we need to go sign some good free agents

I know we've had the philosophy of drafting players and developing them into starters since the 1970's, but I would have loved to see Tracy Porter in black and gold than Keenan Lewis or Cortez Allen. I'm not sure how much the Broncos paid him to come to Denver but I'm sure he's not making $10mil/yr. I think the only decent free agent we have is Jerricho Cotchery and Ryan Clark. I also liked Jim Leonard of the Broncos and I'm sure he'll be a better safety than Ryan Mundy. I think to stay competitive every year, we need to sign free agents instead of trying to develop young draft picks.

 

I wanted Jonathan Joseph in a bad way, but I knew we would never get him. It's fine when our draft works, but our draft hasn't been overly successful lately.

Timmons
Hood
Heyward
Gilbert
worilds
Sylvester
Urbik
Sweed
Woodley (pulls a Houdini when Harrison isn't there to take on the top blockers)

All those guys should be playing much better than they have been considering how high they were drafted. That's a pretty long list of 1st and 2nd rounders that really haven't lived up to expectations. I'm afraid Woodley is going to turn into a bum once Harrison is done for good.

 

s woodley who did have nine sack in eight games mostly without harrison and is quickly moving and probably will be the steelers all time sack leader wasnt a good pick that makes no sense at all. Hood is decent way to early to tell on heyward its his second year and had no otas his first year. Let me ask you this who knew of aaron smith or the beard before their THIRD year. Thats how long it takes des in our system. Gilbert is also a second year guy and for being thrown in the fire with once again no otas last year did a good job and before he got hurt had removed von miller from the game. Timmons is a very good ilb. Good god people the steelers way has worked for FOURTY PLUS YEARS NOW.

 

I don't buy this. The two who stank there are Urbik and Sweed. Urbik did go on to start in Buffalo. Sweed was a distinctive situation. I don't get what's so unimpressive about these picks, otherwise. After all, Heyward has been here what, one season?

 

but don't you agree that Porter and Leonard would look better than Lewis or Mundy?

 

My personal jury is still out on Lewis.

Mundy - I think we know he's not going to be the starter here. He's a capable back up. Salary-wise, sometimes that what you want. Sure, I'd like to see Mundy upgraded - not sure I'd go with Leonard, but I do take your point on that.

 

I agree........

 

Everyone knows the Steeler way. Build through the draft. I would like some 2nd tier free agents come in. The way our oline has played I'm surprised we haven't . But we are always up against the cap so that explains why we don't sign many free agents.

 

Not sure if this counts, but I thought he played pretty well in the 4 games Harrison missed last year. He certainly passed my eyeball test, earning remarkable grades during that time frame. I don't know if you're a stat guy or not, but here are the stats for the games he played without Harrison last year:

Week 5 -- 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass defensed, 1 INT
Week 6 -- 8 tackles, 2.0 sacks, 1 tackle for loss
Week 7 -- 7 tackles, 2.0 sacks (plus forcing an intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety. In my book, he had 8 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and a safety)
Week 8 -- 2 tackles, 2.0 sacks (half a game)

There's also the San Francisco game. I didn't grade that one, and as I recall he didn't play the whole game. Maybe he played less than half. He was not the same after his hamstring injury. Still, I thought he did alright in Harrison's absence. 8 1/2 sacks, an INT and a safety. Not too shabby.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/10490/year/2011/lamarr-woodley

The guy is streaky. He always has been. He didn't have many chances to really rush the passer against Peyton Manning, largely because of the way Peyton plays. Woodley is always strong against the run and setting the edge. So I don't understand.

And, like others have said, that list you made is a little fuzzy to me. I guess I can't disagree with it since you labeled them as guys who haven't been "overly successful." But I can only think of like 4 or 5 guys on the team that fit that description exactly. Can't we just shoot for "successful"? If we do that, then most of that list is fine. I mean, it seems awfully early to be condemning Heyward and Gilbert in particular.

 

I guess I shouldn't have put woodley's name on that list.

I stand by everyone else on that list. Timmons impressed me 2 years ago, but last year he sure didn't. As for it being too soon to judge the other guys, I disagree. More and more in the new NFL rookies are starting right away and impressing. It's not like before where rookies waited in the wings for 3 years. Why is it that our rookies can never step in and contribute? If Heyward, Hood and Gilbert pan out, great, but so far they haven't impressed me considering how high they were drafted. With Aaron Smith in the line up we generate a pass rush and stop the run better than any team in the league. With Hood or Heyward in the lineup, we do neither.

 

So you think all des should be like smith who is possibly the best de in the 3-4 scheme ever. Damn i guess you expect all ilbs to be like lambert as well.

 

No, but I expect them to be able to stop the run and allow us to get to the QB, neither of which we do well anymore. I guess I have higher expectations of our first and second round picks.

 

my dog could cover better than lewis.. and probably tackle better too.. and hes a 12 inch tall jack russell

HINES

 

was sylvester a high pick?

 

One of three 5ths.

 

we gave up less than 100 yards. 94 to be exact on 27 carries. that's 3.5 yds. per carry. they ran a total of 55 offensive plays so over half were runs for less than 100 yards. where is all this can't stop the run stuff coming from?

 

On Monday all day at work when people kept jazzing me about Ben throwing the pick 6 I just kept saying "Yeah and if I had it my way we would have Tracy Porter on our team but they just think you have to build through the draft." I mean heck a couple of years ago I was thinking how I would like to have had Nnamdi before the Eagles got him. I would like to have had Asante Samuel more than Lewis or Gay. I'm not saying Samuel is a beast or anything but he's gotta be at least a LITTLE better than what we have now. And if anything he could at least help develop some of our younger guys maybe. I do wish we would make a splash in free agency if we could get a good bargain. I've been saying forever that I'd kill for a good corner.

 

Since 1972 we have missed the playoffs 14 times. Our worse record during that time was 5-11 in 1988. Since 1992 we have not made the playoff SIX TIMES!!! I would rather keep doing it the way we have.

 

Since 1972 the steelers have been to 8 Super Bowls and not gone to 32 of them...there is always room to improve.


HACK

 

Always always room to improve, there are more ways to skin a cat than just one.
We must explore ALL possibilities because the other playoff caliber teams are/should
be doing it to.

 

Something tells me that 40+ years of success isn't going to stop because fans are evaluating the talent on the team. You left out the fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have the most wins in the NFL since 1972. Hmmmmm looks like the "Steeler Way" leads to winning.

 

^^^^ Although I am supportive of the "Steeler Way", this is a true statement. Not to do so would be short-sided and giving our rivals an advantage.

 

Agree it would indeed be short sighted

Bman