James Harrison: In only 15 snaps, he register 3 tackles, 2 QB hits, and a game ruining sack. TJ Watt's play has been steadily strong. Chickillo has shown to be a valuable backup, but hasnt been without some seriously awful games (See--> The Bears game). Dupree, for as much as we needed a big leap from him, has been a boom or bust. As much as his gap discipline sucked against the Bears and Jaguars, it looked like he had just as bad of a game, except in regards to his pass rushing. Against the Chiefs, he got run up the arc as much as weve seen all season. If this dude could master a speed bull and pair it with a rip move instead of trying to outrun the right tackle all the time he would be unstoppable.
SteelersDepot's snap counts for week 6 indicates that Harrison played a few more snaps than Chickillo for a change, and boy, what change it was. But maybe its time to think about letting James cut into Dupree's playing time until he figures it out? Harrison may be old, but we all know he's a different animal. And he also consistently has said in interviews that he feels like he plays better when he's had more playing time. Harrison is comfortable at ROLB, so lets not try to fix what isnt broken. ROLB may be TJ's designated spot, but he's been playing over on the other side anyways and he's a smart player, and outplaying the hell out of Bud Dupree so far. Id love to see them be on the field together more often. To me, those are the best OLB's on the team by far and getting cute and "saving" Harrison by deactivating him hasnt worked out for us so I think Harrison has earned more than 28% of the defensive snaps like he did against the Chiefs. Id like to see him push right around 40% for the time being and see how things go.
Thoughts?