The 2021 draft is looking more and more like a disaster at a moment when the franchise really needed to make a couple of good OL picks.
Stillers n' at
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I hated it at the time and hate even more how right I was. Love Najee, think he's a great guy, but that was just a terrible pick. We probably could have traded that 1st for a super impact young player if we didn't like the OL there.
I also think Pat F in the 2nd was a misuse of resources, although given the cost and his performance, the value over replacement is a lot higher.
I was feeling pretty certain that they would trade back and just go for more picks given the linemen that were taken earlier. But even then, I thought, okay, here is Creed Humphrey all te'ed up for the second pick and they take Freiermuth. Instead, after the Steelers pick, KC takes Nick Bolton to play MLB with the pick they got from Baltimore by trading back and THEN they pick Creed Humphrey to play C with their regular pick. Both made the Pro Football Writer's all-rookie team and both positions have been a headache for the Steelers.
That's oversimplifying though isn't it? New England has only knocked Tomlin's Stillers out of the playoff once. They have given up what 42, 48 and 45 points in their last 3 playoff losses. Two of those were to Jacksonville and Cleveland. He lost to the Tebow Broncos.
I mean not to pile on, but Mike T's warts are showing and it has been longer than people care to admit.
McCarthy's record is relevant to Tomlin's. One guy got fired, the other guy somehow got promoted and has more power.
If you look at that draft, it was why the Steelers were between a rock and hard place. There has been no OL outside of Humphrey who was drafted in the first couple of rounds that has made a real impact. There wasn't much, Greg Rousseau of Buffalo would look good on the Steelers DL.
But this is what happens when you claw, scratch and fight just to try and make the playoffs. You draft 24. But even Christian Darrisaw and Alex Leatherwood, the two OL picked ahead of Najee aren't exactly lighting it up.
Some years are just poor draft years.
here's the list. so many whiffs in there. you need a couple of solid starters out of every draft.
Hey man I lived through Walter Abercrombie. "22 was light years better last season. This year he will suck because of his Liz Frank injury. Maybe, maybe towards the end of the season he might get back to 100%.
Don't disagree but that didn't preclude us from trading back or even trading out. There were guys on the board - especially Rashod Bateman and Elijah Moore - who were coveted in that area of the draft. Why couldn't we do what the Eagles did and trade for someone like AJ Brown? Obviously that was a unique circumstance since he wanted a new deal but we should have been able to use a top 25 pick in a more effective way than taking a RB, even if the most efficient outcome for us (OL help) may have been off the table.
That tweet that compared McCarthy to Tomlin was really eye opening. I don’t know why one coach is regarded as a HOF lock and the other can’t keep a job. And every HOF voter and pundit I have heard truly has him as a lock even if he has a couple bad seasons.
I have always said that Tomlin is a good to very good coach, but he’s not a great coach. I think the word great is tossed around too easily. The HOF should be reserved for greatness. So if that’s the case, I must be wrong on Coach T. Right?
I mean, I agree with all of this. but I'm confused how the owner of the team convinced the club to draft ben. did he argue with himself?
Than taking a RB who is:
- 63rd in true yards per carry
- 45 in explosive run rate
- 41st in yards created per touch
- 120th in expected points
- 19th in forcing missed tackles
Hell yeah I do. Najee is Trent Richardson, and his best ability seems to be his ability to make it to the field rather than his performance on it.
Are you seriously arguing that using a 1st round pick on Najee Harris was better idea than trading the pick? We lit it on fire instead.
The Steelers frequently think they are more clever than the rest of the league, so the sacred rule of not drafting a running back very high didn’t faze them. It should have. Harris is fine and with a really good line he’d be great, but that’s true of almost any back who had success in major college football. Honestly it is likely wiser to look for a back that punched above his weight class, aka who did well playing for a lower P5 or G5 that frequently played top level P5 teams, and he still was able to perform well. Because that is precisely the situation a Steeler running back faces right now. A G5 OL facing P5 quality defenses.
he would not be great with a good O line. he has zero burst, very poor vision, not elusive with below avg speed. he's strong, sure. but even with a really good O line, he would be an avg back. that's the problem.
I think in today's game you're either an x's and o's/quarterback-developing genius or you're basically just another guy. Most "just another guys" inherit bad situations and aren't able to turn them around. Tomlin just so happened to inherit a fantastic situation with a veteran-laden team that basically coached itself.
As you said, doesn't make him a bad coach or anything. He's just another guy. One of the ones who got lucky.
The story is, Cowher wanted Shawn Andrews a big OT out of Arkansas. And Dan Rooney in the meeting room said "hey, how many times do you have a chance to draft a talent like Ben?" And convinced Cowher and Colbert that was the better choice. Seriously.
He did the same thing to Chuck Noll when he wanted to draft Robert Newhouse and Dan Rooney convinced him to take Franco instead.
Makes sense. I know we eventually took Andrews' teammate, Bo Lacy, in that draft after taking a liking to him while evaluating Andrews. I think we also liked Dunta Robinson, who was taken the pick before Ben. As far as quarterbacks go, I believe I recall Rivers being Cowher's guy.
Even though all three QBs are Hall of Famers, I feel like Ben would have succeeded anywhere, while the other two were way more dependent upon the situation.
the belief is that cowher and the steelers organization talked up (leaked) their love for Rivers before the draft as a smokescreen to get Ben. I dont know if i actually believe this but it makes for a great story..
They seemed to go to the same charade with the different quarterbacks in this past offseason as well
yeah but it's tough to tell if it's actually legit or if there is no info so some blog guy on twitter exaggerates it to just make up a story.
Tomlin loves Corrall, tomlin loves Malik Willis, Steelers love Sam Howell. I remember hearing it all and you'd read the story and not really see where they came up with this alleged love affair.. Almost like the story heading was fabricated to make you click on it..
Too bad it didn't work with Najee Harris.
He should have done that when Noll passed on Marino for Gabe Rivera.
I think Ben would disagree given most of it had to be retooled prior to this year and his center isn't even dressing for games, now. Currently, it's not THE problem but it's definitely one of the things holding the offense back. Doesn't help that Najee isn't a good pass blocker, either.
I didn’t know that. I just thought back then Cowher was enamored with the QB from his alma mater.
Rivera was a solid player. Just tragic circumstance. But yeah, passing on Marino probably was a mistake.
I just watched Josh Allen have like an hour and a half to throw on almost every play, while the Steelers had almost no push at the LOS and had to limit their passing options by doing things such as rolling Kenny out so as to scheme around our OL. It might not be as bad as we expected, but yeah... it's not good.
In fairness, they're better than they were in week one but one of KP's best passes on Sunday was thrown as he was getting decked.
The overarching point is that the Steelers made two picks in that draft that are better addressed in later rounds and it's really hurting the offense. Especially while all of that OL talent is sitting right there for the taking. Because of that decision, the TE isn't getting many looks and the RB isn't even the best player statistically at his position, on the roster.
My comparison to what the oppositions' offensive lines are doing to our front seven probably aren't fair either, because it looks like we only have 9 guys on the field half the time.
It wasn’t a smoke screen
If the chargers don’t trade Eli for rivers I bet the Steelers would have tried as well
2021:
- 53rd in true yards per carry
- 28th in breakaway run rate
- 24th in yards created per touch
- 144th in expected points
-20th in forcing missed tackles
He was literally the exact same guy last year but know-it-all-know-nothings like you are enamored with volume over efficiency.
You're the Skip Bayliss of this board. Sit down.
I’m not enamored.
I’m also not the projected expert gm from my couch /
That’s the skip Bayless move
like I said - if he sucks he’s cheap and we use him up on a rookie contract for $1mil/year on average
We aren’t one player away
You’re kidding right? This might be as bad as your take last week on police and crime.
You can’t look at it like that. There’s also something called 1st round capital, and when you blow it on a RB it’s bad. And when you blow it on a RB who sucks, it’s paralyzing to a franchise.
One doesn't have to be an expert to know enough not to take a RB in the 1st, one just has to be smarter and less arrogant than you are.
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