Most pressing need for 2012 season?

I believe will be generating a pass rush, In the era of
passing offenses we have to figure out how we are going to get the QB.
I sincerely hope that the Steelers when picking a NT this draft take this into
consideration, that this person will be able to rush the QB.Lets face it,
our secondary is very suspect, without any pass rush they are really suspect.

It maybe a long season if we can not do this.

 

Interesting. As much as I agree, I think we struggled with both pass pressure and run stopping this year because we were in the dime and nickel so much. I struggle with who we take in the first round due to it. If you take Hightower the knock on him is that he may be a 2 down LB, but a NT would be the same way for us. If you figure 2 of Heyward, Hood, and Keisel are in the game, Harrison, Woodley and Timmons are all in the game, that gives you 5 guys with 6 left over. Do you leave in the NT or the ILB? Do you pull them all out to go dime with 6 DBs? I saw a team this past year that was in a bunch of 3rd and 3s due to our better pass coverage but worse run D. It left us in a position which is hard to get off the field. San Fran exposed it badly against us.

 

of course the injuries to woodley and harrison this year didn't help us in either aspect. them being healthy and on the field will help. it also keeps timmons doing what he does better then the moving him around. we are never going to get a big pass rush from our front, but when the lb'ers are not at the top of their games, it exposes us alot more. remember JH came into the season below par with the back surgery. then the orbital. woodley and the hammy that bothered him for a big part of the season.

carter wasen't quite ready yet and that should help this year, and i wouldn't be suprised to see him used in a different fashion then just as an OLB. with his speed, i wouldn't be suprised if they don't blitz this kid up the middle once in a while to mix it up and let timmons cover more. worilds has a good amount of time under his belt and will be making more plays this year without having to think first and just react. keisel was also injued for part of the season. cam heyward now has some time under his belt as does corbin bryant. these younger guys should add to the defense this year moreso then last. the depth should be better. we have some good young players that have shown some ability,so in year two they should make a bigger jump. the more comfortable we get with the newbies at DB the more we can send pressure from troy and the corners to disrupt the qb. at least this gives DLB more weapons to run his defense and do what he does best. brown,allen,carter heyward should see more time and know their responsibilities on the field better. i think we will be better.

 

For me I am torn between the corners and the o-line. Some think that Willy Gay seems to be turning a corner but for me I think it was due to the fact that we had a weak schedule. But I also agree with everyone saying we need a pass rush too. I just think that will be fine when Harrison and Woodley are back out there at 100%. If you remember in the Pats game Woodley was Brady's worst nightmare and that's when he got hurt and he wasn't the same for the rest of the season. So hopefully he will be really "back" this year.

 

To heck with Willie Gay, we have 3 young guys who will all be going after his starting spot. Keenan Lewis, Cortez Allen, and Curtis Brown. All three have the potential to win the starting spot.

I really don't want to take a NT in the 1st (that's 3 first round picks on the D-Line) but we need to make it easier on the OLB's, we need our Dline to collapse the pocket so the OLB's can pick up some easy sacks. A NT also makes it easier for our ILB's in the run game.

Aside from that, cutting Kemo is really forcing the teams hand, they MUST draft a guard early. Please don't tell me Legursky and Ramon Foster are our day one starters...and we have no depth at the position now either.

 

Going to agree with Da Stellars. Don't see corner as a major need, do see o-line as huge. Knowing we'll take BPA in the first, pretty much regardless of position, I'd hope that we get two o-line in the first four picks. That being said, if Kirkpatrick or Jenkins are the highest people on our board at pick 24 and we can't trade out, I could see the Steelers taking them.

 

We need OL, especially guards, with 2 out of the first 3 picks. The other pic should be a stud DL/NT that can start right away. We've got young linebackers and defensive backs so if we take those positions with high pics, we're basically saying the young guys we selected over the past 3 seasons were mistakes.

 

I continue to talk about a 3-3 nickel instead of the current 2-4, and I get no replies. It would take a really good MLB with speed, along with an athletic nose tackle that can play more downs than the typical nose to do this.

Maybe Timmons along with McLendon and Hood at nose could do it. Maybe they need a MLB or a nose tackle or both. Maybe bring in a DT that can rush the passer and keep the 2-4.

I see the 2-4 nickel as a poor run stopper at times and usually poor pass rusher unless Harrison, Woodley, Kiesel, and Hayward are in and at 100%. That is hard to count on.

Lebeau will probably stick with the 2-4; he likes linebackers on the field; so...



All said, I think that Guard, MLB, and D-lineman are the needs. Unsure of order, let overall talent at the pick number in the draft and free agency decide.

 

Most pressing need, as has been the case for the past 6 years, is OL. Good thing for us is that we can fill a lesser need in the 1st round of the upcoming draft and still have picks left to upgrade our OL, and even our DL if we want.

 

I am not a big Lamaar Woodley fan, He always comes into camp out of shape(lazy)
takes 4-5 weeks before he gets in shape. Plays well for 4 weeks, then he gets hurt and can't seem to play thru injuries. You can't depend on him. Dick Lebeau Coach t better get into the (lab)and see where this production will come from.This will be the difference for us
in having a competitve defense and one that will let you down whenmost needed.
We will have to have a pass rush against the better playoff teams or it is pitch and catch
all over again.

 

I just find it hard to work out how/if all of the 172 picks we've had at CB in the last few years haven't panned out. Time was most of us thought Crezdon Butler was going to be the answer. Similar expectation now on Brown and Allen. Yet Gay is still up there as a starter. So either our DB scouts need firing, or something's going wrong.

Having said this, I tend to think that we sometimes are a little high on our expectations for what the CB position can do. It's not like there are that many CBs in the NFL who can shut down every receiver on every play. In our D, so long as they're in the right place at the right time, it's really on the LBs to do their job. So in that sense, I don't tihnk we should be picking CB early.

 

I wouldn't be a fan of woodley either if he was as you described, lucky for us your assement of him is totally wrong.
I only remember him missing a good chunk of time this year and that translates (of course) to him being hurt every season. If woodley hasn't proven enough to you yet, he never will, and you expect to much out of him. We've had alot of good pass rushers around here and woodley's off to a better start than all of them, by the end of his career he could be our all time sack leader, hes great against the run, and can cover quite well.......but you're right you can never count on that guy.


P.S: I realize he does get off to slow starts.....but the lazy thing is an assumption on your part

 

this is the weakest part of his game. he has a tendency to get to deep and they run by him. i saw that his rookie year and he still does it at times. he is working on this part though. pass coverage , he does better then most expected, but in his defense, he's not a speed guy, but overall he does pretty good at it for it not to be his main job. the rest i agree with. woodley when healthy is a stud. i still think with the way worilds is starting to play and if carter has gotten a little stronger, we could move harrison to the other ilb spot and actually stregnthen our LB corp. harrison isn't bad in coverage. we still have the best backers in the league i think. i think carter could be taught to play inside too. he's got the speed. we also have a ton of money invested in these guys. rightfully so. adding a 1st round pick, is going to take money away from some other part of our defense. we are going to have to give worilds a new contract soon. just some food for thought.

 

Hey mac, you and I almost never agree, but this time you got it! The Steelers need to move James Harrison to ILB. I think he would take less punishment at that
position, he knows the defense and can replace Farrior. Let Worliids take Harrison's spot, and there is no question Harrison is a 3 down ILB. With Harrison at ILB
no team would run up the middle.

 

Offensive line I think the Steelers need to draft 3 o-lineman maybe 2 guards and a tackle. William Gay is a free agent time for one of 3 young cb's to step up and start. Also need a nt, ilb, a young safety who can cover Polamalu and Clark suck in coverage.

 

We have to replace farrior....with youth and production.The way this league is going, we wont need a nose tackle on third and long anyway.

 

I like this idea. I keep pimping a 3-3 nickel, but this could make the current 2-4 nickel really work. Harrison is very physical at the line of scrimmage and can handle o-lineman. Blitzing him at multiple locations would be very effective. Steelers like to blitz one or both mlb's and have to in order to get an advantage. He is also short which would make him more difficult to see blitzing in an odd location. To keep the 2-4 nickel the defense needs a mlb that is a physical run stopper and blitzer.

 

Everybody showed up fat and out of shape last year with no OTA's. They won't be allowed to get away with being out of shape this year. Let's hope we can keep our players on the field this season.

 

It's because when we go nickel, we are expecting them to pass. If we put 3 DL in, then we are either going to rush 5, or we are not going to be able to rush both of our stud pass rushing OLBs (probably Woodley would rush most times and Harrison would drop back, but he spends so much time in coverage already). And as everyone knows, our DL players can't rush the passer very well. We'd either have to blitz way more or just accept a weaker pass rush. Actually, I'd probably be fine with us rushing 5 a lot more often. But the team isn't.

However, I hate when teams put us in the nickel just to get our NT out, and then run on us. So a 3-3-5 for possible running situations might be nice. Like a "We think it's a pass, but don't try and run" kind of thing. It could work situationally.

 

One or both olb's could drop into coverage and blitz other players: Troy, the nickel back, etc. The possibilities are endless, but with a stronger front. I think that blitzing will be more effective with the o-line trying to block three d-lineman vs two. The basic five man rush with three of our d-lineman and Harrison and Woodley will usually work and work better than two d-lineman and the olb's. The idea of Harrison at mlb and starting Worilds at olb is interesting though.

 

A 5 man rush isn't basic, that's a blitz. If we want to rush 5, it's a different ball game than if we're rushing 4 like normal. There are millions of things you can do with 5, just like you said. But if we're only going to rush 4, which we prefer to do much of the time, then having 3 DL in when we assume it will be a pass isn't a great idea, because we'll be without one of our best pass rushers.

I've been saying for years we should blitz Harrison all over the place. He's really effective up the middle and on the left side. He can blast guards straight back into the QB. They've done a little more of that lately, but more would be good.

 

i'm seeing a little something different going on here. nothing set in stone yet but? we picked up rolle. we are looking at sean spence from miami. butler was there with the bunch. is he there to start making some decisions on what he wants on defense? both these guys are near the same type of player. not your typical thumper LB but not your typical SS either. kind of a cross between the two. both smart and both effective. could this be our new 3rd down version (and maybe more) of LB/SS. either should be able to cover RB's out of the backfield and TE's down the field very well. yet they are big enough and fast enough to blitz and support the run as lb'ers. kind of a hybrid.

 

1) hightower
2) osemele

 

If we don't go OL early and often in the draft I think I am going to blow a gasket. I know that Hightower is a beast, but we have one of the best LB corps in the league already and one of the worst O-lines. I don't think I can make it through another season of throwing the ball on 3rd and 1 because we can't convert on the ground.