Steelers NT Steve McLendon Quietly Having Solid Season Against Run

[polamalubeast]

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2015/12...id-season-run/


The opponents averaged only 2.18 yards per run when he is on the field....

[steelreserve]

Same old story. A couple hand-picked stats look good, but McLendon is an average to below-average nose tackle. We need someone way more disruptive or the pass rush is only ever going to be OK. You cannot run a successful 3-4 defense with an average nose tackle, or with this nose tackle by committee bullshit.

[tube517]

How many snaps are in the 3-4 and how many are in that crazy looking 2-5 or whatever....

I rarely see either of the 2 Mac's on the field unless they give Heyward and Tuitt a breather or for injury.

[polamalubeast]

Same old story. A couple hand-picked stats look good, but McLendon is an average to below-average nose tackle. We need someone way more disruptive or the pass rush is only ever going to be OK. You cannot run a successful 3-4 defense with an average nose tackle, or with this nose tackle by committee bullshit.

The Steelers has 40 sacks in 14 games this year(4th in the NFL).....And the Run Defense is very good too(5th in the nfl in Yards and Yards per run)....The only problem of this defense is the secondary.The steelers don't need a NT in the first 3 round!

[katmandu]

Haven't seen much of Big Dan.

What's happened to him has he peaked already ?

[steelreserve]

The Steelers has 40 sacks in 14 games this year(4th in the NFL).....And the Run Defense is very good too(5th in the nfl in Yards and Yards per run)....The only problem of this defense is the secondary.The steelers don't need a NT in the first 3 round!

You know what we need even less? Linebackers.

Will we get one? Almost certainly.

[Steeldude]

You know what we need even less? Linebackers.

Will we get one? Almost certainly.

Actually the Steelers do need an OLB for when Harrison leaves. Also, Timmons may be a cap casualty.

[86WARD]

You know what we need even less? Linebackers.

Will we get one? Almost certainly.

They need OLB to replace Harrison, Jones, Moats...they need them bad actually...

[steelreserve]

They need OLB to replace Harrison, Jones, Moats...they need them bad actually...

You mean to replace the guys that are all under contract for next year?

[86WARD]

You mean to replace the guys that are all under contract for next year?

Those would be the ones...you know for when they are all gone in two and you're sitting here bitching that they should have been grooming someone for when all these guys left? But instead they drafted a D-Lineman that is sitting on the bench getting compared to...I don't know, McClendon or maybe Ziggy Hood?

[steelreserve]

Those would be the ones...you know for when they are all gone in two and you're sitting here bitching that they should have been grooming someone for when all these guys left? But instead they drafted a D-Lineman that is sitting on the bench getting compared to...I don't know, McClendon or maybe Ziggy Hood?

As far as I'm concerned, they can re-sign Moats and that takes care of the starting lineup even if Timmons is gone.

Moats, Shazier, Spence, Dupree. Those are your starting four. Williams and Chickillo backing them up, maybe Jones if he's cheap. Not a bad group. Time to concentrate on other positions that need it more. Maybe take a linebacker or two in the middle rounds and, you know, see if they develop.

Don't worry, though. I'm sure they're taking another LB in the first round again.

[86WARD]

As far as I'm concerned, they can re-sign Moats and that takes care of the starting lineup even if Timmons is gone.

Moats, Shazier, Spence, Dupree. Those are your starting four. Williams and Chickillo backing them up, maybe Jones if he's cheap. Not a bad group. Time to concentrate on other positions that need it more. Maybe take a linebacker or two in the middle rounds and, you know, see if they develop.

Don't worry, though. I'm sure they're taking another LB in the first round again.

I don't really care what they take in the first round...I just want them to get a player that doesn't take 2-3 years to contribute or fizzle out. I don't care if it's a QB at this point as long as it turns out to be Bens successor.

Since Ben, the only real duds they've had in Round1 have been Ziggy Hood, Jarvis Jones and maybe you could throw Mendenhall in there. So if they did draft another LB, chances are he'd contribute...

[steelreserve]

I don't really care what they take in the first round...I just want them to get a player that doesn't take 2-3 years to contribute or fizzle out. I don't care if it's a QB at this point as long as it turns out to be Bens successor.

Since Ben, the only real duds they've had in Round1 have been Ziggy Hood, Jarvis Jones and maybe you could throw Mendenhall in there. So if they did draft another LB, chances are he'd contribute...

I'm not really concerned about whether the player is a bust or not, since you can't control that. It's about another linebacker being a waste of time even if he's really good. We already have plenty of good linebackers AND depth at the position - so an awesome LB is going to make a lot less difference than even an above-average CB or NT, where they'd be replacing someone who sucks.

[Steeldude]

I'm not really concerned about whether the player is a bust or not, since you can't control that. It's about another linebacker being a waste of time even if he's really good. We already have plenty of good linebackers AND depth at the position - so an awesome LB is going to make a lot less difference than even an above-average CB or NT, where they'd be replacing someone who sucks.

We have plenty of good LBs? In 2016 the Steelers will have an older Harrison, an injury prone Shazier, an unproven Dupree and a group of average to unknown LBs. The only real promising thing about the LB corps next year will be the absence of Jones.

[steelreserve]

We have plenty of good LBs? In 2016 the Steelers will have an older Harrison, an injury prone Shazier, an unproven Dupree and a group of average to unknown LBs. The only real promising thing about the LB corps next year will be the absence of Jones.

Jones will be here; we didn't pick up his 2017 option, but he's under contract for 2016, and it's fully guaranteed, so we don't even save any cap space by cutting him.

As for the rest, I still think Harrison/Moats, Shazier, Spence (maybe Timmons), and Dupree is pretty respectable, AND WOULD LOOK A LOT BETTER WITH A REAL NOSE TACKLE MAKING THEIR JOBS EASIER.

We're not going to have four All-Pros there. We're just not. You need one really good inside guy and one really good outside guy, and we're pretty likely to have those players already. Writing off Dupree because he's unknown is just dumb - a rookie drafted next year would be just as unknown. My advice to everyone who wants to draft another LB highly would be to calm the fuck down and give the three or four recent draftees a chance to get the job done before we knee-jerk another pass rusher in the first round.

[Steeldude]

Jones will be here; we didn't pick up his 2017 option, but he's under contract for 2016, and it's fully guaranteed, so we don't even save any cap space by cutting him.

As for the rest, I still think Harrison/Moats, Shazier, Spence (maybe Timmons), and Dupree is pretty respectable, AND WOULD LOOK A LOT BETTER WITH A REAL NOSE TACKLE MAKING THEIR JOBS EASIER.

We're not going to have four All-Pros there. We're just not. You need one really good inside guy and one really good outside guy, and we're pretty likely to have those players already. Writing off Dupree because he's unknown is just dumb - a rookie drafted next year would be just as unknown. My advice to everyone who wants to draft another LB highly would be to calm the fuck down and give the three or four recent draftees a chance to get the job done before we knee-jerk another pass rusher in the first round.

Jones? Is that sarcasm? Jones has not shown he is a good LB. I am not sure if he is even an average LB. IMO, he has shown himself to be another Carlos Emmons(and that's being generous). Jones has proven time and time again he is not the answer. The only known threat from the outside, as a pass rusher, is the aging Harrison.

I didn't write off Dupree as an OLB. I said he is unproven at this point. Meaning it's not clear if he is good, bad, average or below average. He hasn't shown much as of yet. You labeled him as being good. At least that's what I assumed when you said the Steelers will have a group of good LBs.

I want the Steelers to BPA a position of need. If the #1 OLB in the 2016 draft is available in the late first round it might be hard to pass up if there aren't any NTs, DBs etc... worthy of a first round selection.

[steelreserve]

Jones? Is that sarcasm? Jones has not shown he is a good LB. I am not sure if he is even an average LB. IMO, he has shown himself to be another Carlos Emmons(and that's being generous). Jones has proven time and time again he is not the answer. The only known threat from the outside, as a pass rusher, is the aging Harrison.

I didn't say Jones is any good, just that he's going to be on the team because of his contract situation. Right now he looks like a backup, and a wildly inconsistent one at that. But if we cut him, we just eat the salary and get nothing in return. So it's 99.999% certain we give him one more shot. At best, it turns into a Worilds situation, only this time I don't think we're quite as thin.

As for the other OLBs, Dupree could be really good but we need to wait and see. Moats isn't great, but he could be Clark Haggans, which is really all we need if the other positions are solid. Chickillo is a coin flip, but worth checking out. Harrison we know will at least be respectable, even if it isn't ideal to have a guy that old starting.

I wouldn't mind if we added another OLB in the draft, but it ought to be in the middle or late rounds, after we've done something about our other more pressing problems.

I didn't write off Dupree as an OLB. I said he is unproven at this point. Meaning it's not clear if he is good, bad, average or below average. He hasn't shown much as of yet. You labeled him as being good. At least that's what I assumed when you said the Steelers will have a group of good LBs.

I want the Steelers to BPA a position of need. If the #1 OLB in the 2016 draft is available in the late first round it might be hard to pass up if there aren't any NTs, DBs etc... worthy of a first round selection.

I think Dupree has done a hell of a lot better than Jones, that's for sure. He actually affects the play. With some practice and some development, he ought to be good. Of course, it's all guessing.

I'm not entirely sold on the BPA line ... thing is, there's ALWAYS a guy who "falls in our laps" in the first or second round. Sometimes that's a good idea and sometimes it's not. CB or NT is a pretty unlikely one to fall in the first round; more like they get snapped up early and by about pick #21, all you've got left are reaching for second-round guys. What DOES happen almost every year is that we're sitting on a mid-low second-round pick when there are a handful of good NT prospects on the board, and then we skip them, and then one of them is available in the third round but gets taken two picks before us. We need to stop that from continuing to happen, and move up a few picks or down a few picks to make it work instead of taking random project guys once every 5 years.

A can't-miss DT coming out of college like Casey Hampton is almost as rare as a can't-miss QB; there's about one every 3 years or so. If you run a 3-4, and there's a guy like that available, you need to take him. I don't see any this year, to be honest. But we need to make a better effort there than we have. Really, we're a couple DBs and a NT away from being championship contenders until Ben retires. So sack the fuck up and do it.

[Steeldude]

Yes, unfortunately we will have to endure another year of Jones taking time away from more competent and/or players with more potential.

I am really hoping Dupree kicks it into another gear next season. I totally agree he has shown more than Jones has for the last 3 years. I would even say Chickillo has shown more than Jones. He is another one who appears to have the skills and brain to be promising. I think his problem is strength. Can he get stronger or has he reached his limit?

I don't really want to take an OLB in the first, but for me it depends on what's available. Or they could always trade down.

As for a NT, I think it depends on what type of NT will be ranked high or which type will be coveted. A NT who is athletic and disrupt the pass or one that is virtually an immovable object? The latter might be available after the first round.

My concern with the draft is how well they evaluate talent. Tomlin doesn't seem to able to see DB talent(see Blake/Boykin).