Forget coaching tree - players..?

I’d like somebody to point out to me a player that they think developed BECAUSE of Tomlin to a good strong degree and not just on their own given drive.

Like, I think Watt was going to be Watt no matter where he played or who under; Tomlin is not allowed to steal any of TJ’s thunder.

 

Conner, Witherspoon, Spillane, Hilton, Dotson...never-mind, I misunderstood the question. Thought you asked who developed when they got away from Tomlin

 

You're right Watt sucking in the playoffs is all on him .

 

Hilton didn't get better with the Bengals .

 

This is a bit objective. How does a couch quarterback evaluate who developed and who didn’t. You give TJ as a sure fire example of success, regardless of coaching, yet he barely made it into the first round?

 

Okorafor, AB, Claypool, Green, DJ, Levon, etc……

 

The scheme sucks. Maybe try creative blitzing packages every once in an effort to keep the offense from double teams on him.

 

So the scheme is good enough for Watt to lead the league in sacks for 3 straight years, but not good enough for him to make plays in the playoffs ?

 

Too hard to tell one way or another. Certain players are good enough to be good no matter what, but we don't know how each specific player responds to Tomlin's coaching, or if that player developed BECAUSE of a specific aspect of coaching.

Coming from someone who played pro sports... most guys that end up good, do so because they were going to no matter what. Head Coaches can put players in positions to win on the field, or game plan them wins/stats.... but a player being good is usually 90% on them. Coaching can help when a player lacks motivation to become the player they can be (or needs to be taught how to be a professional) and the coach's style, personality, or way he coaches the player unlocks that motivation/drive. Like a mentor. It happens, but I think coaching is a bit overstated for the individual. The Head Coach helps the team as a whole more than they help any one individual improve. Position coaches have a bit more say in technique etc.

 

Because he was a TE until his senior year (maybe junior) until he changed positions. He has a HOF brother who id give him more coaching creds to and family character with internal drive more than anything. You notice I said that I believe he’d be himself anywhere he would have played better or worse.

 

Id line to hire you as my lawyer.

 

Following your logic, talk to me about Derek Watt?

 

That is EASY.... Chris Boswell If ever there was a case of a football player developing the Yips it was Boswell.

2018 65% FG Finished 34th in the league (2 Players that finished ahead of him were on multiple teams)

I think Tomlin had a lot to do with Boswell being able to return and become one of the best kickers in the game. That is what a Player Friendly Head Coach can do by getting inside a player's head.


And, you could also throw in AB who lasted 9 years with Tomlin. Not many coaches out there could have gotten 9 years out of AB. Gruden got 0, and Belichick got 1.

 

So do you think our defense scheme was good this year? If you do you might one of a few. lol Don't car who leads in sacks but more about wins and loses and not giving good QB's all day to throw.

 

The funny thing about AB, I used to say the best thing about him was that he wasn’t the typical WR diva. Boy I was either way wrong, they hid it well or he changed, because I didn’t see it in the early years. BTW he’s hilarious on X #CTESPN

I can’t imagine Tomlin spent much time working the psyche of a kicker, but maybe you’re correct

 

No, the scheme wasn't good enough this season.

 

I've been told that I should've been a lawyer before hahah mostly I'm just good at talking, so my career path in Sales Management is probably a good alternative.

 

You can't make it into pro sports without being very good at what you do. If you're not already very good, you're going to stay amateur because they don't have time to spend a bunch of money on you to make you into a good player. Better to pick someone up who's already good.

Coaches should be fine-tuning techniques and keeping them ready to play physically. They should also be figuring out how to incorporate all these individually good players into it good team. I think that's one of the Steelers problems. We have a lot of good players on defense, but they don't seem to always play in a cohesive team like manner. It's more like a bunch of individuals doing their own thing. Sometimes that leads to good things and other times it does not. That's on the coaches in my opinion.

 

It's players and coaches, which begs the question, is it poor coaching, awful drafting or a combination of both? I lean towards poor drafting with a couple examples of poor development.

 

Those first round picks are BRUTAL. 4 straight years of misses (traded the other first rounder for Minkah). Edmunds and Najee were NFL players, but below average at their positions, while Bush and Pickett were awful. We did actually reasonably well in the second and third rounds. GP, Muth, Highsmith, DJ, and Mason were all good picks. Some weren't, but those rounds can be hit or miss. We did almost NOTHING 4th round or later though. Austin III is probably the best one of the bunch. Loudermilk and Dan Moore are back up level players but were at least solid NFL players. Dotson was the big hit and we ended up butchering that situation by playing him out of position/scheme.

 

Agree with all of this except for Harris. Harris was AVERAGE not below average. But yeah, definitely not worth a first round pick.

 

The job of development belongs mainly to the position coaches....

 

Harris is a conundrum when it comes to his worth. He looks like a fine enough player statistically due to never being injured and having high usage. However when you look at things like YPC average, YPG, success % rate, etc., he falls way below league average for the position. All of this despite having the 7th most carries and the 14th most yards. Also, he just looks bad out there. He has a couple games a year where he looks like a lion, and then spends the rest of the season looking like a kitten.

Is the final statistical numbers a mirage created by usage and availability? Or is he actually a decent player that is held back by playing on poor offenses? I think its more the former, but understand why people argue the latter.

I can understand the sentiment that he is "average", but I just have a hard time viewing him as a top 20-25 back in the league. I would consider him average for all backs (including tandem guys), but definitely below average to poor as a starter.