These are not exactly difference making players that are being allowed to leave without a contract.
Printable View
These are not exactly difference making players that are being allowed to leave without a contract.
I stopped getting my hopes up when these visits are announced. :ranger:
Blount will be 2 1/2 years older than Bettis was when we brought him in, but with slightly less wear on his tires, and still well on the right side of 30. He's the same type of player and a guy I wanted to begin with, nevermind his punch and suspension incident. It's crazy to me that he's going to come at an affordable price. Bell and Blount would be dynamite for years to come, especially if Munchak gets this o-line whipped into shape. Lock him up long term while the getting's good... Pittsburgh is the perfect home for him.
Blount long term? Why on earth would the Steelers want to do that?
What does Blount do well? He can simply not be on the field on passing downs as his blocking is bad and his receiving skills are non-existent. In fact his presence in the huddle increases the chances of an incompletion by about 41%. So he is big and runs "well" on early downs? I mean I guess. Technically so did Redman for a season or so.
What would his role be on the team? Early down "thumper"? So Bell goes to the bench on 1st and 2nd downs? Blount simply can not play on 3rd downs. So he comes in for a series here and there, maybe short yardage. And every time he checks into the game the entire stadium will know it is a run.
Look Blount for like maybe a million bucks for one year might be alright, but not for more $$ than that and no way would I want tied to his contract over any length of time.
Andre Brown is a better option if they want to spend money on the position.
he brings a solid average and much needed depth at the position.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojouw
He would spell Bell for a series here and there.
Plus perhaps short yardage opportunities.
For a inexpensive price on a one or two year contract worth it iMO.
In situations where the Steelers have a comfortable lead and the opposing defense is starting to get tired?
Blount, Blount, Blount. Cowherball at its finest :lol: (as long as they wait until after halftime to start doing it...)
I don't get all the hate on Blount. He does one thing and does it well, which is more than you can say about any of our other backs besides Bell last year. I'd rather have a change-of-pace back who can run the ball effectively and not catch or block, than have one who can't run and maybe does one other thing well sometimes.
First and foremost, a running back has to be able to run the ball. If you can't do that, you're a very limited-use specialist, and there's room for like one of those guys per team. We seem to carry 3 or 4 of those guys and assume that equals one effective backup. But since none of them can run the ball, it doesn't work.
Seriously. Having one guy who can kind of catch but not block or run, plus one guy who can kind of block but not catch or run, plus one guy who can kind of do short yardage but not catch or run, is not the same thing as having a backup RB. You're much better off having someone who can run and then sort out the rest at the end of the depth chart.
I wouldn't mind it. He is a bruiser, and we saw what he did the end of last year and briefly in TB. As a change of pace back he is great, and wouldn't mind him around for a couple of years. But to sign him "long term" and pretend like he is a star? Nah.
I am more intrigued at the thought of Blount over MJD...
Did we all forget that he had a good rookie year, a terrible sophmore year, and then a decent year in a highly specific specialized role in NE?
Blount is simply not very good. His name and past production will get him more money than he will be worth.
I am not interested in signing a guy whose name recognition will cash more paychecks than his production will.
his production was decent for New England and the Steelers won't overpay for his services. Will have to disagree with your stance.......Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojouw
meh...he doesn't really have that great a name recognition...Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojouw
But the guy has almost a 5 YPC average. He's not a slouch...
The price just went up on Blount , Ravens all of the sudden have interest
The Baltimore Sun said the move didn't make much sense for the rats since they have Rice and Pierce. I don't think Blount wants to sit around and wait for short yardage.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwinsgames
But I doubt the Ravens want the Steelers to have him. If they blow up the price, Blount's agent will think he can get more, and that buys time for another team to snap him up (or the Steelers to sign someone lackluster) before Blount settles back down into our price range.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoes
I'm sure the rats don't want us to have him, but I'm not buying Blount wants to sit on the bench and wait for 3rd and 2. I can't see the rats paying high dollar for that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelerette
Yeah, so the question is whether he takes the bait.
If we had Bell and Blount, that gives us room to either bring in a Verron Haynes type, or to resign Howling, someone like that. And maybe then to add a real FB... (knock on wood).
I wonder how Howling's recovery is coming along?
Lol. How the fuck are the ravens going to justify that to blount when there are 2 do-it-all backs playing in front of him? The only teams that can blow up the price on us are the ones that can justify giving him significant playing timeQuote:
Originally Posted by Steelerette
Assuming they keep Ray "beat-her" RiceQuote:
Originally Posted by Shoes
Amazing how *hushed* that issue has become!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dwinsgames
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoes
The Ravens don't have to do much. If they drive up the price by 50 bucks, they pretty much put him out of our reach. That's all this is about, period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelerette
There's a great fullback available in the draft every year in rounds 5-7, and usually some decent ones that go unsigned. We never even try. Face it, we're just not interested.
Blount gave up 7 pressures in 146 pass blocking opportunities, less than 5% of the time, and not once, in the 35 pass blocking opportunities last season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mojouw
http://www.steelersdepot.com/2014/03...-the-steelers/
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoes
I guess okay.
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/...ephens-howling
I saw those stats earlier and has quite surprised. I had always read that Tampa released him because he couldn't catch or pass block and Martin could.Quote:
Originally Posted by Psycho Ward 86
Maybe Tampa is just full of crap?
I seem to be solidly in the minority here about Blount. Perhaps that should clue me in that I need to change my opinion. I just don't see anything to him to get excited about. Other than the fact that he is a big man who runs hard between the tackles. I mean who doesn't like that?
Part of the excitement I think has to be that he has a similar playstyle to Bettis, but...
1) Bell is our feature back, Blount would be secondary contributor, and
2) There will never be another Bettis
I wish people would stop saying, every time there's a guy on the large side who runs hard, "Steelers fans are excited because they think he's another Bettis" or "All that Steelers fans care about is having a big running back because they want another Bettis."
Who exactly are all these legions of Steelers fans who are apparently too stupid to spell their own names or eat with a fork? That's about how simple-minded you'd have to be to actually think that. I don't think anyone is so dumb they think being big automatically makes you "OMG THE NEXT BETTIS!!"
Really what's going on is we've had about 20 running backs shuffle through since Bettis, and out of those, 19 and a half of them were RBs who couldn't hit a hole if their lives depended on it, so they dicked around in the backfield before making a weak attempt to get back to the line of scrimmage, which usually ended with them running into the linemen's asses and then getting tackled. (The other one was Mendenhall, who ran like an actual RB for one or two seasons, and then started doing what I just described.) Nobody's confusing Najeh Davenport or Gary Russell or Isaac Redman or Jonathan Dwyer with Bettis, although the instant anyone was happy about their good plays, of which there were some, they got "OMG YOU JUST THINK ITS BETTIS!!"
No. Nobody's that dumb. All we really want is a normal running back who can actually run forward instead of sucking. We've had SO many "running backs" who suck at running. Yeah, it's great that they can block or be on special teams, but better if they can, you know ... RUN. That's all we want.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steelerette
3) any other questions see 2
PREACH IT!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by steelreserve