What can you coach into, or out of, a player at the NFL level?

I honestly have to say that I only saw his highlights and, in the conference he played in, he and Washington probably racked up a lot of stats with nothing but go routes so it was probably out of sight out of mind. I'm just dum-founded that it's approaching three years since he was drafted, two full seasons of practice, numerous NFL games, and his bad mechanics appear to be untouched.

If you draft a guy who has issues but a huge upside, don't you start working on those issues the minute the phone is hung up?

 

Damn that video was hard to watch with that ignorant noise!

I hope you are correct. However, after being his biggest supporter early last year I watched to see what he did under pressure, and without pressure, Even when he didn't have people in his face, he did not step into passes, the passes were wobble balls, and we all saw the results. He consistently threw behind receivers, if he was simply not getting time to get the ball off it would have gone everywhere, not consistently one to two steps behind.

I like the guy, and I love his moxy but I don't have much faith that he can succeed in the NFL.

 

I wish that were the case. His mechanics in college weren't necessarily on display in a highlight reel. What has been on display in the pros is a qb incapable of tracking and throwing to where receivers are going to be. Last year was a brutal year for him, granted. But he wasn't under duress 100% of the time and still failed miserably to pass the eye test. He was indecisive, impatient, scared, and unable to throw accurately.

And I say all that as a guy who was absolutely geeked when we got him. I watched him a little in college when he wasn't killing WVU. I watched him extensively when he was embarrassing my Mountaineers. I wanted him in black and gold. I was anxious for him to get a shot to show what he was capable of on Sundays. He let me down.

What ails him can be corrected. I believe that. But it is going to take coaching...real coaching. I hope Canada is up to the task. Lord knows we don't have many "coaches" on this team. But if Ben comes back healthy, MR will be dusting off cobwebs instead of dusting off the stench of last season.

 

One would think that. You invest millions in a possible franchise qb and you don't dedicate a coach or team of coaches to prepare the guy for the spotlight? I don't get it. But I guess that's why I don't get paid the big bucks.

 

Is it possible that the current owner is going to go the way of other owners and just rest on his billions? The revenue of the Steelers is rapidly climbing according to this article and Art II may feel that revenue will continue to climb for another 8-10 years no matter what he does. And by then he will pass the team to someone else?

https://www.statista.com/statistics/195289/revenue-of-the-pittsburgh-steelers-since-2006/

 

I can't imagine the Steelers without a Rooney at the helm. What's next? No more Rolling Rock? Replace Renegade with "Whole Lotta Money"? Franchise Artie Burns?

 

Agreed with that 10000000% until Art II's recent apathy.

 

I meant the way he physically runs ie upright. Not bruising style vs finesse etc.

 

This is how the rest of the world saw Bell coming out of college.
In Walter Football’s analysis of Bell, they offered a few interesting bits. The first dated from April 23rd 2013, includes this: “The concern with Bell is if he has enough quickness to hit the hole in the NFL.” The second is from August 16th 2012, prior to Bell’s last season with Michigan State. The update begins with “Bell is a massive back who could move to fullback in the NFL.” Once again in hindsight, Bell becoming a fullback is a rather far-fetched reality to think about, but in fairness to Walter Football, this was most likely a prediction made due to Bell’s 244-pound frame at the time.

I would say he made a significant change in his style of play and his body type.....Bell at FB???

 

Hoping Canada can keep Randy away from Mason's game.

I thought Mason looked ready in Preseason, before Randy became involved with his game in the regular season.

Randy is Ben's boy and we all heard the comments coming out of Ben's mouth when the Steelers drafted Mason. For some reason both Ben and Randy have an axe to grind with both Mason and Washington. The worst thing to happen last year for Mason was Ben getting injured allowing Randy to turn all his attention to him. The best thing to happen last year for Washington was Ben getting injured, allowing Washington to come out of Ben's Dog house and show some of his skills on the field.

 

Actually that was just a small sample of his mechanics being just fine. Look up his college statistics for further confirmation that his mechanics were quite good and in fact more than good enough to be able to post the numbers he did. I realize the success doesn’t always translate from college to the pro’s but he showed plenty of signs in his first PS and looked like he took another significant step this past PS. He looked promising as well when he had to step in for Ben until things fell apart for him. I don’t recall all this criticism of him ,his mechanics and mobility in the PS. In fact if you go back and watch his PS games you would think quite the opposite. I understand the frustration and the concerns I’m just not willing at this point with everything he’s had to overcome in his first year as a starter to completely write him off already....jmo. Let’s see what Canada can do....

 

I don't think it's that simple. Ben didn't have an issue with MR, he had an issue with the Steelers promising him they would do everything in their power to fix the defense while Ben still had his game. And then they go draft a project QB? I'd be pissed too.....but not at MR, at the Steelers.

How would you feel if you and your company had a come to Jesus meeting about your future and then the company turn around and do the exact opposite of what they said?

Ben likes having Futchner around because he is no threat to Ben, I doubt if he has an ounce of respect for him.

 

I understand what you're saying, and I'm more on your side of this issue than what I'm about to say will make it seem.

First, his college statistics aren't any indication of good or bad mechanics. His mechanics had nothing to do with level of competition, superior scheme, superior talent at the other skilled positions, or OL play...all of which contribute to "his" statistics.

I also don't think that a qb's performance in the vacuum of preseason is an accurate assessment of his ability or readiness for Sundays. "Looking promising" in the preseason is like the dessert tray your waitress brings you after you've finished the main course. They show it to everyone because it looks great and makes everyone want it. But if you decide you want dessert, they go get you something that actually tastes good.

I will agree that MR looked promising when he stepped in for Ben until things fell apart. Unfortunately, that was about 3 throws in.

And his mechanics weren't the center of controversy in the preseasons because it was the preseason. He was playing against vanilla defenses that didn't scheme blitz. And he played what, the equivalent of one game each preseason? And lastly, during the preseason, no one cared. He wasn't going to be starting anyway. He had a couple of years to work at getting ready, right?

I don't think he's a lost cause, but he was not impressive in the slightest last season. Even with time in the pocket, he couldn't deliver the ball accurately. He was consistently off-target and indecisive. Again, I think that can be fixed. I'm just not convinced it will be while Ben is here, and that's exactly when it MUST be fixed. In fact, we should have invested the time and energy in preparing him to take over before he needed to take over.

His problems are as much our fault as his.

 

I don't see the 1st round grade he had. Reminds me of Lol Jones.

 

Yet you're comparing him to AB in your post.

 

You realize preseason is a very dumbed down basic O, being played with most of the 1st team not even on the field. Randy had to readjust the O play calling to fit the talent on the field. I do not believe for a minute that Randy tried to sabotage MR in the least. Randy's play calling may just suck that much, but the players did not do the plays any favors either.

 

As I said, I wasn't the one who brought up the comparison. I was responding to someone else doing it.

 

We saw in the first game and a half that there were problems with the offense. Ben's arm of not. So to think a kid with little to no experience was going to look like a seasoned get that played every week was just going to happen is dreaming. Dear Lord even when lefty and Charlie were here, there was a big difference in their game and the offense when they had to play. they looked nothing like they did as starters earlier in their careers. It takes time to form an offensive system that operates smoothly. People have to realize that during the season there is not time to fix much. Way to high of expectation was put on this kid by fans when even Ben would have struggled last year with this offense, and did. Feel good we had two young age with winning records. They got valuable experience. Now we refine it.

 

I assume you are talking about MR? Keep in mind that the offense always looks out of sync in the first few games since Tomlin took over and I don't think the knock on MR is "lack of production"; I think it's bad mechanics and no improvement. There have been a few good QB's who had bad mechanics but the odds of success are very slim.

It's true that you don't fix bad mechanics during the season but what about the countless practices he's had since joining the Steelers....why are his mechanics still bad?

 

People make too much of the way the offense was playing before Roethlisberger got hurt. There is no doubt the offense was going to be weaker in 2019 due to the loss of Antonio Brown and part of the problem in the opener was the adjustment. Another part of the problem was Moncrief, who was a complete disaster. He dropped a pass that would have converted a fourth down and a touchdown in that first game. The other issue was that the Patriots' defense was among the best in the league and it's not as if Roethlisberger had some great history against them.

In the second game, we saw Roethlisberger trying to play through an elbow injury that required season-ending surgery. Of course it was a mess.

 

Lack of a true an coach. Getting the starter up to speed. 3 other qbs in camp to work on besides the starter. Nobody knew this was going to happen to ben.

 

That's true but when you spend a 3rd round pick on a QB who has fundamental problems, are you telling me that he just sits there with no effort to fix those fundamental problems?

If your 2nd string QB has fundamental issues, you better be spending time with him! The other QB's in camp can hold clipboards and that's all they need to know at that point.

 

I just don't understand why so many fail to see this. It's not to bash MR. His numbers/experience/ability in college, in addition to his pedigree, placed him as a potential heir apparent to Ben in a few years. Why draft him if you don't at least CONSIDER him as the future? He then did enough in 2 preseasons so make that consideration viable.

So as a franchise, you have a decision to make. Ignore the kid for 2 seasons so you don't upset Ben or develop the youngster.

Why not, for the future of the franchise, pour your resources into making the kid the best replacement he can possibly be. Make it known to Miss Priss that he needs to put his big girl pants on and be the starting qb for as long as he can.

But that's too much to ask or expect from this dysfunctional group of coaches and leadership. We're too concerned with feelings and seniority to worry about preparing and putting the best team on the field.

 

It is interesting trying to analyze MR. I think everything previously stated is correct, but I feel like it comes down to one problem for him in that the game is just too fast for him yet. Yes, the line wasn't protecting like it had for Ben, and yes, he was throwing off his back foot a lot. The only time he really looked comfortable was his touchdown against the Jets. The throw was a beaut, and he looked like he should. I was really upset when he went out injured. That one throw left me wondering and will keep me wondering for an entire off-season.

 

But just like you can't too excited about one bad play, you can't get too excited about one good play either.