The Steelers need a upgrade at NT

This guy is a stud Washington's Vita Vea 6'5 340 lbs, he would help in run defense and has some pass rush ability. I like Hargrave but he was invisible this season, after a promising rookie season.

 

Holla Notta sp Ravens parlayed with him for 2 super bowl wins

 

Well said SteelCity. I would expect no less.


The Okie schematics of the 3-4 defense are not coming back; doubly so for the dominating days of pass rus- I mean "Outside Linebackers". That style of defense just does not cut it in today's NFL; formation based defenses the same.


The overall scheme is what is ultimately hindering Hargrave's, Dupree's and Tuitt's full potential. A new scheme is required to take full advantage of the fact.


The question remains is that if Tomlin and Butler are willing to go that far to a degree in order to fix the defense? Drafting players are not guaranteed to solve main issues but to combat personnel weakness. Once those weaknesses have been ironed out, the next step is to compose and construct a product which can unleash every single player's talent.



To that end, that aspect does befalls on both Tomlin and Butler. Until they drastically change the style of defense, expect more of the same.

 

you can change parts in a style or scheme...and there's this thing called a DL rotation. If we had an effective (mccullers is not the guy) big NT to substitute in when needed I would hope to see him in at times. Why they are using Gravedigger, at times, in this role is what needs to change. Alualu subbing in all over the place is great, but I think a big interior presence is needed to help spell Gravedigger when situational football calls for it.

Do they need to go looking in the first 2 rounds, I would say not. But if a guy with that skillset is there in rounds 3 or later, I would pull the trigger. Need to replace Big Dan anyway. They don't need a guy with huge sack numbers either. I would be looking for a guy to control the LOS and take on double teams. Leave the interior pass rushing to Gravedigger when the situations arise.

BJ Hill from NC State will be in the Senior Bowl and could be a target. 6'4 320 or so. A lot of starts and doesn't look to need to be "the man" on the dline getting all the pass rush glory which derails some guys imo. Just a guy to monitor as the draft approaches.

Vita Vea may go higher than what I would look to in the draft as FS and ILB may be needed more.

 

take a look at tyler lancaster from northwestern. he's a very good under the radar guy. i was reading some write ups on him saying "he was an immovable object in the middle of NW's front and was most of the reason they were the 9th ranked run defense in the country". 6-3 315 4.98.

 

I suggested we needed a NT 3 years ago and had the idea totally slammed.

This year I watched teams easily running the ball up the middle.

Hmmm.

 

Haloti Ngata, he's old and has been dealing with injuries no thanks.

 

I would like to see Steelers take a late round NT that is mean and doesn't want to be blocked.

 

I didn't write correctly, a Ngata type player is what I was suggesting.

 

So was I!!!!!! Hell, it may have been @steelersrule6 that was the culprit...

 

I think vea is to slow. Big yes but we need a couple of big guys that can run. They would fit better in our sub packages. That's why I was looking at a guy like Lancaster. Still 315 but has a sub 5.0 40. Can hold his ground and still run down the line in run defense and in the short area in a pass rush. I will say I like our players here and I do think tuitt will be back to his previous style. He was hurt all year and it showed. A faster DT type over a NT or typical 3-4 type DE.

 

Well after watching Hargrave be invisible this season they need a alternative at NT.

 

Right there with ya, I think my target was Malcolm Brown the DT from Texas whom the Cheatriots nabbed at the end of round 1.

 

Anybody know how Stevie T from U So.Cal panned out. I thought he could of been a potential late round steal last years draft but we went with a LS instead.......smh.

 

Tu'ikolovatu? No stats for the year, so maybe he was on the PS?

 

If we did draft another NT could we move to a 4-3?

 

http://chiefswire.usatoday.com/2017/11/04/potential-2018-chiefs-draft-prospects-group-9/3/

http://ukdraftguide.com/2017/10/06/2018-nfl-draft-bj-hill/

 

I doubt it

 

Why?

 

Because Tuitt and Heyward aren't 4/3 DE

 

I believe they could. with Hargrave (Draft choice) Allulla you have a pretty stout DL

 

i agree. tuitt and heyward played outside and inside in college. alualu did play some interior as well in jacksonville and played it pretty good. walton has played well too when in the game. i also agree with blast that hargraves has played pretty good. if tuitt gets healthy again he is a force. last year he took over when cam was out. if we ever get these two healthy again together we will see a stud D front.

 

Then why can't they stop the run if Hargrave is doing a good job? Also why is Hargrave coming off the field often?