Fix the defensive line!

I said this last night in my post-game post that the number one issue with the Steelers right now is their defensive line. They can't do their jobs of stopping the run by clogging gaps, or moving linemen enough for our linebackers to make plays on the QB. No pressure at all, the QB has unlimited time to throw, and our secondary, or any secondary, will get picked apart.

Cam Thomas is not starting worthy, and at best a situational player for like 5-10 snaps a game. AT BEST.

McClendon was injured, however, we have had this same D-line issue pretty much ever since he started over Hampton, or perhaps when Hampton began to decline.

Tuitt is supposed to have potential and is a rookie, so the jury is still out, but I see lots of Ziggy Hood in him.

Heyward is our best, but he is not a clogger. He honestly would be a much better 4-3 end, but we don't have the personnel for the 4-3.

Keisel is our second best lineman currently, which is completely sad and unacceptable because we literally just signed him off the couch 2 weeks ago. While I love Keisel and am glad he is on our team, if he was worth a spot on a team as the second best lineman on that team, he would have been looked at by other teams and given a better contract than with the Steelers.

Yes, I want to see The Mountain unleashed, but even if he is competent, we still are in a dire situation at the position.

I don't think that there is another D-line that is worse than the Steelers in terms of every metric, except perhaps due to injury. But from a player per player analysis, our line is very very very weak and lacking sufficient talent to run our defensive scheme.

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Solutions
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If the Steelers want to have a better chance of contending this year, they should seriously consider making a trade to get some defensive line depth. I don't think we have much trade bait to pull this off, or the cap room to make it happen.

They should definitely use McCullers more to see if he can give us a bit more something, and tinker with ways to have Worilds/Jones play in a 4-3, with possibly using Shazier/Spence as the OLBs and Timmons in the middle.

 

I don't believe McLendon started over Hampton, did he?
Comparing Tuitt to Hood after two games of his rookie season is laughable at best !

 

i dont the think the d line is the problem. i thinks its the scheme.

if you look back at what DL likes to do is have a solid d line that can take up blocks to free up the lbs so they can get to the qb.

i think the league has figured of his defense and most teams pick up their blitzes now fairly easy.

 

But the scheme doesn't work because our defensive line is very bad, not the other way around.

I am unsure how you scheme when your defensive line is terrible. Perhaps try more 4-3 but again, they don't have good linemen. That would require two solid defensive tackles, and all we have are average ends.

 

The running game that is killing the Steelers is not between the tackles. Last night Pierce did not run that great when getting the ball. It is the zone blocking and stretch plays that are killing them. The Ravens put up 157 yards last night, keep in mind about 60 of that was in garbage/mop-up time and those runs came pretty much outside the tackles. I still think LeBeau has no friggin clue what he wants to do on those plays, but generally it implies you have to have LB in the right spots for gap control, your DL and LB need to get off blocks, not necessarily push - but shed the blocks, and your safeties and even corners need to provide support in closing out tackles.

 

Yep. Phil Simms talked about that during the game, "Everyone has seen it and it doesn't work any more."

 

Tell me about a scheme that is successful in the NFL that does not require its defensive line to be at least competent?