Is anyone worried about ILB depth???

I'm not entirely troubled with the depth. I like Dirty Red and I think Fort is much better than most believe. Hopefully he chased chickens with Rocky this offseason and comes in with a starter mindset. Yes, you are not going to replace Shazier's athleticism, but if you know the playbook front and back and have the intuition that I think Dirty Red has, then that can make up for some of that. Coaches need to compensate as well on their calls and personnel too if a starter goes down.

I'm more worried about the safety depth.

 

Different game now than it was then... those guys didn't have to cover RB's that are like receivers or TE's like Gronk/Graham/Reed. I think Matakevich is probably a really good football player, he is just an undersized plodder. That fact is going to hold him back in an NFL where a different type of skill set is needed at the position.

 

Idk about that. I'm not saying he's a shut down cover guy, but he seems to do really well in space covering (much better than his first year or so). No LBer is going to be perfect in coverage, they aren't corners... however, he's the only LBer that ever comes away with interceptions anymore. He has the speed to make up for any little mistake made and is about the only ILB we have that I feel even remotely comfortable with in coverage. Fort seems to be athlete enough to handle it, but I haven't really seen much of him on the field so I don't have enough to go off of.

 

Yeah fort seems to have the athletic ability to handle it, I just haven't seen a lot of him on the field so it's hard to base an opinion off of that. I'd be willing to bet we are in 3 safety sets much more frequently than last year. Our 2nd ILB is going to get rotated off the field in passing situations a ton... especially if one of our starters goes down.

 

There will always be room for bangers in the NFL. His football IQ is off the charts and that helps tremendously. Yeah he may not be the most athletic but if he already knows where that TE is going that is going to help him get there a lot faster. He's one of those players that just seems to know what is going to happen 2 seconds before it happens.

 

http://steelerswire.usatoday.com/20...ition-battle-brewing-on-the-steelers-defense/

Things that make you go hmmmmmm

 

i don't think there is any question that red is VW's backup and fort is shaziers. fort has been good in coverage so far in camp and red is always around the ball. johnson is sound as well. we are in better shape than most think.

 

The angry red-headed stepchild is ready, is what I figure. Matavich is going to rage.

 

I am always worried about ILB depth......on 3rd and long.

 

Well it sounds like Red has been impressive so far in camp. Great. That is a good sign. Fort, I still have questions about. We were dressing him as the #1 backup at some point and he was forced to play....it wasn't good. I am not sold yet, but he could have improved. It still is a large area of concern for me.

 

Hmmmmmm

 

After just a few practices, I may have to eat my words on Dirty Red. He's more than a special-teamer. Apparently he's the back up at both ILB positions, as he filled in for Shazier today, and quite well accord to Mark Kaboly. I'm glad, since he's my youngest son's favorite player, and we're investing money in a 44 jersey this year.

 

Dirty Red is a football player, he will be fine. Fort can also play, granted he is no Shazier, but who is?

 

Dirty Red has had a ton of knocks on him, the "experts" say he is slow and he is weak. Some may remember I was one on draft day who was screaming for him than when we drafted him I was super happy. This kid played at Temple which was known for their defense. All he did in his college career was rack up 493 tackles, 338 solo. So slow or weak he got there and made tackles, he needs to translate that to the pros and there is nothing that says he can't. This kid is a football player and you can't teach that, he has a nose for the ball now all he needs is a chance to prove he can't be the man.

 

Well he covered Grimble nicely down the seam yesterday. Gotta love a football player.

 

The more I think about it, even though I like Dirty Red and Fort, I am not so sure that they have what it takes
to cover (nor do our starters) quality TE's. I hope we are running drills on this daily. Or hope our coaching staff is preparing our safeties
for this critical skill set.

 

I got two words (names) for you: Zach Thomas. He was very similar to Red in that he wasn't all that big or fast, but very productive. Jimmy Johnson said production matters more than measurable physical #'s. Zach was the team leader on a good D for years in Miami. There must be a reason the Steelers didn't feel a need to draft an ILB. They are usually right more than they are wrong. They must feel comfortable with Vince and Red.

 

Almost the exact size and athleticism as Chris Borland coming out.....Dirty was as productive and maybe more so coming out. Borland was really good before he decided to retire.
I loved what Tomlin said after we drafted him. Someone asked how you track someone like Matakevich....
He said he's easy to track,you turn on the Temple game and he makes all the tackles.....love it!
Looking forward to plenty more in the Black and Gold....I'm a fan.