times they are a changing

well for years we have wanted to get our young players on the field early. as i see it that time has come. we are going to have to count on our coaching staff to fast track some young players and possibly rookies onto the field.

the only spot that worries me is scottie montgomery. does he have enough expierience to bring along this young group of wr's?

we lost kirby, so who will take over the rb's this year?

carnell is a young coach also with young db's.

these guys will have their work cut out for them. this will be one of the more exciting years in recent memory, that we will see what we truely have in a coaching staff and if they are cut out to keep this team at the level we have become used to. we are also going to find out how the colbert/tomlin mix has fared with draft picks over this period.

we all knew this time was coming. rookies and young guns to fill roles with what vets are left. thoughts?

 

I think that they will still win games but on the defensive side I'm worried about the talent drop off. On the offensive side of the ball I think many of the skill players will step up, I think Krugler will have a better handle on the Oline especially if Haley adapts his offensive scheme to the talent he has instead of forcing slower road grader types of linemen into playing zone and plays to their strengths. As i said in the Farrior thread I my biggest concern is the lack of depth.

 

My main thought is that we may finally see the "stamp of identity" that people have been accusing Tomlin of not having for so long. However, it may well not be a stamp that people are fully used to...

i think you're right that this will be an exciting year, but I don't expect it to change in terms of the nailbiting games/frustrating inconsistency/explosive finsiihes that we've seen the last few years.

 

It was discussed last season how, with such a veteran heavy team, there would come a point when the face of this team would change. I was afraid that several of the vets would be leaving at once and wondered where it would leave us.
We may be in for some growing pains Steeler Nation, but hopefully for the good of the team.

 

Especially with Ben's style of play! I don't think we can count on him playing more conservatively to save his own arse!

 

If there is some sort of a drop off, it'll be for 2-3 years and then we'll be back in the hunt. That's just what the Steelers do and always have.

 

I sort of agree with you here, based on the Steelers ability these past 40 years to re-load on the fly and remain competitive.

That being said, I think that we are about to witness, over the next couple years, whether or not Mike Tomlin has been living off of the spoils of Bill Cowher, or if he is ready to step it up and continue this era of excellence.

I am a Tomlin fan, so I think that the Steelers will remain a dominant team, but we're going to find out sooner than later whether all of the Tomlin haters are right when they say that he doesn't do anything.

 

The defensive side of the ball is worrisome because we don't know how the NT position will shake out. We also don't know if Hood and Heyward can be as consistent as has come to be expected from their veteran predecessors. Both Tomlin and DL coach John Mitchell should earn their paychecks this year.

The only concern on offense is can they retain Wallace? If so, than all they have to do is acquire a competant guard and I expect improvement. GO STEELERS!

 

I`m with Steelfan... Nosetackle concerns me more than anything else next season...
Hampton is awfully big to heal well from acl surgery... McClendon didn`t look "bad", given his limited chances, but he is no Hoke, or Eason...
Hoping for the best!
GO STEELERS!

 

All these players leaving reminds me of the early 80's when the great 70's team broke up. It's inevitable but still no fun.

 

Alot of us have been screaming for years to get young players
some game time experience, well they are going to get it, on the
fly and there will be mistakes made. As long as they are giving 110%
while making these mistakes I can live with it. Yes the assistant coaches are
going to have their hands full, but hey thats what they get paid handsomely for.

As another poster has said we will now see if Coach T steps up and
we will see just how great of coach he is. Lets se how this shakes out,
it is inevitable, players get old and lose their athletic skills. Hampton should be gone also.

 

I agree that this season will be a huge step for a lot of young players. In the past, when they got a chance, we always had experience behind them or in the case of injury, returning. What we have now is the verterans are gone and the depth is a little "shallower". However, with all that being said, even though Farrior was indeed done, we really dont have anyone that can step into his shoes. There are some young guns in the wings but filled with question marks. If these young guns step it up, we wont miss a beat.

Aaron Smith has basically been out for 4 of the past 5 seasons, we will be fine with Ziggy.
Hines Ward was an emotional leader, but we already moved on last year during the second half of the season, we will be fine with WR we have now.
James Farrior will be the hardest to replace, but we may be pleasantly surprised if the young guys are ready.
Casey Hampton will be tough to replace as well but if McClendon steps up or we draft someone, Casey only plays 2 downs anyway, hopefully we find a way to pick that up.
Chris Kemoeatu, if we cant replace this guy.....well nevermind, I think we already did with Legursky or Essex, we need an upgrade from the draft.

So even with all these changes, we are still in good shape, its not a total rebuild, we have lots of pieces in place, just a couple of question marks and as Mike Tomlin likes to say " the standard is the standard" and we will carry on the great Steeler tradition of winning football !!!!

 

I haven't seen anything on it is it confirmed kirby wilson will not be back coaching?

 

I do not see a talent drop off. The vets leaving were done; their replacements are better at this point. These replacements may never be the players some of the vets were but they are better now and many were better last year.

 

For some reason this team has always found a way to win, and I do not think losing some of the vets is a bad thing. I understand when Ben talked to Mr. Rooney, the boss told him he would like to see him change his style of playing so he does not take all the hits his body is receiving. Which will benefit him in the long run.