Have the last six draftee classes hurt our defense?

Timmons and Woodley are studs. The rest have been average with the exception of maybe Heyward.

Going back 6 years (average career according to NFL) prior to this year's draft (because it's way too early to evaluate this year's draftees), here are the DEFENSIVE players that were drafted, their draft round and their current status.

2006 - Anthony Smith 2nd (Out of NFL), Orien Harris 4th (Out of NFL)
2007 - Lawrence Timmons 1st (Starter), Lamarr Woodley 2nd (Starter), Ryan McBean 4th (Out of NFL), William Gay 5th (Arizona)
2008 - Bruce Davis 3rd (Out of NFL), Mike Humpal 6th (Out of NFL), Ryan Mundy 6th (Backup)
2009 - Ziggy Hood 1st (Starter), Keenan Lewis 3rd (Starter), Joe Burnett 5th (Out of football), Rashon Harris 6th (Out of NFL)
2010 - Jason Worilds 2nd (Backup), Thaddeus Gibson 4th (Out of NFL), Crezdon Butler 5th (Arizona), Stevenson Sylvester 5th (Backup), Doug Worthington 7th (Washington)
2011 - Cam Heyward 1st (Backup), Curtis Brown 3rd (Backup), Cortez Allen 4th (Backup), Chris Carter 5th (Backup)

What do you think?

 

I thought Mcbean was a starter on the Broncos? I remember him contributing last year (haven't payed attention this year)

 

yes even the guys that are starting arent very good

 

I think we've been very unsuccessful with our D in these last few drafts. I'm a big Woodley fan and I honestly think he is the best pick that has been made since Tomlin got here. Most people on here don't seem to like Jason Worilds but I feel like he has actually played pretty good here lately. After seeing him in person though he is actually pretty small so I think he could be handled pretty easily if he's not that fast. He also doesn't look very strong to me. Atleast not like Harrison does when you see him in person.

 

Worilds and Ziggy being mediocre at best were killer. We can't stop the run or rush the passer this year. With Harrison/Woodley out these 2 have to step up and have failed

 

While I am not giving in on Ziggy.....I think he is playing ok...we are just used to Aaron Smith......Ziggy should never have been the pick....should have been Laurinaitis all day long.

Harrison, Timmons, Baby Animal, Woodley....

HACK

 

Has anything changed in the past 5 years I'm not aware of??? Like a change in Steeler College Scouts or something?

 

No real game changers so far in this list. Ok you can say Timmons /Woodley.
But do they earn thier huge amounts of MONEY? Hows come they never show up each and every week?

Lets say just for estimating purposes, they have contracts worth 50 Milillion ( which is pretty close to what both of these guys make)- signing bonus they already stolen,
Do you think you should receive 14 sacks a year from Woodley plus 60 tackles 3int's/year. Ok now for Timmons how about
10 sacks since he does not rush the passer as much and 80 tackles and 4 fumble recovery's 3int's/yr wouldn't that
be something if the Rooney's inserted these incentives in thier contract.You receive your full salary if you hit these
goals if not we reduce your salary accordingly? Now lets see how these two get after it? This happens in the WORLD
every day go to your sales departments where you work and ask the guys/girls in those departments if they have to reach a certain goal? If they are not reaching this goal yr in yr out they are getting fired. This is life, PRODUCTION BABY!

Show me on the above draft list how many of these players are producing and hitting these GOALS? Do your own goal making for your favorite Steelers are they reaching your expectations? Just a side note, these goals I have set are not
unatainable for either of these two. Thats if you get after it?

 

we drafted well on offense ,bad on defense , it's pretty clear

 

Injuries have hurt the defense more then any other factor.

 

There's a slew of players that can be added.

 

bruce davis instead of cliff avril is the one that hurt me the most

 

It doesnt matter how many players you draft on defense, if you dont start em you never know what you have, heyward and mclendon should be starting instead of hood and hampton, all they do is lean on blockers and the only way they blow up the back field is when they fall down in it...

 

I second that.

Aslo on Stan Savaran today they brought up a good question...was drafting 2 defensive linemen in recent years in the first round really a smart move, especially when Hood wasn't technically a 3-4 DE. You are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole with a first rounder like that is pretty stupid. I really don't think Ziggy fits our system. I think he would fit better in a Tampa 2 defense....

Heyward fits a 3-4 better, but he wasn't used exactly like Lebeau has had to train him to play here. Its going to be years before we see any pay off from Heyward and Hood with all this retraining.

we needed some playmakers and skill players at LB, CB, and S in the 1st round instead.

 

When Mike Tomlin took this team he said that he prefers a 4-3 but didn't want to get rid of Lebeau. I think that it's Tomlin's intention to transition to a 4-3 and THAT'S why we take guys that are more suited for that system. But that makes me wonder if Tomlin will require Butler to switch if he wants to stay here to be Lebeau's successor.

 

Everyone seems to think Butler has turned down other jobs to stay because he knows he's getting the DC position. Wouldn't it also be fair to say that he knows about the transition to 4-3 defense, if there is one?

Wouldn't it be interesting to find that the reason LeBeau isn't tricking out the 3-4 anymore is because he is working with Butler to tweak the hell out of 4-3 schemes for Butler to implement once he retires?

 

Im not even using hindsight.....this was foresight....most on the board and media thought the Steelers needed a MLB to groom behind Farrior...and Baby Animal was considered the best in the draft that year.

HACK

 

No, he went on to become the mascot of the Steelers. But I guess thats technically still in the NFL, right?

 

Sorry, Sylvester, but Timmons has been closer to a dud than a stud at this point in his career. He has had some studley moments, but by and large he has not played up to the hype that seems to be promised year after year. You're right about Woodley, though. He is a stud. I'm concerned about these nagging hamstring injuries that have seemed to plague him the last couple of years. Hey, Lamarr, no more drop kicks when you sack the QB going forward, okay. You'll pull your hammy.

 

2007 was the best by far (the other are all bust ) , mc bean is another hood

 

IMO I truly thought this was the year we switched to the 4-3 or Tampa D but it didn't happen. My guess is next year we switch for this reason- DL will retire, TP will retire , Kiesel, Hampton, and Harriosn will all be gone as well. I'd like to see Ziggy in a rush DE, and Heyward too. Heyward just can't be a flop? I mean he is a QB chaser not a covering DE

 

And where do we get the people to replace these guys? Do we have the right players
on the existing team to run a 4-3? Name one pass rushing DL that we have on this team
right now that can CONSISTENTLY get pressure on the QB? So how do we go to the 4-3?

 

I'm not sure a 4-3 is the answer. I think we just haven't had the success with personnel that we've needed in the last three years. These are the classes that are supposed to be coming into their own and contributing at this point and it's not really happening.

Also I still think Timmons is a stud and he's being limited somewhat by what the DL is doing in front of him.

 

2011 draft will pay off.

 

He was with the Broncos, but signed with the Ravens this year.