bigben07MVP Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, 43M said: People can blame the backs all they want, but unless the OLine is fixed, it doesnt matter who we draft or bring in. The talent at RB needs to improve, but it wasnt even close to the biggest reason our run game was dead last. When defenders are pushing our lineman back with ease and breaking through before our backs even touch the ball...you need to fix that before you worry about the guy carrying it. Banner should be an upgrade over AV (not a guarantee but the coaching staff seems to think so). Decastro should bounce back. Dotson starting full time will be an upgrade over Feiler. Plus a new coaching staff. I’m not sure what we are going to do at center but it shouldn’t be that difficult to find an upgrade over Pouncey. I know it’s a lot of wishful thinking but theoretically we could already have an improved run blocking unit compared to last year. Edit: Vance and Ebron were both awful blockers last season so that can hypothetically be another area where our run blocking improves if/when we address TE. Adding Etienne or Harris will have a bigger impact on our running game than drafting an OT in round 1 in my opinion. Any Center would be a reach in round 1. Edited March 26, 2021 by bigben07MVP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 28 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said: Banner should be an upgrade over AV (not a guarantee but the coaching staff seems to think so). Decastro should bounce back. Dotson starting full time will be an upgrade over Feiler. Plus a new coaching staff. I’m not sure what we are going to do at center but it shouldn’t be that difficult to find an upgrade over Pouncey. I know it’s a lot of wishful thinking but theoretically we could already have an improved run blocking unit compared to last year. Edit: Vance and Ebron were both awful blockers last season so that can hypothetically be another area where our run blocking improves if/when we address TE. Adding Etienne or Harris will have a bigger impact on our running game than drafting an OT in round 1 in my opinion. Any Center would be a reach in round 1. Im not saying we wont draft RB round 1. Ive gotten used to that idea. All Im saying is don't be shocked if said RB doesn't have much early success, especially if our OL isn't significantly improved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VigilantZombie Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 37 minutes ago, 43M said: Im not saying we wont draft RB round 1. Ive gotten used to that idea. All Im saying is don't be shocked if said RB doesn't have much early success, especially if our OL isn't significantly improved That's my big fear. Right now, we are looking at: Chuks - Dotson - Finney - DD Banner And Joe Haeg and JC Hassenauer are the backups. If you're excited about that.... seek help. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 2 hours ago, wwhickok said: That's my big fear. Right now, we are looking at: Chuks - Dotson - Finney - DD Banner And Joe Haeg and JC Hassenauer are the backups. If you're excited about that.... seek help. Im excited to see what Dotson can do, and cautiously optimistic about Banner. The rest...not as much. DeCastro has declined the last two years. Finney might be okay, but not much more. Chuks....not sure. Beyond that....a line with 4 new starters is going to need time to grow. I think the line could be decent....but I dont think the run blocking will be notably better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigben07MVP Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 4 hours ago, 43M said: Im not saying we wont draft RB round 1. Ive gotten used to that idea. All Im saying is don't be shocked if said RB doesn't have much early success, especially if our OL isn't significantly improved Id rather see what Etienne or Harris can do behind that line than a beat up always injured Conner or any remaining free agent for that matter. That’s my main point. It’s worth spending a 1st round pick on a dynamic young explosive RB than trotting out 8 games of Conner and Snell and I have a feeling Rooney, Tomlin, & Colbert feel the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 21 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said: Id rather see what Etienne or Harris can do behind that line than a beat up always injured Conner or any remaining free agent for that matter. That’s my main point. It’s worth spending a 1st round pick on a dynamic young explosive RB than trotting out 8 games of Conner and Snell and I have a feeling Rooney, Tomlin, & Colbert feel the same. I think everyone would agree we need more dependability and talent at RB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 5 hours ago, 43M said: I think everyone would agree we need more dependability and talent FTFY. OL, RB, QB, WR1, TE, CB, ILB, OLB, NT. You name it other than FS, LOLB, DE/DT and we need an infusion of talent there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 44 minutes ago, warfelg said: FTFY. OL, RB, QB, WR1, TE, CB, ILB, OLB, NT. You name it other than FS, LOLB, DE/DT and we need an infusion of talent there. I completely agree. Just saying that, despite me not wanting to draft RB in the first round, I understand there is definite need for more talent at the position. We have created numerous holes and put ourselves in a precarious situation going forward, just to retain Ben for another year in which we wont be a serious contender. We could literally go in any direction now.....but I do think they will strongly consider RB early, if only because they likely know Ben isnt close to what he used to be and that the only chance of us likely doing anything is controlling the football on offense and getting after the QB. Maybe its just my natural pessimistic feelings I usually have about this team, but I honestly feel like this could be Tomlin's first losing season. I am really thinking 6 wins is possible, but likely be between 7 and 9 wins.....maybe 10 if everything goes right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warfelg Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 (edited) 10 minutes ago, 43M said: I completely agree. Just saying that, despite me not wanting to draft RB in the first round, I understand there is definite need for more talent at the position. We have created numerous holes and put ourselves in a precarious situation going forward, just to retain Ben for another year in which we wont be a serious contender. We could literally go in any direction now.....but I do think they will strongly consider RB early, if only because they likely know Ben isnt close to what he used to be and that the only chance of us likely doing anything is controlling the football on offense and getting after the QB. Maybe its just my natural pessimistic feelings I usually have about this team, but I honestly feel like this could be Tomlin's first losing season. I am really thinking 6 wins is possible, but likely be between 7 and 9 wins.....maybe 10 if everything goes right. I’m right there with you on all of this. I honest to god want Colbert to trade down. If he can move back in the 30-40 range he could pick up the assets to move up in the 2nd. Then he can take a OT with Javonte Williams or Freiermouth and Williams. This isn’t the year for him to sit at his pick IMO. So much talent is gonna get pushed down the boards based on weaker positions going fast. Just collect extra assets and still come away with good players. Additionally what I find funny is the Venn diagram of people who complain about one and done and people who want Ben back because we can make the playoffs is almost a perfect circle. Edited March 26, 2021 by warfelg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
43M Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 1 hour ago, warfelg said: I’m right there with you on all of this. I honest to god want Colbert to trade down. If he can move back in the 30-40 range he could pick up the assets to move up in the 2nd. Then he can take a OT with Javonte Williams or Freiermouth and Williams. This isn’t the year for him to sit at his pick IMO. So much talent is gonna get pushed down the boards based on weaker positions going fast. Just collect extra assets and still come away with good players. Additionally what I find funny is the Venn diagram of people who complain about one and done and people who want Ben back because we can make the playoffs is almost a perfect circle. Not getting my hopes up about trading down. There were several times I thought it made more sense and it never happened. I forget which year...I think maybe the year we took Edmunds....there were several reports that we got offers to trade down and we stayed there and took Edmunds....who I absolutely believe we couldve traded down and still got. The year we took Artie Burns was another year we absolutely shouldve tried taking down. Colbert and Tomlin stay true to their draft board.....to a fault. I have no idea how they had guys like Burns and Edmunds ranked so high, but it was ridiculous to believe that the smartest move was to sit on the pick and reach for those players. (Edmunds has been okay....but again, we couldve picked up an extra pick and still got him) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jebrick Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 No. The Steelers will sprint to the podium to get Etienne. They would not want to trade behind the Falcons and would get nervous about trading back then have the Falcons trade up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigben07MVP Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 10 minutes ago, jebrick said: No. The Steelers will sprint to the podium to get Etienne. They would not want to trade behind the Falcons and would get nervous about trading back then have the Falcons trade up. This guys gets it. Kaboly predicted once July/August rolls around and Pouncey has had 7 months or so to spend with family that he could decide to un-retire and run it back one more season with Ben. While I think Pouncey’s play has definitely fallen off and the bad snaps are inexcusable, he’s better than Finney and it would help to be able to push off addressing the position another year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VigilantZombie Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I must say something here. I have been very critical of rhe way Ben ended the season and I still feel like he deserves a lot of blame. Having said that... He threw the ball SIXTY-EIGHT ******* TIMES AGAINST THE BROWNS??? WTF? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigben07MVP Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 @jebrick what are your thoughts on Etienne as a prospect? Have you watched any film on him? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOSteelers56 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 My take on the draft. Ideally we trade back. Obviously it takes two to tango and KC rarely trades back, but I think it's a good idea. Generally I think trading back in the first post pick 19. If we stand pat at 24 I think the options come down to a couple possibilities. We have a ton of needs as mentioned above. We could stay at #24 and draft one of our needs at a premier position(OT, CB, QB), but we're likely looking at the #5 prospect at any of those positions. Or we could grab a less premier position(ILB, RB, TE), and get one of the elite prospects at that position, maybe the best or second best. I don't think any Centers look like 1st round talents, so that takes that off(in my mind at least). I think we need to look at the less premier positions in the 1st because the OT class is so deep, and I don't think there's much value in drafting a QB after round 1 this year. Our track record on drafted corners doesn't give me any hope, so I try not to think about that much. I'd love something like: 1.)Etienne, Collins, or Freiermuth 2.)Spencer Brown, Eichenburg, Hudson, Raddunz, Or a C 3.)Idk, other goods players. I don't want to think this hard this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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