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TE-FB

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by mac daddyo, Jun 1, 2020.

  1. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    What's the plan? How do we get all these guys on the field? McDonald, Ebron, Watt. Is Ebron just for passing downs? Is Watt just for running plays? Who sits if they are on the field? What do you think the plane are for these different types of skill sets from these guys? :cool:
     
  2. Rollers

    Rollers Well-Known Member

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    I think the plan is to score more points than the other team
     
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  3. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    Or, let the other team score less then we do. Not sure we have the coaching for both.:cool:
     
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  4. Steel Hog

    Steel Hog Well-Known Member

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    Based on the past injuries the team seems to have a variety of players that can be put in when needed or to exploit defenses as they become identified. Not sure if it was ever planned to play everyone all the time or rotating in and out throughout a game. For me, I believe Conner and Vance will miss games as usual and I feel more comfortable with who we have on the roster to minimize their absences.
     
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  5. Roonatic

    Roonatic Well-Known Member

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    Agree with Steel Hog, Watt replaces Nix, Ebron is insurance & a gift for their beloved Ben. Would love to see the playaction of 2 te sets but I don't think Ben will get out of the shotgun.
     
  6. steel machine

    steel machine Well-Known Member

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    The plan, I hope, is to just have a damn normal NFL season. So much to look forward to for Steeler fans. Will Ben make a decent return? Will our D be strong or stronger then last season? Will the damn injury bug ruin the season? Will this wonderful board love and hate Tomlin every other quarter?

    I am also very interested to see how other teams in our division do. Will Lamar be that strong again? Will the Bengals develop the talent they picked up in the draft? Will Baker bounce back? I obviously hope the answer's are NO NO and NO.

    Embarrassed to say but I am interested to see how Brady and Gronk do in the NFC where I wished they spent their whole career. I also want to see what the mighty Belicheck does with the Patriots.
     
  7. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hey mac daddyo.

    Good problem to have, huh?

    I have not given that much thought to Watt. I am not sure what he brings to the table to be honest. The way I look at it is McDonald and Ebron are set in stone as the 1-2 starters. We have lot of fire power on the O", The four WRS are going to be very good. Ben has to build chemistry fast with this team. That is why I said in another post that Ben and a bunch of our starters need to play at least one quarter in every pre-season game with the exception of the last one. Maybe even then play a series or two. I am fed up with our notorious slow starts and in big part I think it is because of sitting Ben and the starters for most of the pre-season except for maybe a few series in Game #3. Then we come out of the gates looking unprepared and we perform usually as bad as we look. Then in turn we are scrambling to get a Wild Card at the season's end and sometimes even with that scenario we are not in control of our destiny. I know I veered off a bit here. However, it is all a domino effect situation.

    Again, Ben needs to work with all three TEs with McDonald and Ebron getting the majority of the snaps. As another poster said in this thread the objective is to "score more points" obviously but true. Given that, Vance and Ebron give us the best chance at doing that. That is not to shun away from Watt at all. Situational football will dictate when and how to use him and hopefully we can keep him happy with a decent snap count as well. I am telling you we are set on the "O". Big time, IMO. Ben just has to get back into game shape and build chemistry with the pass catching guys. Some he has never even played with. Johnson, Ebron, Watt, Claypool. This is why I say it is imperative to play as much pre-season together as possible; especially now since Spring OTAs are gone. There again we have lost valuable bonding time.


    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
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  8. Vox Ferrum

    Vox Ferrum Well-Known Member

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    I do not know complete set of stats for teams that use 2 TE sets, but from memory it seems those teams that do (with the right talent of course) have had pretty good success moving the ball. I cannot recall the Steelers ever using 2 te sets with the mindset of both being receivers. I think there was some plan to use Miller and Spaeth like that, but it really never came to fruition.
     
  9. Roonatic

    Roonatic Well-Known Member

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    I just think it would help our running game by giving defenses more options to prepare for. Bring back trap blocking & pulls to spring the big one.

    We'll see how Ben utilizes a double te threat. Ebron might just shine on offense, he has the tools .
     
  10. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    It will all come down to Ben unfortunately and I'm not saying that as a negative but if he likes something "he likes" it. If its something new that has success he will sorta try it but he also wants what he likes too. Remember two years ago Ben was loving his 3 Wr personnel grouping and the 4 reciever set as well. Someone had linked to the Patroit game 2 years ago and wanted to know where that Jaylon Samuel's was. If you watch the highlights they were spreading the pats out with the multiple receiver sets and favorable match up for Samuel's.

    So this season it go as far as Ben takes it. In order to have Ebron work in a 2 TE set he has to block and block like Hines Ward otherwise it is a tell everytime he is on the field
     
  11. Brice

    Brice Well-Known Member

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    This is what a lead blocker should look like this year.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hey Roonatic.

    Strictly focusing in on our "Pass-Catchers", we are dangerous on paper, IMO. The WR group is set. The TE crew is set. As far as the RB catchers we have Samuels and Conner to handle that. Both are very effective. The one key thing that is missing is the chemistry that needs to be built between Ben and all of these weapons. Ben has no experience with Johnson, Ebron, Claypool and even Watt. In addition, he only has a year with Washington under his belt. Spring OTAs came and went with no work put in. That does not help the bonding process.

    I stated this in another thread. Taking strict precautionary measures, and if allowed, Ben needs to workout with these guys somehow someway. The whole group mentioned above desperately needs this. Our Defense is set. Most complete as I have seen it in a long time minus an upgrade at a true NT. The Offense really has some great talent. We are definitely Super Bowl caliber with a healthy up to snuff Ben. No doubt in my mind. We have so many weapons on the Offense that they should present major problems for opposing defenses.

    IMO now, our starting Offense should play at least one quarter in every pre-season game minus the last one. They cannot live in a bubble and maybe this will help to break that cycle of the notorious slow starts that we experience most seasons. Now, hopefully our awesome think tank coaching crew can get it together and not underachieve as they have been for years now. The waste of the "O" talent that we had back with Ben, Brown, Bell, Bryant and others was just as I say....Disgusting. Easily should have had a ring or two with that crew.

    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
  13. Daddymac10

    Daddymac10 Well-Known Member

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    Like Steel Hog has said, McDonald & Connor are almost guaranteed to miss time ...so when it does happen we are all good ...I'm hoping that if everyone is healthy for specific games, inside the redzone we can employ a formation with Claypool, Ebron, McDonald, Watt, & any RB because whether you run or pass ..any defense will be screwed defending that size & weight ...even if Gentry is available at 6'7" over 265lbs. going against anyone who is below 6' ...can't defend that ...question is if our coaching staff smart enough to exploit mismatches??
     
  14. Brice

    Brice Well-Known Member

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    There are 5 preseason games this year. Ben will get 2 starts, Mason will get 2 starts, Paxton will get 1 start.

    P1 Mason; small crowd in Canton no pressure.
    P2 Paxton
    P3 Ben
    P4 Ben
    P5 The #2 QB gets the start
     
  15. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    All good on paper but as we know ebron isn't the best blocking TE. So if McDonald is out that hurts. If we go two tights and watt who is the lone wr?

    Where does dj fit, where does juju fit, where does Washington fit, claypool, snell, brooks, samuels, cain, gentry? Lots of weapons and combos. Will mcdonald, ebron and one wr with watt and Conner be a norm or will we use ebron as a wr more then a te? Who sits out of our wr group then?

    I'm not sure we have enough time to really find out how to use all this talent. Or use it properly. Is it too much? Sometimes trying to do too much hurts as bad as not enough. Always trying to out guess the defense. Our staff has never been good at trying to trick a defense. We have seen that over and over with many OCs.

    Can Ben mesh with this many options? That is sometimes a problem in itself. Add the reduced practice time and it could be a giant jugfuk where nobody is happy with the amount of playing time or targets or touches. :cool:
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
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  16. STEELWINDS

    STEELWINDS

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    Hey Brice.

    I hear you on the playing time allotment for the QBs. However, and again, our lousy slow starts are probably on the horizon again if QB playing time goes according to as how you broke it down. Then again, maybe not, if you are just indicating starters. Personally, I do not care where Ben may play in each game but is imperative IMO that he does take snaps in each game. This also, with the best protection unit out there.

    I have had it with these slow starts nearly every season. It has to stop. It can be attributed to Ben and the other high profile guys only playing minimal and I mean minimal time in the pre-season. You know the cause and effect of this with those slow starts. It has to stop! It is so obvious as to what makes this happen. This problem is now compounded for this upcoming season due to all the time that Ben missed last season as well as the OTAs so far. As I stated, Ben can hurt at home twisting an ankle on a stair. We cannot expect him and the rest of the starters to live in a bubble. I know it is somewhat chancy but again we cannot afford anymore of these slow starts and we need to build chemistry on the Offense in a hurry.


    STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid
     
  17. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    You may be right, but Ben should get 5 starts. It's him or nothing this year. He needs the work, even if it is only one or two series each game. Otherwise it will be October before he gets it together.
     
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  18. LambertsDentist

    LambertsDentist Well-Known Member

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    It's true that our offense won't have much time to gel before the season's start but the same is true for every offense and every defense. Our O Line has a lot of time playing together. Ben has experience playing with our number one RB, TE, & receiver. Few other offenses will be entering training camp with the chemistry ours will.

    Obviously we have even more of a chemistry advantage on the defensive side of the ball. I believe that few teams will have the overall team chemistry that we'll have.
     
  19. Disco1981

    Disco1981 Well-Known Member

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    Except Marsha... He's practicing with everybody in his mansion, under the radar...

    Because he cheats
     
  20. Wardismvp

    Wardismvp Well-Known Member

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    We need an offensive coordinator than can
    incorporate the players on roster to maximize their ability.
    He is on the team but will be silenced by #7 and coach Randy.
     
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  21. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    I don't know LD. Ben sat out a year, our LG that gets the snap count from the qb to the center will be new. The number one TE and RB are always hurt and Ben only played a game and a half with our number one WR as the number one WR. Also very little time with our number two WR and little to none with number three or four. None with our FB. :cool:
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2020
  22. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    The offense will be a Chinese Fire Drill until October. Always is.... even with players who've been in the system for years. I'm not expecting much. D and Special Teams will have to keep the team competitive for the first 4 games.
     
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  23. Roonatic

    Roonatic Well-Known Member

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    It will be interesting on seeing who will be responsible for a slow start. I will say Ben starts slow & the defense will be ready. If the defense starts slow too, then the fault would be Tomlins imo.
     
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  24. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    My crystal ball is out for repairs, but....

    Particularly because of the lack of OTAs, etc I see defenses having an advantage in the beginning. Therefore, this monkey is Ben or bust.
     
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  25. Daddymac10

    Daddymac10 Well-Known Member

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    Too many options should be a good problem, but Ben is not the smartest guy in the tool-shed ...Tom Brady or Payton Manning yes but Ben mentally I've never been impressed. In the redzone Claypool should always be the lone WR because of size & weight..
     

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