The Worilds of Ziggy Hood

[primantibro1]

Yes, Batch played a great game. And yes our d-backs sans Ike, despite a few blown plays, look like they are developing into a top NFL unit if we can keep them together.

However, a takeaway I got from this game is that Mr. Worilds and Mr. Hood seemed to have timed their "lights on" moments in unison - and their timing couldn't have been better. These are guys who have the physical tools to be more than serviceable, rather, they should be disruptive. Yesterday, they were just that. Yes, it doesn't hurt Worilds that Harrison is getting up to speed on the other side, but, this is the first time I saw number 53 and actually was glad to see him in the game.

As far as Ziggy is concerned, I know it is a HUGE challenge to play DE in LeBeau's system but his energy was high, he was in position, and he was a very big factor.

Hats off to Batch & Co. ... Just giving some props to the next generation of playmakers (hopefully.)

[Dwinsgames]

http://www.steelersuniverse.com/forums/image.php?u=1156&type=sigpic&dateline=1354555649

that just is not right ....

its lunch time and I am starving and have to look at this ???

[Craic]

I actually saw Ziggy Hood accelerating to the QB and was like--he can move! It's scary when people that big can actually run that fast.

[Steeldude]

The DL didn't look too swift in that game.

Worilds seems to be getting better with each game.

[Psycho Ward 86]

*number 93

[Count Steeler]

Worilds does play better on Woodley's side. He has to keep stepping up and improving. Great to see some of these young guys contributing.

[BlastFurnace]

At this point, Wordlis is much better than Woodley. I hope Tomlin makes Woodley earn his starting spot back to motivate him to get back to his 2008 form.

[Count Steeler]

Woodley may become a cap casualty. His 13mil is going to be tough to swallow, given Worilds and Carter play decently and have room for improvement.

Might be good to trade him in the off season.

[BlastFurnace]

They need Harrison to come back healthy in order to get rid of Woodley. It amazes me how much better of an OLB that Harrison is than all the rest that we have. Even injured, it's not even close.

[Steeldude]

Woodley may become a cap casualty. His 13mil is going to be tough to swallow, given Worilds and Carter play decently and have room for improvement.

Might be good to trade him in the off season.

Trade is the best option, but they will probably only get a 4th rounder at best. Well, that's if someone actually wants to take on his absurd contract. Cutting will leave too much dead cap money. They will most likely restructure Woodley's contract.

If the Steelers do draft an OLB I hope it is actually an OLB, not a converted DE.

[Count Steeler]

Trade is the best option, but they will probably only get a 4th rounder at best. Well, that's if someone actually wants to take on his absurd contract. Cutting will leave too much dead cap money. They will most likely restructure Woodley's contract.

If the Steelers do draft an OLB I hope it is actually an OLB, not a converted DE.

I'm liking the trade route. At least it will dump the cap money. Doesn't Oakland want a OLB?

[Craic]

Woodley may become a cap casualty. His 13mil is going to be tough to swallow, given Worilds and Carter play decently and have room for improvement.

Might be good to trade him in the off season.

Harrison will be gone before Woodley, IMO. Harrison only has a couple years left in him at his age, and he's a 10 Million dollar hit against the cap. I see him going long before I see a twenty-something year old Woodley going.

The real question for me, is what happens with Troy. He's a 10 million dollar hit and has not been healthy over the last few years in comparison to his money. Moreover, our defense is number 1 against the pass and 5 against the run without him playing. I think something will end up being done about him and the contract, because I just don't see how he's worth 10 million in a cap hit by playing 4-6 games this year and having little impact due to injuries in 2010 on top of it. Don't get me wrong, he's a great player, but I think his playing style is catching up with his body.

Beyond that, I think Roethlisberger renegotiates his contract - he's a 20.5 million dollar hit for 2013. He could do that and clear up 5 mill or so. Heck, sign a new contract and push the money back a year or two.

Then there's the players who are in the last year of their contract next year, and a new contract could reduce the Cap hit. Brett Keisel is a 4.5 Mil. hit next year. I could see him signing a new contract and reducing that. Clark is a 4.7 mill hit next year. I could see him signing a new contract and reducing that by a couple or three mill in a signing bonus spread over two or three years.

[steelreserve]

It's pretty obvious to me that a healthy Harrison makes whatever OLB is lined up opposite him look a lot better. That includes Woodley. Neither Worilds nor Woodley was getting it done without Harrison. This year has been pretty indicative that Woodley is dependent on others to help elevate his game, not the other way around.

We really need to do everything we can to keep Harrison around another year or two - and I would gladly swallow the $10M cap hit for him before Woodley. At this point, if you asked me to pick between Woodley and Worilds straight up, I'd take Worilds because it would solve lots of money problems and he still has a lot of room to develop; who knows, in a year or two he may be able to stand on his own without Harrison. With Woodley, we know what we've got and it's not worth a tenth of our cap space. It would be a mistake to place our bet on Woodley becoming the dominant OLB once Harrison is gone, because I don't see that happening.