Doom or Boom Friday

Did we really miss Dupree after his injury or did we miss the combination of Bush, Dupree, Gilbert, Spillane, etc? I'm not downplaying the hurt it put on our LB corps but I think our defense wouldn't have missed had it been just one of those injuries. It's was the culmination of injuries that killed us IMO

 

Dupree was a Tomlin success I'll admit that. He's a good linebacker, dangerous at times. Steelers will have an answer at rolb, might not be Highsmith but double digit sacks from that position is not out of the picture with Dupree playing for Vrabel.

 

Dupree's speed to the qb when the pocket collapses will be hard to replace. We'll miss that.

 

i agree and have always thought bud was underrated against the run. that was his strong suite i thought. highsmith should be better in year two then as a rookie. as long as the arrow is pointing up, that is a good thing. as with most team, when you have good starters the backups don't take their place unless there is an injury. sutton did alright when called upon. the others wouldn't be starters if the guy behind them were equal. you don't just pull a guy thats playing well just to give another guy a shot normally. sutton played his role at the time and pierre learned. you can't fault any of these backups for that. now it's their turn. just like anyone before them, you have to start somewhere. troy didn't start immediately. timmons didn't start immediately. porter didn't. harrison didn't. heck, ben didn't. many others didn't either until their time came. give them a chance to see what they can do before we pass judgement and call it silly. compare highsmith to buds year one and it's much closer.

 

That is a good point. The D was decimated with injuries down the stretch, TJ was the only healthy starting linebacker at one stage. It wasn’t just Duprees absence that caused the D to struggle. Haden and Edmunds also missed some games iirc. It all adds up

I do think Dupree is a superior athlete and a better player than Highsmith but if Alex can reach his physical potential he very shouldn’t be a liability by any means

 

This is exactly what I’m talking about. You are unable to have a rational discussion about Dupree

 

My friend that counts.
No???

 

I don't think some realized how Good Dupree was at stopping the run.

 

Yes...that and the refs letting someone walk away with the ball , and running time.
I've never seen that sh!+ be4, and they allowed it 2 happen.
Should have been a delay of game penalty.

 

I agree that Dupree was exceptional at times. That will be missed. However, he could also be counted on for ill timed off sides penalties. Sometimes a couple of them a game.

 

See Glemm's post. I'm in a corner now...lol

 

Also How the Hell did Alex Smith win Comeback Player of the Year over Ben???? With 6 tds ,and 8 ints.
I bet Ben could have 100 tds , and 2 ints and still would get passed over for MVP.
Comeback player should have been in the bag.

 

Dupree would have been our best anti-Lamar weapon Glenn but we have other plans.

 

What are those??
Since you are on the know.

 

Have the Ravens needing help to get to the dance.

 

Alualu was also playing at a pro bowl level until he got hurt, even when he came back he wasn’t the same, Vince got Covid and also never looked right after. The whole D was just a beat up, weary unit for the stretch run.

The Steelers were a damn good team last year but the injury bug bit at exactly the wrong time. You need to be healthy and rolling in December

 

The defender the Steelers really miss:

 

Some fans need to rewatch that playoff loss to the Browns, with Highsmith and Marsh playing in Dupree's spot the run defense was terrible.

 

Because Smith's comeback was the better story, I think he was close to losing his leg.

 

This 100 times over.
Rewatch the playoff game last year. They run off tackle to Highsmith side and gash it.

Bud, I would suggest, is a top 15 edge setter if not 10.



Back to the real topic.
Are we all really sold on an UDFA to start 50-60% of snaps and preform as well as Nelson?!?!

That's some crazy expectations.

 

I don’t think Pierre plays more than 25% of the snaps unless there is a significant injury to Haden or Sutton

The slot corner position is the big gap, they need to find somebody for that role.

Defence is taking a step back no matter what happens

 

C'mon man. Watt was good at getting run by too. No ilbers or hurt ones are also to blame. The D-line can be blamed as well. There is enough blame to spread around the defense besides those two.

 

I was even blaming the water boy.