Congrats TJ Watt and Cam Heyward

Yeah I agree 100%. Lebeau was overly loyal to Keisel but really Hood should have been the odd man out. One of the most puzzling personnel decisions. No idea. Probably Lebeau the first year but the second?

 

Second year Heyward would have likely earned just as much sacks in 2012 as he did in 2013; five total. Then again, it is all speculation; Ziggy Hood not helping. Overall though, I still believe Heyward has a chance to knock on Cantons doorstep.



Mind you that, those proverbial steps for him to climb are steep no doubt. That said, given how excellent he has been playing since 2017.... doubt Cameron Heyward at ones discretion. A many of Interior Offensive Lineman have and have payed the price.

 

Yeah I noticed that too. Not aware of run defense in 3-4 vs. nickel stats did you see some?

 

Heyward is more consistent, I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about Jones taking plays off, you would see Heyward hustling 25 yards down the field to make a tackle sometimes.

 

No haven't really looked at them, but with the rise of sub package football and Tomlin's appreciation for it you really see where the flaws are in the base 3-4 defense vs nickel vs big nickel. When you remove a space eating NT with just two down linemen and an extra LB or tweener safety\LB they almost need to play everything perfectly or they are ripped to shreds. the second level guys like Bush, Schobert, Spillane, Edmunds, Allen, Maulett. They jump the first gap they see and not to make a play on the ball carrier but to plug a hole and get swallowed up by a block. Plays where they they stuff the run happen either when they have forced the blocking laterally and the back has no where to go or one the the tweeners comes off the backside and tries to trip up the RB before he gets going. In my opinion had Alualu and Tuitt been able to play all season we'd have seen Highsmith and Watt with even high sacks totals and pressures will being able to dominate the line and string out running plays.

 

Thanks for putting that into words great post. It's kind of funny that Tomlin uses the 3-4 so little when he has been drafting ILB with DB speed. Bush and Shazier had better straight line speed coming into the NFL than our corners. I was hoping we'd be able to continue the 3-4 at least on early downs.

 

I’ll give you that

 

Are you saying he should’ve been all decade in 2010s?