2022 GDT 4-7 Steelers visit the 5-7 Falcons

[warfelg]

51 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

@warfelg you mentioned during the game that Pickens was starting to receive WR1 treatment. Do you think this was the reason for his lack of targets? Were you noticing him getting legit  doubled or just safety help on a few plays? This would make sense as it didn’t seem like DJ was left on an island a lot.

He was getting soft rollover, but not enough to deny him as much as they did.

Here’s the target breakdown:

28 passes, 1 throw away to nobody

DJ - 11 targets

Freiermuth - 5

Pickens - 2

Sims - 2

Warren - 2

Heyward, Snell, Gentry, Harris, Watt - 1 each

Compared to Indy game with 28 passes

DJ - 8

Pickens - 6

Freiermuth - 4

Sims - 3

McFarland - 2

Snell, Harris, White, Watt, Gentry - 1

 

I think it was a conceded effort to get DJ the ball yesterday.  It was the highest percent of target share DJ has gotten since Pickett has taken the reigns of the position for a single game.  To my eye it looked like DJ was set as the #1 option on a lot of plays.  That’s why I’m not upset with Pickens outburst, because it was an effort to get the ball to DJ and he didn’t come through.  That’s got to be tough when you’ve been making those types of catches and you see the guy that’s gameplanned to get the ball not pull it in.

[jebrick]

I think KP is not throwing into tight windows and when they are showing safety over on Pickens, he is looking away.

[warfelg]

28 minutes ago, jebrick said:

I think KP is not throwing into tight windows and when they are showing safety over on Pickens, he is looking away.

I do want to see him starting to take a few of those risks but it seems to be a mantra from the coaching staff to not turn it over.

[3rivers]

2 hours ago, warfelg said:

I think it was a conceded effort to get DJ the ball yesterday

I thought this as well, but why should there be a conceded effort ever to get a particular player the passes? Throw to whoever is open or where the mismatch is. If Pickens is drawing the coverage, then throw elsewhere as long as the WR won't run backwards if/when he actually does catch the ball 

if we trade dj, does his entire contract go with him  or do we lose some cap?

our projected cap space for 2023 is just over $6M

So much for any UFA signings as long as dj is here.  No JJ or OT  or CB in UFA thats for sure.  Forgot about William Jackson $12M cap hit, so he better be one of the CB's to step up. What a fail if he wasn't. Is he even going to play this year? 

 

 

[bigben07MVP]

I really wonder if he gets a JuJu like contract this offseason. A cheap 1 year “prove it” deal. His attitude before the season makes me lean towards no but I would not mind seeing him back.

[bigben07MVP]

This is a play I was frustrated with Najee watching this live. The play is blocked perfectly but he is too indecisive and ends up running into the back of his lead blocker.

[bigben07MVP]

Pretty amazing what a decent running game can do for a rookie QB.

Edited December 5, 2022 by bigben07MVP

[Dcash4]

3 hours ago, jebrick said:

I think KP is not throwing into tight windows and when they are showing safety over on Pickens, he is looking away.

The more comfortable Kenny has gotten the more we see him be "see open, throw open". Way less guess work. He was taking one on one pre-snap a lot early on and it's relying on it as much now. 

Not trying to knock a 21 year old who missed basically an entire year of college, but George flat out does not get open. He still wins, so you can understand his frustration. But you can also understand why he isn't peppered with targets. 

This receiver room is a mess right now. They need an offseason in the worst of ways.

[warfelg]

9 minutes ago, Dcash4 said:

The more comfortable Kenny has gotten the more we see him be "see open, throw open". Way less guess work. He was taking one on one pre-snap a lot early on and it's relying on it as much now. 

Not trying to knock a 21 year old who missed basically an entire year of college, but George flat out does not get open. He still wins, so you can understand his frustration. But you can also understand why he isn't peppered with targets. 

This receiver room is a mess right now. They need an offseason in the worst of ways.

I’ll add the trouble for a young QB can often be a 24/7 guy like Pickens who doesn’t get wide open but you can still throw the ball at and get a win out of it. 

[3rivers]

1 hour ago, bigben07MVP said:

Pretty amazing what a decent running game can do for a rookie QB.

and the main RB is hurting, still getting yards but not 100% . The others that step in are getting yards. It's been a while that we had a running game. Ben wouldn't go under C and wanted to throw all the time. We have to go have a few years, it's about time.

Too bad KP didn't have a better OC and the OL playing like this from the start. He could have had quite the rookie season.  KP will be good, lets see what they surround him with and how the W column looks as a result.  

[3rivers]

1 hour ago, bigben07MVP said:

His attitude before the season makes me lean towards no

what is this about? I never read about issues with him.

[43M]

1 hour ago, bigben07MVP said:

I really wonder if he gets a JuJu like contract this offseason. A cheap 1 year “prove it” deal. His attitude before the season makes me lean towards no but I would not mind seeing him back.

As long as they don't believe that ILB is "fine" and ignore it, I dont mind if they do that.

Ideally, they will draft an ILB in rd 2 or 3 and have an open competition next year, but I recognize that we may not get a chance to adequately address ILB until 2024.

These next 2 offseasons will make or break this team going forward IMO.  

[bigben07MVP]

3 hours ago, 3rivers said:

what is this about? I never read about issues with him.

Too lazy to go look up the exact quote but a reporter asked him about the Steelers not picking up his 5th year option and he said something along the lines of “doesn’t really matter I’m still going to be in the NFL regardless of if I’m here or not.” I’m paraphrasing. Who knows, a lot could have changed since TC.

[bigben07MVP]

3 hours ago, 3rivers said:

Too bad KP didn't have a better OC and the OL playing like this from the start. He could have had quite the rookie season.  KP will be good, lets see what they surround him with and how the W column looks as a result.  

What I’m curious about is how much better would KP look right now if he was named the starter prior to week 1? I’m not confident it changes the outcomes of any of those first 4 games Mitch started, but thats hypothetically another 5 weeks or so that Kenny could be farther along in his progression at this point.

Edited December 6, 2022 by bigben07MVP

[warfelg]