Steeler fans enjoy these next five years

FREAK! What's up dude?! It's good to see you. I was wondering about you the other day. I feel like I haven't seen you in a while.

 

i was around ,out of home i saw the game and i was speechless.. but i'm still here don't worry ..

 

Good! You're still my boy!

 

If we got that type of QB when we got Ben we would all be thinking the guy was a bust as he would have been injured or looked like garbage behind the unit they called an offensive line for most of Ben's career. Take a look at the passer rating after contact between Ben and the rest of the league and the completion percentage, he has an almost perfect rating with an 80% completion rate, the rest of the league is in the 40s on completion and low double digits for passer rating. Ben fit the Steelers system when he got drafted but he also was the best fit when we no O-Line too.

 

Eh, with the way the game is played now we could throw any old scrub QB behind center and he'll put up decent numbers. Just have to make sure the supporting cast doesn't fall apart.

 

I agree but Ben has always been killer from the pocket too and all that running around sandlot stuff has always been out of necessity because A: BA's plays were so poorly designed for a team with no o line and B: We had no o line. Now that the o line is finally looking fixed and Ben is in a system that actually makes, ya know, sense he is able to stand back there and put up great numbers and take much less punishment in the process. I've always said if not for Ben's monstrous build and sheer athleticism he would have been out of the league a long time ago. I even think if Manning or Brady would have had to play behind Ben's line they would have been out of the league as well.

 

Five years from now our team could look crazy different than it does now. Ben, Bell, Pouncey, DeCastro, Shazier, Heyward, Tuitt, and Dupree are about the only locks to still be on the squad five years from now. One or two of our current receiving crew will be gone (AB, Bryant, Wheaton, Coates). Basically our entire secondary outside of Golson probably will be gone too. Timmons and Harrison will be too old, moats gone. Maybe Jarvis too if he doesn't impress and get re-signed. MacLendon gone, Cam, maybe shade tree too. Walton outside chance of staying.

What I'm trying to say is that we can easily have a team that competes 5 years from now. Basically we are about a S and a corner from having a really solid defense as it is. If Shazier and Dupree continue to get better Golson pans out to be a player, and whoever we draft in the secondary next season hits... Then we really will have something. I look at our team and really like the pieces we have long term, it's gonna boil down to how we drat our weaker areas the next two years.

And as for Ben... I'd be shocked if he doesn't make it to 38-40 still playing football. All kinds of QBs do it now. Freaking McCown is still a starting NFL QB lol As long as he has his arm strength and desire to play, Ben will be good to go.

 

Yeah if we can keep the elite, That's a big if they are willing to pay market rate to keep the nucleus of the offense here, AB, Bryant, Bell, Decastro are going to want to be paid when their contract comes due, thats the fly in the ointment....

 

Unfortunately they don't produce dedicated players as in the past. In the current it's all about chasing the almighty $.

 

Who in the heel introduced free agency? Agree, i too seen it becoming an issue after the fact. Dedication in football has become extinct. Sad but true.

 

Maybe 2 lombardi's instead of 6

 

Are you talking about dedication to one team, as in loyalty? Or dedication to working hard and perfecting their craft?

If you are talking about loyalty, then yeah, I guess I would agree, but would also be inclined to say that loyalty wasn't much of a choice back in the day. Once you were drafted you were pretty much stuck, right? Now, with the mega-million contracts out there, I can't fault a guy for seeking out the best deal he can get. This is now a huge business all away around.

But as far as dedicated to hard work, I think laziness is the exception rather than the rule in the modern professional football player. There are some freaks like James Harrison and JJ Watt who put everyone on the planet to shame with their work ethic, but most of the other guys bust their asses off.

 

Thinking basically the 70's era, yes talking loyalty to one team, riding it out to retirement. As being stuck i liked it, you didn't have to worry if they were going to be around the following 2-3 years. I'd like to hear the thoughts of the greats on todays signings and the $ given today. Even though free agency was still in the womb id almost bet if it existed most of the steelers in Pittsburgh would have stayed put. Ole school dedication stuck in the hearts of many back in the day! I will reiterate Loyalty.

 

Ah, gotcha!

I do wish more guys would stick around their entire career with one team. It would be great for us as Pittsburgh fans but maybe not so great for some of the teams out there just in it to make a buck.

 

I blend hard work into loyalty i don't separate the two. They were men back in the day...you didn't see the showboating we have with players today or the boastings! Players today come to the sidelines with their feelings hurt, back in the day they played with dripping blood, broken bones twisted arms etc. Most today wouldn't make a good pimple on the 70's players. We just have to coach up these young bucks, set examples!

 

Coach Haley extended Bens career another 5 yrs. We just have to keep the talent around him