O-Line

http://www.steelers.com/news/articl...ffseason/764effc6-ec2c-479f-9a8e-a88f356ce872

glad to see this. what we or I have been hoping for. let the gelling begin.

 

It has taken us a couple of years of higher draft picks but I think this line will get better and better. This will also prolong Ben's career!

 

steelers depot says gilbert started at Left Tackle today and adams on the right side.

beachum was used as the 2nd center.

 

:mod:

we're gonna have to send a man in undercover.:mod:

 

I totally, completely, and utterly HATE it when people say stuff like this, but after seeing the team get its crap together, it feels like an 8-8 season might be just what we needed.

I hate that thought because what it essentially means is that our team (at least a lot of it) has been half-assing it. But they have, and admitting it and resolving to not do it anymore is a good thing. I just hope it lasts more than one season.

 

the leaders we had on the o-line in prior years were not workout warriors. it showed hanging over their belts and as the seasons went on. i'm glad max and colon are gone, hopefully these young guys take it on their shoulders to work hard and improve. they could be really good.

 

good to hear about foster getting in better shape. when colon and max were the leaders of the unit their workout was a bar-b-que and pizza party. the casey hampton diet. foster went to 350 lbs.. wow! no wonder he couldn't pull to the left. sounds like he listed to the left a little maybe.

as i've been preaching for years now, mobility and smarts. i am so glad we have gotten rid of the dead weight. SD and NY can deal with it now. bring ferrell and long and golic and ebernate and malecki and beachum and hubbard and cheadle and madsen along and lets right this ship finally. i'm so sick of how max saved us. Bullchit.

 

it definately has alot to do with the injuries. i for one can't wait to see them come mid season if they stay healthy. it could make for such a more efficient offense and one that will make defenses guess. that's an offense old #7 can do some damage in. alot will depend on heath too.

 

You would think, that these men would live in the weight room? Most of them
do not even look like athletes or have the mobility of a world class athlete? As I have said
in previous threads, If I am the OL coach and your not putting up 225/ 30 times
by the time we get to ST Vincents I want to know why. We can not have our OL MANHANDLED
by opposing teams it just can't happen. Rooney's should have fired the strength and conditioning coach also.

 

i'd rather have them just working together. they know how to train by this point in their football lives as far as weight training.

max or colon or kemoeatu or foster or gilbert were not much in the way of leaders and workout warriors at all. it showed. the first thing foster and gilbert said was they needed to lose some weight for this year,so why did they not have this revilation before this? when your leaders don't do it why should the young guys be any different? i believe that all changes this year.

foster better get fit because he has alot of young guys wanting his spot. i also remember pouncey getting on gilberts butt his rookie year for being out of shape.

 

Mac, they need to get stronger and faster and yes they need to gel, nobody is doubting that. I am afraid Gilbert will be a disappointment and we cannot have that protecting our 100 million dollar QB.

 

i'm alot more comfortable with him then max starks. they have a guy or two to keep an eye on for the future. ferrell and long. ebrenate and cheadle. golic and hubbard. beachum and madsen and malecki. i like our depth and i hope bicknell can make it work and these young guys have a whole different mindset then what we have had here the last several years. 40 sacks can not be tollorated.

 

Decent story on Gilbert....

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...46/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

 

Yeah, decent story indeed.

One thing that ought to make people feel more comfortable with Gilbert as our LT is to remember that throughout his career, he's only played on the right side when he was forced to. At Florida he had a left handed quarterback, and here he got put there due to injury. He's always said that he prefers the left and feels like he's better on the left. And he's been practicing there since we drafted him. Plus, although out of college we all expected him to be a better run blocker than pass protector, the opposite has become true. People underestimate him as a pass blocker because of a couple unfortunate plays. Overall he's been pretty good.

I'm not going to be watching him in the preseason games through my fingers. I'm curious and excited to see him out there.

 

he looks good in the pics of OTA's. he looks strong and solid.

 

I totally agree with your fear about Gilbert. He was the one getting manhandled before falling on more than one linemate. He was the one who fell on DeCastro that caused him to miss most of the season and that particular sequence was just brutal. Hopefully at the very least, this new emphasis on better fitness will allow Gilbert et al to miss fewer games and better play will result simply from availability. As they say, you can't make the club from the tub.

 

I just hope Gilbert will keep his eye on his feet to make sure he's not rolling up on someone's ankle and knee. Is that a problem with technique or is that just a freak accident?

 

Yea, the coaching staff should share some of the blame for letting them get fat. Hope things change in this area. I'm waiting to see what Gilbert does on the left. He was nothing special on the right. So until I see him play there, he scares the heck out of me.

 

I wrote about this early in the offseason in another thread.