Pope boasts red-zone pedigree

[zulater]

Steelers’ Pope boasts red-zone pedigree


Leonard Pope can block — that’s evident by his 6-foot-8, 264-pound frame. His 24 receptions with the Kansas City Chiefs last year and five touchdowns with Arizona a couple of years before that indicates he also can catch the ball.

So the only question when the Steelers plucked Pope off the unrestricted free-agent market in April to fill a need as their second tight end was how he would perform in high-pressure situations that come with playing for a Super Bowl-contending team.

Actually, Pope answered that concern just about a year ago with much higher stakes than an outcome of a football game.

Pope raced out of the Troy Hill Apartments in his hometown of Americus, Ga., after hearing screaming coming from Anne Moore that her 6-year-old son, Bryson, was drowning. Without hesitation, a fully dressed Pope jumped in the water and rescued the boy from the bottom of the pool.

“I guess you can check off the ‘Performing-Under-Pressure’ box for him with that one,” tight end Heath Miller said.

Now, the Steelers are hoping they can check off the “Red-Zone Woes” box for their offense.

Despite being the fourth-ranked offense in the AFC and 12th overall, it didn’t transition into points. The Steelers were 21st in total points, averaging 20.3 per game, and a lot of that was because their offense stalled in the red zone. The Steelers scored touchdowns only 50 percent of the time they got inside the 20-yard line, which was 17th in the league.

Pope is expected to alleviate that problem this year.

“I don’t know, man. I’m just out here doing whatever Coach asks me to do; whatever I can do to help the team,” Pope said.

The red zone would be a start.

Out of Pope’s nine career touchdowns, seven have come inside the red zone — including four his first year with Todd Haley as the Cardinals offensive coordinator in 2007. Pope also has a penchant for moving the chains. Nearly half of his 102 career catches have been for first down

[LLT]

There are so many intriquing story lines in this years camp. So many rookies...second year players...and free agents who may end up making a difference.

[SMR]

Excitement abounds

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

What is this "red zone touchdown" thing that the author refers to?

[tube517]

What is this "red zone touchdown" thing that the author refers to?

I tried looking here but found nothing.

[SteelGhost]

I tried looking here but found nothing.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I tried looking here but found nothing.

Thanks, I just learned to speak Gaelic from that site and think the loose translation means that we should just kick a FG from the Red Zone.

[polamalubeast]

With Pope, the red zone offense of the steelers could be worse because of the penalty problem of Pope.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

With Pope, the red zone offense of the steelers could be worse because of the penalty problem of Pope.

What penalty problem?......don't tell me the Pope was caught with altarboys.

[X-Terminator]

What penalty problem?......don't tell me the Pope was caught with altarboys.

It's pretty well known that Pope is a penalty machine. That will get old real fast with the fans if it happens too often in critical situations.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

I'm not too worried much about the 3rd TE's habit of penalties. Guys think that Haley cut Jared Gaither last year for that false start against us....why would he stand for some guy that is going to cost yardage each game.

[X-Terminator]

I'm not too worried much about the 3rd TE's habit of penalties. Guys think that Haley cut Jared Gaither last year for that false start against us....why would he stand for some guy that is going to cost yardage each game.

Going into the season he is #2 on the depth chart. Saunders is suspended for 4 games and Johnson got moved to FB. And the fact that he has followed Haley from AZ to KC and now to Pittsburgh says that he does stand for a guy who costs the team yardage every game, at least in this case.

[zulater]

Going into the season he is #2 on the depth chart. Saunders is suspended for 4 games and Johnson got moved to FB. And the fact that he has followed Haley from AZ to KC and now to Pittsburgh says that he does stand for a guy who costs the team yardage every game, at least in this case.

Obviously Pope is giving Haley more on the field production and/ or leadership, than he's taking away with the penalties, otherwise he wouldn't keep bringing him along for the ride.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Obviously Pope is giving Haley more on the field production and/ or leadership, than he's taking away with the penalties, otherwise he wouldn't keep bringing him along for the ride.

Exactly.

Again, many of the Jared Gaither or Todd Haley haters believe that Gathier got released by the Chiefs last season for 1 false start vs. the Steelers. If that is true, then I dont see why Haley would bring in a guy that had 4 holding calls last year if he wasnt productive.

Of course, the first time he gets whistled for an infraction, the fans will say he gets 10 penalties a game.

[X-Terminator]

Obviously Pope is giving Haley more on the field production and/ or leadership, than he's taking away with the penalties, otherwise he wouldn't keep bringing him along for the ride.

Yes, of course. I was mainly following up to polamalubeast's point about Pope's penalty issues with my initial post, and that if one happens at a critical time (taking away a potential game-winning TD, for example), the fans will ride his ass 6 ways from Sunday, which Gonzo apparently agrees with me on. Look at what happened when Kemo committed dumb penalties at critical times, and fans still get on Willie Colon for his false starts even though he is a pretty good lineman.

[ShutDown24]

I've been watching a lot of Chiefs games from the last few seasons recently. And while I'm not specifically watching to see how Pope performs, he has managed to jump off the screen a few times. The one thing I'll say about him is that you're going to get a lot of effort. It might not look like it sometimes, as he doesn't seem to have great control over that 6'8 body, but he can put all of it to use pretty effectively when all goes well. He's certainly above average as a #3 tight end.

I disagree that he is a penalty machine. He does have balance issues which I've kind of already eluded to, and that sometimes gets him in trouble, but he's pretty consistently a reliable guy. I don't think I've seen any "stupid" penalties (Ala Chris Kemoeatu) which, to me, would be much more of a red flag.

[X-Terminator]

Exactly.

Again, many of the Jared Gaither or Todd Haley haters believe that Gathier got released by the Chiefs last season for 1 false start vs. the Steelers. If that is true, then I dont see why Haley would bring in a guy that had 4 holding calls last year if he wasnt productive.

Of course, the first time he gets whistled for an infraction, the fans will say he gets 10 penalties a game.

Only 4 holding calls?

Steelers Depot‏@Steelersdepot
Leonard Pope was flagged 10 times in 2011 with 4 being for holding, 3 for false starts. Tied team lead in penalties. #steelers

Sounds like he'll fit right in.

[ShutDown24]

Only 4 holding calls?

The holding calls and false starts I've seen from Pope have had to do mostly with balance issues. Nothing some good conditioning shouldn't fix. Kansas City is supposedly notorious for having a horrendous strength department. I don't recall as many miscues from Pope when he was on Arizona's roster.

[El-Gonzo Jackson]

Only 4 holding calls?

Yeah, 4 for a season in maybe a bad year isnt much, considering that holding happens every play in the NFL. How many times does James Harrison get held in a single NFL game?

The holding calls and false starts I've seen from Pope have had to do mostly with balance issues. Nothing some good conditioning shouldn't fix. Kansas City is supposedly notorious for having a horrendous strength department. I don't recall as many miscues from Pope when he was on Arizona's roster.

Interesting, I havent watched him very close at KC. Fact is that if the guy was a liability, then he would not get signed to the roster. The other fact is that the majority of fans blow things way out of proportion when it comes to O line (yes, blocking TE's work out with O line often), yet they give WR's who hold downfield or block in the back a pass.

[X-Terminator]

The holding calls and false starts I've seen from Pope have had to do mostly with balance issues. Nothing some good conditioning shouldn't fix. Kansas City is supposedly notorious for having a horrendous strength department. I don't recall as many miscues from Pope when he was on Arizona's roster.

Well then I hope the Steelers' strength department helps him, if that is indeed most of the problem he had with penalties. Listen, I'm not saying the guy is a terrible football player...again, I was expanding on polamalubeast's point. There's a reason the guy was brought in, and that's because his good qualities outweigh the bad and Haley obviously trusts him. At the same time, I really hope he does clean up his penalty issues, no matter what the cause may be. The fans here are not forgiving of untimely penalties.

[zulater]

Well then I hope the Steelers' strength department helps him, if that is indeed most of the problem he had with penalties. Listen, I'm not saying the guy is a terrible football player...again, I was expanding on polamalubeast's point. There's a reason the guy was brought in, and that's because his good qualities outweigh the bad and Haley obviously trusts him. At the same time, I really hope he does clean up his penalty issues, no matter what the cause may be. The fans here are not forgiving of untimely penalties.

I think cheap and unnecessary penalties are what tend to piss us off the most. The jumping on the pile after the play, throwing the retaliatory punch virtually every time you're baited, etc... is what got Kemo to be reviled more than the Super Bowl safety he caused or the Super Bowl pick six that he primarily was responsible for. Come to think of it Kemo is leaving some big shoes to fill when it comes to the gratuitous brain fart department. I think he might retire the trophy. I don't think we have to worry about Pope being his successor in misplay's.

Oops just remembered the Super Bowl safety was on the center Hartwig. It was such a Kemo move, I got confused.