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Last season the DL was Heyward, Tuitt, Hargrave, Alualu, Walton, and McCullers. The press I am reading speculates that Alualu and McCullers most likely won’t be back next season. Since the Steelers usually carry 6 DL on the 53(McCullers got a helmet nearly every week), we can assume that whoever doesn’t come back will be replaced in FA or in the draft. What are your thoughts on potential players for DL?
I would like to see them bring Alualu back. I think he is a good rotational piece still. Walton... a bit of the same, but wouldn't mind competition/replacement.
They need to decide what they want to do with the DL. Do they want guys that can play both 1 gap and 2 gap styles (I think that is the fancy word for penetrating versus soaking up blockers) or do they want to pick a "flavor" of DL and just do with it?
I am all for upping the quantity and quality of the depth along the DL. Tuitt, Hargrave, and Heyward are all so good that when they get injured, teams just target and expose the replacement.
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From what I have been reading and from podcast opinions, Alualu, and McCullers are both expected to be gone. Walton is iffy too but you simply don’t replace everyone at once. Who knows how it will play out but there will be a change with this group most likely.
Alualu wasn’t worth the money the Steelers were paying him. If he would agree to the Veteran minimum then yes as the fifth off the bench. Was a bigger name with not much production. Very deep defensive line draft this year.
I thought LaVon Hooks deserved to be on the 53 and McCullers didnt.
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Not sure what happened with Hooks. Kept hearing good things but he never got a real shot. Alualu was brought in and then last season he got jumped over for McCullers.
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Hooks signed a reserve/future contract on Dec 31.
the Steelers met with 2 DL prospects at the Senior Bowl so we may very well draft one.
We might need a wooden stake or silver bullet to finally get McCullers off the roster.
Array title="pczach has a reputation beyond repute">
Originally Posted by FrancoLambert
He should be gone. He hasn't done enough.
It's time to move on.
Array title="Born2Steel has a reputation beyond repute">
Yep, agreed. Any thoughts on any players or on getting a FA vs drafting one? And I don’t think this is necessarily only for depth. Tuitt has not exactly been a wow factor himself the last 2 seasons. It could be possible to see Hargrave getting more snaps as well. Right now we have 3 on roster. We seem to always carry 6. Something is going to change.
I still have faith in Tuitt. He can be a beast at times. When he’s not, I always suspect he’s dealing with some unreported injury. Not that it’s such a great thing if he’s always hurt. But he has played through injury in the past. He’s the kind of guy who will try to gut it out even when he’s playing at 75% as a result.
Maybe I’m just being an optimist out of necessity. With all of our other needs, including depth on the DL, this is not the year to replace Tuitt as a starter.
He’s like the rich man’s Bud Dupree. Let’s keep him and fix other problems because we can convince ourselves he’ll be awesome next year.
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I wasn’t actually promoting replacing Tuitt. Just pointing out his play has very much tapered off. Could be injury related, true. Could be he’s taking on doubles more since we’ve been playing a lot of 2DL fronts. I would like to see more DLs on the field regularly myself. That’s just my preference. BUT, if a player like Donald was brought in let’s say, he moves to the starter role and Tuitt then backs up him or Cam. OR, because of money involved now we see more 3 or 4 DL fronts. And they can all get after the QB AND stuff the run. Better or worse?
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I think Tuitt has been great when healthy. The problem is that he hasn't been healthy, and playing hurt for large portions of the last two seasons. If that continues, that is a huge problem that the team will have to make a decision on.
It is so hard to discuss what to do in free agency until we find out what is going to happen with AB.
If he stays, then defense clearly has to be the focus. ILB and CB are the glaring needs. If they can get an established, quality CB or ILB in FA, I think they have to do it....and I'm talking about a high level talent....not just a journeyman or depth player. If they can sign a slightly less talented, quality FA at both positions, that would be incredible. If those positions don't have quality available talent, then they need to look at getting an impact player at any defensive position that can help the team. If they can get a huge upgrade over Dupree, and move him to third OLB.....Wow! What a great rotation they can have while keeping everyone fresh. I just think they need to keep their options open and be willing to make a bold move.
If AB is traded, I would like to see an elite corner like Peterson or Ramsey in return. That opens up the draft for them to take the best player available and not have to worry as much about need picks. It solidifies the back end of the defense, and I think it really improves the team. They then only need an athletic ILB on defense to really make a leap forward. If they can then pick up an established WR in FA, it will offset the loss of AB a bit and they can focus on improving the running game offensively and maybe add a complete TE that can get open and block to help with the running game.
It's so early in the process that it is hard to nail anything down.
How about you? Do you have any thoughts on free agency or team direction?
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I have lots of thoughts. Too many actually, it’s not normal. As to our DL situation I would like to play a truer 3-4 than this hybrid system that is being built. I don’t like the 2DL front. I think it requires more player rotations and hurts communication and defensive rhythm. But that’s just me being old and picky. I like Tuitt fine, I don’t want to give the impression I have given up on him. I just think he needs more help than Cam. I think more Hargrave would be a good thing. I also like the idea of bringing in another DE for a stronger rotation since that appears to be the plan. I agree it may be too early to start dropping names as favorite moves but this is exactly the right time to start putting names on the ‘board’ for comparison and analysis. I waiting more on some combine numbers over what happens with AB though. Plus I am thinking I may be more interested in building the front7 thru the draft and the secondary in FA.
Born2Steel's post made me think of this. Regardless of what happens to the roster behind the top 3 guys, the DL rotations need examined. Hargrave simply must be on the field more. The more snaps he plays, the more impact he has. I honestly think he might be the best DL on the team. I have no idea how to balance or distribute the snaps, but Hargrave needs to play on more than just base defense run downs.
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They seemed to use Hargrave more towards the end of the season. Maybe they are finally figuring out what some of us saw in him before he was drafted. The man is a disrupter. He has the quickness and strength to penetrate and to rush the passer. Players that can get inside pressure on quarterbacks are premium players.
Before last season there was a thread where we talked about what they might do defensively with the new talent that was added to the roster. I stated that I thought they would go smaller in the secondary using more safeties and having Hargrave play more downs.
The man needs to be on the field more.
Agree with all this. I think he can be Aaron Donald light.
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Maybe a little terminology understanding can be useful when talking DL.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/new...es-5-technique
http://insidethepylon.com/football-1...y-3-technique/
Either of these two specific roles is what the Steelers use in their 3-4 alignment. To back up for Cam, Tuitt, or Hargrave, DL prospects need to fall in this range of DL. Hope I'm being helpful and not condescending. My kids are constantly correcting me on this.
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Muhammad Wikerson is a free agent that could be a quality backup a for all 3 of our regular DL. He can play inside as a 1 or 3 tech, and also plays well outside as a 5 tech. Wilkerson has been used every where on the DL during his career.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...-ankle-surgery
He would be one hell of a backup DL and could start if the situation forced it. Thoughts?
Prior to the draft, there was an article (“Outside the Lines”???) that broke down Hargrave’s effectiveness... and, Hargrave was second-only to Donald.
Jist like how I’ve said that if TJ is 75% as effective as JJ, we will be alright... if Hargrave can be 75% as effective as Donald, we’ll be verrry alright.
I mean, dear me, if Wilkerson was the top backup DL? It wasn't that long ago that Wilkerson was wreaking havoc on a weekly basis. I would give him a 1 year 5-6 million dollar deal and hope he can get back to terrorizing offenses. Even 60% of what Wilkerson used to be is better than LT Walton or Lavon Hooks.
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I agree with above, add to the DBs via FA and draft the ILB. Our DB scouting dept is suspect at best, but leans toward terrible.
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Yes. And then you have a 4 man DL rotation of Heyward, Tuitt, Hargraves, and Wilkerson. Add in 1 draft pick and Hooks, and there’s your 6.
Yeah. I'm all aboard with this. I read somewhere last night that the Pats may choose to let Danny Shelton walk. What about adding, by some cap space magical vodoo, Wilkerson and Shelton? I have no idea how you would get enough playing time, justify the cash to rotational DL, etc....
...But Tuitt/Heyward/Hargrave/Wilkerson/Shelton/Draft Pick is kinda nice to daydream about!
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Money well spent because now you can move Dupree/Edmunds/Watt inside with Bostic and/or VW. I do like the idea of getting bigger in the front 7. The trend seems to be getting smaller and putting more LBs in coverage. We would need to go from predominately a dime package to a more traditional 4-3 look to justify it though. I would say bring in both for a meet and walk thru. Offer both. Sign one.
That could work. Be interesting to see how much actual cap space they hit free agency with. Once they back out in-season contingency, draft class, and do all the extensions, restructures, and resignings of their own roster.
Might be a bunch. Might be basically none - especially if AB isn't on the roster.
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Looking at the draft prospects and the only ‘dominant’ DL guy that might fall to us in the 2nd/3rd is Christian Wilkins out of Clemson. Reason I think he goes later than a lot of sites have him mocked is because he is not as dominant vs the run. He has great ability to pass rush, get hands up, and disrupt the QB. He hasn’t shown great strength in holding his position against the run though. I think he’s good enough to play as a 3-4 DE though. And his ability to get into the backfield may make any deficiency in the run game insignificant. Somebody to keep an eye on coming out of the combine, IMO.
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