Patrick Graham - DC

however he runs this defense, they have to get better against the run. playing against the afc north in the late november and december games in the cold. our edges have to start playing the run better.

it happened when woodley was there. TJ hasn't been the greatest at it. highsmith as well. herbig is light in the pants. they all make a play once in awhile but there hasn't been consistency for awhile. it's always been more about the pass rush driving the ship.

 

I wouldn't go that far the Steelers defense was ranked around the top 10 except for 2025, and Austin was the one who brought that turnover culture to the defense.

 

He's in the right age bracket.

 

And big shoes to fill when playing against the division.

On the Terrible Podcast yesterday, I think they said that we've been 0.500 or better against the division every year since 2010. They said that's better than any other team "by a country mile". But didn't say what the next closest team was.

 

Or Bing. You pick.

 

i expect we are around .500. we are pretty good at beating one team twice or splitting. would like to see us do better on the road against these non-divisional opponents we should win games. we played down a lot to teams. you have to be able to win those games, even when splitting in the division. sure would make the season easier.

 

You think Sid would be any better?

 

That I Know he will do. As well DB will look smarter (just not sure how jpj will look in his system). But we won't see that aggressive pittsburgh style.

I'll say it again, I won't be shocked if watt request a trade. And honestly Sawyer fits graham scheme a lot better. Even herbig would benefit.

But we have to get him a strong safety. Fitzpatrick would have been perfect for him.
So now i wonder if our first pick will be a safety. Because Graham system does revolve on that big time.
Or
free agent Kevin byard for 10 million 2 years.

 

I notice quite a few of the early replies were from people who wanted Schwartz.
I asked this question in the "Todd Monken" thread and didn't get a reply. I'll ask again.

Does Schwartz always field a competitive defense?

I'm looking at the stats for how his teams have done, when he is DC.
To me it seems like a few competitive defenses, and ordinary for most part.
At Cleveland, he had 2 seasons where they were top-4 based on yardage, but only average (13th, 14th) based on points. And last year they were just bad (19th yards, 27th points).
Five years in Philadelphia: one good season (4th), others were average to below-average.
His first 8 seasons in TEN: last 2 were top 10, but other 6 were average to bad.

 

Quit confusing us with facts.