineman in the first two or 3 rounds and then BPA after that and develop them. Problem is, our player development under Tombert sucks balls. THAT is what needs to change.
Click to expand...

ding ding ding! winner winner chicken dinner.
 
hook said:
We don't need to make a big splash in free agency. How well has that worked out over the years for Washington, Oakland and Philly? Like I've said several times already, I long for the days that we had boring drafts. O-lineman in the first two or 3 rounds and then BPA after that and develop them. Problem is, our DEFENSIVE player development under Tombert sucks balls. THAT is what needs to change.
Click to expand...

Fixed it for you!
 
Since when have champions been made in the offseason based on FA transactions ? And whats the frequency of teams that make huge free agency splashes going on to win championships ? Raiders, Skins, Dolphins, Eagles all make huge moves every offseason.....how many championships ? None.

Theres something special brewing with this offense...its young, talented and explosive...now, we focus on defense. And hope we can plug deficiencies and make a run for this 7th title the next three or four years.......I like where we are right now. AFC North Champs, expecting even better things next year. Optimism...**** this pessimistic BS. This aint ****** Cleveland.
 
if we added a solid starter (CB or OLB) on FA (doubt it happens given that most players are signed) Ithink there was a chance to trade up in the draft to take the player they wanted.
Now, I think we are screwed due to lack of DB depth
 
blitzburghv5 said:
since when have champions been made in the offseason based on fa transactions ? And whats the frequency of teams that make huge free agency splashes going on to win championships ? Raiders, skins, dolphins, eagles all make huge moves every offseason.....how many championships ? None.

Theres something special brewing with this offense...its young, talented and explosive...now, we focus on defense. And hope we can plug deficiencies and make a run for this 7th title the next three or four years.......i like where we are right now. Afc north champs, expecting even better things next year. Optimism...**** this pessimistic bs. This aint ****** cleveland.
Click to expand...

was it over when the germans bombed pearl harbor?!
 
SteelBuckeye said:
I'm glad you noted the "present" shape of the team ... It's March, too early for the sky to be falling on any NFL team (except the Browns). Hopefully they make some moves to help on defense, but the offense except for back-up RB is fine. Now, if the constitution of the team is the same at the end of camp and we have not found any reason to be encouraged by the growth in JJ, Shazier, Allen and/or a few of the others, I'll agree then that the sky is probably getting a lil too close for comfort.
Click to expand...

TDX27 said:
Less than one week into FA, the Steelers never look like they have improved. We all know they never make a big splash in FA. This year is no different. Wait until after the draft and then we can talk a little about if they have improved.
Click to expand...

Too soon to say until after the draft. That being said, the offense is fine and if the team is to be improved then Tombert has to hit on seven draft picks on defense who will all be starters and contribute immediately. Considering that it's an awesomely successful draft if Tombert is able to draft ONE defensive player who can start, ever, I'm not real optimistic. Upside, if Colbert ***** up this draft then he'll probably be gone. Ben better get in the mindset of scoring 40 points every week because the defense is going to give up at least 30.
 
Offense should be better, defense is still hurting with no pass rush and no secondary to make up for that, still have a head coach that has not shown he can have team ready to play in games we should win.
 
black and gold apex said:
Offense should be better, defense is still hurting with no pass rush and no secondary to make up for that, still have a head coach that has not shown he can have team ready to play in games we should win.
Click to expand...

But other than that they are doing great.
 
Steelers are currently ranked #7 on NFL.com's power rankings.
 
jdell said:
Steelers are currently ranked #7 on NFL.com's power rankings.
Click to expand...

With a GREAT draft we easily could jump up to the top 5. :)
 
Not sure where I rank my expected 9-7 with a tough schedule.

As I've said all along there are so many teams in this "group" that could be anywhere from 8-8 to 11-5 (or even 12-4) that are really pretenders and not contenders. I think under the leadership of Colbert and Tomlin this team has turned from a contender into a pretender.

That doesn't mean we're "bad". There are a lot of poorly run franchises out there with no quarterback that act like they're good. Our stability and QB should guarantee us 8-8 just because 1/3 the league is being run by monkeys (not racist, I swear).

That's why I'm so critical of 8-8 and missing the playoffs with this group. How is that even possible when you look around the league and see all the totally inept decisions being made? How is that possible when teams are spending like "this is the year" when they have quarterbacks like Matt Cassel and Geno Smith and Ryan Tannehill and are in the same division as Tom ******* Brady?

Christ.... my 8-year old son with 3 months training could do a better job than some of these GM's. What a bunch of horse manure.

We are what we are. Flawed. Holes. Good offense. Hope for the right run at the right time. But a great team? That's laughable.
 
deljzc said:
Not sure where I rank my expected 9-7 with a tough schedule.

As I've said all along there are so many teams in this "group" that could be anywhere from 8-8 to 11-5 (or even 12-4) that are really pretenders and not contenders. I think under the leadership of Colbert and Tomlin this team has turned from a contender into a pretender.

That doesn't mean we're "bad". There are a lot of poorly run franchises out there with no quarterback that act like they're good. Our stability and QB should guarantee us 8-8 just because 1/3 the league is being run by monkeys (not racist, I swear).

That's why I'm so critical of 8-8 and missing the playoffs with this group. How is that even possible when you look around the league and see all the totally inept decisions being made? How is that possible when teams are spending like "this is the year" when they have quarterbacks like Matt Cassel and Geno Smith and Ryan Tannehill and are in the same division as Tom ******* Brady?

Christ.... my 8-year old son with 3 months training could do a better job than some of these GM's. What a bunch of horse manure.

We are what we are. Flawed. Holes. Good offense. Hope for the right run at the right time. But a great team? That's laughable.
Click to expand...

How many "great" teams are in this league...? You cant fill half a hand with the number..........i really dont think there is a great team. The Seattles, New Englands, Broncos.....all have flaws and are beatable by 80% of the league. So IMO the gap between us and those teams is a couple plays.........a couple mistakes on both sides of the ball cost us two games we should have won (Tampa and NY).

So while we arent great, we arent bad or even average considering we had 4 teams with records better than ours. I think some of you forget this team regained its seat at the top of the division (champions) winning 8 of its last 10 games.
 
I would call the Steelers at this juncture a very unbalanced team. They have a potent offense that has the potential to light up the scoreboard with an explosive passing game and the most versatile running back in the league who can hurt you not only on the ground but catching the ball and gaining yards. But, and there is a but to this statement. They still have not proven to be an efficient red zone offense and until that happens they will have the potential to bean explosive offense. You must score TD's on most of your trips within the red zone in today's NFL.

The defense is full of question marks. The DL holds promise with youngsters Tuitt and Big Dan and has solid players with veteran's Hayward and McClendon. But there is no quality depth an that's a problem. LB'ers we're fine with veteran Timmons who has been consistent over the years and there is promise with Shazier with good depth in Spence and Williams and possibly Zumwalt. But and there is always a but, we have a huge question mark with Jarvis Jones. If he fails to live up to expectations we're in big trouble here since these edge rushers are the heart and soul of this defense. Moats on the other side will have to hold that spot down most likely with James Harrison until we get a replacement ready to go. I assuming that guy will be our first round pick whomever that is. We have no depth at OLB. Very troubling situation with the edge rushers on this team. CB's also have huge question marks. Cortez just like Jarvis just has to come through this year or we're screwed. The other side will most likely be Will Gay who I like much better as the nickel back but we have no choice. I would assume we draft a CB in round 1 or 2 depending on what we do with the OLB position. Comes down to who is there at 22 or do we move up or even down to acquire additional pick. Depth right now is suspect after losing McCain. We have Blake, C.W Webb but need another CB for depth. Very surprised we let Robinson and Moore exit without a contract. This position is very suspect and actually worse at this point than last season. Safety is no better. Troy will be gone, Mitchell is still a question mark and we'll have to wait and see if the groin injury really did hold him back last year. Shamarko is a huge question mark but we also have Will Allen who has been steady. This is also a possibility for a high draft pick as well.

So in summary this team is unbalanced with a potentially explosive and dynamic offense that must get past the hurdle of their red zone trouble and a defense mired with question marks and lack of depth.
 
Last edited:
I do like the addition of Williams, but the loss of McCain makes us very thin at a weak position. The loss of Woridls hurts, and if Harrison does not come back, we went backwards as a team.

The Steelers were ranked 29th in cap space. It seems we can never make a move because Tomlin and Colbert keep past their prime expensive veterans, and over pay for guys like Allen, Mitchell and Worilds.
 
stillwright said:
With a GREAT draft we easily could jump up to the top 5. :)
Click to expand...
I'm trying to think of a great draft we've had in the past 8 years. Somebody help me out here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top