Patrick Graham - DC

I can't disagree with any of that. Particularly my POV characterization. You are spot on.

I just can't shake the bad feeling that the Steelers are trying to thread a needle that no one else has ever threaded. Hope is not a plan and all that.

 

Kinda where I'm at at the moment with MM. Really, the biggest reason for any excitement heading into the season is just simply a change after 19 seasons. It'll be different. How much different is anybody's guess but one thing we know is that MM is not likely to be running the defense. That right there is a change. And I have to believe MM is a better OC than AS, so some positive light there too.

 

If Graham can coach to this level, then the defense has a chance to be great again;

During his postgame interview, cornerback Devon Witherspoon shared that Macdonald identified a “tell” among the Patriots’ guards and tackles.

“They asked a lot of questions before this game. And I told them I can’t lay the game plan out to the media, but I kind of knew what was going on,” Witherspoon said.
“We had a good tell on what they like to do, how they like to play, and how they were going to attack us. You’re talking about a coach who put us in the best position to win, that’s our coach right there, and that’s why we always have his back.
“We had a tell on their guards and their tackles, how they like to set. They go’n overset on certain rushes, they’re go’n fall for certain moves.”

 

But....I was told Vrabel was an incredible detail oriented football coach that would guide any franchise to untold heights.

Kinda seems like such a guy would or should notice that?

 

Perhaps the reason Flores is still in Minnesota? I am sure Goodell let the owners know they were going to lose this decision.

Ruling says Brian Flores lawsuit vs. NFL, teams can go to court - ESPN

Somehow, Flores strikes me as a guy this isn't going to just settle. I think he wants all the NFL dirty laundry out in the air.

 

Was looking at Graham's coaching history and was surprised at his time in Vegas. Some fans think he wasn't great there but one thing I seen was the roster turnover on defense was pretty crazy. Sure, the Steelers have also had high turnover in the LB and secondary groups but there is a difference to note. The Steelers had the same defensive system in place since Tomlin had been around. All they did was find players that fit their system. The Raiders have had such high coaching turnover (6 HCs in 8 seasons) that there really wasn't any established system to lean on. With the coaching staff wiped out in Pittsburgh, Graham is back to establishing his own system or trying to adopt what the Steelers were running. So it will be interesting to watch whether the Steelers defense takes a step forward or backward.

 

What will be fascinating, to me at any rate, is this upcoming draft.

For YEARS now....you could do those body type studies that Kozora does at Steelers Depot and pick out the DL and LBers and to a lesser extent CBs that the Steelers would select. Almost every year....they took someone that fit their "type".

Going to be interesting if the scouting department, which I think stayed intact, continues to push forward players based on those types of metrics or if the new coaching staff changes course even though the overall defensive alignment (3-4) stays the same.

An example would be an Isiah Loudermilk. That dude hit like every body type check box the Steelers look for in DL prospects. It has not panned out on the field like they hoped. Is a prospect like Loudermilk going to continue to be a popular pick or will they change what they are looking for?

 

Body type should be further down the list of reasons to draft a player. Can the guy play football? Is he where he's supposed to be when the ball is snapped? Does he play 100% on every play or take plays off?

 

We can debate what the prioritization should or should not be all day and most of tomorrow.

But for going on a quarter century now, the Steelers have had pretty specific physical metrics they want to see in their DL in particular. Honestly, they have been pretty successful with it.

 

Is @Hawaii 5-0 stalking you

 

Long story from another message board

 

He clearly thinks about me. I don't think about him. Take from that what you will.

 

Actually that coaching philosophy in Pittsburgh has changed almost every 5-7 years since Tomlin was here. Not just the way the played the 3-4 per DL, and LBs, but the way they played the zone, and zone mix coverage.

 

Whatever those defensive changes were the last couple of seasons didn't work well. The number of explosive plays surrendered has been maddening. Seems like the gave up a ton of dreaded 3rd and long plays.

Fact checking; PIT was 11th in the NFL in % of 3rd down & ≥10 yds to go resulting in a first down (CIN #1).



That Schwartz defense in CLE was good. While they had the third most 3rd & longs, they surrendered the least first downs. Be interesting to watch if they take a step back with the new DC. Looks like Raiders defense was similar to the Steelers, only a couple of plays difference.