Forget who to get rid of…

I can count on one hand who I think are worth keeping or building around:

Zach Frazier
Boz
Porter Jr - maybe
TJ - giving benefit of the doubt and blame scheme
McCormick - bit of a reach but wanted to get to five

Seriously, am I missing anyone?

 

Young up and coming guys to build off of: Austin III (plays with heart), Herbig, P Wilson, Benton, Waitman, Fautanu (potential is there). We have talents. Coaches need to use them properly

 

Jones will be fine with a real OL coach.

 

Pickens

 

Not blaming Jones, but did you see the video of him and Moore(I think) each pulling in opposite directions? By the looks of it, was Jones blunder

 

Amazing that happens at the NFL level. its the playoffs and you still don't know the playbook.

 

I love TJ, but can we afford another average year from him and mess up trade value?

 

Porter Jr. is a maybe??? I’d say definitely stays. He’s the best DB the Steelers have.

 

Why trade him? An average year from him is better than a good year from most other pass rushers. There is such a thing as a team keeping a player for his whole career.

 

I'd add Warren to the list with Najee walking.

 

I struggle with this topic because I have no idea what our players are capable of. I believe coaching is such a huge problem that I really don't even blame our players, except for a few.
Sutton sucks and needs to go. Pickens has a bad attitude and either needs very tough love to get him with the program, or he needs to be gone. Jackson should be gone immediately after that pathetic attempt at tackling. He didn't even try. There should also be a strong message shared that anyone not giving their all will be benched immediately. There needs to be accountability.
Dan Moore Jr sucks and should be gone.
Najee should be gone. He's just average. Durable, which is great, but doesn't do a lot to help us win games. He's not a playmaker.

Everyone else, I just don't know. If you look at Broderick Jones, he does a lot of good things, but it's as if he doesn't know how to play the position. He's super athletic and is often in the right spot, he just doesn't do the right things. I feel that's fixable with coaching. That's kind of where I'm at with everyone else too. We've been on this ride for a long time. Different coordinators, different players, same result. I just don't even know what good all new players would do. Yes, an elite QB would be nice, but we won't be getting that.

I'm not against trading TJ Watt or any other player for the right return, but I just don't think it will do any good.

 

Put a player that gets 12.5 sacks opposite TJ and improved coaching, and Watt's value will still be there. Look what Will Anderson did for Danielle Hunter down in Houston. Hunter is the same age as Watt.

 

On offense you keep the young OL and add to it. Keep building that line.

We currently have zero QBs on roster. That means we will offer to bring one of them back. Only 1RB on roster. We most likely retain Warren since he is RFA and we have more control there.


Keep Pickens and CA3. Keep Muth and DWash.


On defense I would try to keep everyone and as through the draft. Replace DC Austin with Matt Eberflus.

 

That wasn't a blunder by either Jones or Moore. That was a Coaching issue. Specifically a Positional Coaching one.


Buh Bye Pat Meyer. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

 

Agree with the OP.


There are some good young pieces on this team. That said, need the right teachers for the students. As it stands, the most critical of them in terms of investments (the Offensive Line), needs a dire replacement for this current Teacher is a Teacher but in name only. However, acquiring a great Offensive Line Coach is much easier said than done.


Thankfully Andy Weidl knew how to build the trenches not just from a scouting perspective but also a Coaching one via Jeff Stoutland. Here is hoping that the team can land someone similar.

 

I hope you didn't buy a Pickens jersey

 

Watt is going into the last year of his contract at 31 there seems to be a decline in his game.

 

Waiting till they resign him.. find a Wr to play opposite of him and he will be fine

.

 

I think the biggest problem TJ has currently is the amount of snaps he has taken this season as opposed to last season. Last season he took roughly 82% of the snaps per Pro Football Reference. This season?! Nearly 86%. That shouldn't seem to matter all that much. However, let us not forget T.J.s 2021 NFL DPOY Campaign where he ran roughshod over the entire league.


One would imagine he would have taken even a higher number of snaps as he was younger.. correct?! Well... not so much. In 2021, T.J. Watt only took 65% of the snap count that season. Him being well rested and ready was the key and it paid off in a big way.


Long story short?! Snap counts do matter for both EDGEs and IDLs. Why do I mention IDLs?! Cameron Heyward returned to his All Pro form largely thanks in part to a large decrease in his snap total percentages; 75% in 2022 down to 71% in 2024 (2023 is the year he got injured sadly). As such, the same has to apply to EDGEs. I do understand that load management is a bit of a silly term for NFL Professionals but there is no other sport in which collisions happen as repeatedly as the NFL.



Now, as to why T.J. Watt has consistently no showed largely in his decorated career in the Playoffs?! Ya got me there. He did show up in 2021.. so perhaps the load management aspect applies there. However, for that to even be applied, other NFL DPOYs who have won as an EDGE would also need to be held to the same standard. Myles Garrett didn't do anything against Houston and Nick Bosa couldn't do much during his three game run in 2022. If there is one major explanation I could state in TJs Defense, Teryl Austin and Mike Tomlin both haven't done much to aid TJ in any way since 2020.

 

I suppose it depends on how much he and his agent think he's worth. If it's reasonable, keep him.

 

I think our first round pick from 2024 deserves a chance to prove himself, I would also not discount Nic Herbig

 

I agree get some good young trade value for him and he also deserves to be on a team trying to actually win a SB. It would reinspire him and be a factor for a team with credentials! It’s obvious with the decision they made right up front to keep Tomlin around that a SB is not in the books for Pitt anymore.

 

Deshon Elliott had an outstanding season in my opinion. Good against the run and made some splash plays.

 

He'll be much better

Meyer was a terrible ol coach when he was hired ans when he was re signed

Typical Mikey crap ast coaches hire

 

Didn’t realized it was so high. It’s a travesty considering we had depth with Herbig and Smith. Yes there were missing games due to injuries, but the depth was there