WAY WAY too early roster predictions:

Thoughts?

DEFENSE

Dline (6) - Heyward, Tuitt, Hargrave, Walton, Alualu, and Frazier.

LB (8) - Watt, Dupree, Chickillo, and Adams. Bostic, Williams, Dirty Red, and Fort.

CB (6) - Haden, Burns, Sutton, Hilton, Allen, and Sensabaugh

S (5) - Burnett, Davis, Allen, Edmunds, and Behre

OFFENSE

QB (3) - Ben, Rudolph, Dobbs

RB (4) - Bell, Conner, Samuels, Ridley, and Nix

WR (5) - Brown, Smith-Schuster, Washington, Hunter, and DHB

TE (3) - MacDonald, James, McGee

Oline (9) - Villanueva, Foster, Pouncey, Decastro, and Gilbert
Finney, Hawkins, Feiler, Okorafor

The Specials I won't do because we basically all know them.

The guys I have in red are upgrade opportunities for camp. I am sure there are some others we could upgrade, but to me these are the weakest spots on the roster.

It may be the best secondary we have had in a long time. Adding 2 this year plus the special teamer in Behre really upped our quality.

The Dline is a repeat of last year other than no McCullers. We better hope our issues against the run are related to something other than those 6.

The LB groups have very little depth. Even if you assume Dirty Red played poorly because of the injury and not being a MACK, the LB core only has 6 guys we can trust. I would personally prefer to have more depth than that. Strangely enough, I think we spend the offseason next year talking about upgrading the MACK position and the BUCK position.

Jones could stay at QB if Rudolph looks overwhelmed to be a backup. That being said, I think in all honesty Jones is gone.

The RB position is move versatile than a while, but next offseason we are going to need a new starter unless Conner shows he is capable.

TE has 2 guys who I am comfortable with. McGee makes it over Grimble due to superior blocking.

WR has basically zero depth. We needed to draft one prior to moving Bryant and now we need another IMO. DHB is no receiver any more and Hunter....well he is Hunter.

Oline. We are a little heavy at OT. 3 guys for depth there and only Finney as a true G/C. Feiler I bet gets moved to help cover some of that unless a PS guy really impresses more than I anticipate.

 

Yeah, the Rudolph pick makes the Jones situation tough.

They're not going to try and sneak a 3rd rounder they traded up for to the practice squad as that would be stupid. Dobbs has a chand\ce to make it there, but I have a feeling he'll see more play time this preseason. I mean, they have to right? They know what Jones is by now. he's hit his ceiling.

WR worries me. Everyone is talking about how speed isn't everything and size isn't everything, but size and speed is a rare package. If defenses don't have to worry about the defending a 6'4" 4.3 guy..... JuJu isn't a small guy, but we've seen what happens to this offense with a bunch of sub 6' guys and Ben.

 

We have secondary depth but man our linebackers situation is bad lol.

Dobbs or Jones is gone. Dobbs can’t even throw lol

 

LJ isn't leaving. Dobbs is out.

They better be looking for ILBs. I'd wager some guys like Timmons, Bowman, Dansby, and others may be in for a visit.

 

when you lose timmons and shazier there is going to be a fall off. roquan smith wouldn't even compare and certainly not evans. so who exactly would have filled this void in this draft? we did pick up thomas that should help. thats a 6-3 234 lb. LB that runs a 4.4. add http://www.steelersdepot.com/2018/0...ms-another-seventh-round-selection-this-year/ and the kid from WMU and we did add LBers. thomas is bigger and faster than either smith or evans.

 

Have to respectfully disagree on Roquan Smith mac. That man is the odds on favorite to win DROY for a reason.


Had he fallen to 28, Ryan would have immediately been out there to make the pick. He was the only linebacker in the clas capable of "replacing" Ryan Shazier as he essentially played the "Mack" at Georgia and was an instrumental part in them heading to the BCS National Championship.


Now, for Rashaan Evans? I would agree.


I also agree that Matthew Thomas is going to be quite the unearthed gem if things work out. Instant special teams demon.

 

i don't deny if he was there that would have been the pick, what i meant was he's not better than shazier. i would take ryan over him in every draft.

 

Oh without question Shazier is. Who would deny.



Apologizes. I did not understand your statement there.

 

So I guess by the facepalm you think that is wrong? Well, don't be surprised when I am right. Look the reality is, IF Rudolph was really ranked as a #1 in our rankings, just near the other QBs drafted in the 1st, then he more than likely becomes the #2 guy this year. Do you keep Jones to run the PS? I don't .

 

Yes, I think you're wrong.

Jones will be #2 and Rudolph #3 emergency QB. Unless Dobbs turns into the next Deshaun Watson overnight... which is unlikely, he will end up cut or on the PS. The Steelers will keep 3 QBs like they always do. Maybe they will keep 4 and Dobbs goes to the PS? Who knows.

 

QB. Ben, Rudolph, Dobbs

RB. bell, Conner, Ridley, nix

TE. McDonald, James, Samuels

WR. AB, juju, Washington, hunter, Henderson, DHB

OL. AV, Finney, pouncey, DD, Gilbert, Okarafor,feiler, foster, harris

DL. Alualu, cam, tuitt, Walton, Hargreaves, frazier

LB. Vince, bostic, red, thomas - bud, TJ, chick, Adams, huguenin

CB. Burns, haden, Hilton, sutton, allen

S. davis, burnett, edmunds, allen, berhe

ST. canaday, berry, boswell

.

 

Hope they pickup someone extremely
exceptional if they think they can win
it all this year. Extremely exceptional.

 

I dont know why you all think rudolph is number 2 and dobbs will be the 3, LJ will still be the 2 this year while MR learns the position:

From Around the NFL:
Without access to Pittsburgh's practices or the coaching staff's evaluations, it's impossible to gauge Dobbs' progress. What we do know, however, is that he was overwhelmed in preseason action last summer and the presence of Rudolph places his roster spot in jeopardy.

 

I was about 50/50 on whether Landry or Dobbs makes it but after Ben's recent comments,some of them giving a little insight as to Landry having a primary role in acclimating the new QBs I would say Landry has the inside track based on that and also I would think Tomlin and Co. would lean towards having a veteran that can step in and win a couple games. I'm not sure they will get to the point that they feel comfortable with MR or Dobbs. One of them would really have to impress to change their minds. I think they try and stash Dobbs on the PS....also it seems Ben is gonna use the new OC excuse to shy away from helping MR....

 

Keeping Dobbs over Jones doesn't make much sense. I don't know what people saw that made them think he was anything special, but I don't see it. Better to keep the veteran backup and let Rudolph spend the season learning.

Wide receiver is a problem. Bryant was a threat who opened things up for other players. Washington isn't going to command the same respect from opposing defenses and Hunter was largely invisible the few times he got to play last season.

 

I agree the WR corp can use a more dependable 4 th option. As far as Washington he might not get the same respect early on but that could work to our advantage. Where he lacks in height and blazing speed he can make up for it with his strength,hands,ball tracking and YAC....I hope they don't try to lock him in on the outside running nothing but bombs...he can be deadly on quick slants. Using him and JUJU both inside and outside can create matchup problems. Excited for Samuels as well....

 

The thing about Washington is he isn't particularly quick in short spaces. What he does best is accelerate once he has gotten going, which is why he is best on deep routes. Opponents will be thrilled if the ball is going to him instead of Brown and Smith-Schuster. Bryant could affect the game even when he wasn't making a catch because he's a tough matchup. Washington won't be nearly as effective in pulling coverage away from the top two guys.

I'm curious to see what they can do with Samuels, but they key for him is going to be a strong enough blocker that defenses can't assume the ball will be in the air when he's in the game.

 

I had my concerns as well with what seems like Washington being a " one trick pony " but I think we're gonna be pleasantly surprised with his versatility. Admittedly I was turned off by his 40 time at the combine but now I think it was more of a aberration.....I mean they knew he was going deep in college and they still couldn't stop him so I think his speed in pads is more accurate of his long ball ability. I would think that his opponents in college used more resources to take away the deep ball and with our other WRs NFL teams won't use same resources ,especially until they get burned. It's up to our coaches the make him more versatile.....I think at worse he's Sammie Coates with a little less speed but better hands and ball skills. Didn't seem that they had a answer for Coates until he got hurt. Like I said I expect to be pleasantly surprised with his all around game....

As far as Samuels I don't think he's gonna be expected to do much blocking....he will see most of his time in the slot and motioning out of the backfield. I don't think they will try to disguise him as a RB ,he will probably be in the game when we try and spread the D out. Our intentions will be obvious but we will be trying to exploit mismatches against LBs and 4th or 5th DBs. There's a article over at BTSC that highlights his versatility and his ability to be a chain mover and RZ weapon......https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.c...ered-for-the-steelers-offense-leveon-bell-nfl

 

Washington is more of an anquan boldin body type, remember boldin ran a 4.6 at the combine which dropped him to the second round but he was a rookie pro bowler who had 13 hundred yards receiving and a bunch of TDs and if my memory serves me he was offense rookie of the year, washington just reminds me more of a boldin type more than juju does........

 

Hawkins out Bryce Harris in on the o line.

 

Jones is not an option for PS. He’s been in too many games.

I don’t see the team going with two back ups who never started a game. Therefore Dobbs is odd man out. I suspect Rudolph starts the season #3. Now, at the end of the season....

 

Of course Ben hadn't played in a game either before he got his shot. I like Landry. I have been a backer from day one. Much depends on how fichtner sees these guys. He seems to really like mason so far. Much will depend on what Dobbs does this preseason. How much improvement he has made. Maybe a trade late after camp will be made for Jones. Maybe Dobbs plays very little in preseason and we give him less exposure to hide him on the PS until next year. Stay tuned.

 

I see two possibilities for QB:

1. Rudolph demonstrates he is clearly ready and Jones becomes expendable. In this scenario, Jones is shopped around to be traded to a team in need.

2.Jones remains the #2, Rudolph #3 Steelers keep best three QBs send Dobbs to PS.

Baring no injuries to QBs or to another player that trading Jones is for the betterment of the team, I put more odds on the 2nd option. But would absolutely love a camp/preseason battle where Rudolph shows great stuff.