Simple Question

where was he going to play them? we got hood on the field early. we always mixed heyward in. McFadden started at corner early. gay started some and played corner early. Timmons had starters in front of him but played. where exactly did DL not play guys? we still had clark, troy, farrier, ike, keisel, Hampton, Woodley (who played early), Harrison. where is it that he didn't play people early?

 

Heyward. Lewis. Allen. To name a few. Kept Taylor 4 years to long. Hood starting in front of Heyward? Good move. Without the Keisel injury Tuitt gets hardly no reps. Troy had nothing left. Thomas should have been inserted later when he got healthy. Allen was signed prematurely due to the Lewis debacle. He gets more reps sooner maybe they would have seen his weaknesses.

 

I grow as frustrated as anyone that we never seem to make any kind of splash in free agency. I actually thought last off season we did far more than normal for us, both in volume and potential quality. Mitchell was considered one of the better FS free agents (even if he didn't seem to pan out yet). Blount was a pretty big name for what the Steelers usually sign. Moats was at least a solid back up. Cam was a waste of time but they tried. A couple of those no name CBs actually helped out.

But all that being said, I understand why they typically don't go for the biggest names: Far too often, they end up doing nothing after they sign their huge deal, as I fear Houston might end up doing. Also, those who put up big #s often do so because of those around them, and Houston had a stellar DL to help him out. Usually, the biggest names go to team who have cap space to burn, which would be Jax, Browns, Raiders, Jets, Colts (who could make a splash in order to sign the missing piece), Titans...not only do those teams have to cap space needed, most of them need to make a signing to excite the fan base. I just don't see the Steelers willing to pay what will be needed to land someone like Houston. Like last year, they may stretch a little harder than in year's past, but not at the top shelf level. I just don't see it. And I can't say I blame them; teams like the Skins always make big signings, and always still end up stinking. The ONE time I agree in "going for a big name" is when that player is the missing link to winning a ring, like Revis was to NE this year. THEN, it makes sense.

 

heyward wasn't playing like he is now out of the gate. hood was a first round pick and may not have been spectacular but he was still solid. he also played well enough for Woodley to have some great years. tuitt didn't exactly set the world a fire. keisel was playing quite well until the injury.

I agree troy had nothing left but kevin Colbert re-signed him. are you going to have an 8 million dollar backup sitting on the bench? Thomas had missed so much practice time to that point.

allen was signed a year after lewis left. again kevin colberts doing not DL's. why would he get more reps when lewis and ike were still playing well. he did get all the nickel reps and played well. DL isn't a psychic.

 

sorry BF, didn't read your response before I made mine. pretty much the same.

 

Yup, totally agree with this.

We don't need to sign Maxwell, or even think about it. Like Contract said, he's an in-demand FA coming off a Super Bowl win. $$$$$$$$$$$$

We should focus on signing our own FA (McCain) and giving a fair deal to Blake so he's around for a few more years. McCain is competent enough to make a defense work, and Blake has plenty of room to make his mad skills grow. These guys aren't the best, but they are a better alternative to signing an expensive free agent.

 

I wish that were true. But they obviously won the year before.

 

Lol, oh yeah...

 

Well, first off, I don't think Houston is going anywhere. He is one of the best pass rusher in the league.

Maxwell might be a nice pick up since I'm assuming you wouldn't have to pay top dollar for him.

 

Weak argument that Heyward was not ready. So they kept Hood in there because he was solid? Common.
Taylor play didn't slip until 2013? OK. But they played him anyway. And this past year as well. He was a game changer in the negative fashion.

Lewis started the last year of HIS contract.

Done with the back and forth. Guess you and Mac still wanted LeBeau here. I didn't.

 

Jarvis had some red flags coming into the draft... slow 40 time, below average strength (Archer did more 225 lb reps than Jones did) and the neck injury. Risky pick for sure.

 

Why have we not cut this guy yet??

 

He tested poorly across the board, including his Wonderlic score. We drafted him on the theory that he plays better than he works out ... but so far he's not working out.

 

You realize that Hood is now a backup in Jacksonville, right?

 

i still do not understand why they did not start cutting peoples

 

Maybe he is on a daily dose of PED'S.

With the way he performed he may need 5 times the normal amount . This is the only reason I could see not to cut him.

 

Cam Thomas was who I was gonna say was much worse. I'm starting to think the Steelers are involved with the Make A Wish Foundation and every year they are giving someone a roster spot just to fulfill their wish. David Johnson would be an example. Cam Thomas would be an example. It is like when the guy that does the Petrucci parody videos talked about the "asian guy that plays bass" for Dream Theater and he looks over on stage every night and says "what are doing here random asian guy???" and then "grabs him by the throat" and tells him to get off the stage. LOL. Every time I would see DJ I would just be like "who let this guy in the locker room?!" Cam Thomas is the new DJ.

 

Sorry. LOL. Maybe I should think of a color to type in to alert people they might want to read it with an empty mouth. LOL. Man if Cam is worse than DJ that's pretty bad. DJ is still in the league actually and I think he plays for the Panthers. Also Carey Davis and Gary Russell would be on my Make A Wish list also.

 

I have to agree DJ was better when he left than when he first got here.

as for CK13, it's not a matter of me wanting DL here, but rather your talk of him not playing guys early. he did and we have shown you proof. just because they didn't work out has no bearing on the situation. he had to play what he had.

lewis had chances prior to his last year and didn't fair to well. again Colbert makes those decisions on letting guys go and drafting them. we had no money for lewis. we decided ziggy and woods just weren't what we needed and not good fits in DL's system. they just don't cut first rounders after a year or two normally, so we played them accordingly. aaron smith never recovered or ziggy may have never seen the field. it's hard to find spots for guys in a top 5 defense. ziggy was part of that like it or not.