I don’t completely disagree, but if it’s all about coaching and schemes then what is the point of even bringing up our players ineptitudes?…and there have been plenty of those discussions.
Both QB’s have deficiencies.
Najee is too slow, can’t shoot the gap. Poor vision.
Moore is a turnstile.
Player X is a good run blocker but a bad pass blocker.
Minkah has disappeared.
Neither Austin or Williams are legit #2 receivers.
Warren fumbles too often.
Broderick Jones a disappointment so far.
Pickens takes plays off.
I probably missed a couple.
Then on the flip side we rave about only a few players…Watt, Muth, Heyward, Highsmith, Herbig… they’re good not because they’re coached well (remember our coaching is bad), they’re good because they’re good.
I believe when teams draft they look for the best, most talented players. Not players they think will be the easiest to coach up.
You can have GREAT players, or even GOOD players on your team and be a bad team. Case in point, the Lions several years ago. Is there ANY argument on the planet that Calvin Johnson isn't one of the greatest WR ever? Was Stafford a horrible QB? And yet, they went 0-16. The Eagles are a talented team, but I wouldn't say the talent gap between the Eagles and Steelers is ALL that great. Sure there are spots, RB for example that they are clearly ahead of us. QB is another one. And we do have holes to fill, but we have TALENT. What we don't have is a coaching staff that puts OUR talent in the best position to consistently win.
You bring up Minkah as a great example. Tomlin is so scared of the "big splash plays" that the SCHEME has him playing 30 yards off the LOS. With how Minkah was playing his first few years with us, is that to his strengths? We traded up for a raw but talented LEFT TACKLE, but because Moore literally can't play on the right side, Tomlin forces Jones to the right. It's not his natural position. He did the same thing to Dotson, and look at him now. I disagree that Williams isn't a WR2, he never got the chance to prove it. He is certainly better than Van Jefferson was, but he got a quarter of the snaps.
The reason you bring up player ineptitudes as you put it, is you have to fit the scheme to the players strengths, negate their weaknesses as much as possible. We don't do that. We have our system and our system never changes. The inevitable square peg round hole analogy.
You even heard the announcers talking about it during the Super Bowl. Kellen Moore was known as a more pass happy OC, but he adjusted to the players he had and the Eagles became more run oriented. They have MASSIVE O-linemen, one of the top two backs in the league, and a QB that can run. Scheming to players strengths. And when you do that, the players buy in, and play hard, and the result is positive.
There are reports coming out now that not everyone on the Steelers buys into the offensive and defensive schemes or gameplans, that is HUGE!!
Look at when the Steelers really started to struggle under Tomlin. What were the changes made? He came in to a situation where we already had an offensive system with a HOF DC running one of the greatest defensive schemes every created and all he had to do was manage. As soon as he started getting his hands into the O and D and changing things, the success went away. And as the more talented players left, the glaring holes and weaknesses in the schemes started to show more and more.
