What were your positives from this season?

Since we are now done what did you find to be positive this season? Here are a few obvious ones to me.

*Ben and Troy playing all 16 games and not getting hurt
*Bell showing that he is was a good draft pick and has a promising future
*Brown showing what brown can do for you. Nice to see him show up Wallace
*After being 0-4 this team keep working hard and did not just throw in the towel.

 

Mike Tomlin is a better ST player than we thought he was

 

Ben
Troy
Bell
Heath being back
Heyward!

 

Todd Haley and Ben Roethlisberger are a better combination than most want to admit.

 

I see what you did there.

Or did Todd see the writing on the wall and decide to let Ben be Ben? Or was it a good combination and an OL that finally came together?

 

I'll add to this-

Dennis DeCastro, whom I predict will be an All Pro next season. Jack Bicknell did a great job with the OL this year. He is to be commended.

I do feel better going into next season than I did after last season. I posted on here then that the Steelers needed to upgrade their rushing game this year- even in a pass dominated league. They did that, and the OL is in a better place now that it was then too. The major work next year will be with the secondary.

 

vince Williams to me was a huge positive

 

Cam Heyward.

There were others (Bell, Cotch, Brown) but Heyward can push for top 3-4 DE discussion if he keeps improving.

 

Heyward and Worilds

Vince Williams and Terrance Garvin

Woods at NT

the offensive line coach. (your third center, 7th round rookie at left tackle, no Heath or Speath at the beginning) He might be in the running for MVP.

 

Who?

 

Well last year Ben wasn't even allowed to use an audible. This year we started out horridly on offense. Then finally when nearly all hope was gone they took the kid gloves off Ben and started to let him run the no huddle, call some plays and we started winning. Coincidence? I think not.

 

Ben/Troy (staying healthy), Bell (going to be special), Brown, Worilds, V Williams, Coach Haley (started off rocky, but not bad by years end)

Velasco (for coming in and being awesome)

Wallace/Whimper (for in the end being decent pickups)

The rest of the OL...Beachum for stepping up big, DD for looking like the 1st round pick he is, Gilbert playing solid...and the OL coach for doing a pretty good job with these guys

Heyward (finally got his chance...I saw flashes when he actually got to play prior to this and should have been playing a lot sooner)

Special Teams...this unit has been crappy for years...but the new ST Coach came in and WOW. Good job Danny Smith. While yes there were a couple bigger returns these last few games...but all ST allow some of those during the year. Overall they were solid and became the least of the teams worries right now.

Tomlin...while sometimes he makes us all unsure of things or if he should be the HC...he held the team together and they never gave up/etc and he deserves some recognition for this.

I'm sure there are more but this is what came to my head for now.

 

Probably the biggest positive was when they replaced Adams with Beachum.

I think they still need some help on the D-line, especially if they clip Keisel, but I think Heyward will be a beast. We need a real nose-tackle though, I see McDonalds more as an end rather than a tackle.

The O-line play at the end of the season was fantastic. Kudos to them all (except Adams....and don't anyone mention "well golly gee wilikers he did great when they brought hi in as an extra blocker..crap") and the O-line coach.

Bell

All of the WRs played at a high level, especially AB (obviously). Cotch gets two thumbs up.

We don't need 6 TEs on the roster if we are only going to use one in the passing game, but Heath was great once recovered from the injury.

BEN seemed like a field general this year, which I thought was great. He made a lot of reads and adjustments and called a lot of effective no-huddle plays. There is no question that he will be back and SHOULD get a new contract to finish his career in Pittsburgh.

I'd like to see Polamalu back, idealy with a lower cap number. I think the Steelers can get away with getting rid of Clark and Taylor, or maybe retain them with a lower cap number. If we eliminate Taylor, we need to draft a CB high. Allen and Gay are alright starters, but we need a strong 3rd and 4th option behind them next year, with the draft pick taking over for Gay the following year.

Thomas, if ready, should be installed into the FS role ASAP.

My darkhorse pick is that I think Woodley gets axed in favor or Worilds. I see Woodley going downhill and Worlids going uphill, and obviously we wouldnt keep them both with Jarvis on the roster as well as cap issues. I think Worlids seemed bigger and stronger this year, and I saw flashes of Harrison in him. I like him a lot.

Jones, Timmons, Williams, Worilds is a young and exciting combo that really could yield a menace to opposing offenses for years to come.

Timmons gets his own shoutout because I think he was fantastic this year. I thought that Woodley would be the better of the two LBs taken that year in the draft, but I was wrong. I woudl much rather having an athletic ILB like timmons playing at a high level like he is, than just a pass rusher.

I don't expect many coaching changes, but you never know. Tomlin could clean house or make a few tweaks here and there, or stay put. Time well tell.

 

Tomlin did an outstanding job keeping this team motivated and playing hard despite an awful start. He's not without his warts, but he will improve.

Heyward was a beast. Glad we drafted him.

Gay played very well(as he usually does) and another solid move by the front office.

Brown- Where are all of the let's see what he does without Wallace demanding double coverage people now?

Spaeth- Does anyone think it's a coincendence our running game started showing somehting positive once he returned? He's an outstanding blocking TE and I'm glad we have him.

Decastro- He really started to show why we drafted him in the 1st round. We should expect big things from him for the next several years.

Bell- He got off a little slow do to his injuries and the oline, but showed why they drafted him. I look forward to him as hte workhorse for the next 4-5 years.

Cotchery- He's just a solid football player and a great #3 or 4 wr.

 

What were your positives from this season?


They couldn't get me to start drinkin'

 

To me, the biggest positive by far was Haley and Ben finding a working arrangement that's effective for both parties. Allow Ben more opportunities for the no huddle and to call his own plays out of the Haley playbook. This allows Ben to keep his brain engaged in his profession while running plays and schemes devised by Todd Haley. The result? We averaged over 28 PPG the last half if the season. If we can get our defense back up to speed, 28 PPGs ought to win you 12-14 games a season.

 

I would say the big plus for me is as follows

1/ We found an above average RB in Bell
2/ Ben near the end of the season using No huddle seemed to be very effective at putting points on the board from an offense that was struggling early on with red zone effectiveness

Next year I expect Ben to come out and play better from the outset and there will be no more 0-4 starts .

Bman

 

And on a side note, the improvement of Heyward!!!, and to a lesser degree, but still important, Williams, Al Woods, Hood(who may or may not be back.. I`m hopin he is...)...
Possibly havin Sean Spence(Unknown commodity, at this point)...
Shamarko Thomas (Unknown at this point)... Jarvis Jones,(steppin up, last game of the year..)...
Lotsa potential, there... Worillds, MIGHT be back, and did well on the left side...
I ain`t givin up on McClendon, either.. He may not ultimately be a run stopping NT, but I think he could still be a valuable member of the D line...
Pretty sure I`ve forgotten about a couple guys like Terrence Garvin, and Chris Carter, and others, who Mac Daddyo, probably has scouted better than me, but, have given me reason to hope, going forward...I don`t think Cortez Allen is a slouch, And we have a few to fill roles, Like Willie Gay, maybe Curtis Brown... It`s not like we have "no talent" on this team..
Pretty sure Timmons will be back, and, I wouldn`t mind havin Woodley back, if he takes a paycut.. If not... we can make up for him, and his injuries...
GO STEELERS!!!

 

Whoop, my bad, meant David of course. I know a Dennis Decastro and in old age getting names right is the first thing to go, trust me

 

Thats Ok JA 45 we knew who you meant,
as for the Steelers I like that younger players
are seeing the field more quickly, I would still
look for OT, safety,cb, and OLB, ILB,TE help
in the draft. I hope the Steelers don't get a false
sense of security finishing up 6-2. Lots of
work still needs to be done. The biggest is
finding out how much #7 will cost you.

 

Ben
Bell
Hayward
The ever changing O Line
Heath
Wourlds