Did Steelers just stumble upon a long-term answer at LT?

[hawaiiansteeler]

Did Steelers just stumble upon a long-term answer at left tackle?

Jeremy Fowler, ESPN Staff Writer



Steelers left tackle Alejandro Villanueva "has a chance to be a pretty special player," said former Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley.

PITTSBURGH -- Turning a journeyman practice squad player into a serviceable option on the 53-man roster is considered a mild upset.

Turning one into a potential long-term solution at left tackle reaches David Tyree levels of difficulty.

This is happening in Pittsburgh.

Alejandro Villanueva had spent time with three different teams before Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spotted him across from him during the national anthem in August 2014. Villanueva was a 6-foot-9 defensive lineman for the Eagles. He had already been released by the Bengals, who worked Villanueva at tight end.

Ten days later, Tomlin signed him to the practice squad. About four months later, Villanueva had a reserve/futures contract. Nearly a year after that, Villanueva is catching the attention of skilled offensive line evaluators who see potential greatness in him.

Once an intriguing offseason story about a former Army Ranger who did three tours in Afghanistan, Villanueva has turned into something more:

A player.

“He moves so well for his size,” said former Pro Bowl center LeCharles Bentley, who runs an Arizona-based offensive line academy for NFL prospects. “You hearken back to Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden; for their size they were able to move in a manner to someone much smaller. [Villanueva] is a very large human being but doesn’t move like a large, lumbering person.

“He has a chance to be a pretty special player.”

Bentley said Villanueva is still relatively raw when it comes to technique, but he likes his mean streak and the fact his game hasn’t been tainted. Learning the left tackle position in his 20s can actually be an advantage, Bentley said, because the Steelers can teach him one way.

To be sure, previous starter Kelvin Beachum, out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, is a solid left tackle. But Beachum is a free agent after this season, and Villanueva is cheaper. He is under contract at $525,000 next year.

The Steelers could decide to keep both, but Villanueva isn’t going anywhere in 2016.

Villanueva has been on a crash course to become valuable in the eyes of Steelers coaches and higher-ups. He asks guard David DeCastro questions that border on annoyance, from postgame nutrition to weightlifting to recovering from a bad game. Villanueva gave up two sacks in his debut at Kansas City. DeCastro told him that he also had a rough rookie game, against Dallas. It gets better.

As Villanueva has found out, most franchises aren’t this patient.

“I’ve been trying to get in the NFL for five years and no one really ever gave me a chance [before Pittsburgh],” Villanueva said. “You always have something inside of you that says you can still do it. I’ll try to do my best to be as appealing to the front office as possible.”

That process includes studying elite left tackles -- particularly the Browns’ Joe Thomas and the Cowboys’ Tyron Smith -- inside the Steelers’ video room. He’s working on “staying square” to the target like Thomas does. He wants “great punch” and perfectly bent knees like Smith.

After gaining around 100 pounds in the past few years, Villanueva said he’s lost a few pounds and has leveled out at around 330, where he wants to stay. He’s learning how to manage a left tackle’s frame.

to read rest of article:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pittsburgh-s...at-left-tackle

[Steeldude]

Of course he would have rotted on the bench and ended up elsewhere if Beachum didn't suffer his season ending injury. Hopefully they can now re-sign Beachum to a cheap contract.

[86WARD]

It would be nice to have Beachum playing on that OL as well next year.

[steelreserve]

If this saves us a few million dollars, it would be nice. Maybe we could spend that on a guy to help shore up our weak spots at DB or NT.

I like Beachum and all, but let's be honest, he's not an All-Pro, he's just pretty good. And looks a hell of a lot better thanks to a long stretch of shaky play by the guys before him. So if it's spend $7M to keep him after a major injury, and send Villanueva back to the bench ... or take my chances with Villanueva and add a proven starter somewhere else, well, that's a no-brainer.

If we could get Beachum for less than that and move him over to guard, that would be great for the flexibility we'd gain.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Of course he would have rotted on the bench and ended up elsewhere if Beachum didn't suffer his season ending injury. Hopefully they can now re-sign Beachum to a cheap contract.

Are you saying he's already better than Beachum? More ceiling for sure, but doesn't seem nearly THAT good yet. And Beachum's ACL tear isnt going to give him any trouble attracting potential suitors. Good LT's are a prized commodity. I wanted Beachum re-signed at the beginning of the season but after seeing Villanueva play, I think if we need to let someone go, Beachum is a reasonable option. Can't keep every good player, and we have new contracts for Decastro, Antonio, Martavis, and Leveon on the horizon. Those alone will cost a fortune

[Count Steeler]

Big V at LT, Beachum at LG, Pouncey at C, DeCastro at RG, Gilbert at RT.*

*Munchak remains as coach.

Sign me up.

[zulater]

Are you saying he's already better than Beachum? More ceiling for sure, but doesn't seem nearly THAT good yet. And Beachum's ACL tear isnt going to give him any trouble attracting potential suitors. Good LT's are a prized commodity. I wanted Beachum re-signed at the beginning of the season but after seeing Villanueva play, I think if we need to let someone go, Beachum is a reasonable option. Can't keep every good player, and we have new contracts for Decastro, Antonio, Martavis, and Leveon on the horizon. Those alone will cost a fortune

I disagree. I think AV's recent play has been superior to this year's play of Beachum. I like Beachum, he's a quality character, a high motor over achiever who gives you all he has every game. But he was much more effective last year than he was this year before he got hurt. I think the league did their film study on Beach and found his vulnerabilities. Because of his lack of ideal height and weight I'm not sure there was a counter adjustment to be made on his part? I'm sure to some extent the same thing will happen to AV next year. The league will go over his film and find his weaknesses where they can be found and attack them. But with AV with his size being what it is I think his learning curve will absorb that, and he'll maintain his level of play at the least, and more likely continue to improve.

Hopefully they will keep Beachum though and convert him to guard. Foster is a UFA after this season and the Steelers have shown no intent on keeping him. I think AV and Beachum could make up an awesome left side of the line for the next half decade.

- - - Updated - - -

Of course he would have rotted on the bench and ended up elsewhere if Beachum didn't suffer his season ending injury. Hopefully they can now re-sign Beachum to a cheap contract.

You can never give the Steelers credit for anything can you? The guy wouldn't be in the league if Tomlin hadn't taken a shine to him. They converted him from college tight end, -practice squad DE to a functional NFL left tackle! We're talking longest of the long shots, and you cant see the Steelers are in line for credit? Smh

[tube517]

Big V at LT, Beachum at LG, Pouncey at C, DeCastro at RG, Gilbert at RT.*

*Munchak remains as coach.

Sign me up.

REQUIRED!!!!

[SteelerFanInStl]

I definitely like what I've seen of AV and am excited to see what he can become with the help of Munchak. Like others, I like Beachum at LG better than LT and better than Foster.

[steelreserve]

The problem is this: if we want Beachum to stick around as a guard, the other offers he'll be receiving will be for starting left tackle money. That's not going to be worth it for a LG. More I think about it, the more it seems like a straight either/or choice between him and AV.

Regardless of that, absolutely THE most important thing for the offensive line is that we keep Munchak. I don't care if we have to pay him $10 million. That guy is probably singlehandedly saving us two or three high draft picks in the near future, and getting better play out of the group too. If only there was a DB guru like that ...

[SteelerFanInStl]

Regardless of that, absolutely THE most important thing for the offensive line is that we keep Munchak. I don't care if we have to pay him $10 million. That guy is probably singlehandedly saving us two or three high draft picks in the near future, and getting better play out of the group too. If only there was a DB guru like that ...

Absolutely. He's the most important coach on this team, bar none.

[zulater]

The problem is this: if we want Beachum to stick around as a guard, the other offers he'll be receiving will be for starting left tackle money. That's not going to be worth it for a LG. More I think about it, the more it seems like a straight either/or choice between him and AV.

Regardless of that, absolutely THE most important thing for the offensive line is that we keep Munchak. I don't care if we have to pay him $10 million. That guy is probably singlehandedly saving us two or three high draft picks in the near future, and getting better play out of the group too. If only there was a DB guru like that ...

Couldn't they put a one year transition tag on Beachum? Maybe use it to buy some time to negotiate a longer deal? Beachum is a good kid. I really think his preference would be to stay. Probably not going to happen though. But with Foster most likely gone and controlling Villenueva at such a small price I could see them making it happen. Next year the Steelers will have a lot of things going for them, I think they could be in line to be AFC favorites. You dont blow it over a few bucks and not have any plan at left guard. How smart do you look saving a few bucks by not signing either Beachum or Foster if your next left guard gets Ben blown up with a bad injury early in the season?

[ALLD]

If Beechnut doesn't want to renegotiate his deal, so be it. AV just started playing LT, so he hasn't developed too many bad habits. He can at least be as good as Kevin. He will not be on the Steelers in 2017, that's for sure.

[steelreserve]

Couldn't they put a one year transition tag on Beachum? Maybe use it to buy some time to negotiate a longer deal? Beachum is a good kid. I really think his preference would be to stay. Probably not going to happen though. But with Foster most likely gone and controlling Villenueva at such a small price I could see them making it happen. Next year the Steelers will have a lot of things going for them, I think they could be in line to be AFC favorites. You dont blow it over a few bucks and not have any plan at left guard. How smart do you look saving a few bucks by not signing either Beachum or Foster if your next left guard gets Ben blown up with a bad injury early in the season?

Well, for that matter, we could re-sign Beachum and he could mess up and get Ben hurt on a fluke play, or we could count on AV and then he tears up his knee in preseason, or any number of things. I hope that doesn't happen, but I don't know how you predict any of it.

I don't think the tranny tag is a good option in this case ... Beachum's contact situation kind of is what it is at this point, and I don't see his price going down unless he plays so badly we don't want him back anyway. If we were unsure what we had (like Worilds) or 100% we wanted to re-sign long-term (like Woodley), then maybe it makes sense. On the other hand, using the tranny and/or franchise tag hasn't tended to work out so well for us, either.

[86WARD]

Big V at LT, Beachum at LG, Pouncey at C, DeCastro at RG, Gilbert at RT.*

*Munchak remains as coach.

Sign me up.

Second this plan!!

[hawaiiansteeler]

Couldn't they put a one year transition tag on Beachum?

no, Beachum is an unrestricted free agent and free to sign with any other NFL team at the end of this season...

[teegre]

You can never give the Steelers credit for anything can you? The guy wouldn't be in the league if Tomlin hadn't taken a shine to him. They converted him from college tight end, -practice squad DE to a functional NFL left tackle! We're talking longest of the long shots, and you cant see the Steelers are in line for credit? Smh

Nailed it.

Some people rejoice that thorn bushes have roses, while others choose to complain that rose bushes have thorns.

[teegre]

1. Pay Munchak $10 million per year. There's no cap on coaches.

2. Sign both Beachum and DD to LT money. It's not much different than OG money, and they're worth it. That would solidify the O-line for five seasons.

AV - Beachum - Pouncey - DD - Gilbert

3. I'd also be fine with trading the 31st pick for Mike Pouncey.

AV - Pouncey - Pouncey - DD - Gilbert

[Psycho Ward 86]

Couldn't they put a one year transition tag on Beachum? Maybe use it to buy some time to negotiate a longer deal? Beachum is a good kid. I really think his preference would be to stay. Probably not going to happen though. But with Foster most likely gone and controlling Villenueva at such a small price I could see them making it happen. Next year the Steelers will have a lot of things going for them, I think they could be in line to be AFC favorites. You dont blow it over a few bucks and not have any plan at left guard. How smart do you look saving a few bucks by not signing either Beachum or Foster if your next left guard gets Ben blown up with a bad injury early in the season?

what makes you think Foster is most likely gone yet think Beachum could be made to stay if Villanueva is still here? Foster wont be very expensive. The guy is a good, not great guard and thats exactly what we need with Pouncey and Gilbert costing big money, and Decastro about to get big money as well. Beachum will be looking to be a left tackle in this league because 1) thats mostly what he's played so for and 2) its a much more lucrative position than left tackle.

If Villanueva stays, i want Beachum to leave (not actually WANT him to, but realistically he has no reason to stay anymore and we cant afford him), and Foster to DEFINITELY get re-signed

- - - Updated - - -

3. I'd also be fine with trading the 31st pick for Mike Pouncey.

AV - Pouncey - Pouncey - DD - Gilbert

You know we have to take on his contract then too right? That's way too much money invested in the O-line. Id rather we re-sign a good, but not great LG in Foster for fairly cheap and use the rest of the money where we need it: on Antonio, Leveon, Decastro, and Martavis

[teegre]

You know we have to take on his contract then too right? That's way too much money invested in the O-line. Id rather we re-sign a good, but not great LG in Foster for fairly cheap and use the rest of the money where we need it: on Antonio, Leveon, Decastro, and Martavis

I'd be fine with that. I'm a big fan of O-linemen. Use the Jarvis Jones money to pay him.



Plus, in 2010, my dream O-line was:

(LT) - DD - Pouncey - Pouncey - Gilbert

We are 4/5 of the way there.

[katmandu]

THE most important thing for the offensive line is that we keep Munchak. I don't care if we have to pay him $10 million. That guy is probably singlehandedly saving us two or three high draft picks in the near future, and getting better play out of the group too. If only there was a DB guru like that ...

Coach Munchak is the ace and an absolute Wizard ! Big V has a high ceiling and with Munchak's spell cast on him he will be a beast for years to come!

Let Harrison show him how to workout and lift weights "the Harrison way" and LOOK OUT !

[Mojouw]

There is no way that AV is currently playing better than Beachum. One may be able to argue that he has the potential to be better than Beachum, but he is not there yet. AV actually lets pass rushers hit the QB. Beachum did not. It is that simple.

The biggest hurdle for AV is his sheer size. It will be hard for him to develop the technical adjustments and muscle memory to allow him to constantly win the leverage battle against pass rushers while maintaining speed/quickness.

Very difficult to be low man when you are starting at 6 foot 8 or whatever.

[zulater]

There is no way that AV is currently playing better than Beachum. One may be able to argue that he has the potential to be better than Beachum, but he is not there yet. AV actually lets pass rushers hit the QB. Beachum did not. It is that simple.

The biggest hurdle for AV is his sheer size. It will be hard for him to develop the technical adjustments and muscle memory to allow him to constantly win the leverage battle against pass rushers while maintaining speed/quickness.

Very difficult to be low man when you are starting at 6 foot 8 or whatever.

You're stuck in 14. This year Beachum allowed mutiple qb hits and sacks. The last two games we got as good as play from the LT position as we did in any two games this season.

[Mojouw]

You're stuck in 14. This year Beachum allowed mutiple qb hits and sacks. The last two games we got as good as play from the LT position as we did in any two games this season.

Fair enough. But AV is simply not enough of a finished product at this point to be considered better than Beachum. Every week, watch him closely. He can still get beat by basic pass rush moves and he really isn't that good in the run game yet, despite his size. He lunges, misses blocks, and is still a bit lost in space when moving to the second level. All in all, he plays like a brand new offensive lineman, which is exactly what he is. He projects to be pretty darn good, but that is all just a projection. If teams have indeed found the holes in Beachum's game after some film study, what are they going to do with AV? I mean I can see the holes in his game, what will NFL coaches spot?

It would be a very aggressive decision to hand over your blindside protection to someone as raw as AV long term. That being said, I can see how the cap money would force the Steelers to do just that. It will be interesting to watch play out. I just can not agree with the assertion that jettisoning Beachum is okay, because AV is better. Not now at least.

[steelreserve]

There is no way that AV is currently playing better than Beachum. One may be able to argue that he has the potential to be better than Beachum, but he is not there yet. AV actually lets pass rushers hit the QB. Beachum did not. It is that simple.

The biggest hurdle for AV is his sheer size. It will be hard for him to develop the technical adjustments and muscle memory to allow him to constantly win the leverage battle against pass rushers while maintaining speed/quickness.

Very difficult to be low man when you are starting at 6 foot 8 or whatever.

I don't think the question is whether AV is better than Beachum. It's "Can AV get the job done well enough, and thereby bail us out of a potentially messy contract situation where Beachum basically had us over a barrel." If we can have Beachum back without creating money problems, everybody wants him back.

I don't know about the too-tall argument for an offensive tackle. For a defensive lineman, absolutely - you want to be built like a bowling ball. The same probably applies to a lesser extent to the interior offensive linemen. As a tackle, though, if you can use your size to keep the guy at arm's length and steer him outside, that's good enough. Just a different skill set that you might have to learn than a guy who's 6-2 or 6-3, but doesn't disqualify you from being good. In run blocking, it might be another story and maybe he'll always be at a disadvantage there. But on the other hand, it wasn't long ago that I remember people questioning whether Beachum was undersized for a tackle at 6-3.

Honestly, it seems like if you are not exactly 6-5, 320-330 pounds, someone is going to say that your frame is not right for the position, but there are plenty of good players on both sides of that range.

[Mojouw]

I don't think the question is whether AV is better than Beachum. It's "Can AV get the job done well enough, and thereby bail us out of a potentially messy contract situation where Beachum basically had us over a barrel." If we can have Beachum back without creating money problems, everybody wants him back.

I don't know about the too-tall argument for an offensive tackle. For a defensive lineman, absolutely - you want to be built like a bowling ball. The same probably applies to a lesser extent to the interior offensive linemen. As a tackle, though, if you can use your size to keep the guy at arm's length and steer him outside, that's good enough. Just a different skill set that you might have to learn than a guy who's 6-2 or 6-3, but doesn't disqualify you from being good. In run blocking, it might be another story and maybe he'll always be at a disadvantage there. But on the other hand, it wasn't long ago that I remember people questioning whether Beachum was undersized for a tackle at 6-3.

Honestly, it seems like if you are not exactly 6-5, 320-330 pounds, someone is going to say that your frame is not right for the position, but there are plenty of good players on both sides of that range.

I actually agree with all of that. I am just concerned that AV is all potential and "what if he fulfills it" at this point. I remember when LT was a turnstile and do not want to move back to that point.

[Count Steeler]

Beachum is way more valuable than Foster. Beachum is able to play every position on the line, including center. He has the head knowledge and the athleticism for every position. One of the best 7th round picks that I can remember. I don't think you need to throw LT money at him, but he is worth a lot because he can play any starting position and be moved around, if necessary.

I still think he could even play NT.

[steelreserve]

I actually agree with all of that. I am just concerned that AV is all potential and "what if he fulfills it" at this point. I remember when LT was a turnstile and do not want to move back to that point.

I hear you, but at this point I think Villanueva would actually need to take a significant step back for us to be in that kind of a hole. He's not perfect, but he's adequate as-is.

I'm actually a little more worried about Beachum being fully capable after a major injury, and/or switching positions, especially if it's both. It's been about 50-50 with us for linemen making it all the way back from that kind of thing.

I guess the bright side is there's not really a bad choice here - no matter what we do, we'll be head and shoulders above the Jonathan Scott Shit Parade era.

[Psycho Ward 86]

You're stuck in 14. This year Beachum allowed mutiple qb hits and sacks. The last two games we got as good as play from the LT position as we did in any two games this season.

yeah. TWO games. Beachum has been a good tackle for us for quite a while now. And as count steeler said, Beachum has ridiculous swing lineman value.

Albeit, i still think its better for the cap situation in the long run to let him go but its a shitty loss if you ask me

[teegre]

I've stated this no less than twenty times, but it bears iteration:

Beachum is a very good LT.
Beachum would be an All-Pro LG.

He's one of the best picks (late round or otherwise) by this team in the past decade. He's smart, he can play all five O-line positions, and he's a gamer. Retain him, slide him to LG, win.