Steelers Sign TE Leonard Pope

Steelers signed TE Leonard Pope to a one-year contract.
Wherever Todd Haley lands, Pope is sure to follow. The two have been together in Arizona, Kansas City, and now Pittsburgh. Pope will add veteran depth behind Heath Miller with Weslye Saunders suspended four games. Despite impressive measurables, Pope has never cleared 250 yards in six NFL seasons. Apr 10 - 4:03 PM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/3661/leonard-pope

 

Yay?

He's a guy I've always heard had all the tools but his best NFL season was like 24 catches for 250 yards and 1 TD.

 

Decent fill in the blank guy. Cover enough of these spots and you can more easily draft BPA.

 

Agreed that this is a decent fill in signing, hopefully this allows the Coby Fleener at 24 talk to at least die down. We have greater needs at other positions. I understand the explosiveness he may bring if he delivers on the offensive side of the ball (a la Gronk and Hernandez in NE) but this just seems too much of a luxury pick given their needs. If they wanted to draft a good value luxury pick they should choose BPA at any defensive position.

 

agreed.

 

I suppose as long as they spent almost no money on him, it's a good signing. To me the question is, what happens after four games and Saunders comes back? I know they like his potential. Are we really going to keep three tight ends plus an H-back active every game? That's nuts.

 

i saw they have the kid from wvu listed as a FB on the roster. i think DJ's days are numbered.

 

I've been complaining that if you want to drop the Kreider type for a "threat" type, the threat should at least be threatening. The WVU kid looks threatening, but does not look like a blocker to me. Especially not a lead blocker. I'm not sure he'll be any better than DJ. He'll have to learn, and as we've learned the hard way, it's not an easy thing to pick up. He's a lot smaller than DJ, but if he's not an idiot and has good hands and feet, maybe he'll be better.

If it was up to me, I keep the WVU guy and get a real lead blocker too.

(Mendenhall), Redman, Dwyer, Batch, FB + Miller, Saunders/Pope + Will Johnson

It will cost one extra roster spot, but that can be made up by taking off a WR who only plays special teams.

 

It's an alright signing I guess. If his height can be taken advantage of in the red zone then I'm all for it.

 

one thing is for sure out of that bunch, it's not going to be miller,pope or saunders as the H-back. i don't see heath or pope being cut either. saunders, may have messed up but the kid still has talent as a blocker over pope. he catches pretty well too, so i don't think he's going anywhere. they may bring a true FB in, but my bet is they go for another hybrid type guy if they do. i guess theres a possibility they bring in a FA FB. i think if haley has his say, he will want to air it out alot. that one year in KC was a fluke in what he likes to do.

 

one thing is for sure out of that bunch, it's not going to be miller,pope or saunders as the H-back. i don't see heath or pope being cut either. saunders, may have messed up but the kid still has talent as a blocker over pope. he catches pretty well too, so i don't think he's going anywhere. they may bring a true FB in, but my bet is they go for another hybrid type guy if they do. i guess theres a possibility they bring in a FA FB. i think if haley has his say, he will want to air it out alot. that one year in KC was a fluke in what he likes to do. [/quote:32swe775]
I honestly believe that he likes to play to his offense's strengths -- passing in Arizona and running in KC. And yes, we have passing strength with all our receivers and Ben, but we also have a great stable of running backs AND, if our offensive line remains as projected, we'll have at least 4 great run blockers.

Gilbert - ? - Pouncey - Foster - Colon

All four of those guys are strong run blockers. From last year, we'll essentially be replacing Starks with Colon. People may not realize this, but Starks was absolutely useless in the running game last year. He was very crappy. And with Kemo/Legursky next to him, the whole left side of the line was crappy. It's Colon's biggest strength as a RT. Gilbert showed a lot of talent but was still a rookie. He'll be better this year and he's already comfortable on the left side. If Haley can coordinate these guys any better than BA did (a very safe bet, since BA didn't even try), there will be significant improvement regardless of who is at LG. Now, if we draft a starter in an early round (ALL of which project as very good run blockers) we'll be in even better shape.

Shoot, most people, including me, believe our running game would have been way better last year with any other OC. Someone willing to give an honest effort into making it succeed. Even with our crappy players and tons of injuries, it would have been much better. If we can stay away from IR on the OL, I don't see why we can't have a running game as good as our passing game and a very balanced attack.

As for what Haley wants to do, I doubt he got the job by saying he wants to air it out a bunch. I also doubt Tomlin is going to let more BA stuff continue. Not after last year.

 

I honestly believe that he likes to play to his offense's strengths -- passing in Arizona and running in KC. And yes, we have passing strength with all our receivers and Ben, but we also have a great stable of running backs AND, if our offensive line remains as projected, we'll have at least 4 great run blockers.

Gilbert - ? - Pouncey - Foster - Colon

All four of those guys are strong run blockers. From last year, we'll essentially be replacing Starks with Colon. People may not realize this, but Starks was absolutely useless in the running game last year. He was very crappy. And with Kemo/Legursky next to him, the whole left side of the line was crappy. It's Colon's biggest strength as a RT. Gilbert showed a lot of talent but was still a rookie. He'll be better this year and he's already comfortable on the left side. If Haley can coordinate these guys any better than BA did (a very safe bet, since BA didn't even try), there will be significant improvement regardless of who is at LG. Now, if we draft a starter in an early round (ALL of which project as very good run blockers) we'll be in even better shape.

Shoot, most people, including me, believe our running game would have been way better last year with any other OC. Someone willing to give an honest effort into making it succeed. Even with our crappy players and tons of injuries, it would have been much better. If we can stay away from IR on the OL, I don't see why we can't have a running game as good as our passing game and a very balanced attack.

As for what Haley wants to do, I doubt he got the job by saying he wants to air it out a bunch. I also doubt Tomlin is going to let more BA stuff continue. Not after last year.[/quote:2eomwk9l]


no i don't think it will be more of the same ,but a controlled passing attack. TE's, RB's, shorter routes for the wr's. and as you know, i'd love to put another good run blocker in that question mark spot silatolu. then we could do what we want on offense with a true balanced attack. i do think he wants to add a homerun threat at RB. a guy that can kill them in the passing game or the run game. james, peed, miller type guy. if they can bust a couple early in the year or preseason, it will make defenses stand up and take notice, freeing up other options. if we play this right we could be deadly on offense. i'm not saying get away from a power game either, just giving ourselves that option after we get a lead, with what we have we can control that too.

 

A decent signing considering Saunders is out for 4 weeks. Plus I'm not sure Saunders is the future anyway.

Blitz

 

I love this signing, not because I like the player, but because I like what it signifies, and that's a change in our offence. Pope is a check down guy. He's not going to go down the field, ever. Haley is already signing players based on situation football. With Arians, so many plays involved every WR going 10+ yards down field and there was never anyone 2-5 yards away to throw to. While this may still happen at times, I get the feeling that this Pope signing is a sign of things to come, and that's that our passing game is going to be much more consistent and less risk. That means taking what the defence gives us rather than forcing the ball down.

 

I think its crazy to say there was nobody 2-5 yards away to throw to. Many times Ben was scambling around looking for someobody open and he missed the check down.

Bman

 

I agree. Spaeth was hardly a stretch the field guy. He just couldn't catch.

I quite like the signing. I don't expect fireworks, but Pope is a serviceable back up. What with all the cutting of veteran players, we will benefit from that kind of guy.

 

I don't think he'll make it out of training camp. Arizona coaches immediately looked for another TE after just a short time. Pope was a bust. He'll make Spaeth look good...(geez, that's depressing to think about ).

 

I really hope they keep suanders on the roster. Dude has potential and showed some nice hands on a couple of grabs. He could be a true force.

 

I can't see them letting Saunders go, unless someone shows them something amazing in camp. He was playing enough downs last season to suggest he's impressed the coaches. The suspension is unfortunate, at this stage in his career.

 

not for what the infraction was. he's a talented kid, we are not just going to dump him for that. pope has to watch his penalties.

 

I see the signing as Haley bringing in someone who's familiar with his offense that can maybe help others get familiar with it in the locker room (another voice). Plus we need depth at the TE position. So no, not setting the world on fire, but it's nice to see Haley is at work getting his offense sorted out.

And i'm hoping we can find someone (even if it's not Pope) to quickly replace the no talent David Johnson.