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Alejandro Villanueva vs Kelvin Beachum

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by francobettis, Nov 30, 2015.

  1. francobettis

    francobettis Well-Known Member

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    I've been very impressed with the development of Alejandro Villanueva and considering he never played OT until signing with the Steelers. I know he gave up some sacks in his first 2-3 starts but has been quite the last several games. I think if Beachum comes back (big if), he might be in a backup roll. I think Alejandro Villanueva will be much better player next season with a season under his belt. He is a keeper.
    But if Beachum leaves, we still have to get some depth behind our starting tackles. I don't know where Mike Adams will be.
     
  2. Boomer

    Boomer Well-Known Member

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    For someone who just picked up the position, AV has played really well. KB may be back but the Steelers will now have some leverage on a new contract for him.
     
  3. defva

    defva Well-Known Member

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    He's doing a great job
     
  4. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

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    Not sure where this notion that he just learned the position comes from?
     
  5. TerribleTowelFlying

    TerribleTowelFlying Staff Member Site Admin Mod Team

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    How long do you think he's been playing left tackle?
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  6. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

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    He played his entire junior year of college at LT.
     
  7. blountforcetrauma

    blountforcetrauma Well-Known Member

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    I say there's no way AV beats out Beachum as a starter. Tomlin adores Beachum and we know how Tomlin is with guys that he really likes. Blake and Allen ring a bell?
     
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  8. Ender

    Ender

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    Beachum may have priced himself out of town though.
     
  9. HugeSnack

    HugeSnack Well-Known Member

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    So he's got 2 years of practice at the position, one of which was at a place not so good at football, on a team where he was constantly changing positions, and probably didn't have much for a coach. A normal guy his age would have 9 years of practice at the position, not counting anything before college.

    What AV has done would be like if Heath Miller became our starting QB and won games. That would be nuts.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  10. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

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    The person who posted the thread said he never played the position before coming to the Steelers and the person I quoted said that he had just picked up the position.
    I was just pointing out that it was not the case.

    I agree that what Villenueava has done is remarkable. I'm happy to see him having success.
     
  11. SteelerJJ

    SteelerJJ Well-Known Member

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    The pass blocking is new though since Rich Ellerson's Army team only threw a handful of times per game. Villanueva did not start playing football until high school in Belgium so Army wasn't sure what to do with him.
     
  12. TheSteelHurtin2188

    TheSteelHurtin2188 Well-Known Member

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    Yeah I wouldn't count playing one year like 8 years ago as experience
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  13. GB_Steel

    GB_Steel Well-Known Member

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    I like Beachum and his story, but this is one of the tough personnel decisions that we're going to have to make. Personally I'd rather have Le'Veon Bell or Martavis Bryant than Beachum, which may be what it comes down to unless Beach takes a drastic hometown discount.

    Keep AV as the starter, sign Adams again as a swing OT, and draft another guy to hopefully groom to replace AV if he gets too expensive. If Beachum was totally dominant, then yeah, I'd try to keep him. But he isn't, and he'll command a big LT salary, so I think he's expendable considering the play of AV isn't that far off from what Beach offers.
     
  14. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    maybe we sign beach as a guard, able to step in if needed at tackle. dump adams and his money and keep stingley who has some experience and also not re-sign foster and roll with hubbard and finney. beachum, finney, hubbard have ability to play several positions along the line and are younger. wallace could be kept or let go depending on camp and the draft. :cool:
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  15. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    Is that a recipe for a successful Oline though Mac or is it making the best hand with the crap you are dealt? I wasn't impressed by any of the Oline prospects in camp and while I'm not advocating dumping them all, keeping some for that sake of having a guy seems like more of the same when it comes to development before Munch got here.
     
  16. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    beachum is smart for one thing. he's also mobile which would help in fosters spot. stingley could play well enough as the swing tackle or if it came down to it beachum could move to LT if AV got hurt. we need to develop some younger talent and finney is a good one to let munch mold. they seem to like hubbard and he's getting even more developed into several positions. if we didn't have munch coaching them i may think otherwise, but with him young, smart and mobile are a pretty good combo.:cool:
     
  17. CK 13

    CK 13 Well-Known Member

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    Obviously they should be drafting secondary the 1st 3 picks but don't be surprised if tackle is the 1st pick.
     
  18. HawkeyeJames

    HawkeyeJames Well-Known Member

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    They better not draft a tackle with the first round pick. We have guys who are playing above the line to put it in Tomlin's words. AV, Gilbert and Beachum. My guess is Beachum will ask for a reasonable contract but not one that will break our salary cap. Honestly I am getting to the point in which I would rather keep Beachum and Wallace and move Pouncey for a draft pick and/or proven corner. I like Pouncey but his ability to stay healthy has not been good. When Pouncey is healthy he is one of the best, the problem is it seems he misses half the season anymore.

    We have other glaring needs outside of tackle. The first pick better be secondary along with the 2nd and 3rd etc... Unless some of that is dealt with in FA...
     
  19. Blast Furnace

    Blast Furnace Staff Member Mod Team

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    Don't see that happening, why would Beach stay here and play guard when he can sign elsewhere and get LT money.
     
  20. Coastal Steeler

    Coastal Steeler

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    Why is it when a backup starts looking good, we want to replace the starter for him? AV Looks good but I think Beachum is one of the best in the game. What we want to do is entice both of them to stay. AV may be easier. Not sure how many years he did in the Army. 4 or 6. He has a few years on Beach I think. Not sure how old Beach is
     
  21. Coastal Steeler

    Coastal Steeler

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    Hawkeye. I want them to draft 7 D-backs
     
  22. jeh1856

    jeh1856 Beer is good

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    Resigning Beachum was going to be tough because some team will assuredly over bid for a LT. I don't think the Steelers would have been quick to overpay for the position. Although they did twice with Max Starks. I'm thinking with the improvement of AV, they will be less inclined to overpay this time. A one year possibility would be to tag Beachum just for insurance?
     
  23. GB_Steel

    GB_Steel Well-Known Member

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    Because we have limited resources to spend on a lot of good players.

    Bell
    Bryant
    AB
    Timmons
    Beachum
    Miller
    DeCastro

    Are all guys in the final year or two of their contracts and with the exception of Timmons and Miller (who won't come cheap by any means) I can see all of them wanting top-10 money for their position.

    Beachum and Timmons, to me, are the two most replaceable considering their own play and who we have to replace them.
     
  24. SteelerGlenn

    SteelerGlenn

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    He actually played the later part of his sophomore year as well as his entire junior year at LT and has played guard also.
    How much experience he gained from it and retained I have no idea. The point of my original post was that the person who started this thread said that before coming to the Steelers he had not played at left tackle. That just is not true.
     
  25. blackandgoldpatrol

    blackandgoldpatrol Well-Known Member

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    If av continues to develop the way we all hope, then Beacham is a perfect candidate to move over into Foster's spot.... if foster accepts a back up role, then we not only upgrade the starters, but we vastly upgrade the depth
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2015
  26. mac daddyo

    mac daddyo Well-Known Member

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    most teams won't settle and pay big bucks for a shorter LT or they have drafted one already. we settle for O-linemen most of the time where most teams don't. if beach gets a fair contract and the opportunity to start even at guard he may take it. we will have a ton of money tied up on the interior though. take that adams money, wallace money and foster money and what we are now paying beachum and make him a deal. finney, stingley and hubbard should come cheap enough to offset what we would need to keep costs down. :cool:
     
  27. Coastal Steeler

    Coastal Steeler

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    I don't know. Timmons been really good for us a long time. Remember folks ask after their 1st year how did he get drafted ahead of Woodly? They don't ask that any more
     

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