Random Thoughts Before the Regular Season

[Mojouw]

Last night was likely the last we shall see of anyone important to the 2017 regular season. What do we know and what have we learned? I got a few random thoughts:

1. French Cafe needs to get canned. He is totally serviceable and I suspect he will catch on somewhere else, but there seems to be at least two "better" options in Davis and Watson. I am suspicious of both. Davis because he seems to show up on rosters, get talked about excitedly, then disappear when the games start. Watson because he is unproven. But, I'm a big "upside" guy and those two seem to have more of it than LeCafe Croissant.

2. Golden is not good. I know the outside (and inside) CBs get alot of hate, but think about when this defense is really really victimized. Its usually in Dime or Quarters coverage. That means Golden gets on the field. My dog can cover receivers better.

3. I'm gonna get killed for this, but Chris Hogan is a legit NFL wideout - not some lacrosse guy gimmick. Anyone catch what he and Brady did to the Falcons -- http://www.rotoworld.com/stats/nfl/6902
/chris-hogan

4. Juju Bee is gonna be good. But he might be made of glass. Wonder how long it takes folks to turn on him?

5. Pass rush looks bland and boring. Gotta hope that is just a preseason doldrums thing and the fellas crank it up during the season. But if Butler and the Boys have to send 5+ or a DB anytime they want pressure -- it is gonna be a long season.

6. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Jones looked half-way competent and assured last night. I know he still waits to long to load and fire. I know that he leaves yards on the field. I also know that if he has to play more than a handful of quarters this season things are looking grim. But darn, if he didn't look like a moderately decent back-up last night. Clearly the world is about to end.

7. I hope Butler figures out something interesting to do with all this D-line depth. Be a shame to give all these guys a hat on gamedays only to have them stand around and watch Tuitt and Heyward burn themselves out.

8. Hargrave needs to be on the field as much as possible. I have no idea how to make that happen - but dude just makes stuff happen

[st33lersguy]

Robert Gilded is absolute garbage. I have no idea why this coaching staff is insisting on keeping him as the too backup. He is guaranteed to give up plays every time he is on the field

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Steelers D always look bad in preseason when DL was here and that is when they was one of the top D's in the league. Butler being a clone of him I imagine he's not showing any other teams much of his schemes.

[Steeldude]

Everyone in the secondary looks average to poor...mostly poor.

The pass rush will probably depend on the aging Harrison. If Dupree doesn't show anything this year then he is a bust. I don't want to see another Jarvis Jones debacle.

Yep, Hargrave needs more playing time. Rotate Tuitt and Heyward on downs when they usually take out the NT. This will also give Heyward and Tuitt much need rest..

[Moose]

I agree with most Mojouw, but just a thought on your #6 point...watching Dobbs long enough will make Jones look half-way competent.

[Mojouw]

I'll stick this here, 'cause I don't think it needs its own thread. But here is another piece of evidence for why the Steelers throw deep on third and whatever, first and whatnot, and second and something or other:

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.co...l-deep-passing

Ben is the best deep ball passer of his era. Full stop. Others look prettier doing it (Rodgers specifically) and others seem to throw it farther (Flacco) but Ben R does it best.

[polamalubeast]

I prefer to throw deep on 3rd down and short (3-4 yards or less) than throw short of the yellow line on 3rd down and 7 like Alex Smith.

[steelreserve]

I have to say, the issues in the secondary so far have got me questioning whether we have a problem with coaching there that is messing up player development.

Golden - started out ok/promising, was barely serviceable last year, this year has looked like dogshit.

Cockrell - Came from another team, was ok/promising, didn't improve last season, this year looks like dogshit.

Gay - Was mediocre, left, was pretty good after he came back, has deteriorated into near-dogshit.

Mitchell - Came over looking like he had the tools to become really good, has just been ok and still plays stupid too often.

Can't tell yet whether Burns/Davis are actually growing into their roles, or just really talented and getting by on their own ability. This year will be really telling in whether they develop into pros or just two guys with good natural skills and instinct who can still get taken advantage of by more experienced opponents.

No one other than those two has amounted to shit for over 10 years. Honestly, this reminds me a lot of the offensive line situation before we made the one move that fixed that. High draft picks just getting by, mid to low draft picks never panning out, "could go either way" players becoming below-average instead of serviceable, and the unit as a whole never coherent.

What position coach out there is a DB whisperer? Give whoever that is $10 million and win a championship.

[SteelMayhem72]

I dont know about you guys but im not sold on dupree, he seems to only have one move. Watt will be good but with some growing pains. Shazier is a stud as long as he dont get injured. Harrison will be playing more than anyone thinks and im fine with that cause hes a freak of nature.

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[SteelMayhem72]

I dont know about you guys but im not sold on dupree, he seems to only have one move. Watt will be good but with some growing pains. Shazier is a stud as long as he dont get injured. Harrison will be playing more than anyone thinks and im fine with that cause hes a freak of nature.

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Thats my linebacker rant cause i think the defense will only be good if they are imho.


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[SteelMayhem72]

I have to say, the issues in the secondary so far have got me questioning whether we have a problem with coaching there that is messing up player development.

Golden - started out ok/promising, was barely serviceable last year, this year has looked like dogshit.

Cockrell - Came from another team, was ok/promising, didn't improve last season, this year looks like dogshit.

Gay - Was mediocre, left, was pretty good after he came back, has deteriorated into near-dogshit.

Mitchell - Came over looking like he had the tools to become really good, has just been ok and still plays stupid too often.

Can't tell yet whether Burns/Davis are actually growing into their roles, or just really talented and getting by on their own ability. This year will be really telling in whether they develop into pros or just two guys with good natural skills and instinct who can still get taken advantage of by more experienced opponents.

No one other than those two has amounted to shit for over 10 years. Honestly, this reminds me a lot of the offensive line situation before we made the one move that fixed that. High draft picks just getting by, mid to low draft picks never panning out, "could go either way" players becoming below-average instead of serviceable, and the unit as a whole never coherent.

What position coach out there is a DB whisperer? Give whoever that is $10 million and win a championship.

We need a munchak type of db coach. Mike munchak is the best hire we have had in years!

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[BurghBoy412]

I have to say, the issues in the secondary so far have got me questioning whether we have a problem with coaching there that is messing up player development.

Golden - started out ok/promising, was barely serviceable last year, this year has looked like dogshit.

Cockrell - Came from another team, was ok/promising, didn't improve last season, this year looks like dogshit.

Gay - Was mediocre, left, was pretty good after he came back, has deteriorated into near-dogshit.

Mitchell - Came over looking like he had the tools to become really good, has just been ok and still plays stupid too often.

Can't tell yet whether Burns/Davis are actually growing into their roles, or just really talented and getting by on their own ability. This year will be really telling in whether they develop into pros or just two guys with good natural skills and instinct who can still get taken advantage of by more experienced opponents.

No one other than those two has amounted to shit for over 10 years. Honestly, this reminds me a lot of the offensive line situation before we made the one move that fixed that. High draft picks just getting by, mid to low draft picks never panning out, "could go either way" players becoming below-average instead of serviceable, and the unit as a whole never coherent.

What position coach out there is a DB whisperer? Give whoever that is $10 million and win a championship.

For some reason Carnell Lake is untouchable!? There really isn't a reason why this team should have a below average secondary. Didn't Tomlin coach the secondary on that Championship Bucs Defense? That D that set records or some shit. Where's all that knowledge? Was he just riding Monte Kiffins coat tails? Where you at Coach T?

[pczach]

I see more natural cover skills from Sutton, Allen, and Hilton than I have seen from any set of young CBs other than Burns in a long time.

[Born2Steel]

I see more natural cover skills from Sutton, Allen, and Hilton than I have seen from any set of young CBs other than Burns in a long time.

Burns, Sutton, Allen, and Hilton look like CBs on their way up. After 1 preseason, I like how the future feels with them. Have to see how they play throughout the reg season.

[Dwinsgames]

Lake takes a ton of shit from fans no question about it , my question is this .. is it fare ?

Honestly I do not know ...

here is why

before Lake Darren Perry had the job and our secondary sucked ass , now Lake has it and they suck ass ....

is it the coaches or the position they are being put in by the D-cord ? ( Lebeau and now Butler )

Lebeau employed the tackle the catch philosophy and it seemingly was part of Butlers approach until perhaps now

when tackling the catch DBs are hung out to dry so to speak giving up so much cushion they are defeated before the play begins ..

fast forward to now , we are taking guys from one system their entire pro career ( save the rookies) and saying ok we are not going to do it this way , Guys like Gay and Cockrell where never intended to play Man in this league now they are being asked to do just that ..

before we will know how well any Coach can coach we have to give them the proper pieces in which to work with , we have some of those pieces but not all of them ...

a simple definition would be a baker has everything he needs to make a Chocolate cake ( except the cocoa ) how well will that chocolate cake turn out ?

now by no means am I saying Lake is a good coach , I am just saying maybe we still have no idea because he still does not have the pieces he needs to prove he is or isnt ...

[pczach]

Burns, Sutton, Allen, and Hilton look like CBs on their way up. After 1 preseason, I like how the future feels with them. Have to see how they play throughout the reg season.

No doubt. They need to prove themselves.

What I'm saying is that at this very early stage of their careers, they are already showing some natural cover skills. Some guys really need to work on technique and figure out ways to get things done. These guys already seem to have a knack for getting up in people's faces and making it hard for the quarterback to complete passes.

For some guys that takes years to develop skills, and many never acquire those skills at all. These guys already have that ability naturally, and it will be very interesting to watch them develop.

All I'm saying is that I like what I see from very young guys. If they continue to work on technique and get comfortable with the NFL game, I believe they have a couple guys here that could be long-term players for this team.