Right Tackle

I bet if at your job interview your employer stripped you to your undies and measured your whole body and made you jump high then jump far and then run around whichever direction he held a little ball, you wouldn't take the job. Football's not like other jobs. That was kind of a joke, but surely you can see how far off base you are, right? Is this just a case of not getting it?

Adams is a heavy investment and loaded with potential. He's got great size, he's strong and athletic, and when it comes to run blocking you can throw everything you said out the window because he's already good at it and could get to be outstanding. His problems appear to be with technique, something that a good new coach and more time could remedy. He's also missed 50% of his NFL offseasons with stab wounds. I was going to make a sarcastic post about how you don't seem to understand the simple concept of a young player with potential improving, but there's just so much to cover I lost my steam. So why don't you just get it already? Did you want to cut Troy Polamalu after his first season? He was a big ball of potential that a lot of people called terrible after one year. He improved.
Ike Taylor was a human disaster for awhile before coming one of the top CBs in the game for a stretch.
William Gay even turned it around in like his fifth year after working with a new coach, Carnell Lake.
Matt Spaeth went from becoming a horrible blocking TE to one of the best in the league, right around the 3/4 year mark.
For his first two seasons Keenan Lewis was worse than Mike Adams ever was (Mike at least offers services as a run blocker and extra OT - Keenan just dug himself deeper into the dog house), and then he went on to become a stud over the course of years 3 and 4.
Lawrence Timmons was labelled a bust after doing zip as a rookie and failing to unseat Larry Foote in year two. Even in his third season, many fans wanted him off the field in favor of Keyaron Fox. Of course, in his fifth season some fans wanted him traded for Larry Grant, so that should tell you a bit about them.
Even the man who replaced Adams and helped solidify the line, Kelvin Beachum, has made a complete turnaround from where he was in the beginning. Those guys are just off the top of my head. A player starting off badly and getting better is not only normal and common, it's expected. Adams was a project from the beginning.

I couldn't find the exact number, but I think he's had about 10 starts. That's less than a full season. And what's wrong with giving anyone a "chance to start"? Outside of a few positions where we are at our very best (Ben, AB), why would you deny the backups a chance to be #1? Almost every guy should be given a chance to start. What the hell would be the point otherwise? No one's saying put him in there and be done with it. We're saying give him a chance and see if he earns it. Loss = zero.

If you cut Adams and replace him with the type of free agent veteran that we can afford (I'm talking Guy Whimper, not Eugene Monroe), then you get more bad play and lose all hope for the future as well. Who are these cheap, older veteran linemen that have been cut or released, and will have a better chance of turning into a great player than a 24 year old 2nd round pick with limited experience and ideal physical tools? Don't get me wrong - yeah, I'd like to do that. In fact, let's do that with every position!

Well here are all of our late round OL draft picks (5th and up) in the Kevin Colbert era, dating back to 2000.

Keith Williams (6th), Chris Scott (5th), A.Q. Shipley (7th), Cameron Stephenson (5th), Marvin Philip (6th), Drew Caylor (6th), Chukki Okobi (5th) ... The 4th round had two more humdingers named Tony Hills and Mathias Nkwenti, plus one success in Willie Colon (who, coincidentally, was terrible until his 3rd/4th season, when he got much better )

The only two that you could call somewhat successful are Kelvin Beachum (7th, who is a huge underdog outperforming expectations and is still a question mark) and Chris Kemoeatu (6th, who played a lot of games for us, but let's face it... )

So you sticking by that? Someone like that can do better than Adams this year? You clearly have it out for the man, but if you can't acknowledge that what he offers is more than those guys, there's just no hope for you. I give up.

 

I guess I am the minority, I do not
feel Adams or Gilbert will get much better,I hope Munch is a miracle worker.

 

oh wait a minute. we keep saying how he was a victim because he got stabbed last year, so he deserves a chance. well ya know what, beachum was home in bed at that time after working at his apartment at night after practice to get the snap down for one of his many positions they expected him to play. he was watching film the day last season ended after playing a game.

adams was drunk by his own words out at 2 in the morning and got stabbed. not to mention smoked pot before the biggest job interview of his life and came in pleading for us to draft him and he would turn it around. no I don't feel bad for him. the rooneys should feel slighted if anyone. beachum has worked hard to get what he has. adams, not so much. I'm tired of oh, he can improve if given the chance. he's been given the chance, he's not taken advantage of his chance. enough with the poor adams stuff.

 

What are you even talking about? Now you want Adams and Gilbert cut? Beachum is the heavy favorite to be our starting LT. Are you saying he should get more than that?

By the way, I also think being drunk at home while on vacation means you have it coming if you get stabbed. Doesn't make me feel sorry for the "victim" even a little. Next up: rape "victims" that were out late and showing cleavage! Fire them all, they had their chance!

 

I'm saying there is a big difference in a guy that works his tail off and a guy that hasn't. we can do better than those two players and for the life of me I can't understand why we wouldn't want to upgrade the line to be better. ben's seasons are wasting away and since he got here we haven't gone full out to protect him. take the money from adams,gilbert and whimper and get a player that can do his job well. that's not really a lot to ask for. funny how the guy that works his butt off is the starting LT.

if I buy a pinto wagon in the 2nd round of an auction, it doesn't mean if I get the best mechanic on the planet to work on it without me spending the money for new parts that he can make it beat a Porsche on race day. especially if the only thing I feel is holding it back is that cut radiator hose. (see what I did there)

 

we don't seem to hear about it like we do beachum for some reason. there are numerous stories about beachum evan back to last year. I do remember a story about pounce having to get on gilbert to workout and lift. I want guys that work like beachum to be the best. that's the guys you win championships with. isn't that what we are after? we are the steelers, not just anyone will do.

we need better pass protection for ben period. I'm not looking for a chick flick movie of the week saga here, I want good football players, no the best football players as steelers, not guys that are trying hard BUT.

positions are so crucial on game day and what the backups are capable of doing is important but we need better starters. we don't have the years to see if they can get better. in 3 years and 4 years, there should be significant improvement in 2nd round drafted starters. not guys beaten out by your 3rd, seventh round pick. he work constantly since he got here and he has earned his spot. I want munch to work with that kind of player and that's the kind of player I want protecting #7 after munch is done. that's working your tail off.

 

Not everyone is Kelvin Beachum or Antonio Brown. Or Ziggy Hood, who had a reputation as the hardest working man on the team. Does that make him a better player, person, or teammate than Cameron Heyward? Of course not. So why aren't we all on Cam's case for not working hard enough? As long as a guy is working hard enough (there is such a thing), I don't see anything to complain about. I haven't heard a thing about Adams not pulling his weight since he smoked pot back in college (unless you count being the victim of a violent crime, which apparently you do). In fact, I've heard positive things, like BF said. I imagine that with Munchak in town and both of their jobs on the line, Gilbert and Adams will be giving it everything they have. I feel like I'm having the opposite of the debate we all just had with "contract." Work ethic is a big deal, but if you cast out everyone who doesn't work as hard as Kelvin Beachum, you won't have much of a team left.

 

no my point was out drunk at 2 o'clock in the morning,especially after begging a team to draft you because of previous failures. not the stabbing and I'm sure you are smart enough to know that snack.

why should they have had to wait until munch got here to give it their all? is that what you are saying? sometimes guys just aren't good enough.

both these tackles came from a run first offense in college. they were never really good pass protectors, but they could run block. whats wrong with wanting capable guys that can do both instead of projects? the project players you get when you have good starters in place first. then we let our assistant line coach work with them under munches guidance.

I want munch concentrating on making the starters better not projects. when your already in camp is not the time to figure out if these are the right guys for what you want them to do, or how you expect them to work. we saw how that worked last year. no plan at LT and no backup plan at LT. we still don't have that, unless you are OK with Jerrod allen making nice with ben on near every play. I sure don't. we were very lucky having ben all season. that doesn't happen very often.

 

Then he must have had too few skills because he was still awful.

 

The biggest thing for me is that our tackles have been pretty terrible the past 3-4 seasons and that is the biggest factor as to why we can't protect Ben or have a good running game.

Two years ago, we had to recall Max Starks from free agency because our tackles were getting Ben killed (a mixture of Johnathan Scott/Gilbert/Adams and whoever I am missing). Starks came in, and I never thought that he himself was that great, but his presence starting made a noticeable impact and the line started to get better. Remember that? I do.

Last season was very similar. The first four games were awful for the tackles, Adams being the biggest culprit. I have never seen a tackle play so poorly as I did when I had the unfortunate time of witnessing Mike Adams attempt to try to block during the Vikings game. He was unbearably awful. That was hos lowest moment over that four game stretch, but the other games were nearly as bad. Don't attempt to argue that it was just one game. Just the fact that he played that bad tells me that he is capable of playing that bad, rendering my trust in his ability to perform well, limited. I don't want that in a left tackle, neither should/do the Steelers.

Mike Tomlin stated the first time that Adams was benched that the reasons was because he was not prepared to play. But this guy is supposed to be a hard worker? Something doesn't click, but Ill go with the coaches perspective.

So yes, I think the Steelers need better tackles. We should all be tired of experience opening season stretches where our tackles are so bad that they need to be replaced by old free agents or undersized swing linemen. I don't see Adams as part of the solution. I see him as part of the problem.

 

There's nothing wrong with wanting tackles that can run block and pass block. But, don't even try to portray Beachum as some elite tackle prospect. He's average at best as a pass blocker and well below average as a run blocker. Despite your claims that he didn't give up a sack in the latter parts of there year he got beaten like a drum for a sack by Mathews in week 16(and that wasn't his only sack allowed in the 2nd half). If Mathews hadn't broken his hand again in that game there probably would have been a few more. Beachum is a wonderful feel good story, but he is by no means the answer to our OL issues. For crying out loud we had to change our offense because of the OL and that includes Beachum.

 

whoa, back up and read again my friend. now your claiming things I never said. really beaten like a drum was he? I said he works hard and earned his spot. that's it. I said down the stretch, not the whole second half of the season. I never once called him elite. he was still the best tackle we had last year. I also said I want the tackle spot upgraded. so, don't put words in my mouth and call them fact.

 

Elite, no. The best we had, yes. Beaten by one of the best in the game today? Yeah, it happens but until we find someone who can out play the play I saw from him, well, he's it for now.

That's it.