2013 Review

[ATL96Steeler]

Guys...it's been fun even though we didn't have the season we wanted.

I've been taking notes all season but rather bore everyone...I thought a simple grade would create some good dialog.

Starting @ the top.

GM (short term grade 2013 draft class)...Colbert, B-...

The good...Bell could be the best RB in franchise history if he stays healthy. Shamarko Thomas is a starter next yr...worth moving up for...not the splash I was hoping for from J. Jones, but I know he's a player...imo not an OLB in this but LeBeau was pleased so I'm not complaining. Velsco was a major positive, didn't have to use him but Gradkowski was an upgrade @ backup QB.

The bad...he put his $100 mil QB behind a 1st yr starter @ LT. Starks was the best LT on the roster and he wasn't a huge cap hit...imo Adams can be a LT, but obviously he wasn't ready out of the gates. I think that cost them two wins.

HC...Tomlin, B-, his best year as the HC imo.

The good...again working through many OL combinations...0-4 they could've tanked...especially guys like Sanders who are thinking about a contract next yr...getting to 8-8 and clearly a better team the last 6 or 7 games. Keeping Adams motivated to contribute showed me these guys respond to whatever he's saying.

The bad...regardless of intent, the side line snafu was a serious deal...should not have happened...6th rd picks start for this team...losing to OAK & TN in back to back years I don't get...win one of those games and we're not hoping another team helps us out.

OC...Haley B+...didn't start out well...imo Ben didn't do his 1st yr starter @ LT any favors...he was the old Ben trying to extend too much early probably because of the bad start. A combination of Miller rounding into form and Bell's ability to get you 4 yds a touch changed the offense and they were clearly the best unit on the field the last 6 games off the yr.

DC...LeBeau C+...to be fair, he doesn't have the horses to run his high pressure DEF...played a lot of 4 man run and nickel/dime in the back...losing Foote hurt early, but Williams settled in well and imo is the starter next yr...lack of speed in the back 4, especially FS has to be addressed.

ST...Smith, B-...a pretty solid group all year...make a big 1st down on a fake punt, AB made several big returns and very few came back due to penalty...Punter problems and the return vs GB standout as reasons to hold his grade down a notch.

I think PIT could have been a dangerous 6th seed, but it didn't bother me much to see the KC FG miss...8-8 didn't deserve it imo...I like a lot of the positives but still work to do for this to be a SB contending team.

With the 15th pick, PIT is on the clock...

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Guys...it's been fun even though we didn't have the season we wanted.

I've been taking notes all season but rather bore everyone...I thought a simple grade would create some good dialog.

Starting @ the top.

GM (short term grade 2013 draft class)...Colbert, B-...

The good...Bell could be the best RB in franchise history if he stays healthy. Shamarko Thomas is a starter next yr...worth moving up for...not the splash I was hoping for from J. Jones, but I know he's a player...imo not an OLB in this but LeBeau was pleased so I'm not complaining. Velsco was a major positive, didn't have to use him but Gradkowski was an upgrade @ backup QB.

The bad...he put his $100 mil QB behind a 1st yr starter @ LT. Starks was the best LT on the roster and he wasn't a huge cap hit...imo Adams can be a LT, but obviously he wasn't ready out of the gates. I think that cost them two wins.

HC...Tomlin, B-, his best year as the HC imo.

The good...again working through many OL combinations...0-4 they could've tanked...especially guys like Sanders who are thinking about a contract next yr...getting to 8-8 and clearly a better team the last 6 or 7 games. Keeping Adams motivated to contribute showed me these guys respond to whatever he's saying.

The bad...regardless of intent, the side line snafu was a serious deal...should not have happened...6th rd picks start for this team...losing to OAK & TN in back to back years I don't get...win one of those games and we're not hoping another team helps us out.

OC...Haley B+...didn't start out well...imo Ben didn't do his 1st yr starter @ LT any favors...he was the old Ben trying to extend too much early probably because of the bad start. A combination of Miller rounding into form and Bell's ability to get you 4 yds a touch changed the offense and they were clearly the best unit on the field the last 6 games off the yr.

DC...LeBeau C+...to be fair, he doesn't have the horses to run his high pressure DEF...played a lot of 4 man run and nickel/dime in the back...losing Foote hurt early, but Williams settled in well and imo is the starter next yr...lack of speed in the back 4, especially FS has to be addressed.

ST...Smith, B-...a pretty solid group all year...make a big 1st down on a fake punt, AB made several big returns and very few came back due to penalty...Punter problems and the return vs GB standout as reasons to hold his grade down a notch.

I think PIT could have been a dangerous 6th seed, but it didn't bother me much to see the KC FG miss...8-8 didn't deserve it imo...I like a lot of the positives but still work to do for this to be a SB contending team.

With the 15th pick, PIT is on the clock...

Good post! (as per usual)

Colbert... C-... It's hard for me to give this man a grade since I have been one of the front runners of his lynch mob for the last few seasons. All kidding aside, his 2013 grade is much higher than his previous years only due to having a 'successful' draft. His FA moves were puzzling during the offseason, which IMO hurt his grade the most. Quick recap: Signed Burress (IR), Foote (IR), Dwyer (signed, cut & resigned), Redman (useless), LSH (injured), Gradkowski (awesome pickup), Moorman (fail), Sylvester (signed, cut & resigned), Whimper (scary decision @ the time, but worked out decent), Batiste (epic fail), F. Jones (decent), L. Brown L), Overbay (fail), Gordon(fail), Palmer (decent), Mesko (fail), Blake (decent), Wallace (decent), Velasco (great pickup but injured), etc... As you can remember (and see here), not a whole lot of positives here and I'm sure I missed a few. But hard to blame the man when they needed guys fast with how many people were getting injured. I said last offseason that if they fumbled the season again that either Colbert or Tomlin would be let go, but after watching the second half of the season i take it back. I think Colbert's fate hinges on the draft again, but I think the Rooney's are comfortable with letting him stay for another season.

Tomlin... B+... I'm with ATL here, I think this was one of his best seasons as a coach. It took a lot of pride from this group to get to where they ended up. Obviously everyone listened to what this man had to say. Nobody can blame the lack of productivity out the gate on him because he ran the hardest/strictest/most brutal training camp in the entire league. He set the tone early, but the pieces just weren't there.

Haley... C+... I still have my doubts about the guy. He hasn't shown me a whole lot to make me feel comfortable with him. Its sad when your offense is clearly more efficient when running no-huddle & the play calling is in the QB's hands. He did get better as the season progressed, but a lot of that had to do with the O-line finally gelling.

Lebeau... C+... Like ATL said, hard to blame the man for not having the horses to run his race. But a coordinator's job is to make due with the pieces you have. I know from all of the stories that Lebeau was very hard on himself for the lack of productivity on defense. Not sure what the plan is for Lebeau, but if he should step aside then Butler should be a better fit. I only say better because it will be another year or 2 until the defense is back up to par since there will be a lot of changes coming. Lebeau's 2-3 year learning curve is only going to continue to hurt the defense while it goes through changes.

Smith... B+... Shaky start to the season, especially in the preseason! Not sure if you guys remember but ST was awful!!! But he fixed the problems early and had this group fired up each week. ST was a constant contributor throughout the year.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Great notes on Colbert...that's a fair grade you gave him imo...I think he/Tomlin just wiffed on LT because of the cap...LSH/Jones were life savers...Redman & Dwyer was never a fit...always an either/or situation I thought.

Haley...also fair grade you gave him, but he just had terrible OL play to start...hard to call plays when your QB only has 2 sec to get through his reads...also I don't know why they could not get more out of the size of Moye and or Paulsen in the RZ...the lack of targets or in some cases not even being active did concern me....Spaeth also has made a difference.

The way they finished really influenced my grade.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

I'm still reading a lot of BS about fans calling for a full fire sale. Some are even saying this season was a complete waste... I must have been watching a completely different team then?

Regardless of the "what could have been" scenarios, we watched the Steelers change from a 2-6 team in the first 8 games to a 6-2 team in the final 8 games, when they had every reason to fold. They finished the race and fought the good fight, put themselves in a position to make the playoffs and have every reason to hold their heads high. It takes a lot of pride to do what the Steelers did this season after starting 0-4. It may not have looked pretty, but what they did at the end of the season was instill confidence, amongst other things. We who support this team should be proud to wear the Black & Gold and salute the Pittsburgh Steelers. All others can go endorse Jerry Jones.

 

[MISKO]

as much as I hate to admit it .. haley's offense started to come together and ben stayed upright almost all season .. the last few games they looked good

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'm still reading a lot of BS about fans calling for a full fire sale. Some are even saying this season was a complete waste... I must have been watching a completely different team then?

Regardless of the "what could have been" scenarios, we watched the Steelers change from a 2-6 team in the first 8 games to a 6-2 team in the final 8 games, when they had every reason to fold. They finished the race and fought the good fight, put themselves in a position to make the playoffs and have every reason to hold their heads high. It takes a lot of pride to do what the Steelers did this season after starting 0-4. It may not have looked pretty, but what they did at the end of the season was instill confidence, amongst other things. We who support this team should be proud to wear the Black & Gold and salute the Pittsburgh Steelers. All others can go endorse Jerry Jones.

The sting off missing the playoffs clouds the positive finish to the more demanding fans I guess...they should not have been 0-4...that's on both Tomlin & Colbert imo, but as you pointed out, there is plenty to support the current staff.

Colbert...screwed up some drafts...maybe Tomlin and the staff were not as involved earlier in his career as they should've been, but picking at the bottom of the draft for a decade, your margin for error is not as great. This yr he did good work imo...I think the staff bailed him out of the mistake to start a 1st yr LT, but as you've pointing out pulling a starting C out of thin air in the middle of the season was huge.

For people talking about an overhaul need to look through history of the game and the effect parity...dynasty of the Cowboys (who are still trying to get back), the 49ers (just now reaching SB contention again)...I was not a Colbert guy and I'm still not certain about him. It was always going tough but Ben gave hope that it wouldn't be a crash and burn from those great players.

This year is a good one for PIT to address a big need with a strong prospect in the draft...I don't think they will mess this draft up.

 

[Midnightangel]

Given how we started we had a great year....

First, we had to replace James Harrison, Mike Wallace and Mendy. Those are some key positions. We replaced Harrison with Jarvis Jones (rookie), Mike Wallace with Brown (had a great year) and Mendy with Bell (who broke Franco Harris' rookie rushing record).

Then we lost our center....again and had to deal with that.

That's a lot of stuff to deal with in the first 4 games.

We won 8 of our last 12 and 6 of our last 8. Had we done that all year we'd be having a bye week right now.

Going into the off season we don't need to replace our RB, any key LB's or WR's like we did this past off season. I think we'll pick up pretty much where we left off.

In short, we had our growing pains this year and still almost made the playoffs. I think next year we're 12-4 or better.

On a separate note...I expect the Ravens to flop miserably next season and the Bengals will fall off due to sucess over the last 3 years.

 

[MISKO]

as far as our center is concerned .. I say send pouncey packing ..the guy as good as he is has never played a full season yet and is accident prone .. it doesnt do us any good keeping him around

 

[grayghost668]

as far as our center is concerned .. I say send pouncey packing ..the guy as good as he is has never played a full season yet and is accident prone .. it doesnt do us any good keeping him around

hmmmmmmmm,,,,, the only post here I completely agree with,

we have a long way to go to be contenders again Bell is looking good but we still need a receiver one that isn't 5'10", when was the last time we had a tall receiver that was worth keeping on the roster,,,,,,,,, Plaxico Burress was the last one and this team needs that type of receiver, we still have issues on the O-line and the defense

I could pick it apart but what the point no one really wants to hear it, the team went 8-8 yes the second half of the season was good but for an overall grade it's a stretch to give the team a grade of C

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

In order for this team to go 12-4 next season they are going to need a lot of growth and maturity from the 2013 draft class. Namely Jones, Thomas & Wheaton. Bell just needs to stay healthy and we all know what he can do.

It is yet to be decided about Woodley or Worilds future in PIT, but one thing is for sure, that Jarvis will be a starter next season. He showed instances of great playmaking ability, but he still has a lot to learn before he is completely comfortable. He was often out of place during some plays, but overall he had a solid first year.

Clark is on a 1-way ticket out of PIT, and nothing is certain about Poly's future. Thomas is going to need to be their guy next season, whether Will Allen sticks around or not. Golden is still maturing so maybe he can provide stability as well.

Sanders, Cotchery & Burress are most likely to be gone as well. Maybe they bring back Cotchery or Sanders, but doubtful. That leaves Brown, Wheaton, Moye, and Justin Brown (Practice Squad). WR is likely to be one of the top 2 picks for the Steelers. Regardless, Wheaton will need to show he is a starter in the offseason.

 

[MISKO]

i would keep cotchery over sanders . he can at least catch the damn ball and hold on to it

 

[ATL96Steeler]

hmmmmmmmm,,,,, the only post here I completely agree with,

we have a long way to go to be contenders again Bell is looking good but we still need a receiver one that isn't 5'10", when was the last time we had a tall receiver that was worth keeping on the roster,,,,,,,,, Plaxico Burress was the last one and this team needs that type of receiver, we still have issues on the O-line and the defense

I could pick it apart but what the point no one really wants to hear it, the team went 8-8 yes the second half of the season was good but for an overall grade it's a stretch to give the team a grade of C

As a flat line grade over 17 weeks...I think that's fair...on Pouncey...he can play, but he can't stay healthy enough to play 16 games...1 more year on his deal...cap wise he still doesn't kill you...but it wouldn't bother me to see him not return. If Valesco had not gone down, I would say definitely.

Long way...I'm not sure...if they can't figure out Woodley (cut, reposition, trade) you could be right...the back end won't take as long to fix, DL is only a player a away and coaches seemed to like Nick Williams, hopefully he develops.

A lot has to happen, you're right on any level...but if they get Ben the big athletic TE or WR to pair with what we have and figure out a LT situation...the OFC will be good enough to get them to a 10 to 12 win type season.

The DEF...no, that's not close to a championship DEF, but LeBeau will find a way to put a respectable DEF on the field while the young guys develop.

The Raven team that won it was not their best team, so I'm thinking it will be a long term thing with Ben @ QB.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

This is all that matters to me... Being above the ratbirds

AFC NORTH STANDINGS
1. Cincinnati Bengals
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. Cleveland Browns


What's even funnier is this is exactly how I projected the AFCN and ratbird fans had a shit fit

 

[ATL96Steeler]

In order for this team to go 12-4 next season they are going to need a lot of growth and maturity from the 2013 draft class. Namely Jones, Thomas & Wheaton. Bell just needs to stay healthy and we all know what he can do.

It is yet to be decided about Woodley or Worilds future in PIT, but one thing is for sure, that Jarvis will be a starter next season. He showed instances of great playmaking ability, but he still has a lot to learn before he is completely comfortable. He was often out of place during some plays, but overall he had a solid first year.

Clark is on a 1-way ticket out of PIT, and nothing is certain about Poly's future. Thomas is going to need to be their guy next season, whether Will Allen sticks around or not. Golden is still maturing so maybe he can provide stability as well.

Sanders, Cotchery & Burress are most likely to be gone as well. Maybe they bring back Cotchery or Sanders, but doubtful. That leaves Brown, Wheaton, Moye, and Justin Brown (Practice Squad). WR is likely to be one of the top 2 picks for the Steelers. Regardless, Wheaton will need to show he is a starter in the offseason.

That would be a tall task, but I think a 10-12 type season is within reach.

The DEF is more than 1 player away from being a championship type unit. I think you add to the strongest unit with a big play guy with size on the edge or the hybrid TE.

Sanders...he was a trooper, I've never been fond of his game, but appreciative of his effort this year as a lame duck player...he will get a $25 to $30 mil contract on the open market.

Burress is done...Cotchery...Ben will lobby to keep him...Moye & Brown will have to make the squad again...Wheaton imo just needs a full camp with Ben to develop some timing/trust.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

That would be a tall task, but I think a 10-12 type season is within reach.

The DEF is more than 1 player away from being a championship type unit. I think you add to the strongest unit with a big play guy with size on the edge or the hybrid TE.

Sanders...he was a trooper, I've never been fond of his game, but appreciative of his effort this year as a lame duck player...he will get a $25 to $30 mil contract on the open market.

Burress is done...Cotchery...Ben will lobby to keep him...Moye & Brown will have to make the squad again...Wheaton imo just needs a full camp with Ben to develop some timing/trust.

Definitely appreciative of Sanders' play this year. Never had anything against matching NE for him since we were so strapped at the position. But after the season was all but lost I started to think twice about it.

If they don't keep Cotchery then I would assume they will look in FA for another 'cheap' vet. But I would like to see Cotchery back. He was a great leader and teacher for this group, not to mention a class act. I agree with the Moye & Brown needing to make the squad again. One or both may likely be on a different team next season. From what I have read, Wheaton has a great work ethic so I bet he will have a great offseason.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

I'm through the 1st round in my mock but will hold off on publishing it until the playoff teams order is set a little better...probably won't happen, but GB could be a trade partner if Ebron or Amaro will be on the board at 15...I wouldn't mind trading back with them and taking Benjamin or Robinson a few spots later to pick up another 3rd round pick.

Hageman 1st and Matthews (WR from Vandy) in the 2nd would be ideal and feasible if the QBs go early.