Interesting little blurb on Boykin and

This is exactly what I would expect to happen. A FA signing at either CB or S could change it a little, but I think this is the direction we should and will go.

 

How does anyone trust Blake though? That is my point.

Even if he understands his role and positioning he is still going to allow the catch and miss the tackle.

The whole premise of the Steelers secondary has been to play off the receiver and make the tackle before the first down marker. Blake can not do that. He is a terrible fit. Boykin can do that. He was a good fit.

You can't measure trust. The Steelers might as well have said "We felt Blake was a lucky player and we wanted some more luck in the secondary."

I visually saw that Boykin was a decent corner and that Blake is a very poor corner. The play on the field is measurable. That is why as a fan I trusted Boykin and distrusted Blake.

At the end of the season I was saying "I think the Steelers have a chance if they play Boykin. The defense has been so much better with him in. If they start Blake we are ****ed. God, why do they keep playing Blake?"

No one else thought that? I'm sure I'm not the only one.

 

I'm assuming it was a mental trust issue. I'm not even saying that this whole thing is true. A "trust issue" can be made up just like any other issue. IF the coaches didn't trust Boykin mentally then I can at least understand why he wasn't playing. Then Blake performed poorly and Boykin saw the field finally. To discount trust as a viable possibility is just as ignorant as discounting the possibility the whole thing could be made up.

No, you can't measure trust... But if a player doesn't have it, then the shouldn't be playing (and won't play). It's like watching a RB put the ball on the turf in practice all week then you have a choice whether or not to play him during the game. You're not going to play him because you don't trust him to hold on to the ball. Trust isn't measurable but it is tangible all the same.

I kinda saw the same thing. I saw Blake as a poor corner, but I almost didn't even notice Boykin out there. He was okay, but nothing special. Blake's performance made it necessary to make the change tho, whether the coaches trusted him or not. They made the change. Idk why this is even still an issue

 

It's still an issue because the same process of talent evaluation will be in place next season.

There is a better chance of Blake returning than Boykin which is absurd.

I never said Boykin was special. But he was the best corner the Steelers had other than Gay. And the Steelers badly need help at the position.

Boykin did play very well for it being his first year. Cockrell and Mitchell both had worse first years by a fair margin.

 

It was apparently said by the coaches that Boykin "didn't get it" I don't consider that made up nonsense if that was actually said.
Some of the reasons posted here and on other social media outlets as to why Boykin wasn't playing are nothing more than speculation.

 

here's a theory, maybe he didn't get it because it was not taught properly. we have been having a secondary discussion for several years now. the owner wants it fixed. is it a player only problem? that has yet to be determined. as a coach saying my players don't get it is a reflection on me. i can see maybe one guy here and there not getting it but multiple players every year seems to send a message that something goes deeper than the talent level. why are so many not living up to expectation?

 

By paragraph...

1. Idk that talent evaluation is the problem. The guys in place now are the ones who have drafted ultra talented guys like Bell, Brown, Pouncey, Timmons, Shazier, Heyward, Tuitt, Decastro, Gilbert, Beachum and Bryant. They've also brought in quality players like bringing back Gay from AZ and Harrison from CIN. Also signed Mitchell from CAR. Also made moves like Velasco, Wallace, Cockrell, McCain and Moats that have been relatively successful for us. The fact is that they got it wrong and fixed it before the season was over. Nobody is going to bat a thousand.

2. Money and value. They dont have a better chance of keeping Blake because he is a better player, but because he will be much cheaper and will play a different role than Boykin would. Grab a core ST with starting experience as a back up for the minimum or overpay an okay slot corner. They might have different ideas with that money.

3. True statement. I believe they will be getting help at the position. It will come via FA and/or draft.

4. Yeah he played fine. I think we can do better than Boykin for the money tho. I would've liked to see Boykin against better QB's tho to see if his influence on the secondary was because he is good or just because we went up against bad QB's while he was in. It would give us a better judgement of his play. It was a small sample size too. Mitchell had a bad first year, but that was injury related. This was Cockrells first real starting experience. Boykin already had plenty of experience on the field in Philly. A little different imo. It doesn't make your statement untrue tho.

 

But that's nothing more than credentialing. The only people to be believed are Steelers officials. And even then they don't have the same story.

-The Rooneys are publicly calling for secondary improvements while Tomlin says the secondary is fine.

- Gay says there is no difference to inside CB vs outside CB only to be contradicted by Tomlin

-Butler says that Boykin was too small to play outside but that a much smaller Golson will be given a chance... he can't even agree with himself.

“I was up to speed in training camp,” Boykin said. “I knew all the calls and knew the defense and was able to play. Whatever their decision was for not getting me any snaps wasn't because they thought I didn't know the defense. It is out of your control."

So... an article in the Tribune from Sept. 14 quotes Boykin as saying he knew the defense from the start.

It's possible Boykin didn't know the defense as well as he thought he did. Why would the Steelers have brought in a 1 year rental they thought wouldn't understand the defense?

It's also possible Butler is covering his ass or Tomlin's ass which is the same thing.

 

One Boykin story I remember hearing on Cooler Talk was that he couldn't "keep his feet" in practice. Does anyone remember him falling down a lot in games? Seems like that was a PPG quote about the balance thing. People were calling in every week angry about seeing Blake torched again and Boykin not on the field as much as they would like.

 

I hadn't seen those comments by Boykin. Maybe there is more to the story?
I just really have a hard time believing in the theory that the reasons for Boykin not playing are the difference in giving up a fourth or a fifth round draft pick. No way you hurt the team over something as trivial as that.

 

I think that was part of it. I think it was a few issues. I also found a quote from when Boykin was signed that Tomlin's favorite thing about Boykin was his "above the neck play" and his attention to detail. The Steelers seemed really high on Boykin's football intelligence.

I think it might just be all chalked up to Tomlin's favoritism. I know he loves Gay. Gay is going to be put ahead of anyone in the slot.

I think he likes Blake too. I don't know why or how. It doesn't make sense. I expect Blake to return even though he is terrible.

It's so frustrating. How did Jonathon Scott get a 2nd year? How did Cam Thomas? I expect Thomas to be re-signed too. At least Mahan only got 1 year.

 

Seems like I've read the reason that Tomlin likes Blake was that he thought he had a good work ethic. I'm guessing most opposing coaches probably liked him even more than Tomlin though. LOL!

 

They don't have to be high profile like Josh Norman, guys like Janoris Jenkins, Sean Smith, and Trumaine Johnson could be targets.

 

Those Rams corners are young and will be long term additions to a team.

 

I was at the Steelers/Bills preseason game. Boykin had a sure INT and fell down. Having said that, I honestly don't recall it being a problem during the games.

 

Blake was so bad the Staff should have tried anyone in his place .The WR'S that played DB'S in the Pro bowl looked 10 times better than Blake did ..As most have stated he damn sure couldn't tackle and he was always getting burned so a LB who could tackle would have been better.