I'm Excited About Lance Moore

I don't like to toot my own horn too much, but... ah, who am I kidding. I love it.

Aditi Kinkhabwala:
Ben Roethlisberger said chemistry w/ Lance Moore is already like they've been together for a few years.

I think this is worth getting excited about! The best thing about Cotchery was his chemistry with Ben. Moore will have that too, and he'll be the same Moore from NO. He will effectively replace Cotchery. Wheaton looks crisp. Bryant should work his way in there eventually. Even Justin Brown is getting positive reviews. Archer!

 

if moore can only match cotchs numbers i will be very pleased... and ben seems to like him already so time will tell and if wheaton and bryant can replace sanders thats great... but again thats trying ot match a 8-8 team ... and people can say that ...but i think the O played at beter then a .500 team and the defense probably under a .500 team.... so .. after saying that jibberish and had to follow thought ... if we can match the same O stats as last time .. and improve the D then maybe we can finish over .500 and make the playoffs.. if that makes sense...

HINES

 

Perfect sense, this is exactly what needs to happen. Hopefully the addition of Shazier will help, and the guys who were first year starters last year will improve their game.

 

As I see it Ben basically needs to have about 336 completions this year. How did I arrive at that number?

We played from behind a BUNCH last year. With the increase in an effective running game with Blount and Bell both here, I expect we will run the ball more to protect a lead. I expect we will easily rush the ball over 450 times this year. Bell had 244 last year and Blount had 153. That is almost 400 carries right there. Archer will probably get 1 a game giving him 16 and Ben will probably get 2 or so a game on scrambles giving him 24. 400 is 25 carries a game.

If we average 60 offensive plays per game, that is 960 plays. Minus the 400 from that and Ben throws the ball 560 times this coming year. If Ben completes 60% of his passes, that is 336 completions on the year.

#1 WR...A. Brown 80 (5 per game)
#1 TE...H. Miller 64 (4 per game)
#2 WR...Wheaton 32 (2 per game)
#3 WR...Moore 32 (2 per game)
#1 RB....Bell 40 (2.5 per game)
Archer 24 (1.5 per game)

That is 17 receptions per game....Ben averaged about 23 last year.

THAT is 272 receptions, and honestly, I'm not sure I have put anyone's numbers high, in fact I probably have a couple of them low. They are ALL capable of pulling those numbers without a doubt. That leaves 64 receptions unaccounted for in order to get Ben's completions up to that number, or 4 additional completions per game for the year. The positions noted above (not players, but positions) accounted for 326 catches last year, but that still left 51 catches unaccounted for. Bryant, Spaeth, Blount, and the #5 WR should be able to average a combined 3+ catches per game.

I trust our depth, and honestly am excited to see this group in action. I think we have made improvements in a couple of areas overall this offseason and hope that it will translate on the field:

1. Improved running game
2. Improved WR depth
3. Major speed boost on D
4. Youth injection on D

I am totally pumped! Can we start the season now?

 

I think 17 receptions a game seems pretty low, but I think that number improves when Ben completes higher than the 60% that you predicted for him. He's only completed less than 60 percent twice in his career and they were both by percentage points (59.7 and 59.9). I hope the number of passes goes down simply by being ahead in more games, but with a solid receiving corps and a RB who is a very good receiver we would be insane to not have at least 20 receptions per game with around a 63-64 completion percentage. We are in a cool position of having a lot of weapons and not enough touches to go around haha

 

that can't possibly happen with those midgets.

 

That was sort of the point. All of these numbers should be minimums IMO. Look Bell had 45 receptions last year and didn't play the first 3 games. A. Brown had 110 receptions this year...this would be a reduction of receptions by 30, but I picked that number because it still puts him as a top 25 WR, but I think he should beat that. Moore had 37 last year in 13 games in what was considered a down year.

These numbers should be easily achieved.

 

One thing that should improve markedly this year is the run game, new O-line coach, Leveon in his 2nd year and with Blount and hopefully Archer as a change of pace backing up I think we've a chance to get back to running the ball. That will improve the whole offence as will a fully fit Heath. i'm very excited about our offence this year.

 

Solid p/u and I think a good band-aid for losing Cotch. Moore is a cagey crafty vet WR that we are going to like in that middle zone area. The guy knows QBs and he knows how to work for them and get open. Steelers were wise bringing him in here like many of the off season P/Us. IMO

 

yep, with more turnovers created by the defense (hopefully not Ben) the number of offensive plays increase

 

I'm not excited about anybody they got until the season starts and they show me what they can do on the field, paper teams don't impress me....

 

as long as those expectations are tempered


signed,
Origami

 

So you just never get excited about the future? Only the present? I think you're going for "grounded" here but to me it comes off as depressing. I get super excited about all kinds of guys that have never played for us, or at all in the NFL. Shazier, baby!

 

I will not temper my expectations. I will keep them realistic, but I think this team has improved in MULTIPLE ways and I want to see them deliver....period. Where do I think we improved:

Coaching:

James Saxon - RB Coach - I honestly think he is going to improve things.
Mike Munchak - OLine coach - Do we seriously have to wonder if this is an improvement?

OFFENSE:

Running Backs: Bell for a whole season, improved #2 with Blount, improved slash guy with Archer (not necessarily over what was expected from LSH, but from what we got from anyone not named Bell in that role last year.)

Wide Receiver: Moore is an upgrade over Cotchery IF he works well with Ben which I think will happen, That leaves Wheaton needing to equal Sanders...I think he exceeds him. Bryant and Brown will equal Moye and Wheaton from last year.

Oline: Better coaching and Pouncey being back. LT is still a question mark.

DEFENSE:

DLine: Keisel did his best, but I think Heyward will more than beat him. Tuitt and Thomas will give us at least what Hood did which was basically hold the end...that's it. McClendon will be better.

LB: Williams was a rookie and so is Shazier, but I think he is a playmaker. Jones will be a year better. Worilds will give us more than Woodley did and equal last year's numbers of them combined IMO. Right now he is playing for a payday...that has a way of motivating you.

S: Mitchell from Clark...improvement. Troy actually being a S rather than a glorified LB will make us better.

SPECIALS:

Better punting, same FG, same return game...maybe improvement if Archer has a large impact.

 

We already know what Lance can do on the field he's been playing the game for years.

 

but do we get last year lance or the year before lance or the 5-6 year lance? that we don't know. hopefully the chain moving lance, that's what he does best.

 

lance will be fine. ben likes those security blankets. now he'll have heath back functional and moore. chain movers. add bell and AB which ben is comfy or getting comfy with and he should have to force much less. that gives him time to work with his new toys. DHB, Bryant and dri. wheaton could look like the forgotten man and have a huge year. this could be fun to watch.

 

I see Lance being the fourth option after AB, Heath,and Wheaton.

 

I like Lance Moore, he's a pretty underrated WR. He's not going to get a ton of TD's, but he could push for 1,000 yards

 

Lance will outperform Wheaton. Wheaton hasn't shown a single thing yet in his career.