Anybody else dumbfounded on the amount of holes we have?

Near the end of Ben's career we had the oldest average starting offense in the league. Last year we had the youngest.

 

Really now do that same exercise for Inside Linebacker.

 

I understand why we got rid of Johnson. I just wish we had a better plan in place to replace him.

 

I absolutely LOVED last years draft and almost everything about free agency.

That being said, it’s almost like that year never existed and we have all the same exact positional holes to fill.

That is how depleted we were/are.

It’s shocking actually. And we still had 10 wins and made the playoffs? I drag Tomlin a lot and it seems appropriate, but there has to be some more truth to the teams success and this BS .500 or better record that I give credit for I guess.

But man I get so pissed when other fans from our base or others try to highlight that stat. Like, what does that trophy look like??? Why is sustained mediocrity is sport something anyone would applaud? Imagine some other team patting themselves on the back because they never finished last?

They are sooooo far down a list of accomplishments that they should barely be on a list with that title!

 

Really I do the year we drafted Kevin Green and Dotson we had a ton of holes on the Oline going into the draft. It caused us to reach for Green and declare him a starter. So you are going to blame the holes at Center, RT, Ogunjobi and Heyward aging on Khan. Those were all players and moves made by Colbert. You can blame Khan on getting rid of DJ but that really has more to do with Tomlin and allowing the player to get to that point and thus having to trade him to preserve the locker room. We have made alot of bone headed moves in FA that reached of arrogance and desperation. We did it at Oline, ILB, CB recently. The arrogance part comes from Tomlin taking inferior players and somehow thinking he can coach them up and get more out of them. The Larry O extension was a bad move. I said it at the time. Its a bad contract for us. What I don’t get is we keep starting him when Benton is clearly the better player. If Heyward is fully healthy and can play at the level he did a couple years ago, I think you start Benton next to Heyward.

My concern is we still have major holes at CB and I feel like we are viewing Donte Jackson the same way we viewed other meddling FA’s in the past. “We can fix them because we are the Steelers and we have Mike Tomlin”. At this point we have to commit to finishing the buildout of the offensive line. If they still struggle then its on Meyer and he has to be replaced.

 

Good QB play is the perfect antidote to heal all ills. Thats why I believe we are going to focus heavily on the OL and WR so that we provide those guys with everything they need ... no excuses.

 

Its the position of having huge holes and drafting for need. Thats when you start reaching. It causes you to pass up players like Cooper DeJean, Brain Thomas or Payton Wilson which I am sure we are going to have to do to fill the line needs.

 

Thats why I am not as high on drafting a tackle in the first as others are.

 

The steelers were so lucky last year...they won so many games even when they were outplayed like crazy last season...Just the first game vs Baltimore,it was way more about the ravens who have lost this game that the steelers had won this game and it was not close....It take also 2 defensive TD to win vs Browns in week 2.They were also lucky that Burrow was out for both game against us and that the ravens rest their starter in the final week....And this is just inside of the AFC north,since they had many break in others games too....Can't expect to be in the bottom 10 in yards on defense and be 6th in PPG,they need to be much better or they will be in the bottom half in PPG.6 red zone turnovers like the steelers had in the finals 10 games or so is not substainable

 

I agree I loved last years draft as well. Your right it is mind boggling that we still have alot of the same holes, can you imagine if we did not have a good draft last year. We truly were and are in a rebuild. In the midst of all of this it is pretty amazing we had ten wins. I don’t think its Tomlin or the team that is leaning on the .500 BS. Thats the national news that loves to push that. With that being said it is becoming stale even with them and the players and team are obviously frustrated with no playoff wins.

 

You're overselling Munchak. How was that run game the last two seasons he was in PIT? You know, the one with a couple of pro bowl RBs.

He may have been good at building an OL in pass pro but that ain't the Smith offense. Square peg, round hole (it's also what got him ousted in DEN).

 

Very good point. When you have a good system, coaching and competent QB play it can change alot of things. Outside of the LT on SF can you name any of their other starting OL? You don’t need a 1st rounder at every position.

 

It would be amazing to fill all of those needs this year. I definitely am happy with this new FO and am confident things are trending in the right direction.

 

I always said our defensive scheme puts way too much on the ILB position. Would prefer bigger interior DT’s to maintain multiple blocks and protect the ILB’s. I think KC was essentially able to rebuild the Oline quickly because it was literally there only need. Also having Mahomes covers up alot of other warts. I too am perplexed on the struggle to fill Shaziers position. The miss on Bush really set us back.

 

I am perplexed they didn’t try to sign Munchak this year. To me if the line does not become dominant by years end with what we are putting into it then Meyer has to go.

 

rounds 4 are actually very low for guys making teams. the steelers always brought along PS players at a higher rate than most teams. they used that as almost a farm system for years but the free agency thing changed some of that and the way the PS has been transformed. money comes into play as well especially when you have a franchise QB and the amount he makes, you have to downgrade other positions to equal it out from the pay standpoint. we may run into that again if russell plays well and they want to try to sign him back. he won't be that cheap. we have a ton tied up on defense as well. our OLB'ers alone cost a ton. you have to cut costs elsewhere to make up for that. some make it some don't but the steelers keep looking at these futures guys. they all can play at this level. they have all been quite good up until the NFL. now we have thrown in a farm league UFL to access talent. they have there place in the league so why not follow along? the coaches see them every day and if they see potential, why not?

 

I totally agree. Misfortune has cost the Steelers big time in the last decade.

Tuitt situation left them chasing the DE position (wasting picks on Leal, Loudermilk, and overpaying for Larry O).

Shazier injury left them chasing the Mack position (signing Avery Johnson, Joe Schobert, and drafting Bust…I mean Bush)

Worilds early retirement left them chasing OLB (drafting Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree before finally hitting on Watt and Highsmith)

 

You do it. It's your turn.

 

I didn’t mention Worilds because he gracefully retired and simply split. That’s fine. Tuitt on the other hand screwed all of us over TWO seasons!

Eff that guy. 100%!

 

Do the Steelers have more roster holes than other AFC teams that draft outside the top 15 every year...or do they just lack the offensive juice to ignore those holes?

Buffalo has a ton of holes up and down the roster. So does KC. So does Cincy. So does "insert favorite AFC consensus contender here"....but they have enough offensive juice to basically ignore them.

 

I agree with you a 1000%. I was extremely disappointed with our defense last year actually. Turnovers are great but you can not count on them. We could not stop the run nor could we stop passes in the middle of the field or on the opposite perimeter from JPJ. Everyone wants to pound the table for an OT but I feel like CB is just as big of a need. I can see us being a better team this year with a worse record. If it creates a better foundation though I am fine with that.

 

Its real simple.

After Shazier went down everyone we brought in has sucked. We wasted draft capital on Bush moving up to get him. Finally last year all three original FA signings looked good but then we had the injuries. We are really cursed at that position for some reason. I guess the football Gods are punishing us at the ILB and Center positions for all the success we had for so many years at those positions.