Jarvis Jones 5th year option Declined

All four of the bolded is the current direction the NFL is heading in. The 4-3 is mounting a comeback (albeit in a different form). Is the 3-4 relevant? Of course. However, due to the arrival of sub-packages and athletic marvel's at the tight end position (I coin this the "Kellen Winslow Sr. Revolution"), teams are needing to draft and obtain fast, athletic linebackers. Patrick Willis, by all accounts, is the catalyst; Luke Kuechly being the current inherit. Until Ryan Shazier, Myles Jack, Jaylon Smith, or whoever else comes along to stop this new revolution (NFL constantly changing its rules such as names on jerseys being yanked are horse collars), more and more sophisticated ways to use the tight end are going to yield more sub package players.


Realistically, unless you have a sure-fire HOF player like a JJ Watt or Troy Polamalu, sub package players are now just as valuable as starters.

 

The first statement to me is the more likely to happen this year. Granted, not playing that many snaps stymied Chick's development, but his forced fumble is an indication that he does have a nose for the ball. He just needs a year of seasoning (which he has received).

 

They can draft a OLB in 2017 to replace JJ.

 

Yes they can but they wouldn't be "starter" ready. Just look at Shazier and Dupree, while both played a lot they weren't starters from day one. I know things are changing but drafting a guy to start I just can't see happening, jmo.

 

That is what the Steelers do though. Rarely ever does a rookie start full-time. They get worked into games to get the experience and generally in specific game situations that they know rather than relying on them to deal with what to do an entire game.

Edit: After reading your post again NY, we agree on that point. At first I though you were stating that we need a full-time rookie starter.

 

True, it will be a waste of a 1st rounder. I believe it already has been and the front office agrees. I was all for the rookie wage scale letting these college players come in and prove their worth and not just throwing money at an unproven player. The 5th year option gives the player a raise based on performance. Jarvis Jones obviously is not worth the option. Personally he will play out the contract and go elsewhere. I am hoping Chickillo gets more reps to see if he can step in. With Butler flipping the Lebeau script with the D Line the OLB's job is just not primarily pass rushing. I feel Butler is building an unpredictable Defense and with the drafting of secondary players and letting garbage like Blake walk hopefully a weakness turns into a strength.

 

remember jj won the starting spot as a rookie and so did shazier. they just didn't keep it. i think the pickup of mccord, finney and chickillo are telling signs that we may already have some new rush lb'ers already in camp and by next year one of these guys could be in the mix along with chick this year. i still believe fenney could move inside along side shazier with that speed by next season. especially if timmons isn't extended.

3 guys have their work cut out this year because of needed money i think. moats, spaeth for money (around 3 mil. savings without them) and jj for performance. moats would be a tough cut though this year. we save nothing cutting jj.

we need money and timmons hasn't been extended yet. maybe they let him play out this contract. we could save a nice chunk if moats is cut leaving us dupree, jj, harrison and chickillo and mccord and possibly feeney in the pipeline learning for next year when jj will be gone.

cut---in
moats--chickillo
spaeth-- grimble
suisham--boswell
adams--harris
thomas--davis
dangerfield--grant


this year-- next year:
jj-- mccord
harrison-- rookie
williams-- matekevich
timmons-- fenney

 

I have high hopes for Chick too, Mac. I think we're gonna see a lot more of him on defense this year. If he balls out like I expect we may already have an in-house answer to losing both Harrison and Jarvis next season.

I'm seeing Feeney as a nickel linebacker specialist and special teams ace. I think he would have to pack on some muscle/weight to go against NFL tackles.

 

Tomlin seems to think otherwise this year:


http://www.thescore.com/news/1019171

 

Tomlin also believed that Blake could start too.

 

You cant compare these two to Blake, Blake was undrafted for a reason....

 

That's not comparing it is calling Tomlin's judgement into question.

 

This is great news, something us Steeler fans have not seen before and something we all have hoped would happen. This could be the beginning of the new way......

 

I think it's more of Art Rooney wanting some young blood players who are bigger and faster starting in the secondary instead of making them part time players for two years, of course Tomlin is going to do what the guy who signs his pay check is telling him to do, and of course Butler isnt adverse to starting rookies as this article demonstrates.....


http://steelerswire.usatoday.com/20...-life-easier-for-rookies-in-steelers-defense/

 

I'm a fan of how we've developed players. Give them some game action in their rookie year but not as a full-time starter. Then after that, make the change (provided that they are ready). Starting them as rookies can backfire and damage their confidence. There are exceptions to this of course. QB is a position that you see this a lot.

 

Agreed I like what we done with Shazier and Dupree I don't like to see a guy sit the bench unless he needs the time. I think college players are more NFL ready today then in the past, jmo.

 

And he did.

 

The bolded is exactly what needs to happen. Never mind the fact that edge rushers have been a premium in every draft, but Feeney's athleticism will be maximized if used as a ILB. He does not have to worry about his weight as much and he can still freelance a bit just like he did as a safety. Him, Shazier, Dupree, and Chickillo/2017 EDGE pick will be the linebacking corps moving forward.


However, towards your first statement, while Javis Jones did win the starting position, that was due to injury. Shazier won his due to his superior talent. Jarvis does not have the talent Shazier does, but Shazier does not have the durability Timmons has. Either way, regarding living up to the hype, Ryan Shazier has (in a way) and Jarvis has not.

 

Keith Butler and Mike Tomlin both knew each other prior to Tomlin's arrival in Pittsburgh for quite some time. Now that LeBeau, the last of the Cowher guard, is gone, this is now officially Tomlin's defense. He can tool it anyway he wants to while following the historical draft tendencies and criteria of what the Steelers look for in position.

 

Feeney is going to play OLB.

 

I'm thinking that is more of a generic statement at this time of year rather than a pronostication.

 

I am not sure if this is a hate statement of Cowher and LeBeau or not but what they done here was awesome. Now onto Butler and Tomlin, not sure just what you mean when you say they known each other cause Butler has been here since 2003.

Either way no matter who was here we very rarely started rookies if ever and now the NFL and salary cap is pushing us that way. So we are seeing a new way of doing things here.

 

A few things here, first off I want Fenney to do well just as much as the next guy but sorry I am not going to pin my hopes on a guy who couldn't stay healthy. 3 torn labrums and now a sports hernia has to have us all worried. This guy is a freak and probably fits the mold many of us were talking about as a LB/S hybrid and is gonna be a ST stud.

Second there is a lot of talk in this thread about Chickillo and again love this kid and hope he takes the next step. However how can we all sit here and hope he becomes the 2017 answer to OLB when the kid is learning a new position and hasn't seen the field in 2015? This year will tell a ton as to how far he has come by how much playing time he gets.

Like I said in my statement above in 2017 we are gonna need an OLB and it is rare very rare to have rookie starters from day one. However this year will tell a ton as we shall see how much our rookie play and how well these back ups step up and learn. I am not going to skip over this season yet so we can worry more about 2017 right after we raise the trophy in 2016.

 

Tomlin and Butler worked together at Memphis and Arkansas in the late 90's