Impressive, Accurate, Thoughtful Article on NFL.com (WHAT?!) - Shazier

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...aking-the-leap-no-18-steelers-lb-ryan-shazier

Ryan Shazier is on their list of "Making the Leap" candidates, players they expect to make a huge jump this year. The article is a detailed and accurate account of Shazier being drafted, the hype that followed, and the season that followed. It's accompanied by highlights of plays and games they discuss. I'm simply blown away. Usually NFL.com and the NFL channel don't get out more than a few words on the subject of Shazier, and they're always along the lines of "disappointed" and "lost big time to Mosely."

Kudos to NFL.com for doing the thing I have been waiting for since 1998. It's not hard, you just have to do the research and put in the effort. Bravo! You did your job!

The only thing I disagree with is the expectation that he racks up more than 100 tackles this year. I don't know about that.

One question I have.... It says here he played at 223 pounds last year. Is that true? I know his college weight was around 215-220, but he was something like 238 at the combine, and I thought he intended to stick to that weight, or close to it. I can't imagine they let him slip all the way back to his college size.

 

100 tackles, i'm not from missouri but show me. Probowl ? why was this even in the conversation at this point. What, building more hype for a fail, not fair to Ryan.

 

It's a conversation because he is a first round pick with a huge ceiling if he can stay healthy.

 

They best hope he will adapt to the NFL..Health, i said in another thread we have 2 players i'm concerned about Ryan and JJ. I understand well what you're saying the push is on!!

 

Because of the overall mediocrity of his play, and because he made some very visible mistakes he shouldn't have (like bad angles, missed tackles), it's easy to forget the flashes of brilliance he showed. He really did give us glimpses of what we drafted him for, and in not much time. As a rookie. For LeBeau. If you take out the injuries, Shazier's rookie season is better than I originally thought. I don't see 100 tackles or a Pro Bowl this coming season, but maybe in year 3 or 4.

 

He didn't really see the field enough for me to make a judgment one way or another.

His athleticism can't be questioned, but we'll see if he can actually stay healthy.

80-90 tackles seem to be a nice realistic number. 100+ seems like a reach.

 

I dunno, but I think he can help Doran Grant, or vice-versa...

GO STEELERS!!!

 

Agree completely.

 

He'll be our defensive MVP and I'd be more surprised if he has less than 100 total tackles than more. What he did last year, while not really knowing what to do, was spectacular. His biggest challenge, as Olsavsky mentioned, is staying clean.

 

i don't think he looked that big last year. his game has always been about speed and athletic ability over strength. he will have to play the angle to the ball strength over his ability to take on blockers and shed them. if he can do that, he can reach that 100 tackle goal.

i still see him as the new version of troy though but from the LB spot. his coverage and range to the ball are his strength now and leave the blitzing and run stuffing to timmons as he ages. let the youth of RS run until that NFL strength is obtained by shazier.

i think keeping LT around the line more and RS roaming will really help the run stopping and also the blitzing of timmons over the coverage of timmons will make these two a dynamic duo.

i see alot of the same in our two backups too. williams as the close to the line blitzer/run stuffer and spence as the coverage/range guy. as GB says LT and VW don't have to 'stay clean" like SS and RS do for they're games to flourish.

 

I would like to see him get bigger to better
handle the NFL caliber player. There are no Indiana's & Purdues in this league.

 

Yeah, me too. He'll be our new "where did he come from?" guy. I think he'll rack up a lot of the "junk" tackles, which will help him reach that 100 tackle mark. But I also think his TFL will be through the roof.