Lawrence Timmons

First off I wanna thank whoever created this message board. I can finally share my thoughts of my favorite team of all time with fellow fans! And for my first post I would like to ask everyones thoughts of LT. I've got nothing against him but I think he's way overrated. I just don't see anything great about him. Seriously average at best. Maybe I would feel a little better about him if he were the second round pick and woodley would've been first. But I still see him get beat in coverage and get run over by running backs. This guys gotten 2 big contracts now and I think its been somewhat of a waste of money. Tell me why I'm wrong.

 

he has a knack for always being around the ball. if you look at Troy P numbers they are not always the greatest, but its the big plays he makes and the fact that he is always a guy that other teams need to plan for. Timmons has those same intangables.

he will be a star and is always one of the top tacklers on the team. hes 4th right now and 2nd in tackles among their lb's.

he played a couple games out of position and it looked like he was out of position and over matched.

if you put Troy on a wr and tell him to cover him all game, his numbers would also slip and he probably wouldnt look that good. that was the same for Timmons when he was playing olb.

i thnk the biggest problem hes having this year is the 3 guys in front of him. Smith has been hurt and Hood hasnt taken that next step that we all hoped he would yet. Hampton is still a beast, but hes getting old and he cant maintain his dominance for a whole game. Keisel is still playing at a very high level and is by far the best dlineman they have.

if the guys up front arent taking up blocks that doesnt let the mlbs get to the qb and Timmons numbers are showing that.

i think he is going to be fine.

 

Lt is fine.....I don't think he is overrated.....

 

Second in tackles for linebackers? Isn't he the only starting lb'er to play every game? I was excited to see what he could do outside. He was a non factor out there. My point is he's been paid like he's a pro bowler and I think he's just an average linebacker in this league. And if he's the all pro playmaker he's being paid to be, then he should be able to overcome an average d-line. Troy plays in an average secondary and is still unbelievable. Everyone was saying Timmons was gonna start filling Troys role as our playmaker on defense. While no one will ever be Troy, Timmons isn't even in the same galaxy. Believe it or not, I don't hate Timmons. I've just been dissappointed.

 

the numbers are down, no doubt about that. at either position. we need him to start making plays that's for sure.

 

He's not a #15 draft choice caliber LB. He's been here how long and still foote takes over when farrior is out.

Patrick Willis was drafted right before him. He is the real deal. Timmons is a disappointment, sadly to say. He's an average ILB, maybe a little over avg but where we drafted him he should be dominating by now and he isn't. Our 2nd rd draft pick that same year is playing much better than him and his name is Woodley.

Cajun-

 

I think Timmons is a Steeler. Seems solid to me. Gets beat once in a while but who doesn't on Defence?

 

I think LT needs to loose a little weight. He seems like he's fatter than he was last year. That goes along with Lamar Woodley. I think no training camp really hurt these guys. They need to think about joining Ike Taylor, James Farrior and William Gay down in Florida for that extra training.

 

Other,If your looking for someone to be critical about look no further then Ryan "I can't cover a grill" Clark.

Timmons has been playing out of position due to injurys as well.

The defense has weak links. Hampton, Farrior, Foote, Clark.

I don't believe Timmon's is one of them.

 

One interception and Gay isn't a weak link? Our corners (besides Ike) are still weak link #1, although they are getting better. Clark I feel is slowing down, and I put that AJ Green TD almost entirely on him (I'm pretty sure I could have knocked that ball down without even jumping, but he chose to slide into second base for it). but I still don't consider him a weak link. He was never sensational. Just no big plays, strong run support, and scare the sh-- out of people. He still does that.

Foote's a weak link. Farrior's better than him but obviously getting worse. We can't count on him for next year. I am very happy with our NT situation for this year. Hampton, Hoke, McLendon. That's a strength. I agree with you about Timmons.

 

This bothers me on so many levels I don't know where to start. Woodley is better than almost everyone in that entire draft. Does that make every team stupid, some of them twice? Antonio Brown was taken in the 6th and Emmanuel Sanders in the 3rd. What a disappointment Sanders is to be outplayed by a 6th rounder! James Harrison went undrafted, and yet he is a better player than almost everyone else on the team! Forshame on them all!

What are you doing, blaming the Steelers for stealing Woodley in the second as well as landing Timmons in the first? If they'd tried it the other way around they would have only gotten one of them. They had their cake and ate it too, and that's a good thing. And they got Woodley to play for free for 4 years!

Maybe I can't convince you Timmons is not a disappointment, since you also feel he's not as good as William Gay. I think he's a great inside linebacker. He can be electric at times. He's the best coverage LB this team has had in recent memory. He's a good blitzer and has become a complete player with his run defense. He can play all 4 LB positions at quality starter level. As far as i can tell, what you don't like about him is these two things:

1. He's not the best ILB in the NFL (Patrick Willis)
2. When Farrior goes out and Foote comes in, Foote wears the green dot and makes the calls.

My rebuttal:

1. So the F what? Willis was not available at the time, and he turned out to be better than anyone expected. Good for him and the 49ers. Rashard Mendenhall isn't as good as Adrian Peterson. David Johnson isn't as good as Delaney Walker. Wanna cry about it?
2. Again, So what? Farrior is the leader of the defense, so he gets the green dot. He needs to be subbed out, and you can't have two green dots on the field. So the sub needs one, and Foote is apparently capable. What's the loss there? None. Timmons is the one good enough to stay on the field. Sure, if Timmons has the green dot then you get to save one whole sticker and that's good for the environment, but then when Farrior's in the game he is not running things, which is half the reason to have him on the team at all. It's not "taking over." We're talking about relaying plays and making adjustments. There's no #1 ILB and #2 ILB. They're not QBs. I don't know why you make such a big deal out of this. It means nothing. Maybe you're concerned that Timmons isn't making all the calls by now, and you think he should be as a 5th year player. I think as long as Farrior's around there's no need to have him do that. Maybe you're concerned that he won't be able to when Farrior retires. That's a valid concern, but a bit premature and no reason to bag on him. Maybe he'll be able to take over when he's asked to, or maybe Farrior's replacement will. It doesn't really matter.

I don't know how to convince you he is better than average. You say he should be dominating by now. He dominated last year! Most knowledgeable people will tell you he deserved to make the Pro Bowl. This year he's been out of position for half the time, playing where he can hold down the fort but not excel. The fact that he can do that in the case of simultaneous double OLB injury (Harrison and Worilds) should be commended, not damned. When in position, he's also playing behind a DL that has not been itself, and spending most of his time in pass coverage, where if you go unnoticed it's a good thing. There are NOT 15 players in the first round of the 2007 draft that I would take before Timmons. Hop on the Timmons bandwagon. Spring of 2008 is over.

By the way, I saw this on the old board but couldn't respond since it won't let me post anymore as of a couple weeks ago...

"Ya'll just wait for when the NEW Message board is up and running with all new bells and whistles!!

Cajun-"

Let me know when the Great Pumpkin comes. I'll be trick-or-treating over here, blockhead.

 

This is a good post. I am not sure what some people expect out of Timmons. He is doing what he is being asked in the defense. I know some guys would like him to be a 100% pass rushers and get sacks, but that is not what the Steelers are asking him to do. He is an excellent ILB and can play the OLB well too. He had a really great year last year and without all the OLB injuries this year he would be having another great year. I am very happy to have timmons on the team.

 

Agree!

 

Also Agree with Cajun. I think people are judging him by their own standards. I also think the some of their standards are poor criteria to use in judging Timmons. I for one am glad he was signed long term.

 

Ist of all there's no reason to get personal---BLOCKHEAD-- and I have no idea why you'd import one line of mine from a thread off of the steelers board that has nothing to do with this topic---L. Timmons-- . One thing is for sure and maybe a good thing, when the Great Pumkin does come You're not invited to the party and its probably due to your own fault since you used to be able to posts there a few weeks back.

Now to the main topic---- Timmons best year, last year doesn't equal the avg production of willis or Beason who was drafted near him or even P. Polunsky who was drafted in the 2nd rd.
Timmons out of position- yes he was. He's been begging to play OLB since he got here. During his draft yr there was a huge debate where he should play,in or out. Debate over, he sucks outside and should never play there again. Don't praise him for being able to play all LB positions when he sucks outside and is avg inside at best.
As far as your argument about getting both him and woodley wouldn't have happened if we drafted them in reverse order I say this--- We could've had Beason and Woodley...awesome that would have been. If we'd drafted Woodley in the 1st rd David Harris ILB Jets would have been there in the 2nd and there's a strong case he's had a better career than timmons so far, Don't like him then Ryan Kalil "center was avaible which we really needed then as was Eric Wright CB who we could still use.
The only reason for comparing Timmons with beason and willis is to show what we should expect from him. I should have included Paul P. also who as a 2nd rder is really outshining timmons. We should stop praisiing him for his potential in his 5th year and start holding him accountable. We didn't draft him to be avg but to be dominating.

Cajun-

 

I'm a Timmons supporter but admit he is not having the yr I expected. IMO Timmons is a speed guy trying to play like he is a power guy....he continually tries to go through a block with no success. Stop trying to overpower the guy and use your quickness....just a thought.

 

You have to put things in context. No way puz is better than timmns. We have manybother players on our defense who make plays, stats for tackles is not saying much in manybsystems. Those guys might no be what you think in the steeler system.

 

the numbers are down this year, there's no disputing that. we need him making plays down the stretch run this year. he can be a force on the field, i'm just not sure why he's not more visable this year. it may even be a nagging injury we are not aware of. one thing is for sure though, we are better with him then without him.

 

we need to pair him with a stud next year , if we can get one between burfict or hightower we will be set

 

CK, I didn't say he was a weakness. Most people say he's a strength on our defense. He's been paid like a pro bowler. Twice! I just don't what all the hype is about. Last year people were saying he's gonna take over Troys role as free lancer and playmaker on our d. Timmons most impressive play in his career wouldn't make Troys top 20. I'm not gonna compare him to Ryan Clark, Will Gay, & Larry Foote. I'm gonna compare him to guys with similar salaries like Harrison, Woodley, & Taylor.

 

I won't mention how Woodley started as rookie and impressed, because then you'll hear the excuse that the position he plays requires more experience...

 

No one had a first round grade on Woodley. You're using hindsight. And landing a guy as late as possible is a good thing. We could have drafted Antonio Brown in the 2nd round, since he's certainly contributed more than Worilds has so far, and might well be a better player. So that would make sense now, and we could have taken some other guy in that spot in the 6th. But how nuts would that have been at the time? No one knew how good Brown was, including the Steelers, and why take a guy in the 2nd when you can get him in the 6th?

As for Timmons at OLB, he doesn't suck. He sucks at rushing the passer, but he holds up well enough against the run and can still cover very very well. He's not a threat, but he's not a hole. So he's fine as a backup there. On the inside, I will never be able to convince you he's better than average. You need to be able to watch and scout, not just measure "productivity" with numbers. That's all you've offered so far. In the late '90s, it was common consensus that Terrell Davis was the best running back in the league, ahead of a Barry Sanders still in his prime. That's production for you. Oh, and Heath Miller is the 12th best tight end in the league. Pfft, average. At least he's having a good year. He's usually something like the 20th best.

Sorry about the blockhead, I say it with affection. I love that movie.