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View Full Version : Kovacevic: Steelers' offensive identity, anyone?



stillers4me
06-20-2014, 09:53 AM
Dri Archer is so quick that, if the Steelers (http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/)' coaches have their way, not even their phone-book-thick playbook will contain him. All summer on the South Side, the team's third-round draft pick has bounced from scatback to slot receiver to wideout, changing roles and routes seemingly with every snap.

He might even be tasked with applying every ounce of that 5-foot-8, 173-pound frame as some sort of Minibus on occasion.

“We're not going to say, ‘Listen, he's in the game, so we're going to run sweeps and scat stuff.' ” Ben Roethlisberger was explaining. “If he's going to be in the game, he's going to run between the tackles. He'll have to pick up blitzing linebackers. He'll have to put his big-boy pads on.”........


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/dejankovacevic/dejancolumns/6294797-74/steelers-offense-archer#ixzz35Bv3iie6

oneforthetoe
06-20-2014, 10:29 AM
https://sp2.yimg.com/ib/th?id=HN.608025201590012614&pid=15.1

fansince'76
06-20-2014, 12:28 PM
I'm fine with whatever as long as we don't go back to this...

http://content6.flixster.com/question/49/23/65/4923652_std.jpg

stillers4me
06-20-2014, 12:36 PM
Or this...

http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1340364197/110/7157110.jpg

Craic
06-20-2014, 01:24 PM
I'm fine with whatever as long as we don't go back to this...

http://content6.flixster.com/question/49/23/65/4923652_std.jpg

But he won the race in the end!

Dwinsgames
06-20-2014, 02:53 PM
But he won the race in the end!

exactly .... I want to win the race in the end ... do not much care how we manage it as long as we manage it

tube517
06-20-2014, 04:03 PM
I'm fine with whatever as long as we don't go back to this...

http://content6.flixster.com/question/49/23/65/4923652_std.jpg

http://blu.stb.s-msn.com/i/49/34B26EDA50C30FD3EB079ECCDB96F.jpg :chuckle:

GBMelBlount
06-20-2014, 04:05 PM
exactly .... I want to win the race in the end ... do not much care how we manage it as long as we manage it


Well then hop on and enjoy the ride! :thumbsup:


http://gezi.files.wordpress.com/2007/12/nfl_quarterback_roethlisberger.jpg

steelreserve
06-20-2014, 04:11 PM
The Steelers' offensive identity is (hopefully) going to be a better offensive line so we actually have an effective running game, so instead of getting stuffed miserably on our first two drives and written off, we pick up some first downs and keep them guessing what we'll be doing for the rest of the game. Then when we pass Brown or Heath is usually wide open 15 yards down the field.

Archer's role in the offense I mostly see as the guy who gets 1-2 carries in the game and collapses like a cheap card table on first contact, then gets about 2 balls per game thrown his way as a WR, one of which is forced over the middle and gets knocked down by the nickel back or a LB coming across because he wasn't open at all, and the other of which he gets jammed at the line and can't fight it off, so he's running down the sideline out of bounds and the ball is a lob that goes 2 or 3 yards in front of him, and all he can do is make a half-assed reach for it with one arm.

Speed doesn't really do anything until AFTER you are able to get yourself open or hit a hole, and by all accounts Archer is not very good at either. All the defense has to do to cover a guy like that is jam him or back up. Besides kickoffs, the main impact I see him having is one reverse a game that maybe goes for a big gain, or maybe if he goes in motion and draws a mismatch being covered by a middle linebacker who gives him a cushion, so they throw him a super-quick slant underneath and he takes off. Better than nothing, I guess.

I really thought this was a wasted pick and haven't seen much to make me think otherwise except hype, but I hope I'm surprised.

GBMelBlount
06-20-2014, 04:11 PM
I hate to add this, too, but it's no certainty we'll ever see the pre-knee-injury Heath Miller again.

Heath had very average speed in his prime...

in his 30's coming off an injury Heath may not be as productive as we expect.

I really hope we see some fast development out of Branchflower.

steelreserve
06-20-2014, 05:34 PM
I don't think speed was ever Heath's game. More like a knack for getting open, and somehow being able to catch anything thrown his way even if he's fighting two guys for it. He just needs enough speed to get by.

That aside, we do need to start thinking about "The Future" at the tight end position, with a capital T and a capital F. Heath has a rare combination of being able to catch and block, not catch OR block like 95% of TEs nowadays. Most of the top-rated tight ends coming out of college are receivers first and blocking is a distant afterthought. And most of the good blockers have the elusiveness and hands of a not-too-bright donkey. That could be a real problem as we try to find a replacement.

GBMelBlount
06-20-2014, 06:48 PM
Ya, but if we had an offensive line that could block a blocking tight end might not be such a necessity.

steelreserve
06-21-2014, 05:06 AM
A blocking tight end isn't a necessity. Any reasonable old-school TE can block the guy in front of him. Any reasonable TE of the "modern" kind can split out wide and draw the LB or the nickel back off to cover him. An awesome TE like Heath can line up and be able to do either one well, so 2 or 3 guys are watching where he goes and not knowing what they're supposed to be doing until the middle of the play.

Hell, Spaeth can block, but that sucks because he can't catch. We could probably have Jimmy Graham on the team lining up wide often enough to want $12.5M, and that would suck too and do us no good. I don't know the last TE that's been like Heath, but it's not easy.

Mojouw
06-21-2014, 10:32 AM
I would take having the next Jimmy Graham type talent for a couple of years and then a messy holdout in exchange for some of the roster problems this team currently has!

On a more serious note, the Steelers will be very unlikely to find a replacement for Miller that replicates his skill-set. Especially if they keep attempting to do it in the seventh round. All around TE's that do not have one skill that "jumps" off the screen on college tape seem to be increasingly rare. TE has become a catch-all position for athletically gifted individuals who seem to lack a specific football skill besides big and fast.

Dwinsgames
06-21-2014, 10:42 AM
I would take having the next Jimmy Graham type talent for a couple of years and then a messy holdout in exchange for some of the roster problems this team currently has!

On a more serious note, the Steelers will be very unlikely to find a replacement for Miller that replicates his skill-set. Especially if they keep attempting to do it in the seventh round. All around TE's that do not have one skill that "jumps" off the screen on college tape seem to be increasingly rare. TE has become a catch-all position for athletically gifted individuals who seem to lack a specific football skill besides big and fast.

we missed the opportunity to have that guy from this past draft , he was selected 65th over all

Mojouw
06-21-2014, 10:43 AM
we missed the opportunity to have that guy from this past draft , he was selected 65th over all

Excellent point. Perhaps the Steelers simply are not interested in that type of TE? Or they are convinced they can squeeze another couple of seasons out of Miller?

Perhaps they are of the opinion that Miller is secretly a TE playing robot from the future and will never need to retire?

steelreserve
06-21-2014, 11:58 AM
Excellent point. Perhaps the Steelers simply are not interested in that type of TE? Or they are convinced they can squeeze another couple of seasons out of Miller?

Perhaps they are of the opinion that Miller is secretly a TE playing robot from the future and will never need to retire?


Based on what we're doing with the NT position, that's a good guess. Our guy there quit playing two years ago and the front office still doesn't know he retired. SEEMS TO WORK GOOD