How does everyone feel about this article?

[steelerdude15]

Steelers' lack of line depth is magnified

A day after coach Mike Tomlin took the Pittsburgh Steelers to Dave and Busters to build some team unity, the Steelers will play the not-so-fun game of musical chairs along the offensive line.

With right tackle Mike Adams expected to be out until training camp after being stabbed last weekend, the Steelers' lack of depth on the line is going to be magnified over the last two weeks of offseason workouts. Pittsburgh has two choices to replace Adams, and neither are great options.

The Steelers could turn to Guy Whimper, a free agent from the Jacksonville Jaguars who was signed last month. Whimper has experience with 22 starts over six seasons, 15 of those in 2011. But it's not exactly good experience, especially from the quarterback's perspective. He led the NFL in sacks allowed in 2011 with 14, and gave up four sacks in six starts last season.

Read More:http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/70944/steelers-lack-of-line-depth-is-magnified

IMO, this is another joke from Hensley. He can say what he wants, but I'm not worried at all about our line. Not a single bit. Mike will be ready by training camp and I bet he'll be perfectly fine. He can also say what he wants about Kelvin not being a great player and that it "hurts" the line, but I highly disagree and think that Kelvin would do a good job if need to play for Mike. IMO, Kelvin did well when he started and played last year when both Mike and Marcus were out with injuries. Hensley needs to shut up and actually write decent articles for a change.

[Seven]

Yeah, I'm not really worried. Adams will be ready and if Beachum has to step in at any point I think he'll be fine.

[LLT]

You are right...there is a subtle "twist" to this article that Hensley uses to try and prove his point.....but the reality is that Adams will be ready when the season starts. If not, then Hensley still doesnt make a very good point because the starting lineup would still consist of Gilbert, Foster, Pouncey, DeCastro, Beachum....who, though a very young group, have combined for 123 starts.

[Chidi29]

No, I actually think he's right.

He's talking about lack of depth we have, not a lack of quality starters. And he's right, it's pretty barren and relying on a lot of unknowns right now. One injury (and we're the Steelers so expect two or three) and we're in trouble.

[blackngldblood]

Well, he is a known Ravens supporter so I would take everything he says about the Steelers as pure hate speech. But seriously, Kelvins a good kid and is gonna do very well when he learns the game more. He already did well on the spot last year.

[Psycho Ward 86]

how the hell could you justify not being worried? are people still not aware of how much of a MASH unit this o-line has been the past 5 years? Not sure what has happened that would make one feel confident in our depth given that we have a trend of injuries, barren depth, and are already down a starter at the beginning of June

[LLT]

how the hell could you justify not being worried? are people still not aware of how much of a MASH unit this o-line has been the past 5 years? Not sure what has happened that would make one feel confident in our depth given that we have a trend of injuries, barren depth, and are already down a starter at the beginning of June

1) Another year of experience with the starting 5
2) New O-line coach
3) Elimination of some of those players that were injury prone
4) Adams will be back before training camp starts

[GBMelBlount]

1) Another year of experience with the starting 5
2) New O-line coach
3) Elimination of some of those players that were injury prone
4) Adams will be back before training camp starts

Great points and I agree LLT.

However if we have money left I want a warm body on O line before anywhere else.

[86WARD]

It's a given that Pouncey will be injured at some point. This O-Line has been everything but healthy for a full season. Of course this would be a concern...even a Ravens supporter can see it...

[Moose]

I don't take anything that Hensley say's with grain of salt. He's one of the worst sport's writer's that is out there now. It's a shame that's who we have to put up with from the AFC North. You have to remember, he's from Baltimore....need to say more?

[NJarhead]

ESPN can take doom and gloom and shove it up their ass.

[steeldevil]

Put beachum or a rookie at rt for the time being. Whimper has years of film. The coaches know what they have with him. Lets learn more about some younger guys.

[fansince'76]

Hensley is a third-rate hack who wears his Ravens homerism on his sleeve. That's how I feel about it. Disney Channel II would need to put James Walker back in charge of their AFCN blog for me to begin taking it in any way seriously again.

[tube517]

I have more interest in the loudness of my farts than anything Jamison Jackhole has to say

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

[Psycho Ward 86]

1) Another year of experience with the starting 5
2) New O-line coach
3) Elimination of some of those players that were injury prone
4) Adams will be back before training camp starts

Thats assuming that they make it through a year. Which they havent for 5 consecutive years. We have yet to see if a new O-line coach will be a good or bad thing. The guys loved Kugler. 4 of the 5 projected starters missed games last year. Our top back ups across the entire line are Beachum and Whimper who is statistically up there as one of the worst tackles out there

[Dwinsgames]

Thats assuming that they make it through a year. Which they havent for 5 consecutive years. We have yet to see if a new O-line coach will be a good or bad thing. The guys loved Kugler. 4 of the 5 projected starters missed games last year. Our top back ups across the entire line are Beachum and Whimper who is statistically up there as one of the worst tackles out there


I have zero issue with Beachum and look for him to be a starter in this league at some point , Whimper sucks as a man on man blocker no question about it , HOWEVER , we will be running a zone scheme and his skill set ( on the surface at least ) points toward him being able to have success in that scheme , he has quick feet , is agile for a big man and possesses good balance and body control those are some of the primary things you look for in a zone blocking lineman .....

will he be successful , I haven't a clue at this point but I believe it is safe to say he has a better chance at success in this scheme than any other he has been a part of to this point ...

just sayin

[zulater]

1) Another year of experience with the starting 5
2) New O-line coach
3) Elimination of some of those players that were injury prone
4) Adams will be back before training camp starts

Uh actually we got rid of the one guy who played all the snaps last year. That would be Max Starks. :wink02:

But we did get rid of Colon Blow so that's something.

[KeiselPower99]

I didnt read the article as anything from ESPN is horrible. As for the article he is telling the truth and history shows that 1 or 2 guys will miss time. Gilbert missed most of last year as did DeCastro and Adams. Thats 3 of our starting 5 right now. A strong line is needed if we are to be serious contenders this season. Having Max at LT was a lot easier to swallow than Gilbert. As for the inside Malecki is the top guy now. as I dont think Beachum will be able to handle it. We are naive to think our line right now is a strong one.