moats

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/0...-radar-could-post-double-digit-sacks-in-2015/

I agree. I think this guy is getting forgotten about as a replacement for worilds. I think he will play very well for us this year.

 

I agree too. He was in the backfield a lot this year. I was actually hoping he'd get more playing time than he did.

 

I have absolute confidence that Moats will hit ten sacks if he plays 16 games.

When he does it will beg the question: "Why didn't Moats start over Worilds or especially Jones?"

 

I haven't seen enough of him to say for sure, but I could see him being an 8-10 sack guy, if he played full time. But I could also see him coming in at 4-6 sacks. In any case, he can play both sides, and plays hard, so we're lucky to have him at a cheap price.

 

9.75 million reasons why he didn't start over worilds.

 

I think we saw what Worilds could do in 2013, when he went on a tear the second half of the season. He seemed a little held back in 2014, which hurt his numbers. He'd never be worth $10M (not many are) but unlike you, I would have been satisfied with him as a long-term starter at LOLB... So long as we had someone awesome over at ROLB. I think you've said before he's more of a Robin than a Batman. When it comes to what we expect in Pittsburgh, I agree.

 

I too would've been fairly happy with Worilds as a long term starter. He was a decent player who could get hot at times and put up great numbers in a small sample size. Was never consistent enough to be a star, but was definitely a solid starter. He wasn't worth the transition tag money, but it was a gamble worth taking at the time. I feel that he was undervalued because he was given the big dollars he wasn't worth, but if he was a 5mil a year guy, more people would've been very happy with him

I like Moats enough, but I have a hard time envisioning him as a double digit sack type of guy. I'm thinking around 6 or 7... Which I'd be totally happy with for him. I think he is a stop gap starter anyways, but someone you love to have on your team as a back up. I hope he proves me wrong and goes on a tear, but I don't see it happening.

 

to add to this I think moats career has been similar to worilds in that he was held back some in buffalo. different schemes and different positions. with him back at his natural and best position and a year under his belt here, I believe he can very well become a good OLB for us. he's got the size and mental drive it seems of a player that is truly happy where he is and wants to build on it. he is talented and with JH and some good coaching as models for him he will succeed in a bigger way than first thought by most here. I'm glad he's back.

 

I agree with all of this.

This too!

Someone asked, "Why didn't Moats start over Worilds?" Besides the obvious answer of Worilds being in our system for 4 years, coming off a season where he finished as one of the best in the game, making big money and us needing to see if we should continue to pay him, and being a proven player..... besides all that, Moats was brand new to us, and his history wasn't anything to go off of. DE in college, Mostly ILB in Buffalo. Or was it OLB in a 4-3? I don't remember, but it sure wasn't helpful to us. The guy wasn't just new to the team, he was new to his whole job. He played well when he saw the field, but it's a big leap to assume he'd have outplayed Worilds, given the chance.

But yeah mac, maybe with a year under his belt, he'll show the world he's just a late bloomer that needed the right fit. It happens sometimes. If he could turn into a starter-quality player, that would be huge for us.

 

Prediction: Moats will lead the OLB's in sacks, fumbles recovers, and quarterback hurries.

 

This may very well be true. And if it is, I predict we don't have a very good defense.

 

I was glad when they signed Moats. Still untapped potential. Solid. He will hold the fort until a young gun is ready.

Worilds was held back to the lack of confidence in coverage.

 

I believe butler will use Timmons in a way that we won't have to depend on just the OLB'ers to have to lead the team with 12-15 sacks each.

we have two good pass rushing DE's (tuitt-heyward). we should have 3 good pass rushing OLB'ers in a rotation (JH-JJ-moats). Timmons is a beast when used to blitz up the middle. the trouble was we got away from using him that way and had to have him in pass coverage. now hopefully comes spence, shazier, and VW to help with coverage (and yes vince looked better in year two than year one in coverage). we get Timmons back doing what he's really good at rushing into the qb's face to go along with two good DE's and three pretty good OLB'ers and it could be a good formula to increase pressure and sacks. all this helps our d-backfield. butler wanted to blitz more he said, I am pretty certain we will see more sacks from this group this year. we don't have to just rely on the OLB'ers to get all the sacks as we have in the past.

 

I believe moats will be the most important cog in the wheel of this defense getting better.

 

Moats is important, yes, but my vote goes to Tuitt. Not only does he keep Cam Thomas off the field, but he should be stronger and more effective in year 2. We all know how our LB's played behind Smith-Hampton-Keisel.

I am excited for Moats; I think we see him match Worilds production from last year at a minimum.

 

I nvr have and prob nvr will ,like the JJ pick,.. any one with @sackmaster95, ,or somthing like that on twitter.. is a poser in my books..

 

Very true and 3 million more than I think he was worth. We heard he was less effective in 2014 because of scheme and having him in more pass protection than going after the QB. I call BS

He got man handled far too much to be considered elite and being paid elite money

 

APPLAUSE!

 

Lets see what he can do on a regular basis?
As the article said, not much playing time for his career. Why is that, besides economics?

 

Playing out of position behind the established starters.

He's wearing Peezy's number....We can dream right?

 

why was pretty simple while at buffalo. if I remember the whole scenario it went like: he was a DE in college and buffalo switched schemes something like 3 times when he was there and bounced back and forth between 3 different DC's during his time there. they bounced him from inside to outside backer in 3-4's and 4-3's and he never really learned one position like he should have. he was then moved back to OLB in a 3-4 and started playing better and then they went back to a 4-3. now he's back in a 3-4 at OLB where he should be and we are well established as a 3-4 team with a year in our system under his belt. he should become very useful in this system. he had 4 sacks as a part time player last year. worilds had 7.5. I think full time moats can do that plus. JH and JJ could alternate at the other side keeping JH fresh for the long season. we could also spell moats from time to time with either guy or whomever else we have at the position. (lemon or whomever). I don't think we are in near as bad of shape there as some think.