If Lamar leaves Baltimore, is it time for Pittsburgh to reevaluate defensive needs?

In the old days the Steelers won the North by shutting down Baltimore's TEs and RBs.

Looking at the North you now have Cincinnati who is not going to beat you inside but will dominate you with their outside WRs. Looking at what Watson did with the Texans he also favored the outside WRs over the inside TEs and RBs. If Baltimore moves on from their current Gregg Roman offense with Lamar at the helm, is it time for Pittsburgh to reevaluate defensive needs?

Will we need more quality in the CB position to stop the outside WRs than we need ILBs that can cover TEs and RBs?

If Lamar leaves Baltimore, should I be getting on board the "CB in the 1st round" bandwagon.

Because in the End, isn't it all about winning the North first.

 

Round 1, best player available. End of story.

 

At a position of need.

 

I don’t know, I feel like they have been “reinventing” themselves a bit of late to do this very thing. They have been working in different sub packages, big nickels, 3 safety looks etc. I think the defense is in a good spot. Sure the ILB and CB position group is bare, but we lost Haden to age and Nelson to FA. Sutton has worked out but we need to retain him and add to that group. ILB hasn’t been the same since Shazier’s injury…. But I think we are trying. I don’t doubt that ILB and CB are main targets of our draft and FA period

if you look at Weidl’s history, he tends to build on the OL, DL, and at CB.

TBH whether we’re trying to win the north or not, we have to improve the CB position. I’d be shocked if we don’t add via FA or use high draft capital at the position.

 

If they draft a WR, or an Edge Rusher I am going to be pissed.

 

This draft should really be a no brainer, get best available CB, OL with their first 2 picks
and NT with their third. Free agency will play a big part in how Steelers draft. I am still
a firm believer that you build your team to win your division. AFC north is very tough with good
running and (cincy) passing teams. Build to defend/ beat these opponents.

 

You bring up a valid point but I don’t think the Steelers will ever change their philosophy. Our Defense is built on getting pressure on the QB. We build from front to back. I do however hope they really take into consideration the need for solidifying the CB position. The couple years we had Nelson and Haden together our defense was clicking on all cylinders. If we can bring back Sutton and draft two quality CB’s I think that will establish the secondary. That will also free up Minkah to rome more and come up and support the ILB’s in pass coverage with RB’s and TE’s. Bottom line the league is a passing league right now. The defense has to built as such to prioritize stopping the pass. We figured out the formula by the way now on how to defend Baltimore. Simply add another big body on the line and go with three down lineman. Even in that scenario you now are reducing a nickel or dime defender so your CB’s better be able to cover one on one. No matter how you slice it quality CB’s are a necessity.

 

Aside from QB, RB, and TE they need S, CB, ILB, Edge, DL, OT, OG, C and WR.

Essentially, almost every position is a position of need.

 

It should be but you never know how they look at their needs. I don’t see them going with a true NT. They don’t really play that kind of defense anymore. They will look more for a 3/5 tech DL.

 

lots depends on free agency. cam suttons contract voided today. we also need a strong safety. 2nd TE. 3rd WR. DT. DE. OL depth. BU QB.

 

Voiding a contract is just a technicality. Moved 60% of his signing bonus into year three, when he was actually under contract for only two years. It's already accounted for in our cap space.
And I agree, we need a lot of things. But, as you say, It all depends on free agency.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...sedgntp&cvid=83556d0c7adf4fa1b5a06ab9730f60b9

i don't think so 151. we will have dead money added. (2.1 mil.) in 2023.

now he may be a hard keep if we try to re-sign him now. 2.1 mil. added in one way, jackson counting 13 mil. unless cut, only leaving us wallace, witherspoon, pierre, maulet. do we cut witherspoon as well and go into the season with double dipping in the draft for corners and maybe a strong safety? that's a lot of new additions to rely on.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...pc=U531&cvid=5a7468036f804ca9879cd2eff8bd2f8d

conflicting reports. the prior thread says cam sutton's contract voided today. this one says we have a week after the SB to sign him before the dead money kicks in. will they?

 

I want a CB that can lock down any team's #2 receiver. Letting us double their #1. After that you force their #3 to beat you all game. The only problem is we do not play a lot of man.

 

Yes it is regardless of wether he leaves or stays. The top dog in the division is Burrow and the Bengals now. Its all about defending the pass.

 

Don't forget inside linebacker. I don't see one they would take at No. 17, but they could with one of their second-round picks.

 

Actually how much man We play is specifically by team. That's why I laugh when people say ....We just do our thing, and don't game plan for the other team.
Yeah ...Well We sure change our coverages by who We play.

 

Theoretically, at the moment.. yes. However, this will drastically change before the draft. See below. (Go into this exercise with the assumption that any team is always looking to fill its depth slots... I'm only considering starting positions)

S - We have two internal FA's that can be re-signed and eliminate this need. If we do nothing in FA it becomes a need. Likely not a need, but we can make it one if we chose to.
CB - This is our biggest need IMO. Even bigger if we cant sign Sutton, but I doubt we let him walk. This is draftable in any round unless we make a huge splash in FA AND re-sign Sutton. High need.
ILB - Yeah, another big need. We need a starter either in FA or through the draft. We have a young promising guy in house already, but we can't just count on him to be the guy in year 2. High need
Edge - Not a need at starter at all. Always can use depth, but this isn't a need. Highsmith's contract (and the Steelers thoughts on retaining him) will play into this need in 2024. Not a need.
DL - We have an internal FA that could make this way less of a need, but we could potentially be interested in a DT regardless of what we do at DE. Medium need
OT - Less of a need than CB or ILB, but a stalwart T would be a great add. Moore is a RT playing the LT position and Chuks is fine value. I can see us go either way here. Medium to high need
OG- Daniels is a beast but we have question marks opposite him. Dotson is streaky and could easily be upgraded in the draft if we so wish. I could even see us drafting a LT and moving Moore to G. Options here, medium need.
OC - We have a 26 year old starting C that was a top 10 graded pass protector and solid run guy. He's at minimum an average starter. We have way more pressing needs than upgrading Cole. Not a need.
WR - We don't technically have a need in our starting core (Pickens, DJ) but could use a slot guy. We have a young guy coming off injury and DJ's contract makes it a possibility that we upgrade via the draft here. I'd prefer a vet #3 slot and let Austin try to beat him out. Medium to Low need.

I'd argue that we could sign just a few internal guys and be left with our only glaring needs being ILB and CB. We would still have medium needs at DL/OT/OG/Slot WR. We should go into the draft with one or less glaring need and one or two medium needs. I would assume a reasonable move to be made at either CB or ILB and then smaller to mid tier moves to be made at 2 of the 4 "medium needs". We will likely be taking guys from those position groups with any of our 4 picks in the first three rounds (with our only high need being selected either at 17 or 32).

 

I really like how you outlined all of this. I agree with everything you are saying with the exception I do think DL is a high need. I think of outside of signing Sutton and Edmunds we need to still make a splash with a solid outside signing in free agency. I would prefer we go DT or ILB as the draft is fairly weak in those areas and then we can focus on CB, OL and depth in the draft. You have to figure we have a chance to pick up at least three starters in the draft between three picks in rd one and two. So based on resigning Sutton and Edmunds and an outside free agent lets say at ILB that still leaves needs like CB2 (because I don’t see Wallace or Maulet as long term answers) and a DL and OL. If we do not sign an ILB in free agency that would mean we would need to find a starter in round three as well and that isn’t viable.

In fact I would argue as it stands now we are down a starter at the following positions:
CB, SS, DT/DE, ILB
And can stand to upgrade:
CB2, Slot CB, LG, LT and Edge Depth

So if you get three starters with first three picks and sign three free agents as starters that at least fills 6 of the 9 positions. I seriously believe a CB2 is a bigger need from an upgrade perspective over a second OL. We draft OT we move Moore to Guard or we draft a Guard and we keep Moore at RT and draft a developmental T later in the draft. I think people also underestimate our exposure at slot CB.

What gets me is everyone wants to instantly draft a LT and LG as if we have no other issues. They fail to realize the overall picture of the draft and free agency. The draft is weak at DL and ILB yet those positions are fairly strong in free agency, so why not build your team at those positions through free agency and then lean on the draft to build your defensive backfield where the draft is strong. If we are fortunate also to be in a position to get one of the big three at OT in the first then yes they are a consideration but to just take an OT for the sake of taking one when a valid option may not be there when we draft is short sighted in my mind.

 

As it stands now, yes. I went in with the assumption that we will be retaining one of our FA SS and either retain Ogunjobi or sign someone fairly similar. That is why they were medium needs. I don't think we stand pat at either position hoping to cash in a starter the draft. I think Sutton and Wallace is a good core at CB as long as we bring in an outside FA or day 1/2 draft pick. Maulet is a solid back up and the rest can go.

I agree with you on the OL though. I don't think we take those positions just to take them, but a lot changes based on how we attack FA. That's why I tried to classify in terms of "needs". We have to make a move at an area of high need to either satisfy the need or turn it into a smaller need. Then we have a nucleus of "need" positions that have a really high chance of having a BPA candidate at each of our draft slots. We can afford to have one "high need" since with pick 32 we essentially have 2 first round picks. It makes us not have to force a position at 17. We should get a good idea of what the draft will look like come March 15th-March 22nd.

 

Trent Simpson is probably the only first round ILB, I'm not sure he's the guy the Steelers would want at #17, Drew Sanders could be a guy to look at in the second round.

 

You think Sanders will make it to the 2nd??? I hear He is gaining ground. Of course the combine will change things for many.