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Our Defense

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by NY STEELERFAN, Mar 23, 2019.

  1. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    So with the draft not far away and it being a defensive heavy draft I thought I would put some numbers out there and see what everyone's thoughts were. Now IMO our defense needs help, we need play makers and we need turn overs. With that said here is a list of guys and how much they have played which might shed some light on where we need to upgrade. Also take into account that this don't show our FA pick ups Nelson and Barron. Here is the snap count numbers and % from last year:

    Davis FS 979 93.7%
    Edmunds SS 966 92.5%
    Haden CB 936 89.6%
    Watt LB 902 86.4%
    Dupree LB 868 83.1%
    Heyward DT 841 80.5%
    Sensabaugh CB 744 71.2
    Williams LB 743 71.1%
    Tuitt DE 693 66.3%
    Hilton CB 593 56.8%
    Bostic LB 560 53.6%
    Hargrave DT 455 43.5%
    Burnett SS 389 37.2%
    Alualu DE 311 29.7%
    Burns CB 308 29.5%
    Fort LB 305 29.2%
    Chickillo LB 295 28.2%
    Sutton CB 240 22.9%
    McCullers NT 111 10.6%
    Dangerfield SS 75 7.1%
    Matakevich LB 54 5.1%
    Walton DE 52 4.9%
    Berhe FS 32 3%
    M. Allen FS 18 1.7%
    OLA LB 9 .86%
    Thomas LB 4 .38%

    All info from: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/2018-snap-counts.htm

    Just wondering if after seeing the snap counts if it changes what peoples opinions are on how and who we need to fix the defense. I know ILB is still a big hole and the additions of Barron and Nelson along with the departure of Burnett will improve us but what else if anything?
     
  2. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Still Inside Linebacker. Mark Barron is more so a DIME option as I am interpreting its currently. Of course though, all are subject to change.


    If not inside linebacker, oh most definitely pass rusher. Bud Dupree is simply not what some of us thought (myself included). A shame but it is time to move on from him. Brian Burns is someone I might have to slot number one in my sig pending on the remaining Pro Days.


    Corner is also an issue but beyond Byron Murphy for me, there really is not anyone I like in this draft corner wise like him. Justin Layne will be great but that is heavily dependent on where he goes. DeAndre Baker is a press man corner only. Greedy.... just.... :puking2:. Julian Love is another but at pick 20 is too high for him and he is a top 50 pick who will likely be gone by then anyway.



    Wildcard just might be Free Safety. Chauncey Gardner Johnson and Nasir Adderly are both worth the 20th pick should it come down to that. Those two are as about sure fire of being a multi role, single high Free Safety as one will find.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. HeinzMustard

    HeinzMustard Well-Known Member

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    Our current defense...compared to the Steel Curtain, Blitzburgh and Big Nasty D...

    ....sucks.
     
    • Hilarious Hilarious x 2
  4. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    I have a question for you. your statement is what I have argued for years. if you like Love as a corner and know that he wont be there in 2nd rd. why not take him at 20? if nobody will trade up with you. I am of the opinion if you like the guy, pick the guy. who cares were the so called experts have them slotted
     
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  5. NY STEELERFAN

    NY STEELERFAN Well-Known Member

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    I am glad you posted this I too have thought this. We have picked for years at the bottom of the draft and so many times you hear he not a first rounder, but like you say if he won't make it to where we pick in the next round and you like him then you gotta draft him. I get it guys have value as far as rounds go but if you(Steelers) like a player you pull the trigger. This might just be why we picked Edmunds where we did last year having all us fans scratching our heads...lol.
     
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  6. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    You must draft what the pundits say you should draft. Otherwise, a bunch of members of this message board will condemn the pick 30-40 times. Your own draft evaluations mean nothing. We don’t even need a scouting department. Just Goggle who you should pick.

    There I got that off my belly. :smiley1:

    Inall seriousness, I believe every team takes the guy available who has the greatest probability of making your team better.
     
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  7. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    I get what u are saying but u will even disagree with that. I think teams listen to these knotheads in the media. I mean why else would u draft a mediocre at best, qb when your oline sucks or have a **** defense?
     
  8. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    Because you think that QB may be better than mediocre, and your existing QB keeps babbling about retiring?
     
  9. bigbenhotness

    bigbenhotness Well-Known Member

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    They would be better with coaching lol

    Noticed I just said coaching
     
    • Agree Agree x 2
  10. Steel_Elvis

    Steel_Elvis Staff Member Mod Team

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    What if you like Love as a corner, and have him as the highest remaining corner on you board, but you have players at other positions you can really use (edge, LB, TE, DL, S, etc) ranked higher overall? Do you reach for the corner because you want the corner, or take another position?

    I think teams can get themselves in trouble in the long run reaching for their #1 position of need and bypassing players that they have higher grades on at other positions of need. In that example taking Love at #20 if you have players at other positions of need ranked higher is not maximizing the talent on your roster. To be clear, when I talk about ranking, I’m talking about your own board, not the media draft experts’ boards.
     
  11. Wardismvp

    Wardismvp Well-Known Member

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    As Colbert will tell you the Steelers will draft BPA on their board, They never draft for need LOL.
     
  12. steelersrule6

    steelersrule6 Well-Known Member

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    After the season was over Colbert said the defense needed playmakers, he also said they didn't do enough to replace Shazier last season. I hope Colbert remembers this come draft time, he better find a ILB within the first 2 rounds, also a free safety with some ball skills.
     
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  13. BURGH43STEL

    BURGH43STEL Well-Known Member

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    BPA is what they should draft. They might draft for specific need if they have the same grade for X, Y, or Z positions.
     
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  14. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    Not talking about the Steelers. Teams like the cardinals and Bill's that keep reaching for qbs
     
  15. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    Typically beyond maybe the first 1 or 2, don’t you think it’s a crap shoot with picking a QB for all teams?
     
  16. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    Exactly. It's the whole reason they spend all year grading players and making a board.
     
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  17. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    I guess I am not expressing my point correctly. I am talking about first rd only. Teams reach for QBs simply because talking heads say they need to.
     
  18. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    Cbs had a seven round mock posted on their site. It had the steelers taking OL in the mid rounds and 2 tightends in the late rounds.
     
  19. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    [​IMG]



    Well said!


    Every year after that year's draft, on May 15th, the Steelers BLETSO Scout Team gets back to their work; scouting the next generation of Steelers players. Freshman to Seinor. Wall to wall. Most of all; draft eligible or not.


    Beginning to scout just weeks leading up just one draft is how a team sets themselevs up for years of failure.
     
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  20. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Much like Steel_Elvis stated my friend. Overdrafting the position over the best available talent is unwise. That can lead to futility for your team in the long run.



    Rather, let me explain it a better way. This season, there will be 254 young men who will hear their name called during the days of April 25th to the 27th. Of those 254, only 7.87% of them have receieved a Top 20 Grade by the NFL Draft Advisory Board. While it is still unknown as to who received top 20 grades this season, I have a decent guess as to Greedy Williams being the only corner to be awarded such a high grade. The other two, DeAndre Baker and Byron Murphy, fall under the 12.59% of players who received a Round One Grade by the NFL Draft Advisory Board.



    In other words?! There is a reason why the Top 20 is considered the best of the best of the 250+ players as opposed to essentially the best of the rest picks 21 to 32. Those chosen 20 are considered "Day One Impact Players". Those players usually carry the lowest risk of any of their peers within the draft.



    To sum this all up? Julian Love is a top 50 player. He is going to be a quality or even potentially great corner but is not worth a top 20 selection. He is not a player who can start out immediately and contribute instantly for a team. He would require some time; hence the term "boom or bust" come into play.
     
  21. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    I understand what you are saying but with that logic top 20 players don't bust. you are listening to the media. we don't know where the team has a guy slotted. lets say you draft a guy who is slotted to go there and you pass on a guy or position of need who pans out. I don't think taking a top 30 or 40 guy mid to late 1st rd is overdrafting. JMO.
     
  22. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    Incorrect. That is not what I implied at all.



    I stated that the NFL Draft Advisory Board constitutes a select group of 20 chosen players as the players whom are the best of the best in that draft class. There is a reason why I put the statement "Day One Impact Players" in quotes. I personally do not believe that there are just only 20 players who will be sure fire impact play-makers when they enter the league. Furthermore, I also stated said players usually carry the lowest risk. I never stated they carried zero risk.



    Be that is it may, Pittsburgh has their own board they follow. They do not care about anyone else's; the NFL's Draft Advisory Board members no less. Their draft plan is nearing completion at this point. All that remains for the Steelers is the completion of the Pro Days and the Pre Draft Visits/Workouts.



    Regarding your need vs. value argument, that statement can be said for every draft ever dating back to the modern NFL Draft that took place in 1982; originally called the National Invitational Camp (NIC for short). The NFL Draft, at its core, is a matter of not just finding the best players overall in one position but also acquring the ones that will fit your team needs. Simply drafting a player simply because he is the besr position player available is a good way to have your team in futility for years.



    In other words, that is what is considered overdrafting a player.
     
  23. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    You just made my original point for me. Teams draft the best player at the position available. Not the best for their system. That's why I said some teams seem to reach. I wasnt talking about the Steelers

    The only thing I meant about them was is if you have a guy u like and is rated close to the same as a guy you have slotted at say 20. U know he isnt going to be there at your next pick and he fills a need. Get him. If they are close
     
  24. AskQuestionsLater

    AskQuestionsLater Writing Team

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    This goes back to what I have told you already. That is overdrafting. You cannot expect a player to fill a need should they be inadequate to play in your system.




    Again though, this goes back to what I and Elvis already told you. There are more than one areas of need for the team. That is why the NFL Draft is Seven Rounds. For that matter, this is why the Steelers use contingency plans within their board. Should a player they have highly rated, within that position, be gone, head for the next one. Should that player also be gone, head for other positions of need until you can acquire that particular one. If you cannot acquire that need, so be it.



    If anything, drafting players like this lands you players like Huey Richardson and Chad Scott. :eek: Pittsburgh cannot afford to overdraft a position; a top 20 pick no less. They HAVE to get someone who can help now. No exceptions
     
  25. steel1031

    steel1031 Well-Known Member

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    Dont cherry pick what I said. I also staed that if the players are rated close. You mean to tell me if a qb or say a center are rated on your board higher at 20 you take them over a position of need?
     

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