Spinning Tires: Steelers 2021 Offseason and Beyond...

[jebrick]

I think they go for a QB next year but I could also see them spending some time in QB limbo ( a'la Cowher) to build the team.  Remember that they need to love a QB to move up and get them.  If they do not then wait another year.

 

Someone like Corral will drop.  But if he does not fit their vision for a QB then they will wait

 

[warfelg]

This is why I think this draft and next years FA as so damn important, and why I didn't want too much cap pushed to next year. If you play this right and come out of the draft with restocking the defense some, improve the line, improve the running game; you can use next years FA to shore up WR issues, DB issues.  You know that that means?  You can pull a SF and give up the early draft for a few years if you believe in the QB you want to get.  

If you come out of this just drafting too much for 2021, you end up pushing too much cap into 2022, you don't have the luxury of being in a position to do everything but the kitchen sink, then throw the draft at getting it.  You become limited in the WR's you can chase, you become limited in the DB's you can chase.  Now you get stuck in that post-Bradshaw world.

I mean, can you imagine being players for ARob, Adams, or Godwin?

 

My dream right now is to come out of this draft with a RB, LTotF, OCotF, and another edge rusher.  Go into next years FA with $40-50mil to spend.  Throw ungodly amounts of money at Godwin to be our WR1, let Juju and Washington walk.  Give Njoku a modest deal (would love OJ Howard).  Let Decastro walk, bring in Will Hernandez.  Toss a high ILB amount of money at Jayon Brown.  Offer Lattimore and ungodly amount of money; and Desmond King a good amount as well.

Now you can trade 2 1sts, 1 2nd, 1 3rd at going up to get Sam Howell; who I think is the best QB in next years draft.

2022 Team in this wet dream:

QB - Howell

RB - Etienne; Roundtree

WR - Godwin; Claypool; Johnson

TE - Njoku

OL - Banner (?) - Dodson - Green - Hernandez - Okorafor (?) (? - I don't think that's where these guys will end up)

DL - Heyward; Alualu; Tuitt

EDGE - Watt; Oweh

ILB - Bush; Brown; Spillane

CBs - Lattimore; Sutton; King

S - Fitzpatrick; Edmunds

Even within this; I think I would be more for trading out Edmunds for a "CF-safety" and play basically 2 FS's with Fitzpatrick and the other safety.  Between Brown and Bush (that's a lot of B's) you would be able to cover the center of the field better, and now you can let Fitzpatrick roam a bit more and play that ole-Troy role of basically he can freelance if he sees something.

[43M]

40 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

I truly believe the team is much higher on Mason than fans are, for better or worse.

Based on what, exactly?

They sacrificed several players so they could keep a clearly declining, 39 year old QB, signed a busted 1st round pick with maturity issues and brought back a former backup in Dobbs.

That doesnt sound like a team thats confident in a young QB supposedly waiting in the wings to be the successor.   Those moves scream to me like they knew that they had nothing behind Ben, and needed at least another year to find an even decent replacement.    

I might buy into that if Rudolph was only going into his 2nd year and had showed glimpses of being able to play at a high level.   But he is going into his 4th year, and hasnt shown anything more than what Landry Jones did when he was here.

40 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

Do I think they pass on a great QB prospect because they have Mason? Hopefully not, but I could definitely see them giving him one year. If he shows something, great. If not, we will most likely have a top 10 pick in 2023 where there are some really good QB prospects.  

Its not like they have hardly got to see Rudolph.    Why would they give him one year when he has played enough to get a sense of what he has, and he has shown NOTHING to suggest he  is anything more than a career backup.

The Steelers wouldnt pass on a good QB prospect because of Mason.   Of that I have little doubt.    Only reason I have a shred of doubt is because this is the same stupid front office that thought guys like Antwan Blake and Keion Adams could be groomed into long term starters.

But QB is a different animal, and Mason has gotten enough reps to get a feel for what he is capable of....which isnt much.

Mason had a limited ceiling coming out, and has shown nothing really.   He pretty much is what he is at this point.

IMO, Dwayne Haskins has more POTENTIAL to be a starter than Mason, and I think the Steelers know that.   That doesnt mean he is currently better than Mason or ever will be....but while Mason is pretty much set as a career backup, Haskins at least has a decent bit of untapped potential....even though he will likely never reach it and be out of the league in the near future.  

40 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

Edit: Don’t forget they had a 1st round grade on Mason.

Someone should be fired, if thats actually true.

And even if they did, that really means nothing now.   We drafted him in the 3rd round, 3 years ago.   He is going into his final season under contract.

Once again, our options would have to be horrible to ever see him as starter after Ben leaves.

[43M]

40 minutes ago, jebrick said:

I think they go for a QB next year but I could also see them spending some time in QB limbo ( a'la Cowher) to build the team.  Remember that they need to love a QB to move up and get them.  If they do not then wait another year.

I could too....but I dont think they will just settle for Rudolph.   

At the very least, they will likely bring in a vet like Andy Dalton or Jacoby Brissett, and probably draft a mid-late round type of QB to compete with Rudolph (if they even resign him at all).

I could still see Ben playing next year, too.

[jebrick]

I am sure Ben is going to play next year unless this year ends so badly.  His contract gives them some flexibility but they will not cut him.

[August4th]

I think Steelers letting Mason to start a whole yr is something they would of done in the 80s and 90s. Now their is too many option available to improve the position to just give the job to someone like Mason.

[warfelg]

If Ben is back I 100% guarantee they won't bring in a young QB and will only continue to push out revamping the team.

[warfelg]

1 minute ago, August4th said:

I think Steelers letting Mason to start a whole yr is something they would of done in the 80s and 90s. Now their is too many option available to improve the position to just give the job to someone like Mason.

I think it's less that and more you don't need the financial commitment and draft capital commitment for a QB.

[warfelg]

Dulac reporting that Colbert said "very doubtful" they move up and "no one position has yet locked in"

[warfelg]

Some other tidbits:

Colbert believes it’s an extremely deep draft for day 1 starting centers. 
 

Tomlin believes running issues are just as much scheme related and formation related as it is talent. 
 

Colbert said if two players are rated the same, the one that played in 2020 gets the edge. 
 

Both said Pierre and Layne are improved but won’t stop them from looking at the position. Tomlin insinuated that Pierre worked harder to jump Layne. 
 

Chuks Okorafor is penciled in at LT. 
 

RB value isn’t something they are worried about. They are rating players regardless of position. 
 

Colbert said he no longer watches draft shows as they only talk about the same guys and teams while being dismissive of what they think a teams needs and pick is in all other cases. 
 

Also said they no longer do mock drafts to prep. He said “it’s a waste of time” to try to predict what other teams will do. Rather stick to their board. 
 

[warfelg]

So I got to admit, that last one bothers me. I do know someone who works in a NFL front office, and he said they practice daily with a mock draft. Some days they’ve done a 7 rounder with someone using using their board to be each team (usually a scout on a call). Some days they do a round.

 

He said at least 4 times a day they will have an alarm go off, and the announcement says pick number and a player is available and they basically run a 1:30 fire drill to get together a trade from pick position, contact the team, practice cap implications, other pick implications. 
 

FWIW this is a team that does often trade and often does well. Just to hear Colbert be rather dismissive of this practice rubs me wrong. What if a guy like Surtain starts randomly dropping to the teens and you think he’s the answer outside? You got to be ready on this stuff. 

[bigben07MVP]

5 minutes ago, warfelg said:

Some other tidbits:

Colbert believes it’s an extremely deep draft for day 1 starting centers. 
 

Tomlin believes running issues are just as much scheme related and formation related as it is talent. 
 

Colbert said if two players are rated the same, the one that played in 2020 gets the edge. 
 

Both said Pierre and Layne are improved but won’t stop them from looking at the position. Tomlin insinuated that Pierre worked harder to jump Layne. 
 

Chuks Okorafor is penciled in at LT. 
 

RB value isn’t something they are worried about. They are rating players regardless of position. 
 

Colbert said he no longer watches draft shows as they only talk about the same guys and teams while being dismissive of what they think a teams needs and pick is in all other cases. 
 

Also said they no longer do mock drafts to prep. He said “it’s a waste of time” to try to predict what other teams will do. Rather stick to their board. 
 

What I took from this:

- They do not view OT as a top tier need with Chuks “penciled” in at LT and they didn’t bring Banner back to be a backup.

- 3rd round is where I think they’ll take their center. Unless Humphrey or Dickerson fall to 55. Either one seems like a long shot at 24 now.

- They think Keimm/Canada can help fix the o-line and running game issues. 

- 24 will be Harris or Etienne

[warfelg]

6 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

- 24 will be Harris or Etienne

I actually disagree here. I really think he’s kinda tea leaving that they won’t rule out RB but they got other positions/players rate higher. 
 

I was doing a deep dive on Brett Kollman’s and Bengals youtube channels and they made a very interesting statement: While the Steelers have some holes, they line up with the deepest positions in the draft. It makes us very unpredictable, and we might even be a candidate to move down. 

[jebrick]

I wish Colbert would consider trading down but I do not think it has happened in his entire time as GM

[warfelg]

3 minutes ago, jebrick said:

I wish Colbert would consider trading down but I do not think it has happened in his entire time as GM

My theory on this is he’s so in his ways from the days they took BPA in early rounds knowing they didn’t need them right away, so sometimes he doesn’t look at the value of dropping in terms of getting 2 in your 30-50 players rather than 1 in your 25-30 range. 
 

Also ties to my above frustration of not running mocks anymore.