it looks like

an outside pass rusher will be needed but who goes?

chickillo has been hurt but is fairly cheap as backups go. 2.5 sacks. 27 tackles. 2 forced fumbles. i think he stays and they keep getting him better as an olb. is there enough production coming from him to stay?

to be honest jarvis jones is 10th on the team in tackles this year. has 2 forced fumbles and 1 int. and 1 sack. quietly putting a decent backup type season together. at what price could we retain him? do we want too?

moats. only 21 total tackles but 3.5 sacks. about a 2.9 mil. cap charge for him next year. if cut after june 1 we could save about 2.25 mil. with only 600,000+ dead money. the production just isn't there for me.

will we keep 2? will we work to keep harrison for one more? do we lose 3 and hope to draft at least two? which way do we play this thing leading up to the draft?

 

I think everyone is in agreement an OLB will have to be taken in rounds 1 or 2. And really the only way I see it being round 2 is if someone falls unexpectedly from another position. I'm leaving free agency out of the equation for right now. I could also see them taking another project guy like Feeney (lost to Saints) in the later rounds.

I am assuming JH92 returns unless we win the SB. Chickillo will stay and I think they keep Moats as veteran insurance.

I think the Steelers would tell J. Jones (privately) they will give him the minimum so he will test free agency. JH92 returning or not should have no bearing on Jones imo. I think both parties may want to explore other options.

Doesn't Chickillo have another year under contract? I thought he did, but could be wrong..

 

yes i think chickillo does or we at least have the rights to him. as for moats, we don't get a lot of production from him and i'm not so sure his vet presence is that stellar to the younger players. we could use that money we pay him in a better production vs. dollar value that he brings. i like moats but we don't get a lot from him in this way. money will be tight.

 

Dupree comes back. Moats and Chick come back. James comes back if he wants to for one more year and if we draft an OLB we will want him to. Add in the draft pick and you are looking at our OLBs next year IMO. Moats and Chick become special teamers and spot players. James and Dupree start and when the kid is ready he plays. He can learn from James, spell him at times and start the following year.

 

i'd still cut moats and save the 2.5 mil.. i'm anxious to see what riddick might bring to us too. maybe with our staff and defense it might fit him well.

 

Round one may have to be BPA if Pittsburgh wins no. 7.


If Jabrill Peppers is there at 32 I will be surprised given his versatility.

 

I could see him being there, versatility can be a double edged sword. He's versatile by playing defense, some offense and STs. Some GMs may see him as a jack of all trades, master of none. Personally I would like that swiss army knife type player, but would more conventional type GMs??

 

There in lies the kicker. Steve Kiem, John Schneider, and even Bill Belichick are not considered "conventional."



The biggest person that worries me is unquestionably Belichick. If there is one thing he has shown, it is take any guy with talent and make him a star. Jamie Collins and Chandler Jones were. No reason to say Jabrill will not be either.

 

Chung, McCourty, Ninkovich and Hightower may make them look elsewhere. I agree Belicheat will take a chance on a nontypical stud but I would think they address the offense this draft. I think they would covet a top end WR even though they have been historically bad at drafting WRs. Mitchell has done well this year but other than that......I still expect them to go after Marcus Wheaton. call me crazy

 

Not going to.




Belichick has shown interest in Wheaton prior to the start of the season. No reason to think that interest has waned unless they have someone like Zay Jones in their cross hairs.

 

I forgot they picked up Michael Floyd a few weeks back. Future uncertain with him hitting FA and the DUI but I'm sure he would want to stay. That may alter the Wheaton interest....

Back to the topic, I will make a small case for Moats. Yes the playing time vs contract amount may not be optimal but you have to figure in some of the intangibles imo. He is a candidate yearly for some humanitarian award and the teammates seem to love him. And he was leading the team (or near the top) early on in the season IIRC when everyone seemed allergic to sacks. And with the questions of JH92 and JJ95 returning, that leaves a lot of mystery at the OLB position and they won't want to have a deep hole being dug even deeper. I think they retain him so there aren't as many holes come draft time.

 

to be honest i think jh has finally hit his second wind. he had a couple of sub par jh years but has come on this year. bud has given him new life i think. i'd rather pay him than moats. give chickillo and bud one more and they may be vet enough to bring newbies along by 2018. riddick is also not a newbie in the sense of rookie type status. hopefully the change of venue and the way we use and bring along lb'ers in the burgh will work some magic for him. this would allow a draft pick or two time here.

 

JH caught his second wind because his playing time the first half of the year was seriously curtailed. He came off the buy week as fresh as he's ever been at that point in the season. We keep Jarvis so that he can continue to play at that level next year. Give him Moats money. If Moats wants to stay, offer him a reduced contract. Second string special teamer money.

 

Maybe, but one way or another I think this is the year to finally potentially make a bold move in the draft. We don't have a lot of years left of Ben. With Bryant coming back and the other receivers being a year older (Coates, Ayers, Rogers, and Hamilton) this is the offseason to do something life changing. If you don't, I think you need to potentially come out with 3 new eventual starters. One at OLB to replace Harrison, one at ILB to replace Timmons, and one S to replace Mitchell. Otherwise, I don't think there are a ton of holes. We could use another TE as James is a nice possession guy, but not a big threat. We need some more depth at RB and on the Dline as well as starting to replace guys like William Gay and Justin Gilbert (who I have no idea yet what he really brings to the table.)