Melvin Ingram thinks he's better than Alex Highsmith

Weather the Steelers kept Ingram or not, I doubt the be in any better record than where they are currently.

But I think Simon may get a helmet over Tusaka.

Taco also made some really nice pass rushes against the Vikings he was very close to a few sacks on Cousins.

 

Bingo. So they got rid of a locker room problem, got a draft pick, and had zero drop in production. I'm not sure how anyone can call this anything but a small victory.

 

I was shocked to see that Ingram was a team captain for the Chiefs. He called the coin toss in OT.

 

Doing what they can to keep the baby happy.

 

So the team can send a message that players can't get their way by pulling that crap.

 

Ahhhh! More proof of Media creating a narrative, and people believing in it.
I couldn't agree more.

 

Some of us can see the bigger picture, that there is a history of players forcing the Steelers' hands into moves that either hurt the team, help an opponent, or both.

 

I actually agree with both sides of this.
On Your side...I certainly agree the Steelers should not allow players 2 force themselves out.
On the other side....Better 2 get a draft pick then have a cancer on the team.
I believe it's a fine line, and just hope they know what they are doing.

 

It's a nice thought but its wrong. The chiefs actually wanted him before the season. He had other teams interested. He should have been starting and playing most snaps. Highsmith should have been playing the back up roll and learning to get better at his craft. He's not playing like a starter.. He struggles to seal the edge, which is probably the most important simple task a 3-4 OLB has.. , he struggles to make any difference and it shows on game day. The increased playing time for Highsmith has not helped. I'm amazed at the lack of awareness that some of you have about how bad this defense is right now. We are breaking records due to the terrible play of our LB's and NT. It's mind boggling to me that we shipped this guy out when we have the issues we have. He was a veteran that proved he could play the game.. he just needed some time in our defense and he was sharing snaps with a young player that has struggled. Once Watt went down it totally imploded. We made the same stupid mistake with Harrison when he ended up in NE.

 

He was unhappy because he felt he should be playing most if not all of the snaps. He was not getting half the snaps in most games.

 

Yes and the point beyond his unhappiness? I'm unhappy I don't have more money and free time should I make the world give it to me? Happy or unhappy you don't let a potential problem to go unaddressed. The keep him and force him to sit is just as bad as trading him and appearing to cave.

 

Did you watch week 2 where Watt left with an injury for almost 3 quarters? In that extended playing time with as bad as Highsmith appears to be Ingram faded fast. He was gassed and chasing plays not making them. We are not blind to the deficiencies of the defense, I'd argue that we are more in tune with the realities of the situation which was Ingram was a great role player signing and is no where near the 95% of snaps player he used to be. He was unhappy and wanted out to play for a better team. I would think we as a fan base know better than others that forcing a guy to stay when he has checked out is just bad for all involved. They did what they had to.

 

He was brought in to back up Watt and Highsmith. He actually got a high percentage of the snaps right up to the Seattle game, probably more than expected. The one time he started, he was not good. Highsmith is far from the biggest issue on this team. Both inside linebackers are getting caught too far inside, but that is because you have guys trying to do too much while trying to compensate for the failings of the defensive line and inside linebackers.

I agree that they should have kept Ingram, but this idea that he had to be the starter just doesn't fly.

 

They demonstrated yet again that they will fold when players pull that crap, basically inviting other players to do the same thing in the future. I do think Ingram knew he could force his way out because of the history of guys like Blount and Harrison doing the same thing. Reward bad behavior and it will continue. Reward bad behavior publicly, and others will follow the example.

 

So what's the answer destroy team chemistry and any chance of a successful season to prove that they don't negotiate with terrorists? You guys keep circling back to how this encourages others and they should have made them stay. How is the question how do they do it?

 

Locker room problem and zero drop in production? uh ok. Luckily we have locker room leaders like Bush, JuJu, and Claypool.

You honest think we have not seen a drop off since he's left? I'm not saying Ingram was a difference maker... but he's light years ahead of Taco and Tuszka and he is a better player than Highsmith. We could possibly have another win in our pockets if Ingram was given the starting job from the beginning. Letting him walk tells me the team is not focused on winning this season... they are playing for next year.

Washington wanted out... but due to lack of depth at WR we kept him...difference was the starting WR's actually played better to get the starting jobs. Washington did not have teams willing to trade for him. Ingram is better than Highsmith, and the two backups we have trying to figure out how to play the game right now. He asked for a trade when it was obvious he was stuck in a role that made him the back up...and he had other teams that wanted him. His agent would not have made that demand if he didn't know there was an interested party. He also knew he could force a trade based on the history that the team will accommodate.

Since his departure here's our rushing yards given up by game... This is what our current lack of depth has produced. It's an embarrassment.

136
229
159
198
107
242

 

It's now week 15 and I watch almost every defensive player gassed by half time. You can pretend you some how know what players are gassed and who's not...but the facts speak for them selves. There's really no way to defend the terrible personnel decisions we have made this year and this is just a glaring example of one of them. The only way to defend any of it is if we are in fact using this season as a rebuild and had no plans to play in the post season. Then I get wanting to develop younger players for the expense of short term failure. Problem is that does not seem to be the plan and there's plenty of moves that sort of contradict that idea. Including the statements from the coaches.

 

It actually does fly. We are in week 15 now and there's been little to no improvement from Highsmith. It did not take a genius to figure we would need a capable back up. We had one in Highsmith and whacked the guy who should have been starting.

Highsmith would get his snaps eventually. Ingram was a former starter and a proven player. He was coming back from injury and IMO deserved the time to learn the system and return to form. This is why you sign a guy like that. It was the obvious thing to do when Highsmith showed little progression from last season. Some might even say he regressed. Highsmith needed another year on the bench. There was a time when that was what we did with young players not ready to play. Why hurt the team and their own development by throwing them into the fire to fail?

Not sure if you have noticed but we have seen a drop in actual player development over the past 10 years. The best players on this defense... Watt, Cam, Haden, Alulua , and Minkah. 3 of them were acquired by trade or FA. We needed Schobert to start because Spillane (a Titans UDFA) was our only other option. We had to acquire Ingram because we had zero depth behind Watt and Highsmith (who was not ready in the first place). A lot of people - even on this board - said in the off season the personnel decisions being made were potentially disastrous and in hindsight they were correct. The results show that it was a mistake to trade him. Why not admit it and learn from it? We made that same mistake before so it's worth pointing out.

The front office and coaching staff have been tripping over their own feet for a while now. We did not used to see this many swing and misses from this team. Not sure what changed but something did . The results on the field speak for themselves.

 

correct, the typical Tomlin head fake. He was lied to when we recruited him. And - BTW - he IS better than Highsmith, at this point in HS's career....

Did it with JH, did it with Blount.

it is his MO , if you will.....

 

https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/podca...-about-plans-for-de-melvin-ingram-beyond-2021

https://www.chiefs.com/news/melvin-...ontinues-to-be-a-transformative-figure-on-def

 

Lol I'm not defending personnel decisions because I have absolutely no control over them and like you I also think they have made dumb choice after dumb choice. I am not claiming any inside knowledge or some omnipotent power of deduction. The fact remains when he had full starter quality snaps Ingram was sucking air visibly on a TV broadcast. He rush to the outside and had little to no push that he had in limited snaps the previous game. By the end of the game he was chasing plays because they got past him. I could care less what Joe Fargo NDSU product does in week 13 if he is horrible and sucking air or just plain sucksthen he sucks. But this idea that Ingram should have been the 17 week starter from game 1 on is wrong, he wasn't the player he used to be but could have had a probowl season in a supporting role.

 

Your quote is over a month old. A lot has changed.