I find the we can’t draft cb sentiment sorta weird. The team hasn’t really invested a ton of draft capital in the position nor have they gone after a supposed can’t miss CB mainly because they’ve historically been good enough and not drafting high enough for one of the can’t miss dudes.
I wouldn't mind Kelee Ringo and then with the Bears pick get an offensive linemen. Jaelyn Duncan could be the play for OL in round 2. We could use our next pick on a DL or another OL. I'd personally like Drew Sanders, the LB from Arkansas. But this is also dependent on what we do with Bush and Edmunds.
With our 3rd or 4th rounder if we don't keep Edmunds I'd like JL Skinner, the safety from Boise State. He's 6'4 and 220 and would be very versatile with us. Drew Sanders is 6'5 235 and would probably be a lot faster and explosive than Bush, with 8.5 sacks right now in NCAA. 96 tackles. 4.5 speed.
So...
1st Kelee Ringo
2nd Jaelyn Duncan
2nd Drew Sanders
3rd JL Skinner
Those are some names to look for. I'd also be okay with an OL with our first pick like the Penn State guy, Skoronski, or Paris Johnson. Perhaps we sign a star OL and draft one with our first two picks.
Skoronski most likely moves to guard in the nfl and I'm round 3 or 4 if they fall malachi moore or Brian branch would he a good pick both got safety and corner flexibility
Brian Branch would be a great pick but I keep seeing him mocked right now in the late first or early second. That's an example where if we go OL in round 1 we could go Brian Branch early round 2 with one of our picks.
How is he still a top ten guy if he projects as a guard? Nobody takes a guard that high (anymore). In any case if they draft top ten they have to get an impact guy - OL, DL, Edge, or CB would seem to be the likely group to choose from.
Boise State fan here.
Love JL Skinner, and he certainly has the measurables, but I don't think he'll translate well to the NFL. He doesn't have the speed or fast twitch. I've seen him get best a few more times than he should. He strikes me as a more slight, maybe more savvy Edmunds.
Thanks for sharing. Do you think that's learnable for him? I'm not saying he'd be a star, it's moreso just getting a hopefully reliable safety if we do not resign Edmunds.
I’m thinking BPA with first pick, and then an OL and BPA at a position of need with the 2 second round picks.
I’m not team they need to draft this or that with that first pick but do not over draft based on the spot. If they land in Carter land snag him. If they’re a littler further back take one of those OL or ringo if it makes sense.
The future of this teams near term success hinges greatly in nailing the first 3 picks this year. Obvious understatement but it’s true.
Agreed there I kept it vague cause they need a lot but you’re right!
Only exception of a position where we don’t necessarily need a starter would be to take will anderson if carter is off the board and we’re in the right position.
I'm in the boat you don't take BPA in the first 2 or 3 rounds, unless it's a can't miss person. Team needs are OL and CB, then following that you can really hit the BPA except RB and safety assuming Edmunds gets re-signed. Will need to replace DJ after next season as well and we have no idea what CA3 looks like in a game.
Considering we gotta deal with Jamarr Chase so much, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get ourselves a lockdown corner. Look at the impact Sauce Gardner has made already
Yes, the Steelers haven’t invested a lot of high draft capital at the CB/DB position in Tomlin’s tenure, but they have drafted their fair share of DBs (22 draft picks under Tomlin). Very few of these DBs drafted were developed into viable players. The only times the Steelers have had truly successful secondaries was the secondary Tomlin inherited (Taylor, Polamalu, Clark) and the more recent one built from players brought in from outside the organization (Haden, Nelson, Fitzpatrick). Fans have every right to be apprehensive about the Steelers drafting a DB with a very high draft pick.
I guess my point is if you have a chance to draft the best in the draft then that’s position the team hasn’t been in before.
Artie burns gets labeled a bust but imo that was a reach of a pick to begin with.
A reach yes, but Burns was still projected as a 2nd rounder. Add to it that they took another DB Sean Davis in the 2nd round, and they both ended up being busts, and it lends greater evidence to the fact that Tomlin doesn't develop DB draft picks.
our DB track record is genuinely awful
Senquez Golson and Artie Burns are the two big bust picks of our draft history. Mike Hilton developed into an O.K. player, but we couldn't afford him
E: I meant recent draft history with this coaching staff, but okay go off on players who are probably dead now from 60 years ago
Mike Hilton is more than just an ok slot corner. He's not elite and he can't play outside but his timing on the corner blitz is elite and he's gotten better at coverage through the years. That said, we didn't draft him lol, no one did.
Wow, dude, this team stated in 1933, and we had lots worse...
Mark Malone was a first round QB, 54 TDs, 68 INTs
Or Jamain Steven's, Huey Richardson, Dri Archer, Walter Abercrombie, Daryl Sims, Alonzo Jackson, Limas Sweed, Jeremy Staat, John Rienstra I haven't even gotten to the 60s...
I vote for Dick Leftridge, 1st round rb, played one season. Played 4 games, had 8 runs for 17 yards.
For a 1st. Round. Pick.
I said AND HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WAS TO WHOEVER OUR OPPONENT WAS THAT DAY
(By “that day” I mean any given game he played, he did more for our opponents than he did for us, in the simplest of terms: he fucking sucked)
They have 4 picks in 3 rounds so that’s doable even with a first round CB.
I don’t understand how people can watch Higgins and AJ Brown roast our secondary and think that a pass rusher will fix that. You can’t thrive in today’s NFL without a lockdown CB.
In that case I’m drafting 2 OL and 2 DE. Seek a CB via trade.
You can win in todays NFL without a lock down CB. You need to play old school football. Stop all the cute finesse crap. Run the ball and control the clock. Keep the other team off offense off the field. Don’t engaged in shoot outs. We don’t need to be throwing 35-40 times a game. Go back to 90s Cowher football or even early 2000 when we had Bettis and Staley.
49ers just ran the ball 49 times last game. That’s how we should’ve been playing ball, rotate the RBs and run it down their throats nonstop. Keep the passes to around 20. You only need 3.5 yards a run. You keep pounding eventually the defense is going to break or that’s when you can catch them off guard and hit them over the top with a pass.
This also keeps your defense fresh and off the field not having to defend lengthy offensive drives, reduces injuries and they’ll bend but not break. Reduces how often the QB gets hit.
There are only a handful of teams that play that way like San Francisco, Tennessee, and Baltimore. You can win with 50 rushes when you play the 4-7 Cardinals but you're not going to beat teams like the Chiefs by only passing 20 times. You're especially not going to do it without good CBs and having to face some combination of Mahomes, Allen, and Burrow in the playoffs every year for the next decade. The 49ers have a much weaker conference in terms of elite QBs and were fortunate to only run into one on a Green Bay team that wasted the last few elite years of Rodgers' career.
The 49ers lost a Super Bowl and an NFCCG in the past 3 seasons because of Jimmy G and not breaking 21 points. They were so frustrated by that SB loss that they spent 3 firsts on a QB to try to build a more dynamic offense. It's because there's a ceiling when you can't rely on your QB to win a high scoring game.
I think the modern Steeler issue at CB drafts isn't necessarily talent scouting. I just think we can't develop them for shit. They can turn some joe schmo's into OLB studs, or find a gem in the rough at WR, but I just think we have no idea how to coach up raw CB talent.
I think its the opposite actually, seems like they've been able to get a bunch of players who wouldn't start anywhere else and turn them into a semblance of starting DB corps. We just haven't had the draft capital to spend on a high end db, and when we did the db we wanted was taken before we drafted so we had to settle for who was left
Austin is god awful his history is he coordinated the worst defense in afc history until the bengals fired him. He needs to go and Flores to step in and take over.
Anyone else feel slightly perturbed that we are sitting at 3-7 with the highest paid defense in the league, and our main focus in the 2023 draft has to be the defense ???
Minkah's gotta be number 1 in tackles for a DB, right? Cause I swear he's the only DB I see tackle on this team and oue defense is on the field all the goddamn time.
Yup. This team has needed a true shutdown CB1 for about 3 or 4 years now. Ringo seems like the guy. I get OL is still an issue, but Ringo could take our defense to the next level. I think with our 3 projected top 50 picks, we go CB, OL, ILB.
And that's a problem. You overpay superstars, you get left with holes. You know what a good offense does to a D with some superstars and some holes?
They drive through the holes.
I hope you're not suggesting that the Steelers *overpaid* TJ and Minkah. Both guys are the best in the league at their position and both are in the middle of their prime. They're worth every penny and then some.
It depends on whether your motivation is to reward players that are clearly some of the best players in the league at their positions, or is your motivation a team that wins championships.
Megatron was the best receiver in the game when he was there, but paying him his worth made it difficult for the team to surround him with a team that could win. You see that same dynamic get played out a lot across the league.
TJ Watt (alien), Cam (who’s old), Terrell Edmonds (solid), Devin Bush (average after serious injury), and…?
Steelers first round picks since 2010: Pouncey, Heyward, DeCastro, Jarvis Jones (bust), Ryan Shazier (great until he lost his legs), Dupree, Artie Burns (bust), TJ, Edmunds, Bush, Najee and Kenny. Two first round busts, otherwise there are only three first rounders that Pittsburgh has drafted on the defense. The defense was supposed to be greater than the sum of their parts outside of Cam, Minkah and TJ
A lot of teams have a high paid QB which makes their offenses higher paid then ours. We don’t have any large offense contracts right now so we end up with the highest paid defense because of Cam, Watt and Minkah. It’s not because we invested tons of money at every position on defense
No. We have 3 top tier guys, none of them play corner. Corner has been a PON for a few years and we just missed out on the talent. We do have a couple guys that might develop. But it’s still a need, money or not.
It makes sense IMO.
Offensive needs are:
-Developmet at QB
-New OC (please)
-LT and LG
But they're not going to leave the blindside protection of a young QB in the hands of two rookies. They need a vet.
Another late round WR and a FA skill position player and they should be good to go.
All the offensive players are young. People talk all the time about O line, but we don't need to draft a QB, RB, WR, TE with young players at all these positions.
People are looking at our division and lamenting how we are so screwed for the next 10 years against Burrow and Lamar.
But they're forgetting that those guys are about to absolutely destroy their cap situations. We know all too well what the trade-off is to keep around a franchise QB long term. They're about to find out, too.
Those big QB contracts hurt but it’s usually the difference between deep playoff runs and first round exits. It doesn’t usually stop them from winning divisions and making the playoffs.
The way draft kings / fantasy fucked me one time in a DFS showdown. Steelers prime time and Trey was my budget play, he was RB3 that night. They ran a fake punt where Trey got like 20 yards? Anyways they didn’t count it on his scoring, those 2 points are a world of difference in payout
Your right but our whole roster needs a change and we can’t just keep selecting people just because of the local connection/ family connection we’re going to stay mid we keep doing that
i know and i agree. the steelers family mindset has led to many unnecessary signings. it costs us money and resources. needs to end. we’re the only team that is weirdly obsessed with brothers/sons in the league. needs to end
I get that but he needs to stop drafting people just because of local connection or a family member plays for our team and go after a real fit for the team. I would be fine drafting him if we trade down
I don't know if Porter is going to be drafted by the Steelers and I don't know if Porter is the best CB in the draft.
I do feel pretty confident Porter is a good 1st round CB.
He might be better, but JPjr is legit too. He’s got it all, except for the relatively terrible coaching at PSU lol. He’s been a total baller this year especially, and man… it just fits.
As a UGA fan he is up and down. He has amazing burst and can keep up with the fastest (most the time) but his body control and inside work is what he should focus on improving.
If y’all land 🔑 hopefully he shows out!
Me either and I totally agree. Maybe that happens 🤷♂️ Kirby has him there for a reason with his game plan so it can definitely change once he gets drafted!
people worried about drafting a CB... Ya'll we got a new GM and revamped scouting department. We have no clue what their strengths and weaknesses might be.
People just can't wrap their minds around that. If you say this a lot of people say "Well Khan has still been there for years so he's probably exactly the same" which is bullshit because how many people here have worked with people and had different ideas and opinions? This narrative is so tired, let the man actually have at least a single draft under his belt, we have no idea how he will be thinking when it comes to the draft compared to KC so people need to chill with the doom and gloom lol.
I’d say the lack of run game was due to Najee being awful. Anytime Warren touched the ball, he made some great runs. Najee is too patient and not attacking holes. In terms of the collapsing pocket, Kenny has been holding the ball too long. The Oline has been the one bright spot in this offense this year.
Yeah... I really don't know what you have been watching or reading. It's been well published that warrens ypc was due to game script and rushing in the 4th when defenses are in prevent; in obvious rushing situations their stats are the same. And a better stay is yard before 1st contact and yards after contact both of which show they are very similar. If you don't care about stats and are more of an eye test type of guy... The left side of the line is a joke. Muth always has to chip.
Weird, I don’t recall NO playing prevent last week when Najee was averaging 6 a carry and Warren was averaging over 4. If you think the biggest issue we need to address on this team is the Oline then you clearly don’t watch the games. They are ranked 12th in the league. We shouldn’t need a top three Oline just to remain competitive.
It also doesn’t help that our offense is so predictable and it’s been said multiple times by opposing players they know what we’re going to do. If we weren’t so predictable, I guarantee you our run game would be so much better.
You literally proved my point. It's not just Najee. It is the OL. That 12th ranking is arbitrary and not based off the numbers. We avg 3.9 ypc 3rd worse in the NFL. Our sack rate is 24th & that's with Kenny being one of the least Blitz QBs in the league. B4 you blame Kenny for that... Kenny is getting rid of the ball in 2.4 seconds putting him in the top 1/3 of the league. Those are awful stats. I could go on about 6 man protection scheme rate or the fact that our OL is this bad with NO serious injuries or missed games. The OL is bad and has no depth. If your solution to fixing the Steelers is to draft more defense to the already highest paid defense, then you are on something. Khan and weidl have a history of building from within. All great teams do.
Okay I’m done arguing with you since you think we don’t need to contribute towards the highest paid defense. Our secondary is garbage, and they’re only the highest paid because of TJ’s and Minka’s contract.
You should see the impact lane Johnson has on the eagles. Or Trent Williams in the niners. Or David Bakhtiari on the Packers, or tyron Smith on the cowboys... Good teams have great OL not serviceable.
How about the Steelers and the Patriots make a pact for the Patriots to pick a Steelers CB in the draft and the Steelers to pick a Pats WR. Add a draft pick incentive to pick well and everyone's problems are solved.
No no we need to have a secret arrangement with the Ravens. We'll drop them a WR one year, they find us a LB the next year, and we rotate like that. The Ohio Bros need never know.
And **never** the Patriots, bby. *N.E.V.E.R.*
(I think I just used up all my formatting points in one post. Go Grandma!)
I’d rather not draft a CB. That’s not the teams talent in scouting and development. I think the Steelers need to understand they aren’t good at drafting DBs and trade/sign for established ones like they did with Minkah and then draft positions they are confident in scouting and developing.
Dline is absolutely not a luxury. Cam is great but old and Ogunjoybi is a FA. Leal shows promise but that is pretty much it.
LT, DL, Corner, IOL are all areas of need. Possible ILB or Safety too. Edmunds is a FA.
Good thing we have Chicago’s second and cap space along with our own picks.
"Best player available at a position of need." DT is definitely a need. If you have two players available that you have ranked pretty evenly, you take the bigger need.
Bahaha. None of it matters when you realize who the coaching staff. That staff could draft Champ Bailey or Jalen Ramsey and they’d be out of the league in 3 years.
Well they obviously can’t draft qbs so why go back for another one lol. They will never give up on their star cb1 which was drafted 4th overall for a pick lower than that especially after year 1. They have plenty other ways of getting a qb
Does anyone really believe the Steelers won’t finish 8-9 or 7-10? Which would nuke their chances at a really good draft pick. Probably end up 16-19 range. If Ringo is as fast & as talented as advertised, with Sauces success, there is no way he makes out of the top 8.
Whoever posted this thinks they will get Ringo. Thinks he will run a 4.30. Ringo is top 8. Probably higher because of Gardner’s success. If he runs a 4.30 I would be surprised if he made it out of the top 5. Top 8 means your record is way worse than 7-10 or 8-9.
Unless we're changing something with our scheme, firing Austin, etc, I don't see the point of going all in on a CB. It takes forever for CBs to learn this defense.
They pick up guys in draft, FA, trades that can play lesser roles for a few years and then develop. Or not. Point is there is a much greater emphasis on front seven talent than secondary. We could have elite CBs back there and it wouldn't make much of a difference if our front seven can't get to the QB, like Burrow picked us apart yesterday.
That's why I mean unless we change up our scheme in some ways it's not a high value pick getting a CB early.
> We could have elite CBs back there and it wouldn't make much of a difference if our front seven can't get to the QB
Do you watch football? Ever hear of a coverage sack? The front seven get to the QB when the COVERAGE is good.
We haven't drafted a decent corner since Ike and he couldn't catch a cold.
That's not how our defense works.
And Ike Taylor is exactly what I'm talking about. He was the prototypical Steelers system QB. He was just as important in stopping the run as he was covering. And it took him years to learn the system.
Austin is so bad, imagine taking the bengals hand me down coach who was responsible for the worst afc defense in history, who got fired mid season and thinking that was a good coach to pick up. 100m and he still can’t figure out how to get a defense together.
This dude looks like he’s 30 lol Like he’s the size of some of my NCAA 14 WR’s and QBs. Just fucking tanks lol.
still looks younger than Desmond Ridder lol
Desmond Ridders age is a lie . Easily 45
Dude look like hov (jay z) 😭
Do we need a CB1? Yes… Am I absolutely terrified of us drafting one? Yes
I find the we can’t draft cb sentiment sorta weird. The team hasn’t really invested a ton of draft capital in the position nor have they gone after a supposed can’t miss CB mainly because they’ve historically been good enough and not drafting high enough for one of the can’t miss dudes.
Are you thinking CB with her first pick and then OL with our 2nd rounders?
I wouldn't mind Kelee Ringo and then with the Bears pick get an offensive linemen. Jaelyn Duncan could be the play for OL in round 2. We could use our next pick on a DL or another OL. I'd personally like Drew Sanders, the LB from Arkansas. But this is also dependent on what we do with Bush and Edmunds. With our 3rd or 4th rounder if we don't keep Edmunds I'd like JL Skinner, the safety from Boise State. He's 6'4 and 220 and would be very versatile with us. Drew Sanders is 6'5 235 and would probably be a lot faster and explosive than Bush, with 8.5 sacks right now in NCAA. 96 tackles. 4.5 speed. So... 1st Kelee Ringo 2nd Jaelyn Duncan 2nd Drew Sanders 3rd JL Skinner Those are some names to look for. I'd also be okay with an OL with our first pick like the Penn State guy, Skoronski, or Paris Johnson. Perhaps we sign a star OL and draft one with our first two picks.
Skoronski most likely moves to guard in the nfl and I'm round 3 or 4 if they fall malachi moore or Brian branch would he a good pick both got safety and corner flexibility
Brian Branch would be a great pick but I keep seeing him mocked right now in the late first or early second. That's an example where if we go OL in round 1 we could go Brian Branch early round 2 with one of our picks.
How is he still a top ten guy if he projects as a guard? Nobody takes a guard that high (anymore). In any case if they draft top ten they have to get an impact guy - OL, DL, Edge, or CB would seem to be the likely group to choose from.
I don't buy that Skoronski moves to Guard. He's playing lights out at left tackle. It's not just a fluke.
Boise State fan here. Love JL Skinner, and he certainly has the measurables, but I don't think he'll translate well to the NFL. He doesn't have the speed or fast twitch. I've seen him get best a few more times than he should. He strikes me as a more slight, maybe more savvy Edmunds.
Thanks for sharing. Do you think that's learnable for him? I'm not saying he'd be a star, it's moreso just getting a hopefully reliable safety if we do not resign Edmunds.
He's been reliable and teachable. I'd grade him as a 5th or 6th but suspect he'll go closer to 3 or 4.
I’m thinking BPA with first pick, and then an OL and BPA at a position of need with the 2 second round picks. I’m not team they need to draft this or that with that first pick but do not over draft based on the spot. If they land in Carter land snag him. If they’re a littler further back take one of those OL or ringo if it makes sense. The future of this teams near term success hinges greatly in nailing the first 3 picks this year. Obvious understatement but it’s true.
What if BPA is QB?
Should’ve specified I’m of the camp of non-qb BPA. I think Kenny has shown signs and none of the qbs on this class excite me
I'm definitely for taking BPA at a position of need in first round, but I wouldn’t take a TE, WR, RB if they were BPA.
Agreed there I kept it vague cause they need a lot but you’re right! Only exception of a position where we don’t necessarily need a starter would be to take will anderson if carter is off the board and we’re in the right position.
I'm in the boat you don't take BPA in the first 2 or 3 rounds, unless it's a can't miss person. Team needs are OL and CB, then following that you can really hit the BPA except RB and safety assuming Edmunds gets re-signed. Will need to replace DJ after next season as well and we have no idea what CA3 looks like in a game.
I'd put WR and RB back on the board, though maybe starting from the second round.
Considering we gotta deal with Jamarr Chase so much, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get ourselves a lockdown corner. Look at the impact Sauce Gardner has made already
Yes, the Steelers haven’t invested a lot of high draft capital at the CB/DB position in Tomlin’s tenure, but they have drafted their fair share of DBs (22 draft picks under Tomlin). Very few of these DBs drafted were developed into viable players. The only times the Steelers have had truly successful secondaries was the secondary Tomlin inherited (Taylor, Polamalu, Clark) and the more recent one built from players brought in from outside the organization (Haden, Nelson, Fitzpatrick). Fans have every right to be apprehensive about the Steelers drafting a DB with a very high draft pick.
I guess my point is if you have a chance to draft the best in the draft then that’s position the team hasn’t been in before. Artie burns gets labeled a bust but imo that was a reach of a pick to begin with.
A reach yes, but Burns was still projected as a 2nd rounder. Add to it that they took another DB Sean Davis in the 2nd round, and they both ended up being busts, and it lends greater evidence to the fact that Tomlin doesn't develop DB draft picks.
Ya can’t argue those facts
Artie burns would like to talk with you
He was sort of a reach and 1 guy. I wouldn’t be nervous if they took Ringo given that dude looks like another can’t miss cb
our DB track record is genuinely awful Senquez Golson and Artie Burns are the two big bust picks of our draft history. Mike Hilton developed into an O.K. player, but we couldn't afford him E: I meant recent draft history with this coaching staff, but okay go off on players who are probably dead now from 60 years ago
Mike Hilton is more than just an ok slot corner. He's not elite and he can't play outside but his timing on the corner blitz is elite and he's gotten better at coverage through the years. That said, we didn't draft him lol, no one did.
Hilton was an UDFA rookie? TIL I had always thought he was a late pick of ours. Yeah he signed with Jacksonville as an UDFA rookie, just googled it
Jarvis Jones would like a word
Wow, dude, this team stated in 1933, and we had lots worse... Mark Malone was a first round QB, 54 TDs, 68 INTs Or Jamain Steven's, Huey Richardson, Dri Archer, Walter Abercrombie, Daryl Sims, Alonzo Jackson, Limas Sweed, Jeremy Staat, John Rienstra I haven't even gotten to the 60s... I vote for Dick Leftridge, 1st round rb, played one season. Played 4 games, had 8 runs for 17 yards. For a 1st. Round. Pick.
> Mark Malone was a first round QB, 54 TDs, 68 INTs Mark Malone was our unproven QB when we skipped Dan Marino.
Jamin Stephens is the worst ever.
Chad Scott…
Artie Burns was the starting CB for 2/3 of the Steelers playoff wins in the past decade
And his greatest contribution was to whoever our opponent was that day
I’m dying 😂😂😂
what
I said AND HIS GREATEST CONTRIBUTION WAS TO WHOEVER OUR OPPONENT WAS THAT DAY (By “that day” I mean any given game he played, he did more for our opponents than he did for us, in the simplest of terms: he fucking sucked)
huh?
Who?
YIKES!
Hilton was undrafted so that makes up for a multitude of sins.
Two-biggest busts in our draft history??? Ever heard of Gabe Rivera? Thanks for the laugh.
I wouldn’t call him a bust, he was a what could have been which is different, he never had the opportunity to prove himself
Umm he wasn’t a bust… he was a tragedy
Colbert is gone. Draft is a crapshoot. Bring Ringo in.
We need to draft a minimum 2 OL and either OLB or DE the first 3 rounds. No more cheap bargain bin shopping.
They have 4 picks in 3 rounds so that’s doable even with a first round CB. I don’t understand how people can watch Higgins and AJ Brown roast our secondary and think that a pass rusher will fix that. You can’t thrive in today’s NFL without a lockdown CB.
In that case I’m drafting 2 OL and 2 DE. Seek a CB via trade. You can win in todays NFL without a lock down CB. You need to play old school football. Stop all the cute finesse crap. Run the ball and control the clock. Keep the other team off offense off the field. Don’t engaged in shoot outs. We don’t need to be throwing 35-40 times a game. Go back to 90s Cowher football or even early 2000 when we had Bettis and Staley. 49ers just ran the ball 49 times last game. That’s how we should’ve been playing ball, rotate the RBs and run it down their throats nonstop. Keep the passes to around 20. You only need 3.5 yards a run. You keep pounding eventually the defense is going to break or that’s when you can catch them off guard and hit them over the top with a pass. This also keeps your defense fresh and off the field not having to defend lengthy offensive drives, reduces injuries and they’ll bend but not break. Reduces how often the QB gets hit.
There are only a handful of teams that play that way like San Francisco, Tennessee, and Baltimore. You can win with 50 rushes when you play the 4-7 Cardinals but you're not going to beat teams like the Chiefs by only passing 20 times. You're especially not going to do it without good CBs and having to face some combination of Mahomes, Allen, and Burrow in the playoffs every year for the next decade. The 49ers have a much weaker conference in terms of elite QBs and were fortunate to only run into one on a Green Bay team that wasted the last few elite years of Rodgers' career. The 49ers lost a Super Bowl and an NFCCG in the past 3 seasons because of Jimmy G and not breaking 21 points. They were so frustrated by that SB loss that they spent 3 firsts on a QB to try to build a more dynamic offense. It's because there's a ceiling when you can't rely on your QB to win a high scoring game.
Steelers draft him in the first round, blown out knee in training camp and can't play for a year and a half.
Hoping we change our luck now that we have a DB coach as our DC
I think the modern Steeler issue at CB drafts isn't necessarily talent scouting. I just think we can't develop them for shit. They can turn some joe schmo's into OLB studs, or find a gem in the rough at WR, but I just think we have no idea how to coach up raw CB talent.
Until recently we’ve done the same with OLine. I’m sure a lot of that had to do with Munchak.
I think you're exactly right on that.
fuck i miss munchak
I think its the opposite actually, seems like they've been able to get a bunch of players who wouldn't start anywhere else and turn them into a semblance of starting DB corps. We just haven't had the draft capital to spend on a high end db, and when we did the db we wanted was taken before we drafted so we had to settle for who was left
To be fair we have a completely new DC now, one who has a history of developing dB talent (especially in Cincinnati)
Austin is god awful his history is he coordinated the worst defense in afc history until the bengals fired him. He needs to go and Flores to step in and take over.
Isn’t Tomlin a former DBs coach bruh tf 😭 fire Canada
I can’t wait until we see his outpact.
This would be great. Regardless of who we get, I’m just excited that we’re going to have a pick this year that gives us a chance at a superstar!
He’s a little small for an offensive linesman
we can get oline with our 2nds.
This guy looks like a dawg
I really wish they'd get a legitimate LT if one is available
T Peter Skoronski from Northwestern is hopefully our 1st pick
We need to get better in the trenches first.
Anyone else feel slightly perturbed that we are sitting at 3-7 with the highest paid defense in the league, and our main focus in the 2023 draft has to be the defense ???
One of the things that are parroted in this sub without context: highest paid defense. TJ and Minkah are the only ones making bank breaking money.
Minkah's gotta be number 1 in tackles for a DB, right? Cause I swear he's the only DB I see tackle on this team and oue defense is on the field all the goddamn time.
Yeah he had to play clean up duty almost constantly. Our DB’s are not good. They’d have more direction if there were a clear number one.
Yup. This team has needed a true shutdown CB1 for about 3 or 4 years now. Ringo seems like the guy. I get OL is still an issue, but Ringo could take our defense to the next level. I think with our 3 projected top 50 picks, we go CB, OL, ILB.
And that's a problem. You overpay superstars, you get left with holes. You know what a good offense does to a D with some superstars and some holes? They drive through the holes.
I hope you're not suggesting that the Steelers *overpaid* TJ and Minkah. Both guys are the best in the league at their position and both are in the middle of their prime. They're worth every penny and then some.
It depends on whether your motivation is to reward players that are clearly some of the best players in the league at their positions, or is your motivation a team that wins championships. Megatron was the best receiver in the game when he was there, but paying him his worth made it difficult for the team to surround him with a team that could win. You see that same dynamic get played out a lot across the league.
That’s why you have to fill the margins with cheap talent. We tried and TJ got hurt, derailing the whole thing.
How about all the first round picks on that defense and it still sucks?
TJ Watt (alien), Cam (who’s old), Terrell Edmonds (solid), Devin Bush (average after serious injury), and…? Steelers first round picks since 2010: Pouncey, Heyward, DeCastro, Jarvis Jones (bust), Ryan Shazier (great until he lost his legs), Dupree, Artie Burns (bust), TJ, Edmunds, Bush, Najee and Kenny. Two first round busts, otherwise there are only three first rounders that Pittsburgh has drafted on the defense. The defense was supposed to be greater than the sum of their parts outside of Cam, Minkah and TJ
A lot of teams have a high paid QB which makes their offenses higher paid then ours. We don’t have any large offense contracts right now so we end up with the highest paid defense because of Cam, Watt and Minkah. It’s not because we invested tons of money at every position on defense
No. We have 3 top tier guys, none of them play corner. Corner has been a PON for a few years and we just missed out on the talent. We do have a couple guys that might develop. But it’s still a need, money or not.
It makes sense IMO. Offensive needs are: -Developmet at QB -New OC (please) -LT and LG But they're not going to leave the blindside protection of a young QB in the hands of two rookies. They need a vet. Another late round WR and a FA skill position player and they should be good to go.
All the offensive players are young. People talk all the time about O line, but we don't need to draft a QB, RB, WR, TE with young players at all these positions.
People are looking at our division and lamenting how we are so screwed for the next 10 years against Burrow and Lamar. But they're forgetting that those guys are about to absolutely destroy their cap situations. We know all too well what the trade-off is to keep around a franchise QB long term. They're about to find out, too.
Those big QB contracts hurt but it’s usually the difference between deep playoff runs and first round exits. It doesn’t usually stop them from winning divisions and making the playoffs.
We have the bottom of the barrel DC that was fired from the bengals… what did you expect.
Josh Dobbs’ number is retired.
We're getting joey Porter Jr no doubt
Kelee is so much better and a better fit you just want Joey because of the name lol
drafting him cuz of joey senior is such a steelers thing to do
the watts, the heywards, soon... the porters?
We had the Edmunds (Trey), the Williams (Bince + Karlos) Steelers will routinely prioritize familial connection for depth/ps players
man i forgot about trey
The way draft kings / fantasy fucked me one time in a DFS showdown. Steelers prime time and Trey was my budget play, he was RB3 that night. They ran a fake punt where Trey got like 20 yards? Anyways they didn’t count it on his scoring, those 2 points are a world of difference in payout
Didn't Watt tell his agent to just get the deal done? Maybe one of TJ's reasons for doing that is because his brother is here.
Your right but our whole roster needs a change and we can’t just keep selecting people just because of the local connection/ family connection we’re going to stay mid we keep doing that
i know and i agree. the steelers family mindset has led to many unnecessary signings. it costs us money and resources. needs to end. we’re the only team that is weirdly obsessed with brothers/sons in the league. needs to end
💯💯🙏🏾 needs to end
Kelee is better if available but ported jr is a very good cornerback isn’t like he’s resting on his last name he’s been huge for penn state
How much SEC competition is Porter facing?
Cause the big ten is just full of Pushovers huh
No not at all. But Ringo is probably going against much tougher receivers in terms of volume right? I just want the absolute best corner there is.
Yeah I said ringo is better I just wouldn’t be sad if we got porter either
Do you know Porter’s metrics off-hand?
It's meant to be. Tomlin and Joey are buds and he's a mid 1st prospect. He also solves our CB 1 issue immediately.
Only if we trade down our pick. I don’t wanna pick him with a top 10 pick
I get that but he needs to stop drafting people just because of local connection or a family member plays for our team and go after a real fit for the team. I would be fine drafting him if we trade down
Trade down? You know he's a true first round talent right? Assuming we end up between 8 and 15 it makes sense to get him imo.
I don't know if Porter is going to be drafted by the Steelers and I don't know if Porter is the best CB in the draft. I do feel pretty confident Porter is a good 1st round CB.
He might be better, but JPjr is legit too. He’s got it all, except for the relatively terrible coaching at PSU lol. He’s been a total baller this year especially, and man… it just fits.
The last time we had a top tier CB was Rod Woodson?
Ike was great. Just couldn’t catch COVID at an anti-vaxxer party.
Haden was really good.
As a UGA fan he is up and down. He has amazing burst and can keep up with the fastest (most the time) but his body control and inside work is what he should focus on improving. If y’all land 🔑 hopefully he shows out!
I’m a UGA alumni and have watched Ringo his whole career. I just don’t think he is a NFL DB I think he would be a much better safety in the NFL.
Me either and I totally agree. Maybe that happens 🤷♂️ Kirby has him there for a reason with his game plan so it can definitely change once he gets drafted!
people worried about drafting a CB... Ya'll we got a new GM and revamped scouting department. We have no clue what their strengths and weaknesses might be.
People just can't wrap their minds around that. If you say this a lot of people say "Well Khan has still been there for years so he's probably exactly the same" which is bullshit because how many people here have worked with people and had different ideas and opinions? This narrative is so tired, let the man actually have at least a single draft under his belt, we have no idea how he will be thinking when it comes to the draft compared to KC so people need to chill with the doom and gloom lol.
Nope OL is the move
Oline isn’t even that bad, especially compared to our secondary
So the lack of a run game and collapsing pocket are Canada's fault too?
I’d say the lack of run game was due to Najee being awful. Anytime Warren touched the ball, he made some great runs. Najee is too patient and not attacking holes. In terms of the collapsing pocket, Kenny has been holding the ball too long. The Oline has been the one bright spot in this offense this year.
Yeah... I really don't know what you have been watching or reading. It's been well published that warrens ypc was due to game script and rushing in the 4th when defenses are in prevent; in obvious rushing situations their stats are the same. And a better stay is yard before 1st contact and yards after contact both of which show they are very similar. If you don't care about stats and are more of an eye test type of guy... The left side of the line is a joke. Muth always has to chip.
Weird, I don’t recall NO playing prevent last week when Najee was averaging 6 a carry and Warren was averaging over 4. If you think the biggest issue we need to address on this team is the Oline then you clearly don’t watch the games. They are ranked 12th in the league. We shouldn’t need a top three Oline just to remain competitive. It also doesn’t help that our offense is so predictable and it’s been said multiple times by opposing players they know what we’re going to do. If we weren’t so predictable, I guarantee you our run game would be so much better.
You literally proved my point. It's not just Najee. It is the OL. That 12th ranking is arbitrary and not based off the numbers. We avg 3.9 ypc 3rd worse in the NFL. Our sack rate is 24th & that's with Kenny being one of the least Blitz QBs in the league. B4 you blame Kenny for that... Kenny is getting rid of the ball in 2.4 seconds putting him in the top 1/3 of the league. Those are awful stats. I could go on about 6 man protection scheme rate or the fact that our OL is this bad with NO serious injuries or missed games. The OL is bad and has no depth. If your solution to fixing the Steelers is to draft more defense to the already highest paid defense, then you are on something. Khan and weidl have a history of building from within. All great teams do.
Okay I’m done arguing with you since you think we don’t need to contribute towards the highest paid defense. Our secondary is garbage, and they’re only the highest paid because of TJ’s and Minka’s contract.
It’s kinda bad… better now but still bad.
You should see the impact sauce has had on the jets defense We need someone like that, and I trust their ability to fing good OL with 2 early 2nds.
You should see the impact lane Johnson has on the eagles. Or Trent Williams in the niners. Or David Bakhtiari on the Packers, or tyron Smith on the cowboys... Good teams have great OL not serviceable.
My dude why do all your posts look the same with the same captions
How about the Steelers and the Patriots make a pact for the Patriots to pick a Steelers CB in the draft and the Steelers to pick a Pats WR. Add a draft pick incentive to pick well and everyone's problems are solved.
No no we need to have a secret arrangement with the Ravens. We'll drop them a WR one year, they find us a LB the next year, and we rotate like that. The Ohio Bros need never know. And **never** the Patriots, bby. *N.E.V.E.R.* (I think I just used up all my formatting points in one post. Go Grandma!)
I’d rather not draft a CB. That’s not the teams talent in scouting and development. I think the Steelers need to understand they aren’t good at drafting DBs and trade/sign for established ones like they did with Minkah and then draft positions they are confident in scouting and developing.
I am really praying for him or Bresee in the first. I'd also love Jalen Carter but we won't have a pick high enough for him.
If we had a high enough pick Carter would be the way to go.
With all the needs we have to fill, going with a DT as our top 10 pick feels a bit too luxury. There’s glaring holes that need to be addressed.
Dline is absolutely not a luxury. Cam is great but old and Ogunjoybi is a FA. Leal shows promise but that is pretty much it. LT, DL, Corner, IOL are all areas of need. Possible ILB or Safety too. Edmunds is a FA. Good thing we have Chicago’s second and cap space along with our own picks.
We need snacks 2.0 to clog up that line.
"Best player available at a position of need." DT is definitely a need. If you have two players available that you have ranked pretty evenly, you take the bigger need.
I agree, Carter's probably my favorite player in this draft.
Hoping we trade down in the first round to grab another top 60-70 pick in the draft. This team needs players… a lot of them.
Since when did Travis Scott play football?
if we go corner im 100% okay going joey porter jr
Does he play OL?
If the Steelers end up with a top 5 to 10 pick imma trade down
Impact*
How many years now have we needed to draft 1st round secondary
Steelers LOVE height in a CB. If he’s available I’m absolutely looking at us taking him.
LITERALLY HIM OR AN FRANCHISE LT I PREFER RINGO FIRST THOUGH
That’s a great pick or his teammate Jalen Carter. I’ll take either
Joey Porter, Jr with the first pick. If not him, then Skoronski.
You sure that isn't a 40 year old construction worker?
As an Athenian lifelong Stillers fan, I recommend we just draft as many Dawgs as possible, year in and year out.
No, no, no. Draft O-line, O-line, O-line.
Steelers are experts in drafting cbs, Artie was a great example lol
With all our offensive woes I just have an issue with drafting more defense.
Can you honestly pass up Bijan Robinson though? Best RB since Saquon… we have more capital to address OL and CB
KELEE RINGO HAS AN ESCORT DOWN THE SIDELINE! Words that will carry me to my grave with a motherfuckin smile. DGD
JL Skinner is if George Pickens played defense
Bahaha. None of it matters when you realize who the coaching staff. That staff could draft Champ Bailey or Jalen Ramsey and they’d be out of the league in 3 years.
Why, Johnny Ringo, you look like somebody just walked over your grave
Can we just trade our 1st for Sauce? /s Edit: added the /s figured it was obviously a joke
Why would the jets ever do that? Use your brain lol
Jets need a qb🤷🏼♂️
Well they obviously can’t draft qbs so why go back for another one lol. They will never give up on their star cb1 which was drafted 4th overall for a pick lower than that especially after year 1. They have plenty other ways of getting a qb
Cause it's just a joke. Forgot I gotta use /s for everything
Nah you was being deadass 😂😂
Does anyone really believe the Steelers won’t finish 8-9 or 7-10? Which would nuke their chances at a really good draft pick. Probably end up 16-19 range. If Ringo is as fast & as talented as advertised, with Sauces success, there is no way he makes out of the top 8.
>Does anyone really believe the Steelers won’t finish 8-9 or 7-10? ✋
Whoever posted this thinks they will get Ringo. Thinks he will run a 4.30. Ringo is top 8. Probably higher because of Gardner’s success. If he runs a 4.30 I would be surprised if he made it out of the top 5. Top 8 means your record is way worse than 7-10 or 8-9.
I wasn't asking for an explanation. I was raising my hand saying that I think we'll do worse than 7-10.
Hey now, that’s Dobbs’ number hands off!
I'd rather Cam Smith. The kid reminds me a lot of Sauce.
My favorite player in ncaa. Would love to get him, I just don’t think they will.
Unless we're changing something with our scheme, firing Austin, etc, I don't see the point of going all in on a CB. It takes forever for CBs to learn this defense.
So, we just get less talented corners to learn it?
They pick up guys in draft, FA, trades that can play lesser roles for a few years and then develop. Or not. Point is there is a much greater emphasis on front seven talent than secondary. We could have elite CBs back there and it wouldn't make much of a difference if our front seven can't get to the QB, like Burrow picked us apart yesterday. That's why I mean unless we change up our scheme in some ways it's not a high value pick getting a CB early.
> We could have elite CBs back there and it wouldn't make much of a difference if our front seven can't get to the QB Do you watch football? Ever hear of a coverage sack? The front seven get to the QB when the COVERAGE is good. We haven't drafted a decent corner since Ike and he couldn't catch a cold.
That's not how our defense works. And Ike Taylor is exactly what I'm talking about. He was the prototypical Steelers system QB. He was just as important in stopping the run as he was covering. And it took him years to learn the system.
Ike was a 4th round pick. You are making the case for Artie Burns
Austin is so bad, imagine taking the bengals hand me down coach who was responsible for the worst afc defense in history, who got fired mid season and thinking that was a good coach to pick up. 100m and he still can’t figure out how to get a defense together.