Off-season wish list

Here is my wish list for the off-season. I feel we are really at a cross-roads in terms we could have a lot of roster turnover this spring/suumer.

1) Find OL help, either through the draft or FA or both. This will help keep Ben clean, and help with a more dependable running game.
2) Go young. I much as I love Ward, Farrior, Hampton, Smith etc. we need to infuse the young guys in especially on defense. Time for Sylvester, Allen, C. Brown, Carter, Hood, Heyward, McClendon etc. to see if they have what it takes to be a starter.
3) If both co-ordinators stay sit down and figure out why our D can't seem to keep a lead late in the game and devise a gameplan to be more effective on offense in the red-zone.
4) Find a reliable kicker. Not sold on Suisham and find one that can take advantage of that stupid rule of kicking off from the 35. Sign Kapinos and let Sepulveda hit the road.
5) Work with Ben on continuing to read a defense and be able to pick them apart like Brady, Rodgers, Brees or P. Manning. He has the ability to do it, see NE game this year, and devise more gameplans to use this skill set.
6) Find ways outside of the WR screen to get the ball out quickly and into the hands of Brown, Wallace, Sanders etc. Don't rely on extending the play. Live to see the next play. See Ben's ankle injury and the play he got hurt on.
7) Kevin Colbert - you have done a great job, but this off-season you can't afford to miss. Make decisions on Wallace, Mendenhall, Starks, Colon along with other FA. Still build through the draft but see if you can find a FA OL to contribute. Would love to get Mankins from NE but probably too much money. I think you sign Wallace and decide between Starks and Colon. Mendy thanks for the time but your ride with us is over.

I am sure there is plenty more out there but I think these are the biggest issues facing us right now. For the first time in a long time we might be entering more of a rebuilding mode vs. a re-load mode. It should make for a very interesting off-season!

 

can we get some cheerleaders for next year as well?

 

Wow! Haven't seen this debate in this forum yet. My opinion - DON'T NEED 'EM, DON'T WANT 'EM!

 

I think we need to look to FA for O-line and get immediate help. There have to be a couple "Flozell Adams" types out there that can make our line more solid. Ben can contribute to this issue, too, by working on his own game. As much as his scrambling and play-extending ability is exciting, he's going to be dead before he's 35 if he continues like he has. His attempt to extend the play against Cleveland caused us a shot in the playoffs, IMO. Doesn't mean he can't do it - he just has to get smarter.

I agree that we need a stud kicker. I hate biting my nails every time Suisham is sent onto the field. As much as I like him and think that he has performed admirably since he came in for Reed - I just don't think it's been a priority for the team and it should be. This is not an "average" team, yet we have an average kicker.

One thing I can say is that I do have faith in Colbert, Tomlin and the rest of the staff to assemble and field a competitive Steelers team every year. I have no doubt that the Steelers will be part of the conversation next year when it comes to who will be at or near the top. This team can be dominating and I'm hoping that we'll see that very soon.

 

Cheerleaders are lame......

 

The only thing good about cheerleaders is the calenders. Maybe they could just hire 12 hot girls to make a calender and skip standing on the sidelines....

 

A "Steeler Girls" calendar would be NICE! No need to have them shake their pom-poms and booties on the sidelines, though.

 

My wish is that one night Ben stays up late and comes across the p90x infomercial, he orders it and gets his fat butt back in shape. He's looking more like a baseball player these days than a football player. And I also hope we don't have any legal drama from any of the players for an entire off season. Stay outta the bars and be home by 11 guys!

 

1. BA retires
2. We bring in an OC that runs the ball well, uses a FB and executes short passes.
3. The coaches reign in Ben and tell him to smarten up or he can ride the bench
4. Trade up in the draft to get Decastro. He's one of the best guards to come out in a long, long time. He could be the answer for 10+ years.
5. Let Wallace walk. We don't need him and I think he's highly overrated. He only catches balls when wide open, he can't catch in traffic.
6. Get a NT, either through the draft or free agency. Hampton is done
7. Get a tackle. Starks is done and Colon hasn't played in forever.
8. Use Miller and Saunders much more frequently in the passing game. If Miller continues to fumble the ball, he's done, cut him. Loved him, but fumbles are inexcusable from a veteran.

 

I was okay until number 8. We'd be crazy to let the best TE in the game walk.

 

I agree. We should have cut Ben years ago. Can we get a "Cut Fumblesberger" smiley?

 

Fair enough, I'm just not sure how much we need him. We don't need a TE that either stays back and blocks or runs routes and doesn't get looked at in the passing game. What's the point? We need an OL that can block and a scheme that helps them be successful. So to me, I look at it like Miller is disposable anyway because we rarely use him, and when we do, he's had a bad habit of fumbling the last couple years.

 

I have problems with Suisham's FG reliability from 40+ yards, but I was unaware that anyone had a problem with his kickoffs. I thought he definitely took advantage of the new rule. In fact, I think he's the poster child for it. Without it, his kicks go 2-3 yards deep and are returned. With it, they go 7-8 yards deep and are touchbacks.

Furthermore, he displayed what I'd consider to be an amazing ability to make strong tackles at the right place on the field, when needed. Our kickoff coverage was outstanding this year, and he was one big reason for it.

 

Lol I have a lot of friends that give me a hard time about that one. I'm indifferent, I certainly wouldn't mind seeing some black and gold cuties on the sideline but I wholeheartedly respect the organizations reasoning for not having them.

 

Here's my list. I don't think any of them are too much to ask. In fact, the whole list is definitely doable. However, I'm certain some of them won't happen. In GREEN are the things I think the team actually will do, or will try to do. In BLUE are the things they may try to do, but more likely it's a bigger deal to me than to them, and in RED are the things they absolutely should do, but will not because they are too stupid and stubborn.

My wish list:

1. Two new offensive guards, including one drafted in the top two rounds of the draft that starts week 1 on the left side. The other can be a mid-round pick that can either start on the right side or sit behind Foster, or an old FA that can step in right away.

2. If healthy and willing, re-sign Max Starks to be the swing backup OT in place of Jon Scott.

3. Lots of big reps for Curtis Brown and Cortez Allen in offseason workouts and training camp.

4. A new inside linebacker drafted in the first four rounds, or less likely, a middle of the road FA for Farrior. Ideally for me, we'd have a new starting ILB and Farrior would rotate in as the "new Foote", and Foote would be gone. But as much as the team loves Foote, I don't see that happening. I'd also like to see Sylvester given a serious look of consideration.

5. A new safety drafted in the first five rounds to take Will Allen's spot on the roster and eventually take over for either Clark or Polamalu.

6. Jerricho Cotchery re-signed.

7. David Johnson cut.

8. A real fullback (drafted, UDFA, FA, whatever) brought in to replace Johnson on the roster, and lead block for our RBs. They say they don't use/like fullbacks, but they use Johnson in that role constantly. He's just not good at it. He's better at being a tight end, but he's not very good at that either. We already have two better than him (much better), and why have three tight ends on the field at a time when you could have two with a fullback? I've said it a thousand times: any blocking fullback (even Kreider) can catch, run, and in-line block as well as Johnson. Meanwhile, their lead blocking is a hundred times better. This is a no-brainer.

9. Serious competition for Suisham.

10. A Time Management Specialist Captain appointed for the offense, who decides in an instant whether to rally the team to the line for a play, rally the team to the line for a spike, or call timeout on his own immediately. I realize this is a drastic step, but if Ben is as competitive as they say and still hasn't learned how to do this, then it's time to give up the notion that he ever will. Any intelligent player can do it. A system of big arm signals can be worked out. The play ends, Ben looks straight to the captain, who is already giving the signal or calling timeout (a receiver would be best, since they will be more likely to be watching the result of the play), and Ben does what the captain says without questioning it. Using the captain instead of Ben's head will take perhaps one or two extra seconds, but of course will save dozens of seconds (plus crucial downs!) when good, not terrible, decisions are made.

11. NO outside linebackers added to the roster in any way.

 

Why don't you like tight ends that block? You act like if they're blocking they're being wasted. Like it's not good use of their time. Just because they don't make it to the Pro Bowl doesn't mean they aren't doing something important. That's the whole point! Who cares who's blocking, as long as they're doing it well? He can block better than a lot of our linemen.

http://www.nfl.com/player/heathmiller/2 ... areerstats

He's fumbled more in the last couple years (5 times in 4 years) than he did before that (0 times in 3 years). He lost 3 of his 5 fumbles. He's also recovered 3 fumbles in his career that weren't his. I'm no math whiz, but that breaks him even in my book. He's also displayed the best hands on the team since he got here.

That's me minimizing his mistakes, and I think effectively. But the bigger issue is, are we saying he needs to be mistake-free to earn a roster spot? I'm not the only person that thinks he's the best player at his position in the NFL. I think the Pittsburgh Steelers think that too. Everyone makes mistakes once in awhile. Heath is a phenomenal player that is of extraordinary value to this team even when he's underused, which is most of the time.

 

i'm not a big fan of #2. i'd like to see us draft a good one. bring back a recommited essex. between essex, new guy and gilbert, i don't think we need anyone else taking up room on the roster. any of those 3 could step in. if essex is truely commited as he's said about getting into shape and wanting to start next year, he could be a very valuble piece of the puzzle. so, i wouldn't see a need for starks. i hope we also bring back merideth and give him a shot. he was a very good LT and LG in college. i agree about a guard brought in or drafted. i will say though at the RG spot , foster has done a decent job for 3 seasons, and never complained. he just stepped in and did his job. i think it will be tough to unseat him now. a nice mobile LG would be nice.

 

I've never been a Starks fan or a Scott fan, although I think Starks is better between the two, as you know. I don't want either of them to start for us. If someone else wanted to take that swing job and could outperform those guys to do it, that's fine, but the problems I have with that are as follows:

-to expect a rookie to be better than Starks right away is asking a lot of anything below a 3rd rounder, and is probably unlikely.
-I don't want to spend a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd on an OT because I like both Gilbert and Colon. A lot of people seem to have given up on Colon, but I think realistically they might have just forgotten about him. If he comes back next year, and I expect him to, we are in good shape at OT. I'd rather our top three picks go to OG, ILB, DB, NT...

 

a rooney miracle raying:

 

O linemen and at least two TE/WR hybrids.

 

The Bruce is fired or retires
New OC
Wallace, Cotchery, Redman, Foster, Legursky, Kapinos, Leftwich, McLendon, Gay, and Starks are resigned.
Essex, Sepulveda, Johnson, Madison, Dixon, Lewis, Meredith, Mundy, and Moore are allowed to walk.
Batch, Ward, Hoke, and Smith retire or are cut/released.
Kemoeatu is cut.
Sign G in FA
Decide whether they're going with a 4-3 with Heyward-Ziggy-Keisel-Woodley/Harrison on the DL, or sticking with a 3-4
Draft a CB in the 1st if moving to 4-3, DT if sticking with 3-4
Draft a G in the 2nd
Draft a CB in the 3rd if DT is drafted in 1st, S if CB is taken in 1st

 

Why do we need more TE/WR's that's the one part of the team we don't need to mess with. Besides it's not like we actually utilize our TE's in the pass game anyways.

 

If your number one occurs (I'd rather him be fired) then we won't have to worry about under-utilizing Heath. He's a great weapon in the passing game and any OC worth his salt would see that and utilize him.

 

i'm hoping colon buys into the move to RG. with he and gilbert on that side, i'd feel pretty good about that side of the line. i think there are a few guys that could start at LT, but they would have to be had early. ( adams, sanders,mitchell,allen). i do like kelemete from washington. he could be a very mobile LG and could in a pinch play at LT as he did in college. just not for any long period of time. these guys could seal max and scotts fate with essex and gilbert still here.