polamalubeast
04-30-2019, 05:33 PM
While the Pittsburgh Steelers did somewhat address the outside linebacker position during the 2019 NFL Draft with the selection of former Northern Illinois defensive end Sutton Smith, it’s hard to imagine the 6003, 233-pound MAC-pass-rushing-dynamo becoming a long-time starter and thus the team’s heir apparent to current starter Bud Dupree, who is scheduled to play what might ultimately be his final season in Pittsburgh in 2019 while earning more than $9 million in the process.
With Dupree now seemingly set to go unchallenged for his starting outside linebacker position this year, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was asked during a Tuesday morning interview on 93.7 The Fan to reveal what it is that he and the rest of the Steelers organization sees in Dupree that a lot of analysts and fans on the outside probably don’t see in the former first-round draft pick out of Kentucky.
“When we look at Bud and we look at T.J. [Watt] collectively, those two had as good a season as we’ve had out of that position,” Colbert said. “And you know, Coach [Mike Tomlin] made the switch last year and put T.J. mostly on the left and Bud mostly on the right and the four, Cam [Heyward] and [Stephon] Tuitt and [Javon] Hargrave, with those two, we got more pressure last year than we had in recent years. So, I think Bud is a part of that. Can he do more? Does he want to do more? Absolutely. And we think he will. So, as I’ve said, at 9-6-1, we weren’t good enough in any one area, but we certainly believe that Bud was a contributor and he will be a contributor probably even in a more beneficial mode for us this year.”
While Colbert still seemingly has a lot of confidence in Dupree, and in 2019 possibly being the best season of his career, the Steelers general manager was also quick to point out that the depth behind the team’s two starters maybe isn’t as bad as what most seem to think.
read more
https://steelersdepot.com/2019/04/gm-kevin-colbert-defends-bud-dupree-steelers-presumed-lack-of-olb-depth/
With Dupree now seemingly set to go unchallenged for his starting outside linebacker position this year, Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert was asked during a Tuesday morning interview on 93.7 The Fan to reveal what it is that he and the rest of the Steelers organization sees in Dupree that a lot of analysts and fans on the outside probably don’t see in the former first-round draft pick out of Kentucky.
“When we look at Bud and we look at T.J. [Watt] collectively, those two had as good a season as we’ve had out of that position,” Colbert said. “And you know, Coach [Mike Tomlin] made the switch last year and put T.J. mostly on the left and Bud mostly on the right and the four, Cam [Heyward] and [Stephon] Tuitt and [Javon] Hargrave, with those two, we got more pressure last year than we had in recent years. So, I think Bud is a part of that. Can he do more? Does he want to do more? Absolutely. And we think he will. So, as I’ve said, at 9-6-1, we weren’t good enough in any one area, but we certainly believe that Bud was a contributor and he will be a contributor probably even in a more beneficial mode for us this year.”
While Colbert still seemingly has a lot of confidence in Dupree, and in 2019 possibly being the best season of his career, the Steelers general manager was also quick to point out that the depth behind the team’s two starters maybe isn’t as bad as what most seem to think.
read more
https://steelersdepot.com/2019/04/gm-kevin-colbert-defends-bud-dupree-steelers-presumed-lack-of-olb-depth/