end of season grades and next yrs. outlook............... lbers

What is supposed to be the heart and soul of the defense is at a bit of a crossroads.. Our insider backers are stacked and still developing, while our outside guys are not spending as much time as they need to in opposing backfields, but more on that later.. There is a chance that we may lose 3 of our 4 olbers to either free agency or retirement, while the jury is still out on our 4th... On the inside, we have one that's finally getting the recognition that he deserves. One speedster that needs to get a little stronger. One miraculous comeback story, and one that is just flat out mean... and that doen't include the one that is relegated to special teams because there just isn't enough room for him in the rotation... I fully expect us to use at least a 3rd or 4th rounder on an outside stud as this yrs. draft is very strong at the position
now on to the individual

Olb:

Jason Worilds: The defenses philosophy is to create pressure to make the secondary's job easier.... So can someone explain to me why Worilds was in coverage so much during the season... Worilds is going to be an unrestricted f.a. and i'm pretty sure the only way we keep him is if we franchise him..... at the same time, can we afford the cost of the franchise tag.. Worilds tied for the team lead in sacks, and unlike lamaar Woodley before him, he appears to be on the rise.. I'm pretty sure that some team out there will throw some ridiculous money at him, so unless he takes a discount due to his love for the team, he has probably played his last snap in black and gold..
Final grade: C+

James Harrison: Like keisel, Harrison found the fountain of youth.... clearly not what he used to be, but still struck fear in opposing offenses..... Offensive lineman appear to love him deeply, as they constantly hug and hold him... At this stage of his career, his production is extremely streaky, but he's still one of our best pass rushers...... Harrison is currently contemplating playing next season, or going back into retirement... It may take some serious peer pressure to keep him around, and the ones that could influence him the most may not be back next yr. themselves, so it's wait and see time.
Final grade: C+

Arthur Moats: Very active linebacker with a non stop motor... That motor means that linemen have to fight constantly to keep him at bay, which eventually tires them out and allows for the more skilled pass rushers to win their matchups a bit easier..... Moats will never be one of the great pass rushers in our defense, but his effort and skill are definitely valuable coming off the bench and in special teams... I would like to see the F.O. resign him to a fiscally modest contract, and feel that it's very possible as he won't get a ton of looks from other teams.
Final grade: B-

Jarvis Jones: The 2nd yr. man had a good start to the season, and had 2 sacks and a forced fumble in the 1st 3 games... I saw a lber on the rise.. Jones was showing good footwork, strong hands and a few counter moves.. then the wrist injury happened, and he wasn't the same when he returned..... it's far to soon to tell if he's the one or not.. If he can stay healthy next season, then we should have our answer... Then again, if he can't stay healthy, it might give us our answer as well... In any case, I still have faith here.
Final grade: inc.

ILB:
Lawrence Timmons: Finally got some recognition (although I feel that he's had better seasons). Timmons is now one of the leaders on the defense.. Coach Lebeau uses him all over the field.. Timmons still has room to grow, and I feel he will become even better yet... Still has some hiccups in coverage against good route runners, but he's the only fully developed lber we have
Final grade: B

Sean Spence: The feel good story of the season.. The miracle happened.. Hard to believe that this is basically his rookie season, and once he was thrust into the starting lineup, that fact showed. Spence grew as the season progressed, and he started making plays as he became more comfortable.. His development may make things extremely interesting rotationally...
Final grade: C+

Vince Williams: Lost his starting job when we drafted the next guy on this list, but played his way into the rotation, and delivered some pretty big hits.. Williams reminds me of Robin Cole, and he plays with a chip on his shoulder.. He'll never be on the field in obvious passing downs, but his knowledge and ability against the run will keep him on the team, and that's a good thing.
Final grade: C+

Ryan Shazier: The rookie may be the fastest player on the defense.. started the season having the starting gig handed to him. injury and the development of Spence and Williams made finding minutes hard to come by.. When on the field, like most rookies, he relied mainly on his athleticism.. As he gets more familiar with the defense, and gets stronger, he should become much more effective.. It will be interesting to see how he is used in the rotation.
Final grade: inc.

Terrance Garvin: Special teams ace, and totally lost in the shuffle.. A victim of the numbers game, but still has loads of potential.. as the coaches would say, it's a good problem to have... sucks for him though, and he may just opt for free agency when the time comes in order to get more playing time.
Final grade: C (based soley on special teams play)


Next Up: RB's

 

Shazier and Jarvis need to get stronger to shed blocks, the Steelers need for them to have a productive season.

 

My grades are two fold - how they performed in the position in paretheses () and how they performed based on expectations in brackets <>. So in other words a guy maybe graded out as a C in the position but it is possible based on who we thought they were they overperformed or underperformed. Example, let's say Terrence Garvin had 5 sacks for the season at OLB and was okay against the run we may grade that as a "C" for OLB - but for Garvin that would be "B" because he would have performed considerably better than expected.

Worilds: (C), <D+> - He sure wasn't worth the tag. Guy was tied for team lead in sacks but I saw on steelersdepot where all but 2 of his sacks were where he came in unblocked or he beat a TE or RB - only 2 sacks going up against a LT and they were weaker tackles at that. He also was below grade in # of pressures per pressure attempts on the QB. Worilds is basically an average OLB. If the Steelers could get him back for $3.5M per year on a 3-4 year contract with $5M guaranteed he may be worth signing, otherwise see ya later. He performed at C level, but this is a position for the Steelers where the guy needs to perform at a B to A level - and for that and what his salary was I gave him a D+.

Harrison (B), <B+> - Harrison was a bit sporadic, but he was fairly solid against the run and he also got a lot more pressures than Worilds in less play. He performed a bit above board for what we needed at the position and considering his performance at 37 years old and giving the Steelers a lift at times where it was desperately needed, I gave him a B+ in terms of expectations

Moats (C+), <A-> - For 900K this guy gave us a lot - it is hard to say what he would have done with 500 or 600 snaps, but I think it is possible he would have performed near the level of Worilds...so like I said C+ performance for the position, but considering what we thought he was, he gave us a lot and it should be a no-brainer to bring the guy back. Moats is probably the best backup OLB the Steelers have had in years - he is way better than guys like Garvin or Chris Carter

Jones (C), <Inc> - His performance was basically average when he was in, I do agree the injury makes assessing his performance difficult thus the incomplete. He better get stronger.

Timmons (B+), <B+> - A tackling machine who was everywhere - his coverage skills have unfortunately diminished

Spence (C+), <C+> - The feel good story that finally got on the field. Made some plays here and there and a few times was burned or out of position horribly

V. Williams (C+), <B> - Vinnie overperformed in my opinion and showed himself to be an above-board tackler, a real thumper who had some really nice run stuffs...woefully slow which means the idea of moving him to OLB should never be a discussion point

Shazier (C), <Inc> - Another incomplete...but early in the season was out of position badly on a lot of plays...what you expect from a rookie. Badly need Jones and/or Shazier to take big leaps next season or this defense is hurting

Garvin - no idea

 

Hey, I know they IR'd him prior to the year, but will Jordan Zumwalt be back? I wanted to see what he could do

 

garvin was a penalty machine at the beginning of the year and also gave up an easy TD early when we did use him on defense. I think he's easily replaced. zumwalt will be back and hopefully had some weight and muscle put on by camp time. hojo was signed to a futures contract so he will be in camp. worilds isn't worth 10+ mil a year. not a bad player but way over paid for what he brings and how we use him. moats, yes as a backup OLB would be worth signing. inside we are pretty set for now. zumwalt should be able to play both inside and out and so should moats, leaving garvin as a man without a country so to speak. hojo, JJ,zumwalt and moats I don't think are quite enough to head into the season with so a high draft pick or a pretty good free agent could be in the works. if we could get a decent one for 5-6 mil a year we would still make out on worilds contract. remember Woodley will cost us 8 mil next year, so I'm thinking we grab a draft pick and save the worilds money towards another signing and possibly bring JH back for one more until Woodley is off the books.

 

I think Zumwalt is a nut and I mean that in a good way. To me he seems like a "football player" a guy who really loves the game and is willing to put in the work neccessary to make a name for himself.....are you listening JJ? Get serious,get in the gym and get bigger and stronger. I'm really looking forward to seeing how a lot of our young guys prepare this offseason and make the jump.

 

Again good job. I disagree on Worilds. He didn't spend any more time in coverage than either Woodley or Harrison typically would. It's a myth our OLB are exclusive pass rushers. Agree he's gone. No way he accepts a 4.5 mil/yr deal.

Harrison played well for his age but not good enough. Four yrs ago he would have destroyed Hurst and that is what's needed. As much as I love the Silverback I'm not sure I want him back.

Moats is a 4-3 OLB they are trying to convert..... failure in my opinion but he's a good player and in a different scheme he'll be ok.

TIMMONS is playing smarter, both Mack and Buck, but he's losing speed and quickness. Coverage skills are suffering.

We have the LBers to make a switch to 4-3. If stay 3-4 we must draft a dynamic pass rushing OLB in rd 1.

Cajun

 

I remember reading several writers saying he could be a great rush OLB and he had tons of potential. I just wanted to make sure he was still coming back?

 

I think the ILB position is pretty well stacked....YOUNG....but full of talent. If you include Zumwalt, we basically go 6 players deep at the ILB position. I hate to be the first to say this, but we should move someone from ILB in a trade in order to get a true rushing OLB who can get to the QB. We need a buy who gets to the QB more than once every other game. He should be getting 5 pressures a game at a minimum....Worilds was lucky to get one.

 

We got a log jam inside and zilch on the edges... It'll be interesting to see this off season what transpires. I'd keep Moats, wave bye bye to Worilds (unless he wants to be waaaaaaay contract friendly which I doubt he will... He's seemed pretty bitter in his comments the last 2 years) and hope JJ beasts up in the off season along with Shazier. I don't want to see another LB taken in the first but whatever if they're is a good'n there, I'm sure it'll happen again.

 

Me too. The guy was a playmaker in college so I was disappointed when he went down to injury.

 

We may in a strange way have got lucky with him, he'd likely have been PS if he'd not been IR'd and we may have lost him. As it is he's had a year to learn the system and it looks likely there'll now be a place for him on the full roster.

 

Yep as stated very sad to be packed up in the middle and nothing on the outside . Who should the Team try to trade ? What could we get ? We need to move someone from the inside so if they can't play outside we need a guy or a pick . Suggestions ?

 

I thought Zumwalt could play outside? Howard Jones?

 

Worilds got 1 sack against a tackle the rest where garbage . I don't like the way he treated me as a fan . He is free to go he was not worth the money he can go rob another Team.

 

I would sign Worilds if the contract works. Like said, this position is wafer thin at this moment. It wasn't Worilds choice to be in coverage so much. And what if he wasn't here this season? Does anyone have total faith in Jarvis Jones? I don't. Hopefully he comes in, stays on the field first and gets stronger in the off season. Really at this point he is the only OLB on the active roster. Now that's scary.

 

I understand what some folks are saying about Worilds and that he had to drop in coverage more often, but even with that taken into account he didn't perform well enough when he was given an opportunity to pass rush. His percentage of QB pressures per pass rush were low.