where does this group rank?

I just posted in another post and it got me to thinking about our current offense. I know that I am bias but I really think this is true. I believe that we might be one of the only teams in the nfl with possibly a top 5 player at each skill position on offense. ben, Antonio are for sure in my opinion. heath is the best. I know he isn't statistically but for what tight ends are suppose to do I think he is still the best. I don't consider te who line up in the slot 90% of the time like jimmy graham. then there is bell. I know he might not be there now but when you try to think of 5 backs you would rather have its hard.

anyone want to help me with this? since it is a down time I thought we might be able to debate it

 

I agree. Contingent upon the O line staying healthy (which has been this teams BIGGEST achilles heel and BIGGEST reason for 2 8-8 seasons) this offense is really going to shine and be productive this year. Now if they can just. fix. the. defense.

 

they have very good players at the skill positions, but unless they can get their redzone offense figured out it wont mater. they can move the ball between the 20's as good as any team in the league, but once they get to the 20 they bog down for some reason.

get that fixed and they will be a very tuff team to stop on offense.

 

This has been a problem for awhile, and I don't get nearly as hopeful/excited as I used to when the Steelers are in the red zone. Sorting this problem out would go a long way to helping this team be more successful than they have been in recent years.

 

I don't agree with that at all.

Brown is not a top 5 guy in my opinion. Just off the top of my head...

AJ Green
Calvin
Julio
Demaryius
Josh Gordon
Brandon Marshall
Dez Bryant

Brown comes somewhere further down on the list, but not ahead of any of those guys. Heath is also not a top 5 guy. You can't just disqualify guys like Jimmy Graham because of where he lines up on the field. He's a TE, period. The position has evolved, you can't just refuse to acknowledge guys who are setting records.

Bell has a ton of potential, but he's got some serious work to do to break into the top 5 category. His numbers weren't great last year (per carry), but he did show a lot in the receiving game, and he looked good. We don't run the ball well as a team though, so unfortunately I think his numbers are always going to suffer a bit.

I'll agree with you on Ben though

 

I guess that's why graham didn't want to be classified as a tight end when it come to franchising him. if there is any doubt as to what you are you are not a true player at that position. heath is a better tight end than jimmy anyway. because tight ends are suppose to block to and heath is a far superior blocker to him.

I would take Antonio over Julio, marshall, josh, and dez. aj, calvin, and maybe demaryius I will give u but not by as much as you seem to think.

 

I don't think Brown is on the same planet as Julio when it comes to talent. Julio Jones is a very special player who was dominating the league before he got injured last year. In fact I would take Julio over AJ Green. Dez is right there with Green and Julio too. These guys do things other receivers in the league simply can't do.

 

now wait a minute. I have watched Julio close and in person since he walked on campus at bama. your opinion of him is WAY to high although you are intitled to to it. Julio is lazy when he is not the primary wr. he doesn't block. he does have great hands and has come a long way on his route running but to say he is on a different planet is unbelievable. if you have watched him at all you cant say that. not trying to argue or anything but trust me. Julio has a lot of things he can improve on. ALOT

 

It's a good offense that's gonna get better. We need to improve on defence, I'm not sure how much we'll do this, a no. 1 CB will change a lot in the draft.

 

don't get me wrong. I like Julio and he is a good kid. I just know that he plays when he wants. coaches at bama would stay on him especially during film study because if the play didn't go to him he did nothing and I mean nothing. I remember being at a game and on three straight running plays he didn't even leave the line of scrimmage. I also know that he wont block because he has said he is paid to catch balls not block. coach smith has had several conversations with him about it.

Antonio brown separates himself from a lot of guys because of his ability to block and his work ethic. something the other guys don't have

 

SPOILER ALERT: we went 8-8 the last 2 seasons.. so if the O is so great and we have top 5 players at every position ..does that mean we have bottom 5 players at every position on D?
but seriously what scares the crap out of me is we went 8-8 2 years ago and missed ben for what? 4 or more games.. last season we never missed troy or ben and still only went 8-8.. doesnt that scare anyone else.. i mean whats the chances troy plays all 16 games this year? i give that a 20% chance of happening.. whats the chances ben plays all 16 games... based on past years that has to be maybeeeeee 33% chance (and i think thats being generous) .. again.. if we go 11-5 i wouldnt be totally shocked.. or go 5-11 and not be shocked..

HINES

 

I don't think anyone is dismissing it, at least not completely, but what good is a 6-2 finish if you don't make the playoffs? In the end, the result is the same as finishing 0-8. This team has a habit of doing this crap. We come out of the gates slow, not just in the season, but in individual games as well. We then fight like hell to get back in the thing. It's great that Tomlin doesn't lose the team during the down times and they battle back, but that's not good enough anymore. Pride, hard work, a never surrender attitude, those things are great and all, but they don't mean jack unless we're winning. We have to find a way to play consistently good football. A 6-2 finish is meaningless if we miss the playoffs.

There's also something to be said for the fact that when our season was more or less on the line, we couldn't beat the Dolphins. That was basically a playoff game and we blew it. That says more to me than a 6-2 finish. It says that we just aren't good enough to win games when they truly matter, or at least we weren't last season.

The potential is there though, there's no denying that. We have explosive players and we do have talent, we just haven't been able to get the job done the last couple years. Ben needs to focus on making less mistakes and Tomlin needs to focus on discipline and ensuring this team is "football smart." Like someone else said, 11-5 wouldn't shock me, but neither would 5-11.

 

agree with everything you said.. how u get to the 8-8 doesnt much matter to me... and i was the one that said 11-5 or 5-11 wouldnt shock me.. remember we went 8-8 with troy and ben playing 32 games total... thats the chances they play 25 of the 32 games between them this year... i see a team that went 8-8 last 2 seasons with a "c+" grade off season... that would say another 8-8 season... toss in an average draft.. still 8-8.... toss in a few missed games by ben/troy that didnt happen last year... and we are probably a 6 or 7 win team next year.. but the steelers play down to the competition so you got to believe 5 of the games will be decided by 3 or less points .. its what we do in those 5 games that makes or breaks the season..

HINES

 

The reason they bog down inside the 20 is because the O-line hasn't been able to get a push for years. When you get close to the goal line, pass coverage for the defense gets easier because of a short field. The Steelers haven't had an effective power running game so they kick a lot of field goals.

 

that's true but look at what else we lost. no heath to start. a center who was with a different team and no bell. and that's just offense. lost foote who I know isn't great but nobody was behind him. we had a lot of injuries and when we got healthy we looked pretty darn good

 

With Munchak coaching this line, you can bet the blocking will improve a 100%, I expect Decastro to have a break out year at right guard and Adams better improve or he is going to have Munchaks foot lodged up his ass...

 

Another reason they bog inside the 20 is because we don't have strong or tall receivers to go up or muscle their way to the ball. You need at least one or two of those types of receivers.

Guys like AB and Sanders or even Wallace when we had him were good between the 20's and in the open but when the field shorten and they didn't have the open field to run it is a different story. We've been struggling in the red zone for several years now.

 

To say AB is not a top 5 receiver is ridiculous. The numbers show that he is. Cut and dry plain and simple. It's the reason he works so hard at the craft and the reason he doesn't get the credit around the league, even though you'll hear him A LOT more during the broadcast this year. He doesn't look dominant. He isn't 6'2 225 and that will hurt how people view him because of how he looks.
For all the Haley haters, would we be having this discussion with out him?
6-2 avg something like 24 points or more a game. That isn't the steelers I know and I don't think it's because of our superior talent on offense.

I agree on the "bogging down" iinside the 20. We wanted redman to cure it, nope. Maybe Blount AND bell can. It can be said that cotch being, what like 6"2, is the reason he had 10tds. But, is that because of the fade route, which is what everyone means when they say they want a big target for TD Rec, or because of play calling/design? I'm not saying we don't need a big target, I will, however, say isn't not as pressing as it should be seen. Those recent superbowls; who was the big target on the fade route again??

As I have always believed coaching and scheme is eextremely underrated in the NFL.
120 schools. 40 starters, I'm lowballing, per school. 4800 possible draftees. 7 rounds 32 teams. That's about 5%. The talent differential is TINY.
Just like in the draft there are a ton of questions and potential. We could draft a stud/we could have a top 5 offense. It comes down to a gambling chess match if you have the right peieces to pull of the move.

 

AB is a good receiver but I don't think he is on the level as the ones that were mention. If you had a choice of any of those receivers to put on your team right now, you are telling me you would choose AB?


Don't get me wrong I think AB is a good receiver but I would say half if not more of his receptions were caught on those bubble screens. And they are just extended hang offs in my opinion.