2022 GDT Week Five Da 1-3 Steelers Visit the 3-1 Bills

[bigben07MVP]

Also…everyone is just assuming Najee is playing like crap because he’s “injured.” That injury occurred 8-9 weeks ago. No one on the team, including himself, have mentioned it since preseason and he hasn’t been on the injury report once this year iirc. 

I was worried when he put all that weight/muscle on in the offseason that it would make a player who already lacked explosion to look really slow. I get that he did it to prepare for a large workload, but I wish he would have gone the Leveon Bell route and dropped 10-20lbs instead of adding it.

[warfelg]

27 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

I guess I could see that, would love for Najee to just be hurt right now and have a bounce back season with better blocking next year…but I wouldn’t be holding out on him looking like Saquon is right now. He’s the best back in the league. He’s also a 99.7 percentile athlete while Najee is 58.7, I don’t think their ceilings are anywhere close unfortunately.

 

Oh year I was talking more situation than actual ability.

[43M]

39 minutes ago, warfelg said:

 

Overdrafted backs that went to teams with no OLine who were overrated for what they are.  Difference this year is Saquan has blocking.  Hell, Saquan got hurt in year 2 just like Najee after a year 1 build on volume.

Saquan was overdrafted from the standpoint that no RB is worth that high of a pick, but his talent is, was and always has been in a completely different level than Harris, who was merely another above average RB made to look much better by a dominant Bama DLine.

I didn't even necessarily dislike Harris, but he was IMO, never worth a first rd pick.    Problem was, the 2021 draft only had like 10-15 guys that were definite 1st rd talents.   After that it was a bunch of guys at or near the same level that could've easily fluctuated between the mid 1st and mid 3rd.   So while I understood and accepted us taking him, it was still a pretty awful pick, especially when we knew we didn't have much if an OL left to block for him.

[bigben07MVP]

It’s sad to say but I think it’s more likely Najee has a career arc similar to Eddie Lacy than it is he has one similar to Saquon.

[warfelg]

47 minutes ago, 43M said:

Saquan was overdrafted from the standpoint that no RB is worth that high of a pick, but his talent is, was and always has been in a completely different level than Harris, who was merely another above average RB made to look much better by a dominant Bama DLine.

I didn't even necessarily dislike Harris, but he was IMO, never worth a first rd pick.    Problem was, the 2021 draft only had like 10-15 guys that were definite 1st rd talents.   After that it was a bunch of guys at or near the same level that could've easily fluctuated between the mid 1st and mid 3rd.   So while I understood and accepted us taking him, it was still a pretty awful pick, especially when we knew we didn't have much if an OL left to block for him.

Cool, but I was going more sentiment than actual where they were drafted or anything. 

[43M]

2 hours ago, warfelg said:

Cool, but I was going more sentiment than actual where they were drafted or anything. 

Thats fine....just saying that their talent levels arent really comparable.     I had faith that Barkley could become a top back, if healthy.   I dont see Harris ever being more than middle of the pack, and I dont see him getting a 2nd contract with us.

Its too bad Connor couldn't stay healthy with us.   If so, we likely wouldn't be discussing this.   😑

[warfelg]

45 minutes ago, 43M said:

Thats fine....just saying that their talent levels arent really comparable.     I had faith that Barkley could become a top back, if healthy.   I dont see Harris ever being more than middle of the pack, and I dont see him getting a 2nd contract with us.

Its too bad Connor couldn't stay healthy with us.   If so, we likely wouldn't be discussing this.   😑

Connor is hurt again fyi. 

[bigben07MVP]

 

[CKSteeler]

17 hours ago, bigben07MVP said:

@CKSteeler who would you put in over Bush? For the love of god do not say Spillane. I think we all agree Bush sucks, but there’s really no better option. When you trade 3 picks for a guy who turns out to be a bust, this is what you’re left with. 

This is looking at things all the wrong ways. The issue with Bush isn't that he simply sucks. The issue with him is that he sucks and blatantly does not care. I don't get why this is complicated for people. What message does it send to the rest of your team when you put a guy out on the field who actively tries to avoid doing his job? A guy playing ILB who is afraid of contact? 

I would put *anyone* on the field over Bush because it's a disgrace to the game, to the team, to his teammates to have him on the field in the first place. His play over the last 1.5 seasons has been that sickening. Yea, I'd play Spillane. I'd play Buddy Johnson. I'd sign someone off the street to get him off the field. He doesn't deserve to be on it. He should have been cut last year.

If he were just struggling coming back from injury and not playing well, I wouldn't be saying this. I understand the financials. I understand the investment they made. Getting rid of him is worth it. He's a cancer. The move is about more than just getting better ILB play. It's about sending the right message to the rest of the team. What he does on the field cannot and should never be tolerated from anyone.

Edited October 12, 2022 by CKSteeler

[bigben07MVP]

9 hours ago, CKSteeler said:

This is looking at things all the wrong ways. The issue with Bush isn't that he simply sucks. The issue with him is that he sucks and blatantly does not care. I don't get why this is complicated for people. What message does it send to the rest of your team when you put a guy out on the field who actively tries to avoid doing his job? A guy playing ILB who is afraid of contact? 

I would put *anyone* on the field over Bush because it's a disgrace to the game, to the team, to his teammates to have him on the field in the first place. His play over the last 1.5 seasons has been that sickening. Yea, I'd play Spillane. I'd play Buddy Johnson. I'd sign someone off the street to get him off the field. He doesn't deserve to be on it. He should have been cut last year.

If he were just struggling coming back from injury and not playing well, I wouldn't be saying this. I understand the financials. I understand the investment they made. Getting rid of him is worth it. He's a cancer. The move is about more than just getting better ILB play. It's about sending the right message to the rest of the team. What he does on the field cannot and should never be tolerated from anyone.

Trust me, no one has been more down on Bush than myself and I get the idea of it sending the wrong message to the team. But when the drop off is potentially so severe I don’t think it’s worth it. Bush hasn’t been great this year, Buffalo was definitely his worst game, but he hasn’t been the complete liability that I anticipated.

Spillane has stones for feet, he can’t move and yet we put him out there as our coverage LB. No thanks.

By the way, Buddy Johnson is on the 49ers and had one of the worst defensive performances I’ve ever seen in the first preseason game this year. 

Maybe Mark Robinson, but he’s a 7th round rookie. 

Again, I’m not disagreeing with you, more just playing devils advocate. The options behind Bush are very bleak and he hasn’t been a huge liability outside of the Bills game. 

[MOSteelers56]

I think Bush's game elevates to average/not a complete liability if the defense is firing on all cylinders. If the defense is bad, Bush is terrible. Such a terrible top 10 pick. 

[Dcash4]

Rewatching this game to get another look at Kenny:

- I thought he was fine. His accuracy really does impress me. I wasn't ready for that. I knew he was accurate, but he can spin it too. The arm strength still does worry me.

- The wind was a factor for him. The second ball that DJ couldn't get his toes down on, I don't think that was meant to be back shoulder, I think it was meant to be the back of the endzone, but hung up because he didn't (or...can't) drive it like that. You don't float back shoulder throws, that seemed more happy accident than the first one where it was a perfect strike. Could be wrong, but it was odd. If that was planned, then sweet jesus that kids gonna win a lot of trash can games. 

- The interception was 100% him. I kept thinking bout that TikTok video "you're not that guy". Opposite hash, into the wind, C2 honey hole? Nope. Design didn't help as there was no one against straight 2 to pull up the corner so he just got to sink freely. Kenny needs that ball ON the sideline, but I wonder how much wind played a factor into killing the depth of the throw. There's continual "But Kenny played in Pittsburgh already" comments about the weather concerns for him, but the latest game he played outdoor in winter areas was November 30th. He has 6 more regular season games after that point this year. It's something worth watching. 

- But that's also something you can diminish with a plan, which.....Matt Canada struggles to have. One of the early 3rd downs I thought Kenny simply had a bad read (went to Najee short of the sticks but both Claypool and Gentry had better matchup/depth routes). But some of the others still don't make sense. Had a clear out to the right side with DJ and Muth running a big of a cross/pick, but DJs running a straight dig which is way too much depth instead of a simple crossing route (break in, stem up the field, break across around 7-12). It's third down, there's not enough time against a solid pass rush with 5 guys in the route. Maybe this was DJ taking the wrong depth, but it seems like a pretty deliberate route.

- I think every D-Coordinator would like to play poker with Canada. One of the rushing plays in the first half, we motioned claypool over out of a 2 TE set and the S basically looked like he said "F' it" and just came off the edge and made the play in the backfield because he wasn't accounted for. Watched it back a couple times and he could have always been going, but watching his communication and mannerism, it seemed like the motion changed it all. Listed to a pod a couple weeks back that talked about how our motion % ro run % was extremely high. Could be that, could be they know our personnel/down tendencies. Either way, we never seem to have the upper hand. 

- In total: Kenny looked like a rookie, but as someone who had him rated 3rd in this QB class, I have been impressed with is 6 Qs of pro ball so far. I like his aggressiveness in one on one situations outside the numbers. I love his short/intermediate accuracy. He may win me over completely as a leader and someone who won't back down (a big Ben trait even when the talent left him) I worry a bit about the arm strength, but if he can continue to be quick, on-time, and pinpoint that worry goes away. I hope his early showings can help us be tendency breakers and give him a little more availability in early downs to play horizontally. 

I criticized the defensive strategies this week, so I actually watched the defense too, and I just don't get it. We had a talent deficiency, yes....but what we chose to do on top of that didn't make any sense to me. I always look at this stuff from an offensive perspective, but if you drop Minkah into the box on 3rd downs, I am going to salivate (especially when the guys you leave back there are Maulet and your backup). If you choose to run so much single high against Josh Allen, they are going to go down field. If I get you in base and motion Diggs to the 3 and you respond with Spillane, I am going to eat. If you put Minkah as the spy and Spillane, who is your chosen (CHOSEN!) dime pass coverage guy in man to man with a single high guy.... I am going to attack him (and they just missed because Spillane got smoked). 

Making Minkah, the most talented guy you have right now, the spy was the game plan. And I am not sure how that makes sense. We have other guys on the team that can function as a spy, but we have no one else on the team that can do what Minkah does. Josh Allen is not Lamar. This was the Lamar strategy against a QB that is pass first. Early downs when they run some QB schemed runs? Yeah absolutely. 3rd and 10? 3rd and 5? Hell no. Watching Bush, Spillane, and Jack need to turn and run with receivers while Minkah stared at Allen was frustrating. 

We need more talent, but you can't lack talent and coaching. This plan stunk. I would rather your talent lose while trying than watch the plan lose and there not being anything you can do about it. 

[warfelg]

Josh Allen is one of the few guys in the NFL that has the arm strength to throw through the wind that was there Sunday.  And even at that you saw him sail a few when throwing into the wind.  It was 15-25 MPH winds out there.  I wouldn't be making many judgment calls on that.  Especially that INT, you can see the nose of the ball tipped down into the wind flattening its trajectory.  Ben struggled similarly in high wind games since his throwing deep was built on good trajectory as opposed to pure arm strength.

[warfelg]

Stat of the interesting at the quarter pole:

Najee yards before contact 0.74

Jaylen yards before contact 2.21

[MOSteelers56]

That's a heck of a writeup @Dcash4

I'm impressed by Kenny too. And as @warfelgstated, he doesn't need a cannon of an arm to throw deep balls. I trust him to get it figured out. I just want him to be able to hit 10-20 yard passes consistently, and I think he's well on his way to that. He kind of reminds me of pre-injury Chad Pennington.