the breakdown of the tackles

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/01/steelers-2013-player-evaluations-by-position-tackles/

 

This position needs upgraded,
I like Beachum, the rest, we can do better.

 

Gilbert played really solid this year. It takes some players longer then others to adjust and Gilbert didn't have a real mentor other then starks. I still have a lot of hope for Adams. That stabbing set him back a lot last year. He couldn't work out when most players really ramp up their work outs. Our line is fine I can't believe I just said that but it's the truth. Decastro played at a pro Bowl level down the stretch

 

did you read the article? just wondering. there was another one in the draft section from NFL.com talking about a sub par gilbert also. past beachum we are not good at tackle. I can't understand why people keep saying we are fine on the line. really baffling, when every thread on here people blame the lack of something on the o-line and then turn around and say we are fine there.

 

A rookie is not going to come here and start we have bigger needs then a tackle right now. You bring in a rookie or someone who doesn't know the system there goes the no huddle. The no huddle hides a lot of our weaknesses.

 

what happens if beachum gets hurt?

 

you will get the adams horror picture show :lolsign:

 

Like I said Adams got screwed last season and as the season went own he played better and got stronger.

 

I understand what you are saying, but I wouldn't go so far as to say he was screwed.

 

I would say the reason is the line was horrible at the start of the season and throughout most of the season tbh, but I think it was pretty obvious that the line made an improvement at the end of the year. So a lot of complaints had to do with how they looked and played early on. I don't remember anyone saying the line looked horrible the last few games of the season. Not that the line is fixed completely but they seemed to have made big strides towards the end of the season. So we're getting there.

 

I think the stabbing and Bicknell might have set him back a bit. I was reading an article on Steel City Insider which stated Bicknell just wasn't a very good coach.

 

Come on man he only had a lacerated colon he should have just rubbed some dirt on it and went back to doing squats.

 

The no huddle may hide our weaknesses, but a solid line would overcome a lot of those weaknesses insteand of just hiding them. As bad as I hate to give the cheatriots credit for anything they are in the AFC championship game because of there outstanding oline play. Yes, a rookie is probably not going to come in here and start but we are not going to get back playing championship football until we decided to fix the line. It may take a year or two, but we are just going to keep seeing the same thing from this team until this addressed.

 

Do they or does their constant use of the no huddle hide it. Brady was sacked just as many times as Ben this year.

 

I'm not sure how much ohio state football you watch BF, but they have a running qb and have had for years. he never should have been drafted in a pocket passing offense to start with. he didn't have to do a lot of straight up pass protection there. same as the offense gilbert played in with tebow. bad fits to the nfl game. we are seeing it with both of these guys having the same problem. big and not very athletic with their footwork. a coach can't change that. bad drafting in both cases.

 

I think it was because there was a secret plan to bring back Kordell Stewart, and convert Ben to the punter he's always wanted to be.

 

I'm not talking about left foot first footwork. athletic footwork. quickness footwork. change of direction footwork.

they talk about getting quicker more athletic linemen and that's what I'm saying, it can't be done in a year or two, hence foster still playing guard here. he was even the first one to say how he needed to lose weight to get quicker, the trouble is, I think he gained weight. he blossomed up to 350 and this year by seasons end looked more like 360+. it showed when he was out in space chasing his man across the field, never to catch him.

have they learned their lesson about big O-linemen?

I'm not so sure, but we see beachum,DD,pounce are all pretty good linemen. they have brains and footwork. who are we having problems with? adams,gilbert,foster. who was brought in here mid season and let go because he was slow with his footwork at Arizona? levi brown. that was the trouble with max starks too. it was the trouble with colon. 3 mobile guys with two slow movers doesn't mesh well together. this was part of the trouble with the ZBS and not all coaching. we will be on our 4th O-line coach since MT has been here.

Colbert likes those big wingspan guys too. maybe Colbert doesn't listen to our scouts enough and likes what he likes. it's shown since he's gotten here. I read that beachum was a direct pick because of one of our newest scouts mark bruener. I have also read that the scouts make their findings known to the higher ups and usually the scouts get more pull on the later round guys. I think a lot of it is MT and colberts doings. both adams and gilbert were guys that dropped out of the 1st and even were sketchy as 2nd rounders on a lot of boards.

MT played wr and coached defense and defensive backs, so maybe he's not the greatest at picking O-linemen.

we have had quite a turnover in the scouting department over the last few years. Colbert learned the ropes from his mentor at the Detroit lions and over that time I never knew them to have very good o-lines either. maybe it's carried over to here. that was colberts first hire here too, to head our scouting department. just a lot of these type of things adding up.

maybe just too much of a big guy equals good run blocker mentality. we could get by with that a little better when ben was younger because of his play and size. it's time for pass protection as the league changes and ben ages. I believe if they can pass block well, then the coaching of the run blocking footwork can be taught. sorry to ramble but I see what I see on the field and where we want to be as we move forward with the offense.

we have to protect our best weapon ben and our RB seems to have the vision and quickness to run through the right holes that these more mobile guys provide.

we did make some strides with velasco and Wallace as far as pass blocking and not allowing the rush into bens face. they helped seal that up as did foster working next to them. beachum's mobility helped seal ben backside.

the trouble with foster is more in the mobility game and getting downfield ahead of the play. sure he can maul a guy in front of him and then hit a LB sitting there in front of him or pull if a guy is sitting in the hole to be blocked, but hitting a target on the move is not his strength. turning upfield to hit someone when nobody is there waiting in that hole ahead of the runner is also not a strength of his. I said the same about colon and kemoeatu.

I could go on but hey, it's a lot to look at. it's not that these guys can't make some of these blocks at times but there is no consistency in their games of doing it.

wow that was a lot of typing. I hope this let's you see where I'm coming from. as they say it's not always the X's and O's but the jimmy and joes. that's where I think we are. no huddle and play calling can be a tool to help with some of the problem but not as a long term solution to it.

add a couple of more parts to this line and ben will put us back in the SB. at least on offense. that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

PFF ranked our line at 18th. You figure with pouncey back and the others getting more experience we could have a top 10 line next year.

 

out of 32 that is the bottom half of the league.

 

Yes and you consider they lost Pouncey 8 plays into the season and Adams horrible start. Then they lost Beachum for a game foster for a few whimper, along with valesco throw in a horrid oline coach and 18th isn't bad.

 

no I don't think we are that far off. I just think gilbert is a RT only player.

adams could at least be a 3rd option as a LT. since he doesn't play guard that gives whimper at least a leg up on him, not that I'm sold on him though.

embernate has played both guard spots and RT in college. again more of a useful lineman, option wise.

foster can play guard and RT too, just not going to get any better than he is now and he's got to lose some weight.

i want one guy that can play LT at a decent rate if beachum goes down. one that has better footwork and more athletic than adams. it doesn't have to be in the first. Wesley Johnson comes to mind. he's started at every position along the o-line for vandy, but his main position is LT. he's got years of starts against SEC comp. so does britt.

i wouldn't have a problem getting rid of gilbert at all. they know he can't play LT. add a guy to the mix that has a lot of LT experience in pass protection.

moses is just OK but i think he's mike adams all over again. britt, wentworth, Johnson all could be had around the 4th,5th or 6th rounds.

the only reason i wanted yankee is for 1. he's a great guard and 2. he's LT,RT,and either G capable as a starter. he's top notch and mobile. he's got a little of pouncey, in which he can hit multiple targets on the move he,d definitely make us a championship contender line.

ben deserves a few seasons with a line like that to work his magic. we have never given him that. we are close so why stop now. let our franchise do what he does, throw the ball. we have given him a run game, a weapon out of the backfield, a top wr, one of the best TE's in the game, now let's give him another second or two to operate. he's aging fast, why wait and see another year? we have been doing that his whole career. there are good wr's in this draft all over the place, just not a lot of good o-linemen.