Would Pickett been available in the 2nd round?

You're really over-rating the talent on this team:

Only 2 legitimate WRs, and i question how talented they really are.

Needs a C and a T.

TEs are solid

Rbs are capable.

DL is a mixed bag. Needs a 3rd starter once Cam retires and lacks depth.

OLB/Edge best group on the roster with depth that allows top end talent to be traded, if seeking that route.

ILB was actually a surprise up it'll it became a MASH unit. I'd hope they find ways to keep this trio on the roster for the foreseeable future.

S, other than Minkah, this unit is a bag of ass.

CB, other than JPJ, this unit is a bag of ass.

You need 2-3 more WRs, a G, a C, 2 DL, 2 CBs and 2 Ss... this roster is closer to the Bears than Chiefs in terms of talent. If this roster was a QB away, I'd say go for it.

 

is Austin a BUST?

or do our DUMB coaches not know what to do w him? I'd argue the LATTER. yes, DJ is a waste - but he has talent. GP is a BEAST - again, DUMB coaches and OC have no idea what to do with him. 88 and 80 at TE and NO CLUE how to use them. 2 solid RB's.

good roster - not great - but good enough that a CAPABLE OC could do something with it.....

D has it's own set of problems, ILB injuries the greatest setback this year.

 

I view DJ and Pickens as great 2 & 3 WR options. Put Marvin Harrison Jr as our number 1, Pickens opposite Harrison and then DJ in the slot and you got a WR core that's cooking akin to the Bengals. My issues with DJ and Pickens aren't coaching related, it's the fact DJ runs backwards and Pickens takes plays off. But I will agree, that in a better system and in more natural positions they'll thrive more, especially DJ in the slot with his route running. Too early to call Austin a bust. But he definitely hasn't emerged as a 3rd option in this offense. But he'd probably be more effective as a #4 change of pace kinda guy especially in pop passes, jet sweeps and WR screens. Crazy, the one guy I'd like to have seen do a jet sweep hardly done it. I agree that a better system will help, but get a true #1 WR and then you might see your guys blossom into the talent you think they are, because they're not their right roles.

 

I'm really not. I think you're overvaluing how much talent you actually have to have to win.

VERY few teams have more than 2 legit WR's. Most teams either run rookie deal guys or cheap vets that bounce around the league as WR3. TBH most teams don't have 2 legit guys... Our WR's would look a lot better with a QB too. LOTS of big time plays missed this year due to faulty QB play.

Yes, we do. C being the worst, but we aren't far off from a solid unit.

Yeah they are ok. Muth is a goo split TE/receiver with Washington as a main blocker

Warren has a shot to be really good. I think he'd be a top 10 back if he got featured. Harris is capable.

DL is solid. We have pretty good depth in Adams and Watts, Benton is young and is going to be good. Heyward and Ogunjobi are good players but are on the wrong side of 30. We will need to invest eventually but our DL group is good.

Agree. Not sure who we'd trade though. Highsmith just signed and teams that are serious about being good don't trade guys like Watt.

I like them too. Holcomb was a solid signing and Roberts has been a VERY pleasant surprise. Alexander was good too. Hopefully everyone can get healthy.

Fair enough at S. Kazee and Neal are more just back up/sub package guys. Wouldn't shock me to see us go in FA

We're young at CB. Porter, Trice, Rush. Lots of talent there, but only Peezy Jr is proven at this point. We are headed there in FA/Draft.

Our main holes are 1 CB, 1 S, a C, and a T... Nothing too crazy really. We could use another WR3/slot, but those are easy to find. We aren't closer to the Bears than the Chiefs. We are just as talented as KC if you take QB out of the equation. Their OL is better and their TE is much better, but their WR room and RB room are worse. Their secondary looks an awful lot like ours, and they don't have the pass rush we have. Jones is a beast, but the rest of their DL is nothing special, and their LB room is pretty similar to ours. They are a very similar defense to us. They hold teams to a few less PPG, but we make more big plays. I honestly believe if we had a league average QB, we'd actually be better than KC right now.

 

FA and draft, ummm this squad is over $6m OTC heading into the off-season.

https://overthecap.com/salary-cap/pittsburgh-steelers

I also have hope that Rush and Trice pan out. It would eliminate the need to upgrade this position. If this team had this depth on the DL in particular, the why TF are they 29th against the run and 29th against the pass. I can understand the pass defense being at the bottom of the league, just due to lack of talent on the backend. This squad is at the bottom of the league in most of the team statistics with blowout losses to the 49ers and Houston with losses to two 2-10 teams in subsequent weeks. The statistics and 4 major glaring losses on this resumé point to the lack of coaching and talent.

You're right, all teams have holes just due to the cap and FA. There's no such thing as a perfect team.

 

there are 2 KEY differences between the better teams in the league and the also rans:

#1) pretty good to great QB play
#2) exceptional coaching

we are sucking at both right now.

that won't change next year if Tomlin and Pickett are both here. There was this facade of 'just get rid of Candada' this and that. it was wrong b/c THERE WAS NO post - Canada plan. Tomlin is not the man to lead us into 2024 and beyond.

I will leave it at that.

 

We could free up 30 million dollars in cuts we were going to make anyways. Allen Robinson, Trubisky, Chuks, Cole, and Neal could all be waived to save 30 million bucks and that is without extending/restructuring a soul. That also doesn't account for Peterson who could also find himself a cap casualty (though I think he is fine enough to stay if we are going to be rolling with a bunch of young corners, vet leadership matters). Heyward, DJ and Daniels could be extended to save money (Heyward could also take a considerable pay cut in his twilight too, but that is hopeful). Highsmith and Seumalo just signed deals and would be easy to restructure. We could make room EASY. This is the exact reason why Omar Khan was made GM anyways, was it not?

I also have hope in the young CB's. We are likely to add another one in the offseason. And I am not sure where you're getting the numbers for the defense. In terms of total rushing yards we are currently 20th and in total passing yards we are 21st. We are 6th in rushing TD's allowed, and 4th in interceptions. We are essentially slightly below average in yards allowed (both rushing and passing), but we are 7th in Points Against, 7th in total takeaways, and 14th in total sacks. We are 8th in Red Zone % but 18th in 3rd down conversion %. Lots of really good stats in there defensively. We could stand to clean up the 3rd down conversion % and that would go a long way to limiting the yards... but we have a pretty good defensive unit. On the DL our starters are a bit aging at DE, but we have a rookie DT and both Adams and Watts are pretty quality depth. Leal is a young player too, but he hasn't really flashed this season. Still hope for him to at least be quality depth. Our issues are on the back end, not the front 7.

 

The more Tomlin got involved with draft, the more they sucked
. I am 100 percent convinced of this