Doom or Boom Friday

F that. Nobody told him 2 comeback. So if Shazier just suited up and walked on the field he would have won?????
Both were considered carrier ending injuries. One had 6td ,and 1 int, the other had 30 something Tds, and 10 ints. I drop the Mic.
That's why they let Alex run off the field with the ball.

 

Sutton will play better at CB than Steven Nelson, and Pierre will be a fine replacement for Joe Haden when that day eventually comes. Not sure why it's not slot CB that you are concerned about, although I think a couple of guys will step up.

 

Really I'm worried about every level of the D.
I don't think Nelson was all that, but I've yet 2 see anyone on this teams CBs outside of Haden play 2 his level .....Yet.

 

Bud Dupree has 39.5 sacks in the NFL, including 19.5 over 27 games the last two seasons. Alex Highsmith has two career sacks. He had one in the five games he started.

Do you really think Highsmith, who is still learning to drop into coverage after not having to do it in college, is anywhere near Dupree in that area? Did you not see that Highsmith still has to learn how to set the edge, something Dupree did learn? I guess you didn't watch the loss to the Bengals. Again, you really should go back and watch the last two seasons. You missed some fun stuff.

The Steelers gave up 17.1 points per game in those started by Dupree last season. They gave up 24.8 in those started by Highsmith.

 

My money says the success of this defense will all depend on the return of Bush. If he can pickup where he left off this defense will be right back to the top of the NFL in turnovers and points allowed.

With Bush/Shazier out on the field it frees up our DBs for man coverage and OLBs to do their thing and not try to help out in the middle of this field.

 

Haden is the leader of that secondary and the games he missed last year were not pretty. They have some money next year and I expect they go after a high level free agent CB to replace Haden unless Pierre turns out to be as good as you hope he is.

 

3rd cb is nickel back package no?
If that is accurate that means he plays 50% of snaps.

They run nickel close to 50 if not 60 ( correct me if I'm wrong).

Pierre plays that outside spot more than I think we are realize.

 

Sutton OR Pierre will get bumped inside for nickel back.
It will be Sutton. Nickel D is the base D currently boys

 

he wasn't giving them high quality H2O.

 

alex highsmith:

1 interception
1 pass defended
2 sacks
48 combined tackles
5 tackles for loss
6 qb hits
30 solo tackles
5 games started


bud dupree:

0 interceptions
1 pass defended
4 sacks
26 combined tackles
4 tackles for loss
6 qb hits
17 solo tackles
5 games started


there are the year one comparisons.

 

Not so sure. I think there will be a specialist nickel corner to fill the role that Mike Hilton has vacated. That job is wide open but whoever wins it will play up to 70% of the snaps so it’s effectively a starting role.

Sutton will start outside but move to the slot on obvious passing downs in the dime package, with Pierre coming in to cover the outside. 20-30% of the snaps

 

Very possible, and may be forced on them if another CB doesn’t put their hand up in camp. Marcus Allen or Antoine Brooks would probably be best placed to win that job? Or if the sign another safety like say Malik Hooker, Terrell Edmunds could play that hybrid role. They have some options at least.

 

i agree elvis. they always wanted to run this, mostly due to the ilb spot needing help in coverage, but we now have some very capable inside LB safety type players to fill these roles. something they have wanted for years and an upgrade over allen in that role. killebrew, brooks and allen now, plus the addition of some better inside linebackers capable of coverage. outside coverage may not be quite as good but the middle of the field should be upgraded.

depending on who makes the team we have options to throw at offenses and some bigger faster coverage LB'ers and safeties. stiner, acey, norwood, johnson, gilbert, denmark. lots of options that can do different things and confuse an offense. IF and this is the biggest problem i see, our staff puts them in the right positions and actually tries to play the chess game, or is capable of it.

 

miles killebrew.

 

Highsmith was better as a rookie than Dupree was. The problem was there is no depth at all, they need to sign a legit rotational guy. I think they will before the season starts.

Another problem is Heyward and Alualu are 32 and 34. Need a DL rotation to keep these guys fresh for 17 games.

 

By the time Bud went down, Bush and Alualu and Spillane were out, too. The entire D was worn down. Bud was on the field for Philly, Balt I, Tenn, and Dallas, when the D was less than stellar.

 

If you only watched highlights and count sacks, I suppose. 2021 PFF grade:

Dupree: 60.2
Highsmith: 72.0

Highsmith is far ahead of where Bud was at this time in his career. Bud is going to flounder in Tennessee without Watt, Heyward, and Tuitt getting all the attention.

 

i think davis, loudermilk and wormley can help and give use some quality minutes to rest these starters at times.

 

I do not agree. QBs who are good pre-snap, get the ball out quick, and/or create out of the pocket can mitigate the pass rush. If the secondary can't cover a good pass rush can still be beaten.

 

I didn’t think that was right so I checked. Tuitt has just turned 28 and is only coming in to his peak, Heyward was 32 in May. They both have plenty left in the tank. Dline is the one area where they have plenty of rotational guys imo

 

Raw numbers can be misleading. I already pointed out the PFF grades. Others were noticing Highsmith last year, too, even if he didn't collect as many garbage sacks as Dupree.

https://steelersnow.com/nfl-com-steelers-alex-highsmith-among-leagues-most-underappreciated/

https://steelersdepot.com/2021/01/a...7th-best-pass-rush-win-rate-had-he-qualified/

 

You are leaving out ...
One Started across from Watt , and the other started across from.
Context does matter my Friend.

 

Not so sure about Heyward...He looked atrocious in the playoff game! AFTER sitting out week 16!