2015 Offseason

[MISKO]

tell us how you really feel sp..

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Bullshit !

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Well fellas...I think we've been at this too long to have a knee jerk prediction, but what are you thoughts having seen a tiny bit of the real '15 Steelers and a lot of players that might not be Steelers in a week?

I've seen less than most, but I want to be more positive than I am about the DEF....I know the top 11-13 guys have not been out there as a unit much due to injury, etc., but tackling seems to have cropped up again as being a problem, that can't carryover.

My expectation is they will be a much better DEF in NOV/DEC than what we will see early...with the schedule they have...Haley is going to have to carry Butler for a few games I think.

 

[SteelersPride]

sorry just really liked ian wild, and went to highschool with him

 

[MISKO]

sorry just really liked ian wild, and went to highschool with him

nothing to be sorry about big guy

 

[SteelersPride]

cant argue with y he didnt make it though

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Really hard to not go negative after the last outing... But the optimist inside me always prevails.

OFF... Needless to say this is going to be a great offense. I think the offense will struggle a little bit during Bell's absence though. These first 2 games should be interesting. D-Will has looked sharp. Hopefully he fills the void. Bryant's absence isn't as big of a factor IMO. Pouncey's injury is sort of a question mark for me. I like Wallace, and think he should do well. But I think it might take him a game or 2 to get back up to speed. So when Bell does come back his O-line should be firing on all cylinders.

DEF... As long as the key pieces can get healthy this unit should do fine. The secondary will ebb & flow, but I think by season's end we will all think this unit is vastly improved. Depth is a pretty big concern. But I think that has more to do with consistency in the schemes than it does about the athletic ability in general. It may take a while, like ATL said, for everything to gel. There are a lot of new faces getting situated, and these young guys are going to have to learn to be consistent. Butler is installing new schemes so its all about getting adjusted. But I think the talent will be on full display this season. Hopefully all the talent available is used correctly. Only drawback I see is I don't think our safeties are anything special. I fear that Mitchell will never live up to his contract, and Shamarko will show us why he wasn't used that much last year. I see a safety being drafted in the '16 draft.

 

[SteelersPride]

i hope your right face, because they look awful

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Really hard to not go negative after the last outing... But the optimist inside me always prevails.

OFF... Needless to say this is going to be a great offense. I think the offense will struggle a little bit during Bell's absence though. These first 2 games should be interesting. D-Will has looked sharp. Hopefully he fills the void. Bryant's absence isn't as big of a factor IMO. Pouncey's injury is sort of a question mark for me. I like Wallace, and think he should do well. But I think it might take him a game or 2 to get back up to speed. So when Bell does come back his O-line should be firing on all cylinders.

DEF... As long as the key pieces can get healthy this unit should do fine. The secondary will ebb & flow, but I think by season's end we will all think this unit is vastly improved. Depth is a pretty big concern. But I think that has more to do with consistency in the schemes than it does about the athletic ability in general. It may take a while, like ATL said, for everything to gel. There are a lot of new faces getting situated, and these young guys are going to have to learn to be consistent. Butler is installing new schemes so its all about getting adjusted. But I think the talent will be on full display this season. Hopefully all the talent available is used correctly. Only drawback I see is I don't think our safeties are anything special. I fear that Mitchell will never live up to his contract, and Shamarko will show us why he wasn't used that much last year. I see a safety being drafted in the '16 draft.

I did another scan over the schedule last night and I think it's week 12 thru the end of the season really, but @ SEA, IND, @ CIN, DEN, @BAL, @ CLE to close it out the DEF better be hitting on all cylinders by then or it ain't gonna happen.

S...It's good that I haven't seen enough of preseason to have an opinion on Mitchell this year yet, but I think we'll see this position drafted fairly early next year...the brass can't feel overly confident with either spot right now.

I'm not ready to panic yet on the DEF...I still believe the best run stopping front 7 Butler can put out there will include two DTs and two DEs...they have showed it...I expect to see both fronts, but the run DEF has to be better than LY and they have to find more pressure.

OFC...every C in the league has some mismatches in the DIV and Pouncey lost one in Ngata, but may have gained one in the kid CLE drafted...imo Wallace will have his struggles too, but Haley has to compensate when he see his C is over matched.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Wow... Defensively speaking, that game tonight was pretty bad. It was a depth game, but everyone knew what was on the line and nobody really stepped up. You know its bad if the announcers are ragging on the defense almost 99% of the game. And on top of that Tomlin straight up said that he was disappointed in the showing at HALFTIME! Shamarko was in almost the entire game which was sad because he barely even stood out with the 4th & 5th stringers. Panthers were moving the ball with ease, and using a vanilla offense to do that. Hard not to get down on this defense. I'm struggling to find many positives lol.

Icing on this preseason cake was having 4 injuries in the last 3 minutes of the game (not to mention 2 of those on the last play with less than 10 seconds left ) ... Palmer (knee), Landry (cuncussion), Van Dyke (knee) & Finney (knee).

Sorry to throw some fuel on pessimistic thoughts, but tonight was not what we needed heading into Foxborough.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Thank baby jesus the preseason is over!!!

No more "its only preseason" excuses... Time to nut up or shut up

 

[MISKO]

Im glad I didnt get the game then ..yikes

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Thank baby jesus the preseason is over!!!

No more "its only preseason" excuses... Time to nut up or shut up

The reality...Tuitt, McCullers, Shazier, Shark...4 guys that are going to log serious mins that have very little experience...JJ, has some experience, but not much LY so really 5 players on DEF and 6 with Dupree...that's a serious youth movement. It's going to take the young guys some time, but the vets (and there are enough of them on each level of the DEF) have to make plays.

I didn't think this at 1st, but it's very possible this DEF could be worst than LY, especially the 1st 2 or 3 games...and I'm already hearing the why did we get rid of LeBeau LeBeau comment

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

More roster cuts:

Shakim Phillips, WR
Ethan Hemer, DE
Kevin Fogg, CB
Howard Jones, OLB
LJ Fort, ILB
Mike Thornton, DL
Jarrod West, WR


Really surprised by the Fogg cut. Phillips & West were talented, but long shots from the start. Maybe one or both will end up on the PS. Hojo sort of disappeared this offseason. Pretty disappointing, but Chickillo obviously beat him out for the spot. Hemer was the only D-lineman that played like he gave a damn the past few weeks. Hopefully he ends up on the PS again. In a short stint I think Fort played better than Spence, but I think they made the right decision. Spence is faster and more versatile.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Tracking Cuts
(Italics for 1st wave)
(underline for 2nd wave)

Reserve/PUP List:
Mike Adams

Reserve/Injured List:
Clifton Geathers
Shaun Suisham
Bruce Gradkowski
Senquez Golson
Garrett Hartley
David Nelson

Waived/Injured List:
Shawn Lemon
Ross Scheuerman
Eli Rogers
Rob Blanchflower
Isaiah Lewis
Devin Gardner
Cameron Stingily
Jordan Zumwalt
Cameron Clear
Niko Davis
Ray Hamilton

Released:
Michael Egnew
Tajh Boyd
Miles Dieffenbach
Kenzel Doe
CJ Goodwin (surprise for me)
Braylon Heard
Joe Kruger
Joe Okafor
Collin Rahrig
Jordan Sullen
Kevin Whimpey
Ian Wild (big surprise)
Shakim Phillips
Jarrod West
LJ Fort
Howard Jones
Ethan Hemer
Mike Thornton
Kevin Fogg

Traded
Brad Wing (for a cond. 7th Rd pick)

 

[SteelersPride]

There are some pretty decent DT's that were cut, and some decent ish secondary guys,

 

[SteelersPride]

not by us, but other teams, we should claim

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Marcus Peters is going to win DROY... He's going to be one of the premier CBs in the game in a year or two. Man I wish all of my mock drafts came true lol. I took Peters almost every mock I did.

 

[SteelersPride]

as did i face we were all over him in the hoop draft

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

as did i face we were all over him in the hoop draft

The kid has serious potential to be great. Character concerns still linger, but if he can keep on the straight & narrow... He could be a patrick peterson or better. Mark my words.