Offseason Thoughts

Anything is possible.....but the Steelers used him so little that they may as well have sent a courier over to the other team with a note saying run play coming, watch where D Watt goes. It gave me that impression that he was there to help keep TJ happy and every now and then, they felt the requirement to get him on the field. 3 years with the Steelers, 9 rushes, 8 passes, total of 48 yards (22/26). 4 years with the Chargers, 19 rushes, 13 passes, total of 201 yards (49/152). So his stats were similar with the Chargers. Ironically, his catch rate for the Chargers was 76.9% and 100% with the Steelers for a career total of 85.7%.....for comparison, DJ has a career total of 61.2%, Antonio Brown is at 50% even, and Hines Ward is at 64.2%. I know that the pass plays that Derek was involved with were more likely dump offs with a higher percentage chance of being caught than what the WR usually gets......but maybe he should have been a WR instead of a FB? lol

 

Does someone need attention today

Ok everybody group hug for DJ18

 

Connor Heyward is currently holding a roster spot. He plays the FB, HB, and TE positions. If it makes some sort of difference, he is also Cam's younger brother.

When the offense already needs OL starters and depth and a reliable QB, but let's bring in another FB. hrrrrmm

 

Steelers like to keep it all in the family. Bring back Watt!! He is one of the most dominant FBs of this generation.

 

That's funny!

 

I agree. He got a raw deal the first time around. He should have asked to switch to ILB. He probably would have been a good thumper.

 

Do the Steelers ever draft a player we hear “the Steelers are in love with”

 

Raw deal my ass he got $9.75M over 3 years to play special teams rather than being unemployed

Did you notice all of the other teams bidding on him when he was let go

This is as bad as the “Mason got a raw deal bull****”

 

Raw deal from a playing time perspective. Not many teams bid on him because nobody uses Fullbacks anymore and certainly not ones that expensive.

 

Honestly Jaylen Warren and Najee can play FB for each other in 2 back sets. With them both being able to run and catch it would really add another element to the offense.

 

I thought the idea of having a two back set was to give each one a break and not run the wheels off. I would think the last thing you would want is for both of them to take even more punishment.

 

So if “nobody uses fullbacks anymore” and the Steelers did the same all the while paying him a bundle how is that a raw deal playing time wise

 

For half a game until they were toast

 

I was just hoping that we’d bring back a Dan Kreider type of fullback who would bust it up in there as a lead blocker. Heyward is fine for the H-back stuff

 

I don't see them dropping Peterson or Kazee right now because of depth. At corner, Sullivan, Pierre, and Wallace are all free agents, leaving them with JPJ, Peterson, and Trice. Killebrew and Riley are both UFAs at safety, leaving Kazee and Thompson backing up Minkah and Neal. Of course, the dynamic can change depending on the draft and any FA signings they make.

To that point, the team is currently $16M over the cap. Okorafor and Robinson are almost surely gone, saving $18.75M. I think it possible they keep Trubisky unless they swap him out for another eligible veteran QB at the same pay grade, like a Brisset/Taylor/Tannehill. They'll want some veteran starter presence in that room and we also don't know if Mason will be part of the equation. So I call it a wash where cap projections are concerned.

I think next year's starting center will be had in the draft, so Cole and his $4.75M is likely cut. This would bring the total saved to $23.5M, ~$7.5M under the cap. There are other moves that could be made (extend Heyward with void years, extend Watt, e.g,) to create more room, but I don't know if signing L'Jarius Sneed is in the works. Sneed is one of the top CBs on the market and will easily command north of $16M/year. It's out of the mold for the org to make a splash signing like that, and it would continue to rack the spending up on the defensive side of the ball, where they need to get a bit younger and cheaper.

(Looked it up and I think Drue Tranquil is the LB you're thinking of. Fine mid-level signing IMO if they choose to go there.)

RT, C, and CB to me are the top positional needs, with ILB and DL not far behind. The draft has depth with OT, but CB talent projects to drop off earlier than normal. That's not to say a good talent can't be found in the middle rounds, but they're going to have to bring in a mid-level vet on top of retaining Peterson to ensure the top three CB spots are covered while they see what have in Trice and a possible draft pick this year.

Most mocks have a solid OT or CB prospect available at the 20th pick. The more I see the more I like Fuaga, but that appears so for others as well, as many now have him going ahead of the Steelers' pick. Mims would be another top option, and often projected to the Steelers. For corner at that pick I'm centered mostly on Arnold, Wiggins, or McKinstry, hard to say if any of them will still be there (current mocks are 50/50 on Wiggins, McKinstry normally falls). DeJean was a playmaking machine, but I'm not sold on him replicating that as an NFL CB - safety, perhaps.

The Steelers should be able to pick up a good center in the second. I really like Powers-Johnson, but his current tweener draft projection (sitting between the the Steelers' first and second picks) makes it hard to see him a pick unless they work a trade. Van Pran and Frazier should be there in the second; Frazier has grown on me as this year's C prospect who may not possess top-line physical traits but still finds a way to dominate his assignments.

Agree with you on Wilson, but am wary of the injury history. I really like Cooper at ILB, but he's not making it past the second. Wilson could slide a bit as others also weigh the injuries and could be a good pick up in the third, definitely in the fourth.

 

jpj

 

Ok I’ll give you that one

One

And I’m thinking that was sort of a unique situation

 

kenny?

 

Not so much on the in love part

Sure they watched him every day

 

My offseason thought: Everyone who wants to blather on incessantly about 9-8, 9-8, 9-8, blah blah, 9-8... as if it's the goal of Mike T and the team...please do it now, so that I don't have to read your boring, annoying, posts all next season. I want to enjoy our run to the playoffs. Thank you in advance.

 

Nobody has done this other than a few trolls

But nice rant

And unfortunately they will be here next season that is what they live for

 

I thought Tomlin was in love with Malik. I still think there was a good chance that he would have been the Steelers pick in the first round had Pickett already been off the board. Can you imagine the blowback on that?

 

Another money stealer.

 

It’s good work if you can get it

I no longer do anything productive for society and yet every month both the state and federal governments put lots of money in my bank account just like clockwork

So for those of you who still work and pay taxes I thank you

 

I would have thought the Steelers would not go for a top tier CB in FA as well but they were supposedly the front runner to trade for Chicagos FA during the season. If that was indeed true then it leads me to believe they may be alot more aggressive in pursuing high pedigree FA’s. I know they are really light at Cb right now but to me keeping Peterson just for the sake of keeping him for depth purposes is a mistake. He clearly has lost a step and can’t play on the outside at CB. He really sin’t a fit to transition to Safety or Slot because he isn’t a good tackler. I would much rather cut him and go big in FA.

If we want to fill our top three needs at C, RT and CB I think were going to have to fill one of those positions in FA. I don’t think the draft is deep enough based on where we sit in our draft position to fill all three of those needs in the draft alone. They are now projecting Seattle to take Power-Johnson before us in the first. Frazier is projected to go early second so it may be tough to get a quality Center unless we maneuver a little bit in the draft. The CB’s are fairly deep it appears but does that mean their will eb arun on them early as a result? The better situation may be to pick up a FA Center and draft a RT and CB in 1 and 2. We would probably have to go RT 1st and CB second. The thing is there could be a run on CB’s in early second. I feel like we are really going to have move up into early second too get two quality players in this draft regardless of wether it is a C or CB we are looking for. The Tackles will go early they always do. I feel like Mims will probably be there just based on his limited experience and injury history.

With that all being said I feel like it is highly unlikely we get any quality ILB’s or Safeties or WR’s in the draft unless we get lucky on one in the mid to late rounds. The issue is this draft appears to be a little light in caliber of players in the mid to late rounds. If we can mimic what we did last year that would be fantastic.