Need a NT, blah blah blah

To be clear you're the biggest detractor , thinks the DL needs rebuilding and that can be done with late RD guys and maybe a FA.

As one of the biggest proponents of the value of a DL of either base scheme, 4-3/3-4, I disagree so much here.

You MUST control the LOS ( or at the very least be competitive ) and stop the run in order to have a playoff caliber defense. The most important position in a 3-4 DL is the NT. With few quality NT coming out of college coupled with the fact more NFL teams run the 3-4 now the value of top NT are inflated. Economics 101 supply & demand. Our DL in no way needs rebuilding.

No comment on final paragraph.

Cajun

 

I have, some, and while I'd like to see more I'll say this. He's massive, stout, strong, commands a double team and has a high motor at times tackling RB 10 yds down field. He collapses the pocket on passing downs. He can play both base schemes. Side note: He's very smart, a two time Academic All American.

Cajun

 

McCullers can collapse it too but he just doesn't shed his blocks very well. There were times this year where he was DEEP in the backfield and if he could get off his blocks he would be incredible. I wish they could coach him up to do that. If they do he will be a beast.

 

Isn't that a very common offense during this time of the season? LOL .. I'm also thinking a NFL weight room and position coach will get him where we need him.

As mentioned earlier my exposure to him has been limited. Those limitations are senior bowl practice week, senior bowl game and some youtube highlight clips from 2013 ( jersey # 55 ) and 2014 #71.

I'm an ACC guy. It's where I live.

Cajun

 

If Shelton is somehow still there and they don't take him I will really start to question the F.O. He could stay on the field in sub packages and still dominate. I think he is gone by 15 though.

 

This is Big Macs last year on his deal so the question is is he really the long term solution at NT if we are going to stay in the 3-4. If a player like Shelton is a game changer in the 3-4. Big Snack ate up three blockers at times and Big Mac just isn't built for that. If we could find a NT that will dominate the middle Shazier will go insane with his athletic ability.

 

I don't see McCullers ever being more than a solid backup. His size is a hindrance as much as its a bonus. As he tires it'll be much harder for him to get low and stay low. Another reason why if we're going to stay predominantly 3-4 an upgrade at NT is needed. One great pick has three benefits. 1- upgrades position, 2- upgrades backup nt AND swing DL position and 3- creates scheme versatility as he can also play one-tech in 4-3 .

Cajun

 

depends how you evaluate shelton

i dont know ..let's say between 1 and 10
a young ngata is 10
a young hampton is 9
dontari poe is 7


how you value shelton ?

is in this ball park or not ?

 

PHOENIX — The Steelers could take lessons from the Seattle Seahawks on how to build a great defense.
They are two defensive ships passing in the night, the dominant defense of the first decade of this century that got old and slow as it tries to transition back to where it once performed versus the most dominant defense in the NFL the past two seasons.
But several opportunities for the Steelers to keep adding youngsters and swapping out old players to keep those great defenses viable already slipped past them while the Seahawks took advantage.
First, let’s re-establish the credentials of the Seattle defense that throttled Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII a year ago and will try to do the same to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots Sunday in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.
The Seahawks ranked No. 1 on defense in the NFL in 2014 in allowing the fewest yards per game, points per game, yards per play and passing yards per game and ranked third in rushing yards per game.
Two of the main cogs on that defense are cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell. They both were drafted in 2011, the same year the Steelers decided they needed to upgrade that position and also drafted two cornerbacks.
The Steelers drafted Curtis Brown in the third round and Cortez Allen in the fourth. The Seahawks then picked up Sherman in the fifth round and Maxwell in the sixth.
Game, set, match.
There are many ways and means to build a defense and the Seahawks and Steelers have used them, but those cornerback choices in 2011 are a big reason Seattle is playing for its second Super Bowl championship and the Steelers are still trying to build a reliable defense.
It also might explain why Seattle defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will become head coach of the Atlanta Falcons next week while the Steelers showed Dick LeBeau the door.
Of course, the question always comes: Did the Steelers make the wrong draft picks or did their coaches not develop them?
“It is about the players,” Quinn said of his own defense. “It is about our role to see how far we can take the guys. This is one of the things I loved most about coaching is how far you can develop the players.”
There is so much more to the Seattle defense, too, and it is one of the youngest in the league with only two starters over 30. Seattle has done it with a mix of high and low draft picks and free agents. The starting ends, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, were signed as unrestricted free agents.
Strong safety Kam Chancellor was a fifth-round pick in 2010; Early Thomas was the 14th overall choice in that same draft.
Right outside linebacker K.J. Wright was drafted in the fourth round in 2011, and left outside linebacker Bruce Irvin was a 2012 first-round pick from West Virginia.
It all works, and while the Seahawks defense will need to prove itself over the test of time — and free agency can rob them of some of that talent, too — it is the best the NFL has seen over the past few years. And it wasn’t done with all high draft picks.
“We are all tied on a string out there as a unit,” is how Wright explains their success using the 4-3 base. “You’ve got guys out there you can play with and I’ve been with these guys for three or four years, so we just all know how to play with each other, communicate with each other rather than talking.”
No one from the Steelers will admit this but the Seattle defensive domination of Denver in the Super Bowl a year ago might have had something to do with them drafting Ryan Shazier in the first round three months later, with his sub 4.4 40-yard dash speed.
“His biggest asset,” Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said on the day they drafted Shazier, “aside from his youth, is his speed. This guy can flat-out run. … Offenses continue to spread out, and you need speed. You need speed at linebacker, your secondary; you need speed everywhere.”
Before training camp was half over, coach Mike Tomlin announced he was tired of hearing about all his speed on defense, mentioning that it was football, not a track meet.
But youth and speed, for the most part, is how the Seattle defense was built and success in the NFL breeds copycats. It is yet another reason the Steelers are not expected to invite their old four back on defense — Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel and James Harrison.
“We’re a very, very young football team,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll noted. “If you look at the numbers, we’re really young, but our guys have grown up quickly in their early years.”
It is something that has not happened with the Steelers, as they either waited for their young players to develop, watched them leave, cut or benched them. They believe they started to turn the corner over the second half of the 2014 season, but watching the Seahawks play in another Super Bowl will make them all realize again just how far they have to go.
Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com and Twitter @EdBouchette.