DL prospects

Spillane did alright against the run at the end of last season, but if he's the starter next season teams will exploit him in coverage.

 

lol

 

Wasn't that big fella from Georgia last year that Philadelphia took all the rage? No it hasn't changed this year.

 

Hence why our drafted Linebacker has to be a coverage demon. There are 3 or 4 of those in the draft. Get one of them

 

I guess you saw it differently. It's all good. We see what we see.

 

We shouldn't expect to go into next season with Spillane as a starter and expect things to be any different. We will continue to be very streaky against the run due to below par LB play. Spillane is a fine enough player, but a guy that is a back up on a good team. He is average in run defense and (despite our coaches insistence on having him out there for passing downs) a liability in coverage. He knows his responsibilities and that is about it. I'd be pretty disappointed if Robinson couldn't pass him by.

We should be going into next season with Jack and a FA/Rookie as starters with Robinson working in as our primary back up and getting some snap count. This season should determine if Robinson is the starter in 2024 after Jack's contract expires at the end of this season. I'd be fine if they retained Spillane to be a dependable LB 3/4 but I would not be very optimistic about our LB room if Spillane is seen as a 2b or 2/3.

 

Trevon Walker?

EDIT: Nevermind, you mean Jordan Davis.

Jordan Davis is NOT some big fat NT, he is 6-6, 336. So he is exactly what a modern DT is. Strong and Quick off the line.

 

I would say that Watt and Highsmith are better LBs than Spillane, that is why I laughed.

 

That is him. We shall see,Seems like Big Snack / Natta did pretty well
For their careers as big fat men!

 

Yea those hybrid lbs are tearing it up just like those 275 dl l.this is too funny.
Those big OL throw them around like rag dolls.

 

That was 20 years ago.

 

These OL still throw these light weights around today. They don't work.Why do you think Ray Lewis was so good? He had Natgta eating up OL so he could run freeI.

 

Who said anything about 275 pound lineman? I said strong, quick, fast. Most of these guys are leaner.

Hampton was 6-1, 325 (Who was probably closer to 375). The age of the fat NT are gone. The NT position is all but extinct.

Aaron Donald 6-1, 284
Chris Jones 6-6, 311
Jeff Simmons 6-4, 305
Quinine Williams 6-3, 302
Dexter Lawrence 6-4, 342
Cam Heyward 6-5, 295
Christian Wilins 6-4, 311
Al Woods 6-4, 331
Jordan Davis 6-6, 335

These are the top DT in the NFL, none of these guys are getting "thrown around"

 

What light weights? I never once said 275-pound lightweight. I said strong, fast, and quick.

 

Looking around the League you notice that most NTs are over 330, that is about 20 pounds heavier than their DT counterpart.

Putting a beast in the middle at the line of scrimmage is huge for the way the Steelers play the 3-4 and 3-3-5. It keep the O-Lineman off our smaller ILB. We don't have an MLB that can both take on an O-Lineman and make the tackle, we found that out in 2020.

Both the Bengals and Ravens feature NTs who are over the 330 pound mark. You put a player like Vita Vea up front and watch how much our ILBs improve. I know last year I was drooling over Jordan Davis in the draft. I also thought we had a shot at Travis Jones in the 3rd round and it was a disappointment seeing him go to the Ravens last year.

These are the teams that run the 3-4 according to Wiki last year.
As of 2022, NFL teams that regularly incorporate the 3–4 defensive alignment scheme as a base include the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons, New York Giants, Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals.

 

If Mazi is NOT one of the players who the Steelers schedule one of their interviews with, then you will know the Steelers are taking a hard pass on the guy.

If the Steelers sit down with Mazi and let him explain himself, then you know that he has a chance come draft day.

 

I do not think we are understanding each other.


Weight doesn’t not mean strength.

When I say the end of the fat NT it does not mean guys do not weight 330 on the line.

The difference is Speed and Quickness.

Instead of lineman being 6-1 350 they are 6-4+ weighting 330. They are fast, they are strong, they are quick. The days of a big guy just taking up space are no more.

 

I agree, and I disagree.
Just because the schemes are run differently is why they are out....not because they can't be of any help. The reason it changed is because people got away from running as much, and passing more, but it could all change back. If You have watched football long enough (I'm not saying you haven't)....but everything seems to go in cycles.
We actually got a way from it....because NE would go games against us when they would not run on us, and only throw. So...

 

What about Lukas Van Ness. I know he is around 275. If you pack 20lbs on him he is a perfect 5 tech.

 

I don’t know I wasn’t that impressed with Jack. If we retain him I hope we get him to take a pay cut so we can use that money elsewhere. I think Ogunjobi was overrated as well. He didn’t;t produce many splash plays and he was injured a bit too. I would love for us to go after Deron Payne. I think with the style of defense we play and what we ask our ILB’s to do we need bigger defensive lineman to protect them. You look at Philadelphia they have massive people in the trenches on both sides of the ball. Their linebackers are smaller and athletic. If we want the athletic ILB’s for coverage then we need the horses in front of them to keep them clean and quite frankly to stop the run as the ILB’s first responsibility is the pass.

We either do that or go to a true 4-3 defense. Having 3 ILB’s or a hybrid safety in the box allows us to cover more ground in the passing game. The other thing is if we actually got left outside corners to match up one on one that would free up Minkah to come down into the box and really help the ILB’s.

Right now our whole defense is predicated on getting to the QB. If we don’t get to the QB quickly we don’t have the horses on the back end to cover for a very long time.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/wisconsin-dt-keeanu-benton-says-143041149.html

He says he's on the Steelers' radar.

 

i'd like to see them consider zach harrison as well. long friggin arms. near 3 feet. 275 but runs like a deer. (4.41) pack 10 on him and he could be a force. da beard was around 285 and did just fine.

 

The game is just different. It relies too much on speed for slow space-eater types to get much of a role. Sure, they can still be useful. But those types of guys are going to have a hard time in today's NFL getting more than 50% snap count. Then it just boils down to the investment you are willing to make for a guy there. Is it smart to spend pick 32 or 49 on a guy that will likely play half or less of the defensive snaps? Will he help enough in those snaps to make the investment worth while? Guys that are 6'3"-6'4" and weigh 330 aren't necessarily space eaters. Those guys can move a lot of the time. Its just a different play style.

 

Ah right! Got me there. I meant inside linebackers. But you are right I misspoke. I consider Watts and Highsmith Edge rushers. But in reality they are linebackers. My bad