Question for the Insiders

In the dog days of Spring, I sometimes miss little factoids about the Steelers, but I have to say this has me a bit puzzled....

I've read on this board multiple times posters declaring Adams to be our LT and Gilbert our RT, but the last thing I read from the organization is that Gilbert, not Adams, will be at LT this season. Gilbert himself commented on being excited about the move to the left side - not to mention the fact that a tackle with a season's worth of starter experience seems to be a better choice to protect the blind side of our franchise QB than a rookie without one snap at a pro level...

So my question is this:

Is Adams so much better that you guys expect him to win the starting job from Gilbert? Have I missed some news from the Steelers regarding this issue? Or are these posters simply engaging in idle speculation?

Thanks in advance for the replies....

 

I think it's up in the air, so the short answer is there are no experts or insiders around here.


Here's MY take (and it's one opinion)...

I think that the plan was for Gilbert to start LT from day 1, but they think Adams has the ability to eventually be a very good LT. I think the talk of him being there day 1 is very premature. Tomlin's only ever started 1 rookie that way and it was Maurkice Pouncey... I expect DeCastro to start right away due to his NFL readiness and our lack of depth at the position... I think that the Steelers COULD start Gilbert on the left, and Scott on the right (or maybe Starks if he recovers and re-signs).

I think in theory if Adams is ready day 1, then you put him on the left so you're not moving him back and forth if you think the left will be his eventual home (why learn 2 positions when you can focus him on one)... That creates less of a learning curve for Gilbert as well, because he was on the right last season. It's great in theory, but I think Adams being ready to handle Ben's blind side day 1 is a long shot.

 

The whole Gilbert to LT was pretty much announced at the end of the season and such...before they knew what they were going to get in the draft. When news first broke about Colon to LG...it was then reported that Gilbert would stay at RT for now...and Adams could have the inside track to the LT spot. However if he fails there (for now) then probably Gilbert or Essex will be the LT at the start of the season (with the other or Scott at RT).

NOTHING is ever set in stone in the NFL...but this is the initial plan by the Steelers...if it ends up being the final decision or whatever...we wont know until the season starts.

 

i told MT to start adams day 1.

 

I think right now the plan is to give Gilbert as much time as possible to be prepared for where he is going to play during this year and for the length of his career. They don't want him flopping back and forth from right to left to right again. They are going to put him at RT and leave him there unless something they don't foresee takes place.

So what is the plan at LT. Honestly, I don't think they know. Adams will have a shot to win it outright in camp. I wonder what they really think of him. Would have have been an option in Round 1 if DeCastro had been taken already? If they saw him as 1st round talent, they may truly believe he can start from day 1. The other option would be to play him in spurts up until the bye week when they would finally hand it over full time to him. Now if he isn't going to start at all during this year unless injuries happen, then we have basically 4 options.

1. Play J. Scott at LT - This was a complete failure last year.
2. Play T. Essex at LT - While he may be a stop gap solution, even potentially playing there for a few weeks, I don't think he is a good solution for a full season at LT.
3. Move Gilbert to LT - While this sounds good at potentially solving our LT issue for this year, it opens another hole...RT, you end up with Scott and Essex for RT.
4. Resign Starks - This to me is the best option if and only if you need a starter for the entire year because you don't think Adams will be able to start at some point during they year.

So, if he can start day 1 - Adams is the LT
If he can start by the Bye Week - Essex as option 1, Scott as option 2, and Adams plays maybe a possession or 2 a half.
If he cannot start at all on year - Starks

This is just my opinion.

 

Here is what I say. Initially, Gilbert was told that he would be put at LT after the season was over last year. However, when the Steelers desided to draft Adams at number 56 in this years draft which they considered a steal, I feel they are going to give him every opportunity to win the LT spot. It won't be given to him, he will have to earn it the old fashion way with hard work and dedication in training camp. I will admit, it will be hard and it does look like a long shot but if he survives and beats out Essex, Scott, and Starks if they bring him back and anyone else, then it will be well deserved.

On the other hand, I do not support the Gilbert to LT talk. I feel that he played RT last year and did a find job and semented himself at that position. Now to move him to the left just opens up another hole to be filled. I am also not a fan of moving Colon back to RT because he has been injury prone and I think he can be a better guard. Besides, I don't think Colon can beat out Gilbert at the RT spot anyway. NAlso, the Steelers have told him he is going to LG and have put him their during these OTA's. They should stick to their word and leave him their. So, the line is set with Gilbet at RT, DeCastro at RG, Pouncey at Center, Colon at LG, and Adams/Essex/Scott/Starks if they bring him back competing for the LT spot with Adams pinned in as the Starter.

So there is only one spot in question LT with a healthy community competing for the starting job.

It looks pretty good to me and I do hope the Steelers are not afraid to start a Rookie at LT. Pouncey did it, and Gilbert also did it as a second rounder. Now its Adams' turn.

 

So, my understanding is we are very much unsettled at left tackle. Or at least we are putting all our eggs in the Mike Adams basket.

If he can't handle the position we are in a world of trouble.

What the steelers should of did was not to change/announce anything other than plugging in DeCastro.

The starting line should be Gilbert, foster, Pouncey, DeCastro, Colon. Until we know for sure Adams can play lights out at the LT spot.

And he would have to play like Pouncey did when he entered training camp for me to change that starting lineup.

 

By no means am I an "insider", or "expert"...
But the fact that we have brought Ramon Foster back, has me scratching my head a little bit.
Obviously, the coaching staff knows more than I do, and maybe we just need "Big, Nasty", linemen more than I think we do,
But, given the personal fouls that he has drawn, I am very surprised we brought him back.
Personally, I like his attitude, and "nastiness", but it just doesn`t seem to be our style, (on the O-line, anyhow), to bring back players that get stupid penalties, for late hits, blatant personal fouls, etc...
I remember watching a replay, from a pre-season game(I think), last year, where he flat out dived into an opponent`s knee, from behind, that was away from the play.
Fighting hard, between the whistles, is one thing, and I am ALL FOR IT!!!
But what he did, was unjustifiable, even for me, and I really thought that, coupled with his history of doing similar things, that didn`t get called, would be his ticket outta the `Burgh.
I`m not saying he is a bad lineman, but the Rooney`s don`t usually stand for that kind of nonsense. At least from O-linemen.
On defense... you get a little more leeway, but still...
Ya just can`t play the game like we did in the 70`s, and expect to keep getting away with it.

 

Wow you definitely arent an insider or expert...haha...you dont even know what player does what. Kemo was the one that was getting all the penalties and doing stupid things...not Foster...Foster was one of the least penalized OL and one of the more consistent ones...and he should have been brought back like they did.

 

Foster had a great season, and is tremendous depth if he's not a starter. But that preseason personal foul was one of the worst I've ever, ever seen. I thought he should have been suspended for a good hunk of the season.

 

Thanx, Snack...
I wasn`t talking about dumb s**t, like, off-sides, or holding, that Kemo was famous for.
I was talking about dirty play, flagrant, fouls, that Foster has a history of.
Not, that he isn`t good at what he does, ...
Just that it would have been better suited to the Raiders, or us, from the 70`s.
Ya just can`t get away with that...stuff... anymore...
(ok, thinking about it now, Key aww maul u too, was good for those, too, but they weren`t a savage as Foster`s)..
If yer gonna play dirty... do it right! The other guy better not get back on the field, IF yer gonna play that way!!!

 

Honestly, I don't remember any history outside of the one penalty. It was one of the worst I've ever seen, but I can't remember any others from him. Kemo's the one that did it on a regular basis.

I think Foster's a decent starter and great backup for either guard position, and I'm not worried about penalties or the mental aspect either. That horrifying glitch in brain function will have been a whole year ago this fall. In fact, in a sneak peek of my upcoming offensive evaluations, he didn't record any negative miscellaneous points, which were for things not directly related to blocking, like penalties and mental lapses. That's pretty impressive. Even Pouncey had some.

 

Thank goodness for training camps.

 

I have no problem with them bringing back Foster, hopefully as a competent backup....

However, in my opinion, if J. Scott sees the field outside of preseason, then the Steelers have failed. As another poster noted, he was a total failure at LT, and I don't understand why he is still on the roster at all. I know Kugler brought him over as a project from Buffalo, so maybe it's just some stubbornness on Kugler's part to admit a mistake.

On a positive note, at least this season we have OPTIONS on our OL. It has been way too long since I felt that way. Let's just hope these new guys are as good as we want them to be... or better.

 

This x2

 

adams all the way. why wouldn't they start him? he's the best we have. he's got far more potential then any other guy on the team at that spot. my goodness, he's played it at the big time level. yea, it may not always be perfect day one but neither was pouncey or gilbert. everyone acts like pouncey never had any growing pains at his position ever. get real, even last year he had some bad plays. he's still learning too, but thats to be expected with all of them. it's still going to be a far better line then what we have had the last few years. be happy about it.

 

"Some bad plays" is not the same as rookie growing pains. The best players in NFL history have bad plays every single year, even every game. Pouncey was the best lineman we had from week 1, and arguably the best center in the league as well, and one of the very best linemen in the league right off the bat.

If I was the coach, I "make" Adams earn it, but realistically give him the inside track all along and only put him on the bench if he's really struggling.

 

i agree, but i don't see him playing like our other options. pouncey did struggle right off the bat at guard. when he moved to center, he excelled. all i'm saying is don't everyone get their panties in a bunch if adams struggles a little bit at first. he's a rookie. even the best tackles get beat from time to time. so do the best centers. that's why they pay those guys on the other side of the ball alot of doe too. i still think adams is better then any option we have on this team overall. if he plays like he's capable there will be no problem. also pouncey being our best lineman week 1 is no real stretch we didn't have a bunch of all-stars here.

 

Haha, we were talking about preseason games?? Pouncey has never played a down at guard outside of what, two quarters worth of preseason his rookie year? He might have struggled in middle school too, but I wasn't counting that either.

 

Honestly, he is probably the 4th best OT we have on the roster, maybe a push to Essex. We really haven't seen a lot of starts out of Essex at T, so it is hard to know there. Gilbert and Colon are better, but Colon is now a G. Adams is probably better, but as a rookie he has to earn that. So why is he still on the roster? Because we really have no one else at this point. Our 2 deep at T is Gilbert/Scott and Adams/Essex. That is it. Scott is bad and was a total failure at LT. He may be competent to take some snaps at RT as in injury fill in only...and right now, who else would you give those snaps to?

 

what in the world do you then consider rookie growing pains but bad plays? he can't find the lockeroom?

 

Then I guess I saw some rookie growing pains out of Brett Keisel this year, too.

 

ziggy hood struggles too, but they don't just bench him. yea keisel has had some errors, i'm sure. so has pouncey. he's not perfect every play. to think otherwise is really wearing blinders. bottom line is they all make mistakes. being a new offense, they are ALL going to make mistakes. if they learn from them, will be the finishing touch, no matter if it's adams or pouncey or ben.

 

ziggy hood struggles too, but they don't just bench him. yea keisel has had some errors, i'm sure. so has pouncey. he's not perfect every play. to think otherwise is really wearing blinders. bottom line is they all make mistakes. being a new offense, they are ALL going to make mistakes. if they learn from them, will be the finishing touch, no matter if it's adams or pouncey or ben. [/quote:t40t6je4]
I'm not picking on Keisel or anyone. I'm just saying that Pouncey is one rookie you can't claim went through rookie growing pains. He made the Pro Bowl and was arguably the best in the league that year. Because he had a bad play here and there makes him a football player, not a rookie, just like Keisel or any other vet.