Good Linebackers Read...

its common knowledge look it up he was drafted as an outside LB to replace Porter (because they didnt kno what they had in Harrison! Harrison hasnt always been Harrison hence we cut him twice and the Ravens once) Harrison got good which forced them to move Timmons inside

 

http://www.steelersfever.com/editorials/0808.html "the Steelers decided to fill the depth chart instead. The Steelers needed the next Joey Porter so they took Lawrence Timmons, ranked third in the country among OLBs" http://www.sportznutz.com/nfl/draft/200 ... eelers.htm "The key to this draft is whether Timmons adequately replaces Joey Porter" ect ect

 

i looked at ESPN CBS and SI its al the same OLB Ok if they drafted him to play in the Middle then why they wait almost two years to switch his P to Middle LB? (its because they seen how good Harrison was and had to put Timmons somewhere)

 

if its all the same I think they tried him at OLB his first year in camp, they might have tried him all over the place?; then he got hurt for most of the year. And the second year they moved him inside because of Harrison's play at OLB. None if it was planned from the get go, it all just happened that way...

 

Why unlikely? it was a hugh need(plus we always take the BAP) only Outside LBs we had were James Harrison (who we cut twice and was undrafted) Clark Haggans(Old) Marquis Cooper? Arnold Harrison on the inside we had Farrior(in his prime made the ProBowl that year or the year before) Foote(in his prime) and Clint Kriewaldt in the 3 4 D OLB is more import then Inside and we always keep more OLBs

 

I appoligize if someone has already mentioned this, but i didn't read all of the posts indepth so i may be repeating what someone has already said.

First of all when Timmons was drafted it was clear he would play on the inside. However, i think the Steelers like players who they think have the ability to do many different things and be diverse. That is one of the reasons why Timmons ends up on the outside from time to time when we have an injury. The other is the lack of quality depth at the olb position currently on the roster.

I think that the pick of Spence shows that they still don't know who the next olb will be and they may consider moving Timmons to olb eventually. All signs point that he will be a very good special teams player, so at worse we are getting a back up and good special teams player. So this pick gives us much more flexibility in the future. I also would not be surprised in 3-4 years in Spence ended up on the outside too. I thought he showed a lot of explosion off the edge on his tape.

 

In 06', the season before we drafted Timmons and Woodley we had Haggans and Porter as our starting OLBers. It was Porters final contract year and J.Harrison was primary OLBer back-up and had been since 04', He played in every game in 04 & 05/started 7 games. Injured in 06' only playing in 11 games/started 1. We knew who James was, how good he was, and it was his time to start. Ideally it would have been James on the left side/haggans gone and Porter on the rt side but Porter wanted too much money and left for big bucks in Miami.

At the end of the 06' season we knew Porter would leave, we had OLBers James H./Haggans and Arnold Harrison had replaced Frazier on the roster as OLBer back-up.We had ILBers Foote/Farrior with Back-ups Kriewaldt/ rian wallace... and journeyman Cooper and an old Chad Brown who we knew was finished. Wallace & cooper were mere bodies in the middle and Kriewaldt was limited in his skillset. Foote was avg at best. We had more ILBers than OLBers but our OLBer corp was better and younger than the IBLer corp.

We had to address our entire LBer corp in the draft and Timmons was our best option. Beason and Willis were gone and the book on Timmons was a Perfect 3-4 ILBER ( Buck ) who could also play OLBer if needed. He would come in a learn the defense, replacing Foote first then by his second contract replace our then leader Farrior. In the 2nd rd, after addressing our ILBer needs, we drafted a big time college DE and made him our future OLBer.

In 07 Haggans and James H. started outside and Woodley played in 13 games.... They knew they had a player in Woodley and let Haggans go after the season ended. In mid season they cut A. Harrison due to poor ST play and promoted D. Woods from the PS.
Also in 07 Foote and Farrior were our ILBER starters, Timmons played in 16 games and Kriewaldt played in 14. Timmons replaced Clint K as primary ILBER back-up in 08 and replaced Foote as starter in 09.

I'll never be convinced Timmons was drafted as Porters replacement when we had and knew the skillset of James H. I will agree part of the intrigue about Timmons back then was his versatility and ablility to ALSO play OLBer but he has since PROVEN he is no 3-4 OLBer.

Cajun-

 

In 06', the season before we drafted Timmons and Woodley we had Haggans and Porter as our starting OLBers. It was Porters final contract year and J.Harrison was primary OLBer back-up and had been since 04', He played in every game in 04 & 05/started 7 games. Injured in 06' only playing in 11 games/started 1. We knew who James was, how good he was, and it was his time to start. Ideally it would have been James on the left side/haggans gone and Porter on the rt side but Porter wanted too much money and left for big bucks in Miami.quote]
this isnt true 2002-2003

Harrison went undrafted in the 2002 NFL draft, fearing he was too short (six feet) to play linebacker, and too light (240 pounds) to play on the defensive line. A few teams did send him training camp invites.[5] The Steelers signed Harrison as an undrafted rookie in 2002, making him the first Kent State alumnus to play at linebacker for the team since Hall of Famer Jack Lambert.

Harrison spent two years on and off the practice squad for the Steelers, being released three times, and was also briefly on the active roster towards the end of the 2002 season, playing only special teams. Teammate and fellow linebacker James Farrior later told NFL Network that Harrison was so green early on in his career that he would simply “give up” on plays he was struggling on and would even ask the coaches not to play him when he was struggling.[6] Farrior said, "He was a knucklehead that didn't know the plays. We'd be in practice, in training camp, and he might not know what he was doing so he'd just stop and throw his hands up and tell (the coaches) to get him out of there. We thought the guy was crazy."[7]

Harrison wore number 93 during this period before adopting his current number 92, which at the time was worn by fellow linebacker and Pro Bowler Jason Gildon.

[edit] 2004

He was signed by Baltimore in late 2003, then sent to the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, but eventually cut by the Ravens.[2] After being cut for a fourth time, Harrison considered not playing anymore. Shortly after, he was signed a fourth time by the Steelers during training camp in 2004 after Clark Haggans sustained an injury in an offseason weightlifting accident. Showing much improvement, Harrison made the final roster and has remained with the Steelers since. Harrison later told the Beaver County Times that if not for Haggans's injury, he planned to retire from football at age 26 to focus on becoming a veterinarian, something that Harrison still plans on doing after his football career ends. Harrison also considered following in his father's footsteps and become a truck driver,[6] and to this day does have a commercial driver's license.[8]

Throughout the 2004 season, Harrison mostly played on special teams and at linebacker with occasional reps at defensive end. His first career start came against his hometown Cleveland Browns in Cleveland on November 14 after teammate Joey Porter and Browns running back William Green were ejected for fighting during the pregame warm-ups. Harrison had a good game statistically in the Steelers' 24–10 victory against their hated rival.

Harrison scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery in the final week of the season against the Buffalo Bills.

[edit] 2005-2006

Harrison started in three games of the 2005 season when starting linebacker Clark Haggans was injured. His biggest highlight of the year was in a game against the San Diego Chargers, where he intercepted a Drew Brees pass for a 25 yard return. During the return, he made a huge leap over LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers star running back.

Harrison gained some attention and popularity when he restrained a Cleveland Browns fan during a 41-0 Pittsburgh win on Christmas Eve. The intoxicated fan was on the field when Harrison grabbed the man and put him on the ground. Harrison restrained the fan until authorities took him away.[9]

The Steelers went on to win Super Bowl XL that season. Although Harrison was not a major factor in the game, he did play and earn a Super Bowl ring with the team, recording a team-high three special teams tackles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harr ... n_football)

 

Timmons and Woodley were both brought in as Olb's....I know because I lost my mind when they took then both back to back


Hack

 

Mojo, exactly what isn't true. Everything you just wrote doesn't contradict anything I've written. In fact I agree, you're right and we all know James was an UDFA from kent state who we cut twice and the ravens even cut once. What I said and maybe I wasn't really clear is James played for the steelers as OLBer in 04',05'& 06' primarily as back-up and on ST and by the 07' draft we knew who he was and how good he could be.

Also in timmons 1st training camp when he was on the field he was taking reps at ILBer.

Cajun-

 

misread it thought you said he started every game in 04 and 05 But i stand my comment that they didnt know what they had in Harrison so they Drafted Timmons to replace Porter at OLB

 

Why would the Steelers draft a 6'-3" 230 LB 4-3 strongside (sam) LBer as the #15th overall draft pick to play him as a 3-4 OLBer? That would be like drafting Troy P. to be our next shutdown corner.

Cajun-

 

this

 

we'll just have to agree to disagree..... I just can't ever imagine The Steelers drafting a 6'3" 230 LB who was the 4-3 sam to play outside for us. Two different positions requiring completely different skillsets.

Cajun-

 

Steelers site http://www.steelers.com/team/roster.html has him 6-1 234 (coming out in the draft i bet he was smaller) bout the same size as Harrison and Carter and smaller then Worilds

 

Post draft 2007 commentary:

"They are capable of doing a lot of things," said Tomlin about first round draft pick Lawrence Timmons and second rounder LaMarr Woodley.

"Similar positions, but different gains," continued Tomlin. "We view LaMarr as a guy that could put his hand on the ground and play a defensive end position. He has a defensive end background. If you look at Lawrence Timmons, he is a guy that is capable of playing on his feet. He has put his hand on the ground some. He is capable of covering people. He is capable of being the underneath rover in some of the pressure packages. The same position, different skill set. They are capable of doing a lot of things."

Coach Tomlin has already commented on Timmons potential role with the Steelers. "He has some Derrick Brooks qualities. You don't necessarily want to put that on anyone because Brooks is a legendary player, but he runs around and strikes people. He is relentless and he loves the game."

"We're a 3-4 team. He's a right outside linebacker," added Colbert. "He has mack (inside linebacker) capabilities and we like what he has from the versatility standpoint."

 

Harrison is small in stature for a prototypical 3-4 OLB but his power makes up the difference. He squats 600 LBs several times, dips with 225lbs attached to him and benches over 500lbs. He's called silverback for a reason.

I got timmons size from his college bio. His combine #'s have him 6' 7/8" 234lbs with just avg combine #'s in speed/quickness and strength.

Cajun-

 

I think when he got drafted they praised his versatility....so the coaches didn't peg him ILB right away. They may have been thinking it, but they didn't come out and say it. Also I'm pretty sure in his rookie camp they tried at both.

 

Yea , I here all you guys say well the LB's will get the sacks,Well lets consider Woodley. Plays about a half of season, usually comes into camp out of shape, plays terrible first 4 weeks until he gets in shape. Plays well next 4 weeks then he usually gets hurt. Now onto Silverback, the commisioner and the league have basically put him out of business,they have played with his mind, that and a whole
lot of holding has changed his game dramatically. So where does the pass rush come from. Timmons
can get after the QB, he is fast enough if they can line him up right. Our LB's will have to learn some different moves because these 340 lb OL can handle the bull rushes most of the time. We better get it from our DL, and blitzing of DB's because the league has figured us out. ATTACK AND WIN.

 

Getting Dark in this ***** :darkness:

 

Its common practice for 3-4 teams to take college 4-3 teams and convert their DEs to OLBer and their OLB into ILBer.

Cajun-