Elephant in the room...

Not sure how to make this a poll, so I will just ask the question simply...
Do yinz think we are gonna miss James Harrison?
Or are you confident that Worillds, or Jones, can take his place, with no drop-off?
Personally, I am HOPING one of them will get the job done, but, I don`t really believe that either one will have the same impact Silverback did, at least this year...
Or, did the team do the right thing, and we won`t miss him at all?
Which one are yinz pullin for, to replace him?
Just curious what the rest of yinz here think......
I think we had to let him go, given his price, but,. I ain`t happy about it...
Wish he would`ve played for us, at a "fair" price we offered, but that`s a different topic...
He ain`t here...
Willl we be fine with one of his replacements, which one ya like better, or, should we have broke the bank to keep him?
(No, I don`t think we should have, but it hurts to let him go, and I HATE that he is still in the division)...
Thoughts?

 

Yeah I think they will do a decent job. Are they going to be Harrison in his prime no bit I think better then the Harrison we had last year.

 

We will miss Harrison no matter what. But that was going to happen sooner or later, whether he stayed with us or not. Dude's 35 or so. Gotta slip sometime. Will 2013 Worilds be better than 2013 Harrison? Maybe. Will anyone be better than 2008 Harrison? No, possibly never.

As far as replacing the irreplaceable goes, we could do a lot worse than Worilds and Jones. I think they'll both be legit players. I think it'll be 80%-90% Worilds this year, and 100% Jones next year.

 

I wouldn't complain if they signed worilds to stay as the main backup past this year. I still wonder about carter being moved to be Timmons backup. leaving robinson, and jones as the other 2. if Timmons would go down we would be in deep chit.

 

I think the organization did what they do best, offer a fair price and if the player don't like it off they go. this just happens to be the JH that we all loved and was such an exciting player in his prime. We'll be fine and he will be back to retire as a Steeler because his hearts still here.

 

Whoever starts, a new tandem at OLB needs time to get its feet. I'm sure that the comparisons will be there early on in the season - but I'm confident after a few weeks the media will be too busy marvelling at our sack numbers and pressures to notice.

 

I'm not sure I follow. Worilds can start at ROLB and be the #1 backup at LOLB. If Woodley goes down, you slide Worilds over, and plug Jones in on the right side. The only thing that should determine who starts is who plays better.

That said, I won't be surprised at all if Jones impresses everyone this preseason and generates a ton of buzz, but I'll be very surprised if he wins the starting job.

 

I think the Rooney's knew what they were doing and I trust their judgment. I honestly think if they thought the team would be absolutely better off with James here then he would be here. If I were a betting man I would say that most people will say that the Rooney's made a mistake IF James has his 2 best games this year against us. I think that's all some people are gonna look for instead of viewing his whole body of work over this season. He may very well have his best game against us but I don't expect him to be a pro bowler. I hated to see him go but we know the Rooney's are not gonna put one guy ahead of the whole well being of the team. It's time for our guys to step up and if Jones is as good as they say and Woodley returns to form we are gonna be just fine in my opinion. It's not like we traded Lebeau ya know.

 

I think we've been missing Harrison for a couple of years now.

 

You could well say that this is another elephant in the room!

 

I was gonna say the exact same thing. We're judging him based on what a done a few years ago. The Rooney's are saying "what have you done for me lately"?

 

Watching them yesterday at camp, I thought Worrilds looked alot like Harrison size wise. He was out with the starters for the most part and, then, everyone once in a while Jarvis was out there. I like the look of Jones alot. I hope he picks up the D fairly quickly.

 

this may get some flack but I would have felt better about this whole situation if:

the way Woodley has made an impact the last couple of seasons, we would have replaced him with worilds and kept Harrison to teach JJ.

I think worilds could have held down Woodley's side better than he can JH's side. there is a difference. JH could have taught jones better than worilds teaching jones on that side. I think carters coverage skills are also going to be taught to jones. so besides jones' own skills, he'll be getting mentored by guys with two different skillsets instead of one. a lot to take in with what keith butler is putting in his head.

if Woodley gets back to playing like he did a few years ago, I think JJ knows enough about the 3-4 and the extra attention he is going to be given until the season starts, we could have a nice rotation at OLB.

these are the cards we've been delt and it's up to these players now to show what they have learned so far, but with bruises. remember these O-linemen they go against are earning a spot too.

let's get ready to rumbleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

 

I believe James still has a little left in the tank and wish he would have taken the Bengals 450 K offer off the table for himself and stuck with the Black N Gold. I know he's not in his prime anymore but he still is a player that has to be schemed against.
Bengals D Coordinator Mike Zimmer will utilize him appropriately even though it is a switched system.
He had 6 sacks, 49 tackles and 21 Assists last season last season. Not too shaby for a 10 year vet. Especially when you look at Woodley after 6 seasons 4 Sacks, 27 tackles and 11 assists.

 

Ding, ding, ding, ding....we have two winners! I really believe that Woodley is the most vulnerable linebacker going into this season and my prediction is (for what it's worth) that Worilds may end up at Woodley's LOLB position with Jones at Harrison's old ROLB position before the year is out. I bring up that possibility in this post but didn't get a lot of response either pro or con.
http://thesteelersfans.com/forums/s...g-into-this-season-is-not-who-you-might-think

 

Elephant in the room??? What a dumbass thread. As if JH made a difference last year... the Harrison we had last year will not be missed.

 

This ^5

I agree the Rooneys and the organization as a whole make good decisions. Very few if any players have left this organization to become better or even par with their performance as a Stiller.

He will be missed IMHO but not near as much as some people think. He is definitely on the downside of his career. He could surprise me and stay healthy but I am doubting it.

Bman

 

We will miss the James of the past, but we will not miss the James of today. We already don't miss his cap hit.

 

Is anyone worried about OLB depth beyond Worilds and Jones? Worilds being in a lame duck contract year, lets say he gets 7 to 9 sacks, 90 tackles(good but not great). I don't think Jones would be ready to immediately take over in year 2, he needs to put on bulk so who takes over for Worilds after he leaves? Should be interesting.

 

They drafted Jones because they think he can take over in year two. As for depth this year, our #3 was the 17th pick in the draft and arguably the most pro-ready rookie at his position. And what little we've seen has looked good. That's someone that would start on most teams.

 

But he probably does pose a good point about his size. Do you think he's gonna be able to really be as effective as possible at this current size or do you expect the team to suggest (or demand) that he bulks up? I've heard others mention his size as a potential problem as well.

 

Oh yeah, he needs to get stronger for run support and a bull rush. Maybe 10 pounds, I don't know. But my post stands. And one thing about that guy, is that he is stronger and more explosive than he looks. It's on his tape. He looks like he weighs 215 and hits like he weighs 265.

 

now he's going against the best of the best. he will also have to learn a lot of things he didn't have to do in college. that's the hard part. this isn't going against Georgia southern and florida international.

every draft pick has to bulk up. DD does too. beachum. adams. ziggy. heyward. Timmons. Woodley. if you want to stay in this league, you better have that in mind.

he stalemated a rookie RB Monday 2-2 in backs on backers. as a fan, I want 4-0 for the LB'er and 4-0 for our RB. is that to much to ask for? hehehe