Bud Dupree In No-Win Situation With Fandom In Season Opener

[polamalubeast]

This is the first time in his four-year NFL career that Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree is actually going to start in a season opener. He was not in the starting lineup until late in his rookie season in 2015, then he began the 2016 season on the Physically Unable to Perform List. He also missed the 2017 opener due to injury, but played every other game.

And wouldn’t you know it, the Cleveland Browns are throwing him what is at least temporarily a no-win situation, as far as the fans are concerned. The AFC North rivals have opted to start rookie undrafted free agent Desmond Harrison as their new left tackle, replacing the retired Joe Thomas.

That means that it ultimately doesn’t matter whether or not Dupree does well in the game, at least when he rushes from the right side, which is what he is expected to be doing with his time, primarily. If he does poorly, then it will serve as immense confirmation bias for those who are convinced he is a bust, no matter how good Harrison turns out to be in the weeks to come.

Alternatively, even if he plays well, his performance will be disqualified from receiving accolades because of the quality of competition. Dupree could record three sacks against the left tackle making his NFL debut and the chorus would ring simply, ‘now do it against a real tackle’.

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https://steelersdepot.com/2018/09/bud-dupree-in-no-win-situation-with-fandom-in-season-opener/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SteelersDepotBlog+%28Steelers +Depot%29

[DesertSteel]

How is going against an undrafted rookie a no-win situation? What the heck is going to be an ideal situation for him? Just play football and stop excuse-making.

[Mojouw]

How is going against an undrafted rookie a no-win situation? What the heck is going to be an ideal situation for him? Just play football and stop excuse-making.

Did you read the article?

It actually had an interesting point to make.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Did you read the article?

It actually had an interesting point to make.
Sounds like a whiny argument.

-"If Bud doesn't get 3 sacks against a UDFA rookie he is a bust. If Bud gets 3 sacks, its because he is playing against weak competition. Stop being mean to poor Bud Dupree". That is the kind of tone I get from it.

[Mojouw]

Sounds like a whiny argument.

-"If Bud doesn't get 3 sacks against a UDFA rookie he is a bust. If Bud gets 3 sacks, its because he is playing against weak competition. Stop being mean to poor Bud Dupree". That is the kind of tone I get from it.

I didn't say it was well written.

But there remains the totally unanswered question of what is "enough" for fans to see from Dupree this year to be satisfied?

Everyone seems to be able to understand that he has not lived up to his draft billing, but no one seems to be able to lay out what doing that would look like.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I didn't say it was well written.

But there remains the totally unanswered question of what is "enough" for fans to see from Dupree this year to be satisfied?

Everyone seems to be able to understand that he has not lived up to his draft billing, but no one seems to be able to lay out what doing that would look like.
Fans want to see sacks and TFL, they like the splash plays.

Still, if he sets the edge in the run game, puts up approx. 8 sacks, numerous QB pressures and is good in coverage then he will actually have a good season in the eyes of the football people that make the decision on his contract......but anything less than 10 sack season will be a bust for the haters.

He has the entire season to show what he is capable of and not just game 1 against a rookie LT.

[DesertSteel]

Did you read the article?

It actually had an interesting point to make.
I read parts of it. I grasp the point. Some things in life you don't get credit for because you were "supposed to do it." I get it! My counter point is that after 4 years, this is nonsense. Just line up and play.

[steelreserve]

I didn't say it was well written.

But there remains the totally unanswered question of what is "enough" for fans to see from Dupree this year to be satisfied?

Everyone seems to be able to understand that he has not lived up to his draft billing, but no one seems to be able to lay out what doing that would look like.

Create visible disruption and mess up plays. Make an impact on your own. I don't care if he gets 20 sacks while doing that or none. Up until now, he's mostly just gotten easily blocked out of the play unless somebody screws up.

[FrancoLambert]

I didn't say it was well written.

But there remains the totally unanswered question of what is "enough" for fans to see from Dupree this year to be satisfied?

Everyone seems to be able to understand that he has not lived up to his draft billing, but no one seems to be able to lay out what doing that would look like.

”Enough” would be to have a visible impact on the opposing offense.
”Enough” would be setting a hard edge on running plays and not taking himself out of plays.
”Enough” would be pursuing from the back side of a play at full speed and not jogging to arrive very late.

That’s a start.
The way I see it, considering who he’s going up against on Sunday, we better see the breakthrough.

[HollywoodSteel]

He is in a possible win situation.

He single handedly wins the game; strip sack after strip sack. We score

We win

Bud’s a winner :)

Yeah Bud!

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

They say 90% of success is just showing up so Bud is killing it compared to LB.

[HollywoodSteel]

They say 90% of success is just showing up so Bud is killing it compared to LB.

Bud already won by everyone forgetting how much they hate him, in the wake of an ACTUAL villain like Bell.

[Steeldude]

And the excuses begin.

[Cyphon25]

And the excuses begin.

There are no excuses for Bud in the article and if I am remembering right the Depot aren't exactly big buyers in Bud. I know Dave Bryan specifically told people to calm down on Buds preseason game against the Titans? After that Dave got a private message from Bud on Twitter and Dupree wasn't to pleased. Kozora was the biggest buyer in Bud and even he has fallen back from that this offseason.

Matthews intention was simply to point out the no win situation for Bud in the eyes of a lot of fans and truthfully the same thing applies to the Steelers/Browns. If the Steelers win this week the narrative is "we were supposed to beat the Browns" and if we lose it is "we just lost to the 0-16 Browns". I am kind of rambling but Matthew even qualified in the article by saying "To be honest, the position is not entirely unfair.".