Nice article on Tuitt, answers some things about the defense

There is an nice article in the PG about Tuitt and I know at this point of the off season the Pittsburgh media is trying to keep readers attention with this type of stuff but I think it offers some good insights into what many of us have talked about the last few years.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...nd-help-Steelers-defense/stories/201505310107

This passage jumped out at me.

The article talks about the problems rookies and new players have digesting the playbook and getting to the point of playing instinctual football instead of overthinking things. We have had disscussions about why it takes three years to get the system as opposed to QB's who seem to have figured it out. I have always maintained that the QB's that have success don't understand the system but know the weaknesses and can use them against the defense. this is different from a first year player having to know his responsibilities on any given play and how they change be it a run or pass and even the different personnel packages they see. It takes a while to play the game without over thinking it. So I hope this answers questions about why it takes rookies so long to learn the Steelers system.

 

it's hard for these young guys to get reps during the season. practice during the year is geared towards getting the starters ready for the weeks game. it's probably twice as hard to get reps when you have guys in front of you that are pro bowlers and have been super bowl champs to boot. you don't just take away critical game planning reps during the season from starters. teams that don't have starters of this calibur probably have a much easier time of getting young guys reps during the week. the CBA has also limited the ability to bring young players along under fire. it's almost a damned if you do damned if you don't scenario.

 

I just hope Butler figures out how to get these guys to playing "instinctual" football a whole lot sooner than we've seen in the past.