Priscon get its right .. finally

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/06/pouncey-overrated-beachum-underated-according-pete-prisco/


oops prisco... i would agree with that... and i rarely agreee with him... couldnt name a more overrated player or a more underrated person .. i think he got this one right ...

HINES

 

Prisco rarely has anything to say about any player, he's the same guy who used to say Polamalu was overrated.

 

For anyone who doesn't follow the link, Prisco named Pouncey the most overrated player on the team, and Beachum the most underrated. The article asks us to name our most overrated/underrated players.

Obviously it depends who you ask. Pouncey might be overrated by some, but the tide has turned so far against him that he's now underrated more than he is overrated. Based on what I read, at this point I'd call him an underrated player. So many people either say he's average, or that he's not noticeably better than Velasco/Wallace. I disagree with both of those. Oh, and I love those that point out that "Sometimes he has trouble controlling the larger nose tackles by himself." Gee, you mean like every center? Any decent nose tackle demands a double team. If he doesn't, you can try and maneuver him or shield him, but you're not going to push him back. Staying put is what they do. Pouncey does a good job with them, even if it's not his very best attribute.

Choosing an over/underrated player also depends what your scope is. Among most Steelers fans Heath Miller isn't underrated, but league-wide he's been one of the most underrated players for his entire career.

Among Steelers fans

Overrated: Cody Wallace
Underrated: Lawrence Timmons

League-wide

Overrated: Matt Spaeth
Underrated: Cameron Heyward

 

really snack? cody Wallace overrated? I think he's far better than legursky was. how can you rank your 3rd center as overrated? that one I don't agree with. we also don't have to move people around on the line when he comes in the game like we had to do with legs.

I don't think LT is underrated either.

spaeth as a 2nd TE helps our run game. how can he be overrated? we run the ball at over a half a yard per carry better with him in the game.

heyward I can agree with. I'd also think willie gay is underrated to this team.

 

Well he's definitely meaner/hungrier than Poubcey!

 

Normally I do full write-ups, but I just didn't feel like it.

Basically, both of my choices for "overrated" were stretches. I had a hard time coming up with people. And right now Cody Wallace is our 2nd center, unless he loses that job to Munchak's Johnson.

I chose Wallace because we had so many people within the Steelers fan base saying there's little to no dropoff from him to Pouncey, or even suggesting we start him and move Pouncey to guard. I think that's nuts. And even though he showed some good stuff, he also had some truly terrible moments, not unlike Mike Adams did early in the season. To me he's like Mike Adams minus the potential. And it's funny you mention Legursky, because I kind of feel similar about him and Wallace. Okay backups, but I'd rather not see them play, and I'd prefer to never see them lined up at guard.

I like Spaeth. He's a great #2. He's a great run blocker. Here's where the "overrated" comes into play:

1. He's overrated as a receiver. A lot is made of his height (6'7") and I read all the time what a great red zone threat he is because of it ("Just put Spaeth in there and throw it up to him!"), but he doesn't use his height to his advantage. When was the last time you saw him go up and over a man for a ball? Hell, when was the first time? I don't remember it ever happening. His hands are okay as long as it's an easy catch, but if there's any degree of difficulty, his reliability plummets. Can't count on him for a tough catch, and if he makes an even slightly difficult catch, it's a bit of a surprise.

2. He's a good run blocker, and I know what a difference he makes for us. He was awful his first couple years here, and then the light bulb went on and he became great just before he left for Chicago. PFF anointed him the best blocking TE in the league a couple years back, and people seem to have just latched onto that as fact. I doubt PFF all the time, as many of us do, but I don't see anyone questioning Spaeth's title. I'm not even convinced Spaeth is as good as the other TE on this team, Heath Miller. And this "best blocking TE" award is from the same company that was giving Heath Miller negative run-blocking grades even before his injury.

3. I'm not trying to make any accusation here, I just had to pick someone. It took me awhile staring at the roster, and like I said, it's still a stretch. Now that Kemo and David Johnson are gone, it wasn't an easy call.


Timmons isn't as underrated as he was a couple years ago (why didn't we trade him for Larry Grant when we had the chance?? He's slower than Peyton Manning - we should cut him!!), but he's still overlooked. I think he's one of the best ILB in the game. I'm just not sure what else people expect of him. I don't know what else they want him to do. I get that he's not Joey Porter in the rah-rah department, but not everyone's like that, and it shouldn't be a requirement in order to be considered great. Besides, there's more than one way to be a leader, and I think he's getting there.

Heyward is still under the radar, but I have a feeling that will change after this year.

 

well ok then. that makes more sense.

 

Snack I truly believe what is happening in the Wallace vs Pouncey comparison is the misunderstanding of what type of players they are and the skill set they bring. Wallace like Legs before him did well holding his place in the line, not getting out of position to badly and keeping himself between the defender and Ben so in that respect he does show similar levels to Pouncey. What Pouncey brings and what we haven't seen since his rookie season is that athletic ability that allows him to slide of the double team get to the next level and run the zone blocking like they have envisioned. They draft Decastro to compliment that but he goes down his rookie year and then takes out Pouncey the following year. Everyone is forgetting that ability to move and block in space and only care about the replacement guys who can hold their place in line. If everything goes to plan I think the difference will be obvious almost immediately and everyone will go "oh yeah I guess they is a difference in the two.

As far as the Spaeth thing goes has anyone every given him a legit shot at being a pass catching TE? I mean coming out of Minnesota he was a big pass catching target for them and I didn't care much for the Steelers making him the pick when they had the same player in Miller but other than the redzone TD's he got his rookie year I don't think the Steelers ever tried to utilize that part of his game. I can remember defending him though one year after coming back to a concussion and dropping some balls when he was the starter because Miller was out ironically with a concussion. Then Miller came back from his week off due to the concussion and dropped some of the same balls that Spaeth did in critical situations and nobody said anything about that. I think his blocking really took off when they let him drive block his man instead of trying to get him to move a defender laterally. I would love to see him get more opportunities to catch the ball and see if he really has let his skills in the regard slip into the horrible level.

 

In reference to the article I am a bit confused though. Prisco calls Pouncey overrated and then not two sentences later is defending him against fans that said he wasn't better than Velasco or Wallace. I was left trying to figure out how you can say he is over rated but underrated too.

 

Bet the line.

 

I came up with totally different players:

Most overrated - LeVeon Bell. I know some are not going to like this choice, but the guy only managed an average of 3.5 YPC and only once rushed for over 100 yards. Maybe he is the next great, but not sure where all the love is coming from.

Most underrated - Jarvis Jones. Another unpopular pick. He was new playing on a unit with a front line that couldn't stop the run, a secondary that was too slow to cover the pass and no real sack threat to take the pressure off. Look for big things out of this guy this year.

 

Bell also broke the Steelers rookie record for yards from scrimmage that Franco Harris had. I can overlook his yards per carry.

 

Double

I know I can't help it....you blast Bell for being new running behind a crappy line, but give props to Jones for having a crappy line? Then say the guy (Jones) that was supposed to be "The Sack" threat wasn't there to take the pressure off of the secondary......

 

I love unpredictable choices. But I can't back these. You're right that people are doing a lot of projecting on Bell. It's because he's just clearly so much better than what we've had here lately. He's the best we've had since Mendenhall was in his prime, and Mendenhall in his prime didn't last very long. The numbers aren't there yet, but the blocking isn't there yet. The kid just has "it." I think that's what people are seeing.

I hope you're right about Jones making it big this year. And I wouldn't be surprised. I'm a supporter of his. I wanted us to draft him, I was happy when we did, and I've defended his ho-hum rookie season. But...

That's partly his job. He's part of that unit. And towards the end of the year he had Cam Heyward playing next to him.

That's kind of a team effort though, don't you think? Pass rushers need a secondary, but the secondary needs a pass rush.

This is nuts. Woodley was rushing the passer well before he went down, and Worilds was a terror for opposing QBs. The problem with our OLBs' pass rush last year was that we didn't have anyone to take the pressure off Woodley/Worilds. That's Jones. He didn't get it done.

You might be right that he'll get it done this year. And he did some things well. His big question mark was run defense, and he answered that question for me. And he racked up some hurries. And he might be DPOY in 2014. But he didn't produce in the pass rush like he should have last year. I can't defend that.

 

with bells pass catching added, he averaged 4.36 yards per touch. he averaged just about 105 yards a game overall with 8 TD's.

jones needs some strength and attitude added. joey will try to fire the kid up. he needs some coaching. I think the talent is there.

 

Dr Wallace Overrated! 'Cmon, he's our Ace in the hole!

 

WTH? Bell is overrated? After just one year? Geez. And I love Jarvis Jones, but he struggled this past season. I like the Lawrence Timmons one. He is solid but you hardly ever hear anything about him. I think Pouncey is definitely overrated and overpaid.