Pittsburgh Steelers 2011 offseason and draft thread

• killer_ewok

  

  Well, I guess we should be thankful that we didn't have to start this thread until the day after the Super Bowl. Last night's loss still stings and will for a while. Maybe weeks, months, years. Super Bowl losses are the worst IMO. I remember the loss to Dallas in Super Bowl XXX and I have to say that the last 2 Super Bowl wins spoiled me. I almost forgot what it felt like to be on the losing end.
  
  Anyways, I'm guessing there won't be much action in Free Agency from a Steelers standpoint. At least not big $$$ signings. CB and OL must be addressed in the draft (again) for not only potential starters but depth. Maybe we can find another diamond in the rough WR in the late rounds. DL could get a little younger and deeper as well. Maybe Kicker? Forbath and Henery are both pretty good and could be reliable for years.
• Automatik

  

  I want a fucking CB bad.....a good one.
• killer_ewok

  

  Yeah, but no chance Patrick Peterson or Prince Amukamara will be available at pick #31. Maybe Miami's Brandon Harris? What about Pouncey's brother for the o-line? Maybe Curtis Brown from Texas at CB.
• End of Line

  

  CB and O-line. Either one is a must in the first rd.
• Automatik

  

  I've heard good things about Mike Pouncey, versatile like his brother. If he is even 2/3rds the player Maurkice is I'd take him.
• september63

  

  Although the kicker filled in fairly well after being brought in mid season, I think they might wanna be more selective during the offseason and eventually bring someone new in.
  
  As a Browns fan be thankful one of your few "needs" is a kicker.
• killer_ewok

  

  september63;668633 wrote:Although the kicker filled in fairly well after being brought in mid season, I think they might wanna be more selective during the offseason and eventually bring someone new in.
  
  As a Browns fan be thankful one of your few "needs" is a kicker.

  
  Or draft one. They went with Sepulveda relatively early in the draft a couple years back when it comes to drafting a punter. Maybe they do something similar when it comes to kicker this year. I think Henery and Forbath are both outstanding kickers.
• wgh raider

  actually yesterday the Oline even without pouncey didnt do bad. they ran the ball good plus ben was sacked only once. remember starks and colon didnt even see the field this year and they will be back.steelers need help in the secondary for sure.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  Looking in from the outside, i think Pitt should draft a QB who isn't a registered **** offender.
• rock_knutne

  I don't think we will see Aaron Smith play in a Steelers jersey again, I may be wrong because he's a tenured player in Pittsburgh but there's no looking back with Ziggy Hood.
  
  They have to draft a guard and a cornerback in the first two rounds........BADLY! You know they're always going to find that diamond in the rough, couple years ago it was Wallace and last year it was Brown.
• I Wear Pants

  We need a CB badly.
• Ironman92

  

  The oline was the killer early on....but they found a way to be good enough.
  
  I won't be upset with any drafting of offensive lineman.....but I really want a top notch CB.
• thavoice

  OL and CB is something you can NEVER have too much of.
  
  Farrior is getting old, as is Ward. Hines will stick around for at least one more season...needs 1000 catches! Unsure on the young WR's that were drafted. I was gone pretty much the whole season until Christmas so I did not get to see any games until the season finale. Does the team have a possession receiver? We never throw to the TE enough and Miller should be a great asset. Wallace can get deap.....but taht is about it. He had alot of the el cheapo passes in the SB but this teams needs a reliable guy like Hines. They say WR are very hard to draft and I totally believe that...takes them longer to learn and adapt on the run as they need to adjust their routes so quickly.
  
  What I am secretly hoping for..is that they are grooming a new DCoord. Love LeBeau an dhope he can stick around forever but that will not happen. We need to make sure there is someone who can step in because at his age.....ya just never know.
  
  I think making sure Leftwich is around as a backup is big. I am not too keen on Dixon as the front line backup.
• Automatik

  

  I Wear Pants;670022 wrote:We need a CB badly.

  
  Yes. We need a LEGIT #1 corner. We have been dealing with this hodgepodge of CBs for years. None of them IMO are legit #1s. I used to think Taylor was, but he just pisses me off more than not. I also can't believe I defended McFadden earlier in the season, he got burnt more and more as the weeks went on.
  
  Like someone said before, it seems like all of the "lock" CBs will be taken before Pittsburghs pick, so who knows how they can address that.
• wgh raider

  i think taylor would be ok if they had a real good corner on the other side. credit rodgers for that lasor to jennings on that big 3rd down play.it had to be inches from taylors fingers?? how much if any did mcfaddon play?? on a talk show it said wherever gay lined up they threw at him.
• I Wear Pants

  That's because Gay is turrible.
• thavoice

  I mentioned how I hoped the steelers are trying to groom a guy to replace LeBeau. Just read that they denied the Cardinals reguest to interview the LB coach, Keith Butler, for their DC position. It is def in their rights to do but, but a little unusual for when an asst is up for a higher position job. WIll they give him a bigger title with LeBeau ya think?
  
  The scheme that LeBeau uses is H U G E and not just anyone can pull it off so it is imperative, for the future of this franchise, that when Mr LeBeau retires that someone can step right in.
  
  See where Ward is having a few surgeries as will other players.
• The Equalizer

  

  To pile on, I want the best CB possible. Then I want the best safety possible. Then I want the best OL possible, then I want the best MLB possible. Enough of this horseshit where we use our 3rd round pick on some nobody WR from Utah State who's a gem. You know what's a gem? Not making a white guy named Jordy look like Jerry fucking Rice.
  
  Gay needs to be gone yesterday. He can go play for some other sub par 'we're just happy to be close to the playoffs' team. He is not what we need and he is not reliable. Farrior looked like an old man. Oline did alright but they need more depth. At one point I thought they were going to start using backup TE's.
  
  Even if Ward retires like he threatened to we have enough young good players on offense mixed with veterans to be okay for a season. They need to (God help us) do what notre dame did in their recruiting and focus primarily on defensive draft picks and get young, fast, and COMPETENT especially in the secondary. If you need to trade someone to move up and get a lockdown corner in the 1st, then do it.
• thavoice

  We would all love a lockdown corner....every team would.
  
  The thing is this though.....this team lost 5 games this season. If the offense does not turn the ball over three times I am 100% convinced this team would have been the super bowl champs.
  
  The Steelers organization has done a tremendous job in the draft and I usually do not comlain much with how they go about business. They watch alot more film, talk to the players, watch them in workouts and know more than any of us who pretty much only see what what McKiper or whatnot says about the players.
  
  I think the team needs in order: OL, inside LB (and I admit I do not know much about the backups but this defense is predicated on excellent LB play), CB depth and WR.
• GoPens

  

  thavoice;671417 wrote:I mentioned how I hoped the steelers are trying to groom a guy to replace LeBeau. Just read that they denied the Cardinals reguest to interview the LB coach, Keith Butler, for their DC position. It is def in their rights to do but, but a little unusual for when an asst is up for a higher position job. WIll they give him a bigger title with LeBeau ya think?
  
  The scheme that LeBeau uses is H U G E and not just anyone can pull it off so it is imperative, for the future of this franchise, that when Mr LeBeau retires that someone can step right in.
  
  See where Ward is having a few surgeries as will other players.

  When Butler signed his contract it was with the understanding that he will take over as DC when Lebeau retires. He signed that contract knowing the stipulation so that's why the Steelers denied him an interview with Arizona.
• thavoice

  Thanks GoPens. I was unaware of that..or I had forgotten but it makes sense. I thought in the NFL you could not deny an asst a chance to interview if it was for a higher coaching position.
• killer_ewok

  

  Well, Steelers DB coach Ray Horton is the new defensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals.
• rock_knutne

  Interesting discussion on the radio today on how the Steelers will plan for the next two to three years. The consensus is that Pittsburgh still has a nucleus of very good players that can contend for another Super Bowl, some older, some in their prime and some youngsters.........do you some what sacrifice winning right now by cutting some old blood and bringing in new blood or plug the obvious holes and try to win now? IMO, go for it. Ben is in his prime, so is Heath Miller, Polamalu, Woodley (who they better sign) and guys like Timmons and Hood are emerging stars. Obviously, Hampton, Keisel, Smith, Farrior and James Harrison to an extent, are aging but can still contribute. I think you draft the obvious needs and then try to find those diamonds in the rough to learn the system and hope that collectively they pan out over the next few years.
• thavoice

  rock_knutne;672232 wrote:Interesting discussion on the radio today on how the Steelers will plan for the next two to three years. The consensus is that Pittsburgh still has a nucleus of very good players that can contend for another Super Bowl, some older, some in their prime and some youngsters.........do you some what sacrifice winning right now by cutting some old blood and bringing in new blood or plug the obvious holes and try to win now? IMO, go for it. Ben is in his prime, so is Heath Miller, Polamalu, Woodley (who they better sign) and guys like Timmons and Hood are emerging stars. Obviously, Hampton, Keisel, Smith, Farrior and James Harrison to an extent, are aging but can still contribute. I think you draft the obvious needs and then try to find those diamonds in the rough to learn the system and hope that collectively they pan out over the next few years.

  Rarely do the steelers plan strictly for the short term, but the window in the NFL can be very short for wining yourself a SUper Bowl. As they say...players 'can get real old, real fast' and that is the truth.
  
  THey have a franchise QB, one of the best in the league. That is something this team has not had since the 70's. The franchise MUST take advantage of a guy like BR, TP, Woodley, Miller, Maybe wallace if he can become more than a one trick pony, and to lesser extent guys like Mendenhall.
  
  You will not see much going on until the new CBA is agreed to. THere is alot of talk about it but I do not think the $$$ part will change a ton that we see. Players do not want 18 games, owners do, and they players want better retirement.
  
  I love Farrior, but ya have to look at him in the middle. I missed most of this past season unfortunately so I cannot give my own long time expert opinion on the personnel. I think the Rooney's will continue with BAU.....but maybe with a slightly more urgency in years past. I do not want them to lose focus and start spending wildly on players that are not worth it (like they did Scott, Washington years ago) or sign FA's for big time $$. I think they steelers could attract some good FA with a discount because of the success of the franchise.
  
  Smith has been a long time steeler staple, but injuries are killing him. Do we cut and free up that $$ or ask for a paycut? Hard to ask an older player to restructure his deal and backload it when he knows he will never see that money down the road, and to make it a big signing bonus is not prudent on the steelers part as when he is finally cut they take a big salary cap hit.
  
  I look for them to continue as normal......but with a little more urgency. One of the reason why the steelers Nation is so vast and growing is because the ownership has continually put on a competitive team. I see many young kids sporting steelers jerseys.....that is how a team gets lifetime fans....when they win the young, impressionable tikes like them and are fans for life. That is how I became a fan as a kid in the 70's, and now my lil nephews are the same way.
• rock_knutne

  The Steelers franchised Lamar Woodley, he will make a little over ten million dollars next year........if there's a season.