UPDATE: Steelers Release Blount

[The Bark]

Look, I'm as pissed off as the next guy about the way it turned out, but you cannot realistically expect to know whether the "cancer" thing is real or just a lot of overblown hype based on the limited contact you'd have with the guy before a signing. An interview and a couple of workouts. You can fake it through that. I, like a lot of people, thought it was a great signing at a great price when they announced it. Any of the blame on this one is squarely on Blount for being a total dickbag.

So let me ask you a question: in your opinion, should he have been suspended or did he deserve the boot? Your Mike Tomlin. What decision do you make at this particular point in time? And for shits and giggles, what if Bell did this? What would have happened? Would we have the same outcome?

[Shoes]

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
News: LeGarrette Blount, released by the Steelers in November, rushes for 148 yards and three touchdowns to carry the Patriots into the Super Bowl against the Seahawks.
Views: This will serve as Exhibit A for classic sports hindsight, I’ll predict, for the next two weeks. And it’s sure to be ridiculous to the core.
Mike Tomlin and the Steelers absolutely made the right move in releasing Blount when they did and, as I recall, it was almost universally applauded at the time. That can’t and shouldn’t be rewritten. Blount’s unpardonable offense was walking out on his team during a game in Nashville, and I called immediately for his release in the column from LP Field that night. It wasn’t his first or only offense. The marijuana incident before the season with Le’Veon Bell was the first. Then came this. And somewhere mixed into all that was that Blount had lost the faith of a good chunk — though not all — of the locker room. That’s why Maurkice Pouncey called it ‘a blessing‘ when Blount was released. Others were more animated. Even if some disagreed, the risk of division over the matter wasn’t going to be worth it.
Debate freely about what would have happened to the Steelers in the playoffs when Bell went down, but it says here Blount wouldn’t have mattered because no one was running on the Ravens’ front seven. That includes the Patriots, which is why Bill Belichick went all-pass to beat Baltimore in the next round and Blount had a whopping 1 yard on three carries. Had Bell been healthy, the Steelers would have deployed him primarily as a receiver. Blount wouldn’t have helped in that area.
Dispel that myth with an atom bomb. Please. It’s silly.
Moreover, who’s to say the Steelers would have had that late-season surge to finish 11-5 if they’d never have sent that swift, powerful message that the team was more important than a single miscreant?
This team really was together. And Bell, it shouldn’t be forgotten, found a whole new level to his performance once Blount was gone. The players increasingly believed in Bell, even as they increasingly believed in each other.
No need to soil that with some revisionist narratives.






http://dkonpittsburghsports.com/2015/01/19/newsviews-blount-carries-pats-super-bowl/

[LLT]

All this is based on faulty logic.

Blount is not the reason the Pats are in the Super Bowl. Blount is not the reason the Steelers are not in the Super Bowl.

Any argument otherwise is just a hypothetical "what if".

Blount was a loser who didn't want to be a responsible adult. I could give a rats butt if he gets a ring or not...A loser with a ring is still a loser.

[polamalubeast]

All this is based on faulty logic.

Blount is not the reason the Pats are in the Super Bowl. Blount is not the reason the Steelers are not in the Super Bowl.

Any argument otherwise is just a hypothetical "what if".

Blount was a loser who didn't want to be a responsible adult. I could give a rats butt if he gets a ring or not...A loser with a ring is still a loser.

Agree on this

Gray had 204 yards and 4 TD against the same colts in november!!!!

[The Bark]

This team really was together. And Bell, it shouldn’t be forgotten, found a whole new level to his performance once Blount was gone. The players increasingly believed in Bell, even as they increasingly believed in each other.
No need to soil that with some revisionist narratives.

How is it revisionist? The facts are the facts: Tomlin et al signed Blount. Tomlin et al regretted it and got rid of him. Stop making it about Blount. I couldn't agree more - the guy's a piece of shit, did what he did, blah blah blah.

You know what, let me tell you a story. I've got a brother who's been married a couple of times and lord knows how many relationships he's been in. He starts of falling in love with some girl, telling her this that and the other thing and she becomes the light of his life. At some point, something goes wrong and before too long, she's the bane of his existence. She's evil incarnate. It's all her fault and they break up.

Time goes on and he meets another girl. Thinks she's the one. She's the cherry on top of his ice cream sundae. Before too long, it starts to melt and gosh darn it, it's all her fault. Same old same old. They break up and he's onto the next one.

How many times do you think people are going to agree with him before they realize, hey, you're the only constant part of the equation here. Rather than trying to change every girl that comes along that results in heartache, why not own up to it and change yourself or your approach?

Now apply that to Tomlin - and granted, as noted before, obviously it extends to the front office and to Art, so let's take a look at their dancing partners, shall we?


First Round: Lawrence Timmons, LB
Second Round: Lamar Woodley, DE
Third Round: Matt Spaeth, TE
Fourth Round: Daniel Sepulveda, P
Fourth Round: Ryan McBean, DT
Fifth Round: Cameron Stephenson, G
Fifth Round: William Gay
Seventh Round: Dallas Baker, WR


First Round: Rashard Mendenhall, RB
Second Round: Limas Sweed, WR
Third Round: Bruce Davis, LB
Fourth Round: Tony Hills, T
Fifth Round: Dennis Dixon, WR
Sixth Round: Mike Humpal, LB
Seventh Round: Ryan Mundy, DB


First Round: Evander Hood, DE
Third Round (1): Kraig Urbik, T
Third Round (2): Mike Wallace, WR
Third Round (3): Keenan Lewis, DB
Fifth Round (1): Joe Burnett, DB
Fifth Round (2): Frank Summers, RB
Sixth Round: Ra'Shon Harris, DT
Seventh Round (1): A.Q. Shipley, C
Seventh Round (2): David Johnson, TE


First Round: Maurkice Pouncey, C
Second Round: Jason Worilds, DE
Third Round: Emmanuel Sanders, WR
Fourth Round: Thaddeus Gibson, DE
Fifth Round (1): Chris Scott, G
Fifth Round (2): Crezdon Butler, DB
Fifth Round (3): Stevenson Sylvester, LB
Sixth Round (1): Jonathan Dwyer, RB
Sixth Round (2): Antonio Brown, WR
Seventh Round: Doug Worthington


First Round: Cam Heyward, DT
Second Round: Marcus Gilbert, OL
Third Round: Curtis Brown, DB
Fourth Round: Cortez Allen, DB
Fifth Round: Chris Carter, DL
Sixth Round: Keith Williams, OL
Seventh Round: Baron Batch, RB


First Round: David DeCastro, G
Second Round: Mike Adams, T
Third Round: Sean Spence, LB
Fourth Round: Alameda Ta'amu DT
Fifth Round: Chris Rainey, RB
Seventh Round (1): Tony Clemons, WR
Seventh Round (2): David Paulson, TE
Seventh Round (3): Terrence Frederick, CB
Seventh Round (4): Kelvin Beachum, T


First Round: Jarvis Jones, LB
Second Round: Le'Veon Bell, RB
Third Round: Marcus Wheaton, WR
Fourth Round: Shamarko Thomas, S
Fourth Round : Landry Jones, QB
Fifth Round: Terrance Hawthorne, CB
Sixth Round: Justin Brown, WR
Sixth Round: Vince Williams, LB

Seventh Round: Nicholas Williams, DE


First Round: Ryan Shazier, LB
Second Round: Stephon Tuitt, DL
Third Round: Dri Archer, RB
Fourth Round: Martavis Bryant, WR
Fifth Round : Shaquille Richardson, CB
Fifth Round: Wesley Johnson, OL
Sixth Round: Jordan Zumwalt, LB
Sixth Round: Daniel McCullers, NT

Seventh Round: Rob Blanchflower, TE

These are all the ones Tomlin et al brought to the dance. I'm pretty sure I don't have to point out any trends here, but evidently the VAST MAJORITY of these picks had problems and faults to the extent the Steelers front office and coaching staff saw fit to dump and re-draft and/or see what else is out there. Of course, just like my brother, it's not any of their faults for actually picking them... it's the players. They didn't work hard enough or want it bad enough. Well, at least until it becomes Arians fault and he "retires". Then it's Haley's fault until he's credited with bucketloads of offense and then Snoop's on him like a hobo on a ham sammy once it sputters again. Then it's LeBeau's fault. I mean, c'mon. It can't be the players - we keep replenishing them and giving him new stuff to work alongside the veterans, right?

The thing is, you all know who's next on the list. There's no more fingers to point.

So while some of you keep focusing on "Blount," I'm looking at the bigger picture and saying, no - Blount is really just a microcosm of bad decision-making over the years. Can you HONESTLY argue that looking back at these draft picks? Even when they have someone like Ike Redman come in during preseason and blow the competition away at running back by committee, they still find a way to cut him despite his being by far the best talent. They're fortunate he was still available the following year.

So there it is. When I'm pissing and moaning about the Blount episode, I'm doing it with ALL OF THIS in mind. Blount's fault, you say? He is what he is? He's not the reason the Steelers aren't in the Super Bow? You're so missing the big picture.

I'll say it again: it should NEVER have gotten to that point in the first place.

All this contributes to just about everything Craic said Tomlin "lead" them through, but again, I don't see any ownership in creating those problems to begin with. It's called "lie in the bed you make". Actually, I see it from the players when Ben says "It starts with me," but when it comes to coaching, it's "the other team executed better," as if the coaching and game plans are infallible. And of course they are! That's why coordinators have retired!

Now here's the thing: I am actually excited about next season. I think Tomlin has the potential to put his stamp on the team with LeBeau gone. I think he is a good coach despite some flaws. I think he showed improvement this year with making the decisions he did. But it doesn't mean he isn't above criticism, particularly with roster moves and personnel - and I don't think I need to point out where there's issues right now with depth, but again, look to the past to see why they are where they are and ask yourself how long are they going to keep their heads buried in the sand before they do something?

Blount? Blount's just a drop in a very large bucket.

[Mojouw]

I think my head is going to explode.

[Craic]

I think my head is going to explode.

I know, but it's okay. Let's try with another round of logic.

Alright Bark, first, go read this to get your expectations knocked back to realism. I'll quote from the 10 year draft study that this guy did.

Here is how you can apply these statistics. For one, stop expecting every first-round pick - or even the vast majority - to be successful. Secondly, stop expecting your team to nail every first-round pick and give them the benefit of the doubt sometimes. Go back through your team's drafts in the last five years. If your team only has one or no successful first-rounder (assuming you have five first-round picks - adjust accordingly if you have more or less) then you have a bad drafting team in the first round. Two is below average; three is solid; four or five is excellent.

Last five years of first round picks:

Shazier: Jury's out. Injured this year. Looked decent to good.
Jones: Jury's out. Injured this year. Flashed in early part, but not enough tape. Some doubts.
DeCastro: some are saying he's the best we've had since Alan Faneca. He's probowl caliber and his arrow is still pointing up.
Heyward: 7.5 sacks this year and is a stalwart on the line. He's better that Keisel was and like DeCastro, his arrow is still pointing up.
Pouncey: Probowl caliber and deserving of the title "Pittsburgh Center" after Webster, Dawson, etc.

So, that's 3 out of 5. Note, it's not "hit a home run" it's "be successful" and no one can doubt DeCastro, Heyward, and Pouncey aren't successful picks.

Now, let's take a look at second round picks:

Consistently in the last 10 years there is a 50-percent hit rate on second-round picks, but you have to account for variance in that some NFL Drafts are stronger than others so there isn't always your typical 50-percent hit rate every year. Though I do believe that in the next 10 years this will increase closer to 60 percent, it doesn't hide the fact that it is much harder to get impact players in the second round than most Draftniks can imagine

Last five years:

Stephon Tuitt: young, but showed ability and able to contribute. As of now, he definitely is not a miss.
Le'veon Bell: Yeah, nothing needs to be said.
Mike Adams: Iffy. I like the kid, and I think he's good on the right side, but has struggled at times and can't break into the starting role.
Marcus Gilbert: A starter. I think Adams might be better. Between Adams and Gilbert, we have 1 hit and 1 miss, though which is which I'm yet to decide.
Jason Worilds: He's not the gamebreaker we all want, but in this system, Worlids is most definitely a hit, rather than a miss.

So, out of the last five years, that's 3 out of five hits, or sixty percent.

The percentage can only decrease after the first two rounds, as talent decreases. But let's look at names, shall we? What percentage of other teams hit in their third rounds 3 time out of five?

Archer: Couldn't get it done this year.
Wheaton: This kid has it going this year. Impressive.
Spence: blew up his knees, but impressed the coaches so much when he did play that they kept him around for two years to rehab it. It showed up this year and contributed. His arrow is definitely pointed up.
(CB) Brown: IR this year. He's not a big hit, but he's not a miss, either.
Sanders: 71 percent reception to target rate and 1400 yards this year in Denver

SO, in the third round, that's 3 out of 5, or, if you drop spence, 2 out of 5. Seriously, you want to complain about that when looking at averages for the first and second rounds over the NFL?

From there, we get into the "cover your eyes and throw the dart" picks. And even there, we have our top two WRs in Bryant and Antonio Brown and Cortez Allen who struggled this year, but has shown the skills to be a number 1 CB and I think will pick it up in the following year.

So, based on realistic expectations and league-wide averages, I'd say your entire assessment is pretty much wrong. Over the last five years, the Steelers have drafted above average in rounds 1 and 2 and either above average or average in round three (depending on how Spence is looked at).