Will DLebeau let Cam and Ziggy come out to play?

I have my doubts about if Dick will ever let these guys play
upfield. I am tired of this, We have spent 2 high round draft choices
on these guys with no return on investment up to this point. just a note to Cam,
turn your motor on like your dad use to do when he was playing football, Come on man,
be like Iron head.

 

Not sure if you been paying much attention to Heyward, but he has looked great in two pre-season games. Plus last year he was a rookie and doesn't get much playing time, which a rookie hardly ever does on a veteran defense. Plus remember being a 3-4 defensive end your not going to get lots of sacks and huge tackles for losses all the time. It's up to your linebackers to make the plays.

 

McPhee, Ngata and Redding had 15.5 sacks last year for the Ratbirds as D linemen. That's almost half of what Pitt had as a team.

 

While this is true...and they do run a 3-4 most of the time (sometimes they do run a D with 4 DL)...that doesnt mean its the same type of 3-4 DL runs and the players might have different assignments/jobs/etc.

 

Different scheme, different guys. Sorry.

No one on our DL is even close to Ngata, he's a freak.

 

I agree. Just wanted to point out that 3-4 doesn't automatically pigeonhole D linemen into certain playstyles or has to. Maybe Pitt's 3-4 does, but not all 3-4.

 

McPhee had 6, Ngata had 5 and Redding had 4.5. Does that make them all freaks? C'mon guys, I know the scheme is different but these three aren't getting all these sacks by walking in untouched.

O and btw, I am not asking for this type of production. But please don't tell me you expect sacks to only come from Woodley/Harrison which is where they mostly came from last year. What happens if they get injured?

Ratbirds had another 22 sacks come from OLB positions. This points to a somewhat balanced attack. Why can't the Steelers have the same balanced production?

 

I agree with you. Because we got that type of production when we had both Aaron Smith and The Beard on the ends of the DL. This makes me think it's not Lebeau's scheme that's the deficiency. It's possible we don't have the players with the skills to pull it off. Aaron Smith used to wreak havoc in the backfield, in the 3-4. The Beard still does it.

 

Cam should start.... I hate to say it...what little time he is in there he makes things happen..... No knock on Ziggy, he is good, but Heyward could be great!

 

The thing is keisel didnt relly come into hi own until his 4th season and trying to compare hood to smith is jut not fair.

 

I'd like to revist this subject at the end of the season. I think everyone commenting on this has a point and a little truth to what you are saying. I happen to think we get the right combo in there (and in my opinion it doesn't include Casey Hampton) we might see more production out of that line. I was in the Casey camp until I started thinking about this subject the other day. Casey has always been one of my favorites and has always, in my opinion, done what was asked of him but in the last couple of seasons that is all he has done. I don't think he has the drive to do more than what is asked of him and, if I'm right, it is time to move on to the next guy that does. Just my opinion and if the coaches think Casey is the answer who am I to question them, besides, I'll cheer for him just as hard as I always have!

 

Finally somebody that gets it.

 

Let's not forget that the ratbirds also play in our division which of course means they played probably had the worst o-line in the league twice. And of course they played the clowns twice as well so.....