Butler

[MOSteelers56]

1 hour ago, jebrick said:

Shazier had 2.5 years of horrible instincts.  He always played slower because of miss-steps.  There is hope for Edmunds.

That's a really good call. Both super athletes, both really raw, both started much better at man coverage, both lauded as team leaders in college, both young. Edmunds could be really special. Granted, he could never reach his potential and be nothing more than an athlete with poor instincts. He may make some plays(he had a good amount of INTs in college) but never be great. 

[43M]

I still dont care for Edmunds, but I will admit he has shown improvement from his rookie year, and even over the course of this season.  He is certainly better than Sean Davis was in his 2nd year, and people claimed he made a leap his 3rd year.

I dont think Edmunds will ever be anything more than maybe solid, but even if he can be that, it should be suffice as a complimentary safety if Fitzpatrick continues to progress into an elite safety.

[Dcash4]

(I am probably highjacking this thread)

I had a lot of thoughts regarding Bulter this week when thinking about Fichtner. I was ready for us to move on from Butler last year. At the core, I didnt think he was very good. Too many communication break downs, too many really bad calls for getting ILB iso'd on WRs. Too many pre-snap personnel penalties. Too often going to C2 on 3rd and long. 

But the more I think back to Butlers coaching...the things that I take issue with are correctable. You get better at communicating to your defense the more you do it. You can put yourself in better situation for match-ups with experience/talent.  You can learn when to rely on/not rely on coverage in situations. He had the makeup of a good coach, but we didnt have the talent and maybe he didnt have the experience. Adding a long time DC in college in Bradley and adding a well respected defensive coach in Austin. Brought over new eyes on the DLine from an extremely good program with Dunbar. Ultimately, with Tomlin, I believe in that room. 

Fichtner, I have no trust in. I really dont see anything he does well. He never has a play design where I am in awe of its creation. We rely so much on players making plays. He has never had a gameplan for a week where it blows you away with how well we play. He doesnt openly make significant adjustments when the wheels are falling off. He suuuuuucks (i cant stress this one enough) on how he uses personnel and alignment. 

Not take that and add that I have no clue who would take over on this staff if they ever needed to. Who else here has play calling abilities? Who else has worked with Qbs? Faulkner has 1 year of experience calling plays at Ball State. That's the end of the list. 

Fichtner will most likely be back, that I partly understand. But the staff in general is where I think we need a make over. Ben doesnt need it, but we clearly need a QB coach to specifically work with these guys. Daniels is most likely at the end of his run as the TE coach. But I think this side of the ball needs the make over we gave the defense last year. Im going to scour coaching staffs, but I would love to find a younger, up and coming guy to be the QB coach. I would LOVE to find an experienced play caller to maybe come be the Teryl Austin of that room too. We need more ideas. We need more play calling and game calling experience. We need more structure for planning. We need more voice than Fichtner and Ben. 

[43M]

Im going to play devils advocate for a minute...

As much as I dont like Fitchner and would do naked cartwheels down the street if we were to fire him after the season, I think we need to give him a little slack because of the extreme lack of talent we have this year.     There arent many OCs who are going to go from a long established franchise QB and elite WR one year, to a UDFA QB and young inexperienced JAG WR's the next and have much success.     Do I think other OCs could do a better job with what we have?   Yes, but I also think Steeler fans have unrealistic expectations given the circumstances.     Lets remember that prior to getting Minkah and Butler taking over LB coaching responsibilities, most Steeler fans wanted him gone too...now I think most Steeler fans would be fine with him getting a contract extension.     

In no way am I saying Fitchner is a good OC, or that he would be even with quality talent.....but I dont think he is necessarily any worse than Todd Haley was.    I think he is trying everything he can to get this offense to move the ball, and while he is doing a bad job playcalling, I think Haley and many other OCs would be just as bad with the talent we have to work with.

Bottom line.....Fitchner is a bad OC....but I think the extreme lack of talent makes it seem even worse.   

[August4th]

Randy offense was fun to watch at the start of last yr.. remember when Jesse James and McDonald were feasting at the start of last yr? now the tights ends have gone ghost in this offense...his offense peaked against the panthers last yr(they average 31 PPG in the first 9 weeks. just one game were they scored less than 20 points) and has not been the same since(averaged 20 PPG in the next 9 games with ben at QB. 4 games they scored less than 20 points) 11 point drop off. they lost conner for 3 weeks during the panthers game, but not sure that losing him should cause that big of a drop off with Ben at QB.

Edited December 16, 2019 by August4th

[Dcash4]

My rebuttal @FourThreeMafia is going to go to the extreme end, but it best fits why I say its not just talent. I dont disagree with anything (except maybe the Haley part, he was frustrating as all hell, but I think he would be far better, personally). 

Coaches are meant to maximize talent. Last year, Kyle Shannahan had CJ Bethard, Nick Mullens, Alfred Morris, Marquiss Goodwin, and Dante Pettis as his top dogs (sans Kittle). Kyles a great coordinator. He is constantly putting his talent in positions to excel in a multitude of ways - the motions, the formations, the play action, the false keys, establishing the run, etc. They were not a high scoring team, but could move the ball pretty consistently. After Jimmy G went out, they had 9 of 13 games gaining 350+ yards and 5 games 26+ points. They were still able to move the football enough to help TOP and get within range often enough to score some points -- even if thats just field goal attempts. 

We are struggling to move the football enough to get over 275 most days. We dont have any sort of identity. We lack basic, simple concepts that help QBs or less talent guys win. There is nothing we can hang our hat on and say "at least we have this". 

Bad coaching gets the results we are getting. Talent adds to that, but a good coach can at least win concepts/game planning from week to week. We are never the smartest, best coach unit on the field when our offense is out there. We are outclassed in the game of chess before we even take the field.

Again, Kyle Shanahan is the extreme end, but I think his last year was a really good example of what good coaching can do with minimal talent. He maximized the guys around him.