PDA

View Full Version : My mid season Steelers report card.



zulater
11-07-2012, 05:33 PM
This is just my opinion. No links, highly debatable.

Offense

Big Ben. A-. I struggled with this one. On one hand I thought I shouldn't go higher than a B+. After all in our 3 losses Ben had the ball in his hands with a chance to win it or add to the lead in every one of those losses.

But on the other hand where would we be without him? We might not even have 3 wins right now.

So on balance Ben gets an A-, leaning strongly to an A.

RB's

Jonathan Dwyer. B+. Over 5 yards a carry. Outside of one fumble he's just about aced the course when healthy. But not being able to get on the field after consecutive 100 yard games weigh's against him a little.

Isaac Redman. C. I drafted him early in my FFL. :doh: I thought he'd have a break out year. Maybe 1100 yards and 7+ td's. But up until last week was injured and averaging less than 3 yards per carry. Without the Giants game he's a D-. But that great game brings him up to a solid C.

Rashard Mendenhall. I. I as in incomplete. Sorry, I know he played well against the Eagles. But that's one game in 8 where he's had any impact. A well "earned" I for Mendy. To date. Hope he put together a good second half.

Chris Rainey. C+ I'm probably being a little generous here. But he's electric whenever he touches the ball. If he recovers from this rib injury quickly he may end up leading the league in ko return average.

Will Johnson. B. We have a fullback! This guy can block! Sometimes he can even catch! And he can ru... er.. forget that one. Seriously this guy is a big part of the resurgence of our ground game. As a lead blocker he's getting the job done!

Heath Miller. A+. What isn't he doing well? No better yet, what isn't he doing superbly? The best all around TE in the league.

Antonio Brown. B. Probably being a little unfair to him as he's run two punts back for TD's but both were called back due to penalties, thus he's not getting any extra credit there. Strictly as a receiver I think it's safe to say besides Heath Miller he's Ben's most trusted target when it matters most. Catches the ball in traffic as good as anyone and is great after the catch.

Mike Wallace. C+ If it weren't for the touchdowns it would be a D, as in drop! I know the official stats don't have him dropping more than 4 or 5 passes over the year so far. but those of us who watch the game know better. He's dropped at least 8 balls. Balls a alleged number 1 receiver is supposed to make. Critical misses that have proven quite costly on the scorebard.

Emanuel Sanders. B. Get's the most out of limited opportunities. Very clutch, and under utilized.

Jerricho Cotchery. C+ Very limited playing time, but you know when called upon is more than capable of getting the job done. A strong number 4 receiver.

Maurkice Pouncey. A. The only reason it's not an A+ is because he missed some time due to injury. But when he's in there.. Wow! Just wow! He's knocking nose tackles and DT's off the ball one on one! But better yet, he knocks those guys out of the way then gets to the second level and steamrolls a ILB or DB! Best center in the game and it's not even close. Screw it, I'm going to an A+ on Maurkice.

Willie Colon. B+ 4 weeks ago this grade would have been a D. That shows you how great he's played the last month. In the last month he's playing at Alan Faneca level! A real road grader and perhaps the catylyst to our resurgent running game more than anyone else. One things's for sure, the rest of the line feeds off of big Willie's emotion. Will join Maurkice in Hawaii if he keeps his recent level of play up.

Ramon Foster. B+. I grade partially on performance, and partially on realizing and playing to expectations and potential. Thus I think I'm being conservative giving Ramon a "measly" B+. I know he's not perfect. I know he's given up a few sacks over the year. But overall Ramon is giving the Steelers the best quality of play they've seen at right guard since Carlton Hasselrig in the early 90's.

Max Starks. B. Max isn't pretty. Max isn't perfect. But he's more than solid, and the Steelers are lucky they can keep grabbing a player of his quality off the scrap heap year after year.

Mike Adams. B. If he were a veteran I'd grade him down to a C or possibly even a C-. But you know what? The guy is doing a good job as a run blocker. Protecing the qb, he's having some difficulties. But for a rookie he's doing Ok. He just deserves this B.

Marcus Gilbert. C-. Truthfully the team's line play has improved since he got hurt.He wasn't sticking out like a sore thumb. But he also wasn't doing much good that was noticable either. Hard to imagine him getting the starting job back when he;s healthy if no one else goes down.

Doug Legursky. B. He may deserve higher, because quite frankly when he's played he's played well. Not perfect. He's certainly no Pouncey. ( who is?) but he's a good guy to have in reserve, and he played a big part in helping the Steelers establish their current positive momentum.

Shaun Suisham. A+ Damn near perfect. Who'd of thunk it?

Defense later.

slippy
11-07-2012, 06:08 PM
i agree with all of the above except ben. i have to give him an A, not A-

zulater
11-07-2012, 06:40 PM
Updated OP to include WR's.

bayz101
11-07-2012, 06:47 PM
Nice grades, can't wait for the defense. Let me spot you this: Who's the best player on the team to this point? Entire team, not Offense and Defense.

zulater
11-07-2012, 06:54 PM
Nice grades, can't wait for the defense. Let me spot you this: Who's the best player on the team to this point? Entire team, not Offense and Defense.


Best player on the team? Not easy actually. I'd go Ben, but only slightly over Pouncey, who is clearly the best player at his positition in the NFL.

bayz101
11-07-2012, 07:27 PM
Best player on the team? Not easy actually. I'd go Ben, but only slightly over Pouncey, who is clearly the best player at his positition in the NFL.

Some say Clark, some say Pouncey, and even more point in the direction of Brown. I for one maintain that Ben is the best player on the team. Without him, we're done.

zulater
11-08-2012, 08:30 AM
Defensive grades are much harder than offensive grades. But I'll give it a try anyway.

Casey Hampton. C- A couple games ago this would have been a D-, and that may have been generous. I honestly thought he was done. Father time and injuries had caught up with him. But lo and behold the last few games he's starting to come to life and look like a good 3-4 NT again. Still not dominating like he used to. But certainly not a liability anymore, which a few games ago would have been a fair statement to make. The last 2 games I would assess his performance at about a B- level. So hopefully we see continued improvement from Big Snack. Perhaps it was just a matter of getting the knee injury a little further behind him?

Steve McClendon. B. I would still like to see #90 in there more often. On Ike Taylor's interception it was McClendon collapsing the pocket forcing Eli into a bad throw. I haven't charted it, but in re-watching all the games I would estimate the Steve is on the field about 20% of the defensive snaps. All I know is I notice him doing a lot of good out there, and very little bad. In my opinion he's had more impact plays than Hampton with a lot less playing time. There's probably a logical reason for this, but it's beyond me?

Ziggy Hood. C- Might be the hardest player to grade because of his position. A 3-4 DE is like the Maytag repairman. A lot of times he can be doing his job, but you just don't notice it. On one hand I expected him to have more qb hurries, more tackles for loss, and draw more double teams. But on the other hand LaMarr Woodley is playing noticably better the last 2 weeks. I don't think that can happen if the LDE isn't doing his job and eating up blocks.

Brett Keisel. C- Slow start this year. Might have something to do with injuries? Anyway like everyone else on the defense his play is improving as the season goes on. Still not at previous two year's level of play. But playing at an acceptable rate finally. If he can bounce back to last year's form soon figure splash plays to increase across the board.

Cam Heyward. Incomplete. He just doesn't get on the field that much and when he does he's rarely noticable. I can't figure out a fair grade to give him.

zulater
11-08-2012, 08:49 AM
Larry Foote. B. I thought about grading Larry higher. He gets as much out of his God given ability as any player on the team. He makes as many splash plays as anyone on the defense. But still he can get pushed around out there quite a bit, and he's nowhere near an elite ILB. Competent, smart, and steady are good words to describe him.

Lawrence Timmons. B+. After a slow start he's come on like gangbusters and is playing at near All Pro level. He has to be accounted for on every play by opposing offenses. Finally looking like the elite player the Steelers thought they drafted.

LaMarr Woodley. C+. Not putting up the sacks he usually does yet. But like many on the defense his play is steadily improving. I thought he had a terrific game against the Giants. Acounted for several hurries, and changed some play designs on runs. I think the best is yet to come from LaMarr this season. I predict he'll post 10 sacks in the second half of the season.

James Harrison. B-. James Harrison is playing nowhere near James Harrison level. Yet. But when he's in there the defense is much much better than it is without him. He sets the edge even when he's at his worst, and teams have trouble running to his side. In fact I would say he's playing the run as strong as anyone on our defense right now. If he can regain a little more strenght and flexibility in that knee, watch out NFL!

Jason Worlids C. A competent back up who can rush the qb and is decent against the run.

Chris Carter. F. As in abject failure. Does nothing when he's in there. Nothing more than a special teams player.

I'll do the DB's later tonight. Work to do now.

7willBheaven
11-08-2012, 12:02 PM
My quick comments on the D.

Giving Harrison a B- yet Woodley a C+??? Really? You give others lower grades due to missing games/etc...and Harrison really hasn't been anywhere near himself (regardless if he's 100% or not). He deserves more of a C or C- and I'd say Woodley a B. And the F for Carter is totally unfair...while he's not a stud...he did start for Harrison while he was out and did an OK job...definitely no worse than Harrison has been. Obviously he's still learning the position and this was his first full off season...but an F is not even fair.

BlastFurnace
11-08-2012, 01:39 PM
Gilbert deserves a D-: Besides taking out 3 starters, the line play has improved so much since he's been out.

Hampton deserves a D-: Casey is either on his side or being driven back into the linebackers like a bowling ball. Great Steeler, but he is clearly finished.

crcsnail
11-08-2012, 03:12 PM
I'd like to give a shout out to David Paulson as well . Some very steady play and learning from one of the best can only make him better

Animal Mother
11-08-2012, 04:04 PM
James Harrison is playing nowhere near James Harrison level.

I love this quote!

Lou Donny
11-08-2012, 04:46 PM
love reading your analysis Zu

Craic
11-08-2012, 06:38 PM
Overall, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head here. Of course, there was more than one time that I was like, "What? How did he only . . . oh yeah, this is total body of work for the first half, I guess he's right on that count."

Some I'd quibble with, but not enough to take up bandwidth (up or down a single plus or minus). So below are the few that I'd grade more than half a grade differently, and the reasons.

This is just my opinion. No links, highly debatable.

Offense

RB's
Isaac Redman. C. I drafted him early in my FFL. :doh: I thought he'd have a break out year. Maybe 1100 yards and 7+ td's. But up until last week was injured and averaging less than 3 yards per carry. Without the Giants game he's a D-. But that great game brings him up to a solid C.

This one's difficult for me because before the Giants game, I think you're a little to hard on him - since he was basically doing the work of the O line PLUS a rubbing back. That means that this last game should have brought him up even higher. The problem is two-fold, you're right, he's been injured the last couple of weeks, and also in preseason, if I remember right. In short, I just don't think there's enough of a body of work for him right now to give him a grade that represents a true measure of the first half of his season, there's just too many variables. That's not to say your grade is out in left field but rather, I think he could honestly be graded anything from a C- to a B+ with legitimate reasons - thus, I'd give him an "I" and wait until the second half of the season.




Chris Rainey. C+ I'm probably being a little generous here. But he's electric whenever he touches the ball. If he recovers from this rib injury quickly he may end up leading the league in ko return average.

I have to think you're rating him as a RB here as well, right? If so, okay, I won't say much (I'd probably move him up half a grade, because a guy as small as him should not be able to move the pile. But I've seen him actually go into a pile of big bodies, and move the entire thing. Gotta give him credit for that).

However, let's break out his return duties here. On returns, I think we need to move him up to a solid B at least. The kid can make things happen every time he touches the ball, and there hasn't been one place yet where I've questioned his decision.


Mike Wallace. C+ If it weren't for the touchdowns it would be a D, as in drop! I know the official stats don't have him dropping more than 4 or 5 passes over the year so far. but those of us who watch the game know better. He's dropped at least 8 balls. Balls a alleged number 1 receiver is supposed to make. Critical misses that have proven quite costly on the scorebard.

I gotta ding him quite a bit harder, and give him a C- or even a D+. It's not just that he's dropped passes, but that he doesn't seem to have that spark that he brought the first year or two. I disagree with people who say he can't go over the middle, etc. He has, and has no problem with it, but he's just not the Wallace that we are use to seeing day in and day out, not by a long shot.


Max Starks. B. Max isn't pretty. Max isn't perfect. But he's more than solid, and the Steelers are lucky they can keep grabbing a player of his quality off the scrap heap year after year.

Ahh, come on Zu! You gotta give big ol' Starksy more love than that. I'd actually give him an A-. Like you said, they keep trying to throw him on the trash heap, and he keeps coming back. This year, he came off a neck injury to be the starter, and except for I think one or two sacks, has been absolutely solid. Ben doesn't have to worry about his blind side with Starts in there.

Matter of fact, this year, Starks has allowed 2 sacks for a total of three yards, and has been called for one false start for a total of five yards. That's pretty dang good, IMO. I think that puts him up in the A- category, never mind his work in the run game.


Mike Adams. B. If he were a veteran I'd grade him down to a C or possibly even a C-. But you know what? The guy is doing a good job as a run blocker. Protecing the qb, he's having some difficulties. But for a rookie he's doing Ok. He just deserves this B.

My argument here isn't as much with the grade, but the reasoning. Protecting the QB, he's really not having a lot of problems. The first time he got really exposed, was last game against one of the better pass rushers in the league. Yet, his numbers in tackles were actually right in line with what he's been doing all year. Granted, he got his two of three sacks off of Adams, but that is half of all of sacks credited to Adams, and he's played in seven games (started in three). Beyond that, he's only had one penalty as well, which means that he's not having to grab and rip players down to keep them from getting to Ben, then praying the refs don't see it.

Don't get me wrong, he's definitely a rookie and has a lot of learning to do, as there is a number of things to criticize him for, but I don't think that his pass blocking is quite as bad as we think - my perception is that idea is somewhat lingering from his horrendous outings in the preseason.


James Harrison. B-. James Harrison is playing nowhere near James Harrison level. Yet. But when he's in there the defense is much much better than it is without him. He sets the edge even when he's at his worst, and teams have trouble running to his side. In fact I would say he's playing the run as strong as anyone on our defense right now. If he can regain a little more strenght and flexibility in that knee, watch out NFL!
This is probably the biggest place I'll disagree with you. Over all the games he's played, he's not been a factor against the pass, and barely been a factor against the run. Now, in the last couple games, he's starting to knife through and get tackles on a run, but then I've also seen him not be able to shed blocks and as a result, meet the runner two, three yards down field from where I'd expect him to meet the runner. No, right now, I'd give him a C-, but recognize that it has a lot to do with his surgery. I expect him to be back up to a B or B+ level for the second half of the season.
_____

zulater
11-08-2012, 11:13 PM
Real quick. I don't care what the stats say, the defense is so much better with James Harrison playing. He's making an impact even if he's not getting his normal push on the edge on the pash rush.

I probably downgraded Woodley a little more than I should have because I've been accused of being too pro Woodley in the past.

I stand by my grade on Chris Carter. When he was in there our defense was putrid against the run.


Now for our DB's

Ike Taylor. C- Real good last 3 games, ( though not as good as some believe) A-, or B+ from the Bengals game through the Giants game. Prior to that F. He was rated the 96th "best" corner out of a 102 rated NFL corners through 5 weeks, based on completions, yards, td's & penalties given up. So for the first 8 games he gets a C-

Keenan Lewis. B. He too had a bit of a rough start, but he came out of it earlair ( I thought he played well against the Titans) and I honestly believe his overall play has been slightly better than Ike's too. One things' for sure. No one is missing William Gay anymore! :chuckle:

Cortez Allen. C. I'm a little disapointed with Cortez, yet I still see signs that he's a good player in the making. Don't get me wrong he's certainly not playing poorly. In fact I would say he did a good joib in coverage against the Giants. But still I expect him to be more of a standout. Looking foward to his second half.

Curtis Brown. I. I as in invisible. Because as a defensive back he's hardly being used. Good special teams player though. I'd give him a B for that.

Troy Polamalu. I. as in injured. And he was injured when he played the opener so he doesn't deserve to be graded down for that poor performance.

Ryan Clark. A. Defensive MVP for the Steelers. Solid in all phases of the game and never takes a play off. A true leader of this team.

Will Allen. B. Has really helped to stabilize the secondary since being inserted in place of Ryan Mundy. Solid player, has been a real find.

Ryan Mundy. D, as a starter, B- as a fill in.. Funny enough he's a better player when he comes in off the bench than when he starts. When Clark got concussed on the first play of the second half against the Skins Mundy went in and played his best football of the year. Same thing on the couple occasions when Will Allen got dinged up for a few plays. But when he starts and plays the majority of the downs he stinks!

Drew Butler. B-. He's ok, nothing special, not bad. Just another punter.

zulater
11-08-2012, 11:25 PM
Ahh, come on Zu! You gotta give big ol' Starksy more love than that. I'd actually give him an A-. Like you said, they keep trying to throw him on the trash heap, and he keeps coming back. This year, he came off a neck injury to be the starter, and except for I think one or two sacks, has been absolutely solid. Ben doesn't have to worry about his blind side with Starts in there.

Preach if I gave Max any better than a B Chidi's keyboard would explode! :lol:

In my opinion he's a solid NFL left tackle and we're damn lucky to have him.

Craic
11-08-2012, 11:40 PM
Drew Butler. B-. He's ok, nothing special, not bad. Just another punter.

Didn't know he was a DB! :chuckle:

Alright, seriously,

I'd quibble with this a little bit - I say a B, maybe even a B+. Why? Check these stats out, they're pretty good in total:

27 Punts
13 Punts inside 20 (almost half)
1 Touchback (that's a pretty dang good record with 13 punts inside the 20).
8 Fair catches.

I think he's really getting the job done for us. Sure, he has one of the lowest avg. yards per punt in the league, but I think that's much more an affect of field position, than it is his leg, since he does have a long of 58 yards.

Other than that, gotta agree with you on most of those. I think you're wrong on Gay though... I really wish we still had him for the nickel. He didn't make it as a number 2 back (though he did do quite a bit better the second time he started for a few games there), but he was lights out as a nickel CB - had one of highest passes defended numbers on the team at that position.

- - - Updated - - -


Preach if I gave Max any better than a B Chidi's keyboard would explode! :lol:

In my opinion he's a solid NFL left tackle and we're damn lucky to have him.

That's funny. I think we oughta stop trying to throw him on the trash heap. Then again, doing that is what's probably motivating him every year!

Psycho Ward 86
11-09-2012, 12:49 AM
i really hate that Worilds is our leader in sacks right now.

Seven
11-09-2012, 02:38 AM
I can't disagree with any of the grades too much.

Only ones I disagree with strongly are probably Starks who I would give an A, and Worilds who I would give a B+. But even those aren't drastically far off from your choices.

What have you seen from Worilds that makes him only a C? I think he has played up to the quality of a starter to this point. I can't think of any glaring missed tackles or botched assignments?

zulater
11-10-2012, 07:32 AM
I can't disagree with any of the grades too much.

Only ones I disagree with strongly are probably Starks who I would give an A, and Worilds who I would give a B+. But even those aren't drastically far off from your choices.

What have you seen from Worilds that makes him only a C? I think he has played up to the quality of a starter to this point. I can't think of any glaring missed tackles or botched assignments?

You're probably right. Worldis probably rates a B. He does a good job as the weak side linebacker when he fills in for Woodley. At the strong side though, like Carter he pretty much disappears and the defense is innefective.

That's why I can't believe some people took me to task for my grade of Harrison. Because even though he's not putting up lofty stats (as of yet) the defense is so much more effective with him over there.

Seven
11-10-2012, 07:42 AM
You're probably right. Worldis probably rates a B. He does a good job as the weak side linebacker when he fills in for Woodley. At the strong side though, like Carter he pretty much disappears and the defense is innefective.

That's why I can't believe some people took me to task for my grade of Harrison. Because even though he's not putting up lofty stats (as of yet) the defense is so much more effective with him over there.

Yeah, I don't get that either. He hasn't been the sack master we're used to, but he still makes it extremely hard to make any yards on his side of the field.

Craic
11-10-2012, 12:07 PM
You're probably right. Worldis probably rates a B. He does a good job as the weak side linebacker when he fills in for Woodley. At the strong side though, like Carter he pretty much disappears and the defense is innefective.

That's why I can't believe some people took me to task for my grade of Harrison. Because even though he's not putting up lofty stats (as of yet) the defense is so much more effective with him over there.


Yeah, I don't get that either. He hasn't been the sack master we're used to, but he still makes it extremely hard to make any yards on his side of the field.


I did because I don't think that Harrison is the one that's made the difference in the defense as much as it's the line starting to step up and do their job. Harrison is playing at the level of an average 3-4 linebacker right now, which means a "C" since "C" is average. However, because it's so far below average for Harrison, I thought he should be dropped down to a C-.

I come at that conclusion this way. What is his job?

1. Set the edge and force runs inside.
2. Set the edge and keep QB's from rolling out to extend plays.
3. Cover TE/RB's on routes.

The first, he looks good sometimes, but I've seen him having to focus so much on driving his block back, that he's allowed the RB to go right around him to the outside. Harrison didn't even attempt to shed his block. I've also seen him knife in a get a good tackle, but it's very inconsistent still.

The second is just as bad, if not worse. He can't get the leverage for the bull rush, and he can't explode around the player, and get that 45 degree angle we're used to seeing when he comes around the tackle to disrupt the QB.

The third, he has zero passes defended - though that's not necessarily an important stat, as I don't have targeting data, so I left that out of my grading.

The other problem with him however, is that he disappears after the first quarter this years. He has eight tackles in the first quarter, after that, he has two tackles and an assist in each of the next three quarters. And no, I don't believe that's because the offense starts running away from him.

On top of all that, It's not Harrison that's making it difficult to run on that side. There's been multiple times that running to Harrison's side as given Timmons the ability to cut through the line to make a tackle in the backfield just because of angles, and we also have Lewis that's playing lights out in all phases of the game, which means that we have two very good run stopping CB's now. Harrison just isn't the force he was before, and is benefitting from some good play from his teammates.

Of course, he needs to stay in to get that knee strengthened and get back to shape for games in December and January - but I just think he's graded too high.

That's why I gave him a C-. He just isn't the James Harrison that we're used to seeing, not by a long shot, and I'm not even thinking sacks here.

Seven
11-10-2012, 12:33 PM
Maybe. I really haven't watched the defense as much (post-live airing) as usual with so much of the focus being on Haley's offense this year. But just from what I've seen live I feel like he is playing well. Not James Harrison of 2008 well, but well.

Psycho Ward 86
11-10-2012, 05:48 PM
what makes you think will johnson cant run? he's run twice on fullback dives through the A-gap. lol

HollywoodSteel
11-10-2012, 06:21 PM
Biggest bargain on the team: Max Starks.

I know for the sake of this post he is being graded objectively and not on his overall value to the team (although I agree with Preach and would grade him higher than Zu did). But take Ben out of the equation and I can't think of a single player that I'd be sorrier to lose for a single game (maybe Suisham. Okay, Clark is up there as well especially with Troy out. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what we'd do if Foote got hurt... but I digress). Perhaps Adams or Gilbert is our LT of the future, but without Big Max, our season would probably look like it did before he came back to save it last year.

Is it wrong of me to think that his injury at the end of the season was a blessing in disguise? We got him back at a rock bottom price. Can you name a team out there that is getting more dollar for dollar value at that position than we are?