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LLT
04-24-2012, 04:37 AM
NFL Draft: It's time Steelers address the line
April 24, 2012 12:56 am
By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


The most important positions on a football team after the quarterback? The offensive line. At least that's the old football coach's tale.

The Steelers, though, treated their offensive line as if it were an afterthought for too many years. They picked an offensive lineman with a high pick in 2002, but didn't do so again until the past two years, drafting linemen with one of their top two picks: center Maurkice Pouncey No. 1 in '10 and tackle Marcus Gilbert No. 2 in '11.

Once the Steelers had a pretty good offensive line that included three Pro Bowl players -- center Jeff Hartings, guard Alan Faneca and tackle Marvel Smith. The two other starters were guard Kendall Simmons and tackle Max Starks. They drafted Faneca and Simmons in the first round. Hartings was a free agent signing and former No. 1 draft pick. They drafted Smith in the second round and Starks in the third.

The trouble began when virtually their entire offensive line grew old or lame at the same time. They lost Hartings, Smith and Simmons to age and retirement, and Faneca as a free agent they deemed too old for the money he commanded. Starks was the only one who hung around from that crew, and the more the coaches ignored him, the more the front office paid him.

Read More: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/its-time-steelers-address-the-line-632809/

LLT
04-24-2012, 08:05 AM
I said earlier this year that I look for us to double up on the Oline picks this year,

Edman
04-24-2012, 08:11 AM
You're not getting "Good" O-Line play until you fix the Quarterback, and you're not doing that.

suitanim
04-24-2012, 08:32 AM
You're not getting "Good" O-Line play until you fix the Quarterback, and you're not doing that.

(sigh) "Fix"?

He's NOT changing the way he plays. Why do people continually insist that the guy becomes something he's not?

The OL is broken and has been for awhile. There are multiple NFL guys in the know here stating the same thing over and over in different ways. You have GOT to have 2-3 really superior offensive lineman to be dominant, and we have been faking it (and getting away with it to a certain degree) BECAUSE of our QB, not in spite of him.

If we don't address this issue this draft, our offensive production will probably be, at best, static from last year. "It all starts up front" is not only a cliche, it's actually 100% accurate.

steelerdude15
04-24-2012, 08:40 AM
(sigh) "Fix"?

He's NOT changing the way he plays. Why do people continually insist that the guy becomes something he's not?

The OL is broken and has been for awhile. There are multiple NFL guys in the know here stating the same thing over and over in different ways. You have GOT to have 2-3 really superior offensive lineman to be dominant, and we have been faking it (and getting away with it to a certain degree) BECAUSE of our QB, not in spite of him.

If we don't address this issue this draft, our offensive production will probably be, at best, static from last year. "It all starts up front" is not only a cliche, it's actually 100% accurate.
I agree. The battles start up front.

suitanim
04-24-2012, 08:49 AM
I agree. The battles start up front.

I don't really blame the players. If you line up a Yugo and ask it to beat a Ferrari, it's not the Yugo's fault it gets smoked. We have actually gotten some underwhelming people to overachieve for a couple three years straight now...it's like playing Russian Roulette though.

LLT
04-24-2012, 09:23 AM
(sigh) "Fix"?

He's NOT changing the way he plays. Why do people continually insist that the guy becomes something he's not?

The OL is broken and has been for awhile. There are multiple NFL guys in the know here stating the same thing over and over in different ways. You have GOT to have 2-3 really superior offensive lineman to be dominant, and we have been faking it (and getting away with it to a certain degree) BECAUSE of our QB, not in spite of him.

If we don't address this issue this draft, our offensive production will probably be, at best, static from last year. "It all starts up front" is not only a cliche, it's actually 100% accurate.

We are probably 1 offensive lineman and two years away from having the type of line you are talking about. If we grab a very good RT...Pouncey and Gilbert both have the potential to be very good.

suitanim
04-24-2012, 10:17 AM
We are probably 1 offensive lineman and two years away from having the type of line you are talking about. If we grab a very good RT...Pouncey and Gilbert both have the potential to be very good.

I'd be pretty happy with:
Gilbert/Zeitler/Pouncey/Foster/Colon

It ain't great, but it's a step in the right direction.

steelreserve
04-24-2012, 11:16 AM
I'd like to see them take one more decent lineman this year, but not at the expense of passing up a good NT or DB if one is available. Those are also two positions we can't let go for much longer.

It's pretty unrealistic to think we'll draft an OL at #1 every year like some people want, but I'd be happy if we picked up a serviceable G or G/T in round 2 or 3. I do think it's a legitimate gripe that for several years, we mostly tended to take project guys in the bottom rounds and paid the price for it. We've spent some high picks on linemen the past two years and the results are obvious.

ALLD
04-24-2012, 01:13 PM
I remember when San Francisco drafted two OL with their two #1 picks a couple of years ago. When the crawler went across my tv I thought Singletary was trying to put together a football team, not a group of FAs. Now Alex Smith does not have to run for his life.

steeldawg
04-24-2012, 03:35 PM
I'd like to see them take one more decent lineman this year, but not at the expense of passing up a good NT or DB if one is available. Those are also two positions we can't let go for much longer.

It's pretty unrealistic to think we'll draft an OL at #1 every year like some people want, but I'd be happy if we picked up a serviceable G or G/T in round 2 or 3. I do think it's a legitimate gripe that for several years, we mostly tended to take project guys in the bottom rounds and paid the price for it. We've spent some high picks on linemen the past two years and the results are obvious.

I agree with the NT if we can figure out a way to pressure the qb our secondary will be pretty good even with the young guys. I think our lack of pass rush is because of our aging NT and i also think teams have figured out how to block lebeaus scheme.

XxKnightxX
04-24-2012, 05:03 PM
You're not getting "Good" O-Line play until you fix the Quarterback, and you're not doing that.

Lol what? Dude the Line Blows, end of story. Half of those guys would be sitting in the sideline if they were on the Ravens or even the Browns O line.

SteelGhost
04-24-2012, 07:05 PM
(sigh) "Fix"?

He's NOT changing the way he plays. Why do people continually insist that the guy becomes something he's not?

The OL is broken and has been for awhile. There are multiple NFL guys in the know here stating the same thing over and over in different ways. You have GOT to have 2-3 really superior offensive lineman to be dominant, and we have been faking it (and getting away with it to a certain degree) BECAUSE of our QB, not in spite of him.

If we don't address this issue this draft, our offensive production will probably be, at best, static from last year. "It all starts up front" is not only a cliche, it's actually 100% accurate.

Well said Suit :thumbsup: