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Steelers sign TE Eric Ebron (2 years, $12 M)


RaidersAreOne

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Nah @kurgan, I thought your writeup was informative and objective.

My post is just based on comments Ive seen from numerous Steeler and non Steeler fans citing his drops and claiming he doesnt have much to offer, which I disagree with.

I dont expect an all world TE, but a guy who can create mismatch opportunities, especially in the redzone?   Ill gladly take a chance on him.

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5 hours ago, bigben07MVP said:

Good write up @FourThreeMafia. We’ve never had a player like Ebron so I’m excited to see how Ben works with him. I wish we had a OC that was a little more creative and better at exploiting mismatches but I’m still excited to see how Ebron looks in a Steelers uniform.

My biggest reason for liking this signing is it takes away from forcing a tight end pick in an underwhelming tight end draft. Ebron will have 10 times more of an impact than anyone we could have drafted and I was very against using 49 on one. 

He reminds me a little of Eric Green. Green was such a large/athletic TE especially in his day.  I was a big fan but I always wanted more out of him.  

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12 minutes ago, jebrick said:

does anyone have confidence that Fitchner can use Ebron and D.Watt effectively?

 

Thought not. :ph34r:

I think he can, honestly. I think he’ll be better with Ben and more talent. I don’t think he’s better than average but I think he’ll figure it out.

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15 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I think he can, honestly. I think he’ll be better with Ben and more talent. I don’t think he’s better than average but I think he’ll figure it out.

He was crap with Ben because Ben called the plays.  do you have confidence he can scheme Watt and Ebron into the best positions?

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28 minutes ago, jebrick said:

He was crap with Ben because Ben called the plays.  do you have confidence he can scheme Watt and Ebron into the best positions?

God, I hope so.  Its not complicated.  Big slot and a move TE/FB.  Not that hard.

Our "23" personnel sets are going to be CRAY-CRAY

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1 hour ago, jebrick said:

He was crap with Ben because Ben called the plays.  do you have confidence he can scheme Watt and Ebron into the best positions?

It’s not like scheming for a FB and multiple TEs is that cutting edge of an idea. It’s a similar offense to what we ran in the Cowher days, with new aspects. Fitchner ran an interesting power scheme when he was at Memphis.

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8 minutes ago, jebrick said:

The Steeler TEs ALL Block.  All of them.  They have never had a TE that is just a Big WR.  That is a different scheme for Ebron.

OK.... while I know History says this, film of Ebron tells a different story.  I am not even sure he should be classified as a TE, TBH.  He is literally a big slot WR.

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this is a good get

will help to give ben a big unit to target in the red zone, and someone to take attention away from juju as well... not going to be a guy who gives us huge gains up the seam week in week out but definitely a guy i could see scoring a lot of touchdowns here

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19 hours ago, kurgan said:

OK.... while I know History says this, film of Ebron tells a different story.  I am not even sure he should be classified as a TE, TBH.  He is literally a big slot WR.

The biggest question in my eyes is if the Steelers are WILLING to adapt to Ebron rather than have Ebron adapt to us. 

We do not run playaction, we rarely motion (we use faux motion to find coverage), we use our tight ends to run block, pass block, chip, and lead block across formation and in WR screens. 

In order to get the most out of an Ebron or a Watt on offense, you need to do a little more than just saying, lets use 12, 22, or 21 personnel. How do you isolate the talent? How do you misdirect the play? How do you cause confusion and break downs? How do you create and cause mismatches? Where do the create and use false reads? Those are the things we havent done in 2 years under Fichtner. We line up and hope our talent beats theirs. The most creative things we have seen have been the toss counter against the Pats (which failed fantastically the second time they saw it - which was a surprise for some reason to us) and the wildcat (also failed fantastically after the first use and was a surprise to us for some reason). 

We will need to break a few barriers in order to unlock Ebron, and I question whether we will do that. We also need to be more thought out and concentrated on creating offensively. Again, something I'm unsure that we will do. I just don't see reasons, other than blind faith, why people are confident Fichtner will figure this out. I really, really hope it all clicks in year 3. I hope he and Ben are super comfortable and ready to use all the tools the way they are intended. I hope Matt Canada can have a say and brings along all his pre-snap motion. I am just very hesitant to say I think any of that will happen at this point. 

Edited by Dcash4
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Using free gamepass to watch 2018 colts games, like I imagine our staff is doing, to best see how to maximize Ebron and, well.....his tape is rooooough. I’m not just saying this because I criticized the move immediately. Its really not pretty to watch. 

But the biggest take away I have is that, if we plan on using Ebron like the colts did (we absolutely need to), then this didn’t even nudge the need for a TE. It’s almost going to be mandatory that we take a TE in the draft or find another in FA. 

They just flat don’t use Ebron in the run game. He was about a 50%er usage wise and they opt for a third tackle and some no name TEs over him on run plays. Even the redzone he is missing at times - and that’s a problem. Can’t fool people in PA when you don’t use a player in the run and can’t have a redzone threat if he is a major liability to your playbook. If McDonalds health was more concrete, we might be okay, but missing any time with McDonld would be a tough stretch.

Theres absolutely some good in there in terms of using him with our team, but my fear is still asking him to play TE and thinking we checked that box....because we sure didn’t.

 

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1 hour ago, Dcash4 said:

Using free gamepass to watch 2018 colts games, like I imagine our staff is doing, to best see how to maximize Ebron and, well.....his tape is rooooough. I’m not just saying this because I criticized the move immediately. Its really not pretty to watch. 

But the biggest take away I have is that, if we plan on using Ebron like the colts did (we absolutely need to), then this didn’t even nudge the need for a TE. It’s almost going to be mandatory that we take a TE in the draft or find another in FA. 

They just flat don’t use Ebron in the run game. He was about a 50%er usage wise and they opt for a third tackle and some no name TEs over him on run plays. Even the redzone he is missing at times - and that’s a problem. Can’t fool people in PA when you don’t use a player in the run and can’t have a redzone threat if he is a major liability to your playbook. If McDonalds health was more concrete, we might be okay, but missing any time with McDonld would be a tough stretch.

Theres absolutely some good in there in terms of using him with our team, but my fear is still asking him to play TE and thinking we checked that box....because we sure didn’t.

 

He is more of an "offensive athlete" than a true TE.

They like McDonald, and they clearly have plans for Ebron, so from the front offices perspective, I guarantee it nudged the need.  

At most, I see us drafting another late round TE to compete with Gentry.  Definitely don't expect us to draft one before round 5.   Weak class for TEs and we have bigger needs.

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