Do you have confidence in Steelers GM Kevin Colbert to get team back into the playoffs?

i didn't wanted to say it first . but this is what i think too

 

Let me get this straight. Even though Colbert has put together 3(THREE) teams that made it to the Super Bowl he isn't capable of doing it again. Is that what you think?

 

Colbert got here with a coach that was pretty good at picking and one heck of a scouting staff and a decent team in place. it's not like he built those 3 SB teams on his own, but we have gone the other way since he and tomlin have been picking and losing players and the scouting department has not been very good since he's assembled it.

 

we have no idea yet about last years draft. JJ wasn't as good as advertised. wheaton did nothing. shamarko got hurt but was marginal as a rookie. Williams went to the IR to keep him around and was more of a project. brown was on the PS. hawthorne never made the first game. landry was a decent depth pick. Williams did get better as he went. bell did well. not a lot of guys he's drafted with MT still here.

 

we have very little idea how last years draft will be as I said. is his whole career here based on last years draft? surely you jest.

 

I did like last years draft, of course it wasn't a draft of a lot of playmakers. JJ wasn't my first choice. remember elam was my guy. the starter all season for the ravens. I liked shamarko but he wasn't my top pick. I think we did ok on paper. is that what you want to hear BF?

go back to when MT and Colbert started picking together. we don't have a lot of stellar picks still here or starting for us. it's pretty easy to pick 1st rounders though. we have two full drafts within the last 5 years that no player may be here from. we did pick up some role players last year but as I said last year not a lot of playmakers. I don't think MT and Colbert are a good talent picking duo.

 

Never thought that picking defensive players was Colbert's strong suit. This team needs defensive restocking. Maybe they get lucky again like I think they did last year [like macdaddyo said looks promising but really very unproven].

Uh! If the early big boards of several reliable draft sites is correct then there are a whole lot of OLB's out there. The #11 ranked by position is listed as the #117 best player overall. Should be a lot of value there. In case Worilds goes [hopefully] let's see if they can come up with some real players.

And yes, I agree that DeCastro and Heyward are right at the top in the leauge but that is not enough. The 60's teams had a fair share of HOF players and well take a look at how that worked out.

 

Originally Posted by mac daddyo
nope. playoffs maybe but that's not what I want to see. I want a team that's capable of winning in the playoffs, not just making them. two 8-8 seasons, with still a lot of question marks all over the team. the north shouldn't be that hard to win though. I don't want to back in on a technicality. I don't have a lot of faith in MT and Colbert picking players, keeping players, or getting rid of players.




freakfontana said "i didn't wanted to say it first . but this is what i think too."

I also agree.

What I am basing it on is--- actually I have been singing the same tune for quite a few years now.

I am talking about the legacy of Kirkland - Farrior and Steed - Hampton and Lloyd - Porter - and Harrison etc. Since 2007 have any of these players been replaced? Well Farrior was replaced with Larry Foote who did a decent job but he was drafted in the early 2000's. Even the legacy of Green, Gildon, Haggans, and Woodley has not been continued. Has there been a comparable replacement for any of these players in the past 7 years? And shortly 3 of the secondary will be needing replacing. Troy Ike and Ryan Clark are getting along.

Someone said that at least they are 8-8 and some minor tweaks will correct that. They also said it isn't like they are 4-12 or 3-13 or something. No they aren't but they are working on it. And mind you all this with a truly premier QB.

 

I need to disentangle this a bit, because I think I see what you're saying, but don't completely agree. You're saying there hasn't been a comparable replacement for Lamar Woodley drafted in the last 7 years... but Woodley was drafted 7 years ago. So why would you draft a replacement? Even though, we drafted Jason Worilds.

Hamtpon's replacement - we're maybe not there yet. Ta'amu didn't work out for non-football reasons. McClendon was developing nicely. We've also drafted Cam Heyward on the DL, who is turning into a monster.

This is also the first time I think I've ever seen "the legacy of Clark Haggans" mentioned before, but there you go.

True, we need to develop the secondary, particularly at Safety, but it's difficult for any player to do that from the bench. And there will never be another Troy Polamalu.

In short: I think we can get too hung up about "replacing" the guys we know from the perspective of their entire career, when we do, in fact, have a stock of players in the early stages of their career whose names just aren't that familiar yet, and for that reason aren't seen as part of our "tradition". Granted, perhaps not enough of those guys yet. But to say we've not replaced them is a bit unfair to judge at this point.

 

A decent team in place? If I remember correctly they were a sub 500 team for the two years prior to Colbert arriving. Up until he came on the scene the only thing cowher was able to do was make the playoffs and lose. Je didn't win a SB until Colbert haf been on the job for 5 years. It seems to me you're not giving Colbert anywhere near enough credit.

 

Originally Posted by mac daddyo
Colbert got here with a coach that was pretty good at picking and one heck of a scouting staff and a decent team in place. it's not like he built those 3 SB teams on his own, but we have gone the other way since he and tomlin have been picking and losing players and the scouting department has not been very good since he's assembled it.




strummerfan said "A decent team in place? If I remember correctly they were a sub 500 team for the two years prior to Colbert arriving. Up until he came on the scene the only thing cowher was able to do was make the playoffs and lose. Je didn't win a SB until Colbert haf been on the job for 5 years. It seems to me you're not giving Colbert anywhere near enough credit."

In Colbert's 1st couple years they added Hampton, K. Bell, Hartings, and Farrior just for starters. Numerous other very fine players. His track record has been truly great. Santonio Holmes, Troy, Ike, Miller just to mention a few and even lately his top picks are outstanding. Yet now something seems wrong.

Maybe it is a question of prioritys. It seems every year they talk themselves out of the best up front player and the best ILB etc. and well now the D is having a lot of problems. You just don't win a lot of games with a bottom tier defense.

I suppose if you look hard enough you can see the reasons for all the optimism. But the 8-8 did include the two Cleveland gimmies and the GB donation. How often has this team beaten a top notch QB in recent years?

 

The jury is still out. Wheaton rarely saw the field and Jarvis Jones really hasn't shown anything.

 

I wouldn't say this is great success. 2 - 8-8 seasons and limped into the playoffs with a 12-4 year before that. we were not that good by the end of that season. 6 years of these two drafting and this is what we are talking about. talk about polishing a turd.

 

oh please, can you really say we were good enough going into Denver that year to win it all? sure if your in it you have a chance, but you know we were not that good at that point. tim tebow, c'mon. those 3 SB's were a lifetime ago and very few of our players now contributed to them.

 

We didn't have Clark. Kiesel and Hampton were knocked out pretty early. Wasn't Troy gimping along with an Achilles issue? Woodley was banged up as well(surprise).

 

and we still don't have them at SB playing shape as we did back when we were last in one. who are their replacements that even remotely are in their category?

that's a lot of draft picks ago and we have a handful of players out of those drafts and nobody at these guys level. they were getting older back then and we are still trying to count on them without playmaking replacements. we are in a hole, and if you can't see that you are blind.

 

I'm fully aware the problems that the Steelers are facing, but that isn't the subject at hand. Is Colbert capable of putting together a championship caliber team. He's done it 3 times already so the odds are good he can do it again. Will they? Who knows. It's possible that the Steelers never win another one. Like it or not drafting in the bottom half for 13 years has a negative affect on your roster. If you can't see that then you're blind.

You can go ahead and try to make it sound like replacing the Aaron Smiths, Hampton's, Harrisons et al is easy, but it isn't by any stretch of the imagination.