What are you most looking forward to this season?

Ahhh!! Is it fooball season yet? Just to kill some time, I want to know what Steeler Nation out there is most looking forward to this season. For me personally I'm most looking forward to what's going to be the fate of our D and O lines. Does our youth sit another year or is the time for change now?

Ziggy, Heyward, and Ta'amu are our future on D but how long do Hampton and Kiesel keep these young guns on the sideline? I read somewhere that Heyward is nipping on Hood's heels and might push him for playing time. I see this as a good problem to have. A pro bowl D-end holding it down on one side and 2 first round picks competing for time on the other side. I think Hampton holds down the middle till the front office feels confident enough in Ta'amu, I tend to trust their judgement. As far as I'm concerned he has to beat out McClendon first. Which I think after training camp he will, but as of right now he's our 3rd NT.

Is our O-Line of the future going to be ready this season? Gilbert wasn't supposed to start right away either but he stepped in and did alright. I wonder if this was a one time thing forced by injury or if the front office will have faith in another second round rookie tackle to start right away. I think Gilbert was just progressing to an above average tackle (better than Colon I felt) on the right side, I'd hate to have to move him over to the left side and start all over again. Decastro played only on the right side in college but our best guard is always on the left side. That would also be an easier transition for Colon from right tackle to right guard. I think Colon is an average right tackle but would be a pro bowl right guard. I don't think the front office feels the same though so I think Day 1 line will be Gilbert, Decastro, Pouncey, Foster, Colon. I think that would be a step in the wrong direction though because if Adams is in our long term plans it would take a year away from getting the line to feel comfortable playing next to each other and hurts Gilbert's progression swinging him back and forth. The only position that seems to be set in stone is Pouncey,everything else is up in the air until training camp and or preseason. If I remember correctly, Hartwig was our starting center the first preseason game until Pouncey played so lights out it forced the front office to change their plans. Here's to hoping Adams and Decastro force the front offices' hand once more.

 

How do we generate a PASS RUSH?

 

I think one of the things I'm most looking forward is Marcus Gilbert's progression. He was really under the radar last season, just quietly got on with his job and kept away from the yellow dusters for the most part. While the focus will be on DeCastro, I can see Gilbert doing the same quietyl effective job this year.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is what happens at RB. With the number of candidates competing for a spot, and the variation in skill set, I think this could be a lot of fun to watch.

 

What I am looking forward to is to see how the new OC and the new O-linemen affect the offense. This team could be a real powerhouse when it comes to offense this year, and perhaps not kill us fans with such close games. This should be a year when we see some red zone efficiency and a genuine scoring threat on every drive. I hate having to rely on the 40-yard pass to get any points.

While the defense is always intriguing, I see more of the same Dick LeBeau agressiveness with some new faces contributing.

 

On the defense side of the ball....how we shut downthe run?...and on the offensive side of the ball...How potent will our offense be under Haley at the helm? ....and spteams...Can we find a kicker diamond in the ruff?

 

i bave never agreed more with a post than this one.. the new OC and the new OL... the D will he the same old steady D.. will be interesting to see who plays more at NT but the OC and OL are the unknows at this point.. and the fight for RB positions... i think you guys nailed this one..

HINES

 

I looking forward to scoring 50 points a game

 

ben and todd's interaction. how the o is changing. young DB's. the talented young players we have acquired. training camp battles.

 

Seeing how Haley uses the weapons we have on offense, and what our new O-line can do to protect Ben, and open up holes for the RB`s to run thru.
On a side note, I am curious as to how the D-line will play out.
I don`t believe Hampton will be starting, so I really wanna see if T`Amou, displaces McClendon before the season starts.
I have no worries with Keisel, Or Heyward.
The others... ?
I`m hopeful. We will see...
I am most excited, that we have a new O.C., so, all the "film" of our previous "tendencies", should be useless to opposing Defensive Co-ordinaters for a few weeks.
I believe we have had the players to score a lotta points, for a while, now, even behind an O-Line, that should be much inferior to what we have now.
We will see...
GO STEELERS!!!
And .... DUH... What I look forward to the most, is...
LOMBARDI # 7, Baby!!!! WOOOO-HOOO!!!!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing Toney Clemons
he seems to say all the right stuff - hope he does well

 

Whether or not the mediocre second half of last season carries over for Mike Wallace or if he's able to come out of his funk and truly become the "great" receiver he already fancies himself to be. I hope he can become great, but my fear is that teams have figured out that if you take the top away from him and force him into traffic, you've found Superman's kryptonite.

 

Agree with the sentiment, though the downside is presumably if we're seeing a lot of Clemons, it means a few injuries above him in the depth chart...

 

tomlin getting over the 12 win hump. against this schedule, we would be a very good team.

 

I'm excited to see Chris Rainey. This player looks explosive and if we can open up space, not only with the new offensive line pieces, but with Wallace and Brown going deep. Rainey could look awesome with the pieces around him, whether it be a screen pass, or a handoff.

 

It may not make sense to some of you bout what I m going to say but its a reality for me. I d rather lose to the Ratbirds, Brownies, or bungles than I had to the cowpatties in Nov. I ve talked too much smack to the cowboy fans here at work. As far as I m concerned that is MY Superbowl this year. The big rivalry around here is cowpatties vs Steelers. Has been since the 70s, you were either a Steeler or a cowpattie. 2 yrs before the superbowl in Dallas, a guy at work told me he d buy a whole steeler attire if we won our 7th in dallas. He was scared. And if we lose this year, I dont have enough vacation to hide from those people.

 

The February 3rd celebration.

Didn't someone once say (OK, they said it with every post), 'They suck, we will crush them.'


That is all.

 

1. The difference between the 2011 and 2012 offensive lines.
2. The difference between Bruce Arians and Todd Haley.
3. The cornerback race behind Ike Taylor.

I am NOT looking forward to the race at inside linebacker, where I think the only real winner will be the other teams.

 

Running the football on 2nd and 1

 

im looking forward to seeing how Great Ben and the O is behind a Line just a shame Mendy got hurt behind a Line he is top 10 IMO

 

I'm looking forward to a dynamic, balance, offense...

I think you will see it will take some time, so I'm glad we don't play Baltimore until week 11. I think by that time our offense will be a well oiled machine.

 

I am looking very forward to two things really. Number one the offense being more in sync and far more productive particularly within the redzone. Secondly I want to see ben be able to improve his game because of our offensive line. Improving in the sense he has better vision because he is not needing to run around like his a@@ is on fire. Whether he does this or not remains to be seen. Can he actually change his style with a new OC and presumably better Oline? I sure the hell hope so because if he doesent he will be cutting into the length of his career where his is healthy.

Bman

 

Probably my 2nd part I'm excited about is seeing our young CB's getting some action. Having Harrison and Woodley healthy plus having those guys back there could be a dangerous combo for us.

 

Man, there are so many but if I had to choose what I was most looking forward to, it would be be Haley's playbook and how he going to improve our red zone scoring.

 

Definitely the run game. We have a good stable of backs, some of which we have not had the chance to see perform at a high level. With some new pieces on the O-line and a new OC who loves to run the ball I think it will be very exciting to see the Steeler's run back revived.