Landry Jones

This has nothing on the Derek Moye thread from last year. LOL!

 

To be honest guys the only reason I threw his name out there was because I know steelersrule6 is against him being on the team. In case case I think Thigpen nailed it on the head, guy was a high draft pick, high expectations, some problems along the way and now is just labeled as a bust.

 

Bothe jones and gradkowski looked bad last preseason.Come this preseason, If no improvement then jones have to go and grad may be bumped to 3rd string

 

I knew that's where you were going with that. So many of these guys are stuck on the James Harrison fantasy. They think their guy on the practice Squad is going to be the next Harrison. The chances of that happening are very rare. But since it's happened a few times...

 

well making guys better glenn is kind of the reason for the PS, not just to give 10 guys a paycheck for nothing. 10 players per teamX32 teams is 320 players, so getting some to move up is far from a fantasy.

 

Of course making guys better is the one of the reasons Mac, but some people get so Butt-hurt if "their guy" gets cut.

Still waitng for that list of practice squad players we've cut that went on to greatness Mac?

 

I forget where I read it, but "making guys better" is not the purpose of the Practice Squad. It is extra bodies to simulate what the opponents are going to do on game day. (The article pointed out that this is the reason for the positions of the players that make up the squad.) While it is nice to see some of those guys develop, that isn't the reason they are being paid.

 

I don't believe this is 100% true. They definitely try and develop talent.

The stuff that kills me is guys lobbying to cut a guy like Cam Thomas ( I know) and at the same time crying like a child about some practice squad scrub that got cut.

 

glenn, you show me where I ever said we cut a bunch of practice squad guys we should have kept over anyone? you can twist and choose like you normally do, but I never once said that anywhere. so you can ask for a list until the cows come home, and why you keep asking me this is beyond ridiculous. really?

now if your butt hurt because I think will allen shouldn't be kept over some younger players that may or may not have a future on the team and I think can play at or above his very under achieving rate then I can give you a list.

the practice squad and futures picks are quite different too. some guys are guys the team were considering as draft picks but didn't get the opportunity to draft at that time and they became available. they must have seen something in them. we sure don't have an overabundance of sure things at safety for now or the future, so a guy like will allen is not a future at the position but a stop gap only and a very low rated one at that with the production he has shown here and anywhere else he's been.

 

Any time a GM is asked why the NFL doesn't have a farm system they respond with we do its called the practice squad. I mean we just lost a practice squad player in Mauro who performed pretty well for AZ.

 

Mauro? He played in 5 games for AZ last year. 5 tackles and one Pass defended.

 

woods, Harrison, mclendon, j.brown, Mauro, villenueva has a shot, hubbard, geathers, cj Goodwin has a shot, garvin, josh harris, blanchflower, zumwalt and many others around the league. stars? maybe not but guys that have moved up and have contributed to teams in some capacity or at least have some ability to push some guys for a spot. you just never know. we call them scrubs but even being at the PS level in the NFL means these guys are pretty decent football players in the grand scheme of things.

 

To me that's not bad for a rookie who changed teams in the middle of the season. Also AZ runs a very similar defense to ours where the DE is asked to eat up space.

 

The question never was which players have worked out for us. You're kinda making my point that the Steelers know which ones to keep.

The Question is which PS players have we cut that went on to have a great career for another team?

 

I don't know glenn. did I ever say we cut guys we should have kept?

 

Kinda, when you gripe about signing W. Allen and losing a young guy because of it.

 

really? show me that glenn.

 

When people question and criticize the decisions made by the Steelers them it's probably worthy of debate?

 

I frankly hate this signing. he's old, can't make it anywhere else and isn't that good. now he will keep any young talent off the field. oh well, same ol chit. might as well sign larry foote too. one step forward and three steps back. good old KC.

is this what you are talking about glenn? is it not true if we keep a 33 year old player that is and has been nothing more than a backup for most of his career going to keep ANY and I repeat ANY young player that may show something off the team? keeping WA around does nothing for the future of that position.

you have twisted it to be a PS player I believe we are holding on to that we should have kept and that's not the case. sorry. if we are keeping a guy for the backup role with the youth movement we have going on, I'd prefer it be a young guy with some speed and promise to get better than a washed up backup vet. will allen has preformed just OK for us nothing of a great loss if he's not here. you show Mauro's numbers but wills are nothing special to this team either. a young guy has a chance to get better and has better speed and hops than an oft injured will allen. that's all. any young guy that shows something would be a better choice. with WA taking that spot we aren't moving forward at that position.

 

I just read the whole discussion, only because I just read an article on the Post Gazette about Gardner http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...ew-recruit-Devin-Gardner/stories/201506200015 Surprisingly, even though the link is 3 days old, only 1 comment I saw that mentioned him. Perhaps another thread maybe, this is the first one I clicked on in a while, now that I'm back home with my wifi instead of 3G at the pool. Anyway, I've been resting my fingers up for the start of the season. Let me give my take on LJ: Since he does not dress for games, replacing him with some other 3rd string position would not improve the team, at all. Sure, you could argue that if he wasn't on the team, this or that guy would be in his slot. Of course, this or that guy would still have to beat out the other guys that dress for the opportunity. And that can absolutely happen with LJ holding the clipboard. The value of having a guy on the team and not the PS is he gets the opportunity to learn the playbook, should he ever be pressed into duty, without the fear of another team picking him up. How quickly we all forget a few years ago when Ben went down, then Lefty went down, the Steelers were left with Batch and Hoyer. Of course, Hoyer didn't know the playbook. So, he wasn't really any good to the team. They would have been better playing James Harrison. For this year, I agree that LJ needs to step it up in practice, and in games. Regardless of the pressure/situation around him. Now, I'm not saying he needs to play like Ben, but he needs to show something. Perhaps bringing in a guy like Gardner, who is hungry to earn a spot, could offer a serious competition. At some point, LJ's draft pick status will be a moot point. Likely that time will come when he is up for contract renewal.

 

You're right, probably not the best choice of words. I'll clarify. Claims that the Steelers are making bad decisions by hanging onto rusty crusty old veterans instead of young talent are unfounded.All I was asking for was some sort of proof that these young practice squad type players that were cut are playing so well on other Teams that it justifies such claims.

Mauro is not even close to being a legitimate argument. Now he may go on to have a solid career. But we don't know at this point.

There have been some guys that went on to do well for other teams. Can't think of his name right now, but the OL that's playing for Buffalo I believe it is. And John Kuhn up in Green Bay.
The percentage of times this happens is so small though it doesn't support the claims.

 

Mauro was also a rookie. Hell it didn't start clicking for Tuitt until week 12 or so. Mauro is going to be a starter in the league. Let's just say Baltimore would have hung onto Harrison. There are plenty of players and starters that started on the PS.

 

I just gave Landry's thread 100 posts! WHOOPEE!!! LOL!