James Harrison's loss shaped draft

[stillers4me]

During the first two days of the NFL draft, the Steelers did a nice job rallying from their awful start to the offseason. In the first round, they took Georgia outside linebacker Jarvis Jones, who is considered the best pass rusher in the draft. In the second, they took Michigan State running back Le'Veon Bell, who is thought by many to be one of the top two at his position. In the third, they took Oregon State wide receiver Markus Wheaton, who adds much-needed depth after the free-agent loss of Mike Wallace. All three are excellent picks, considering the circumstances. The Steelers coaches sure talked 'em up. All three picks sound like they have a chance to be great on NFL lawns across the country.

It's just a shame the Steelers dug themselves such a hole before the draft...........


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...#ixzz2RfCYyURO

And now the Bengals have Eifert and Harrison.....

[zulater]

If Jones pans out, the best thing that could have happened to this team was that Harrison didn't accept the Steelers restructured contract offer. Harrison will probably have an overall better season than Jones this year. But if I had to bet, I'd wager that Jones will be playing as good or better than Harrison by December.

[salamander]

It would've been sweet to have been able to take Eifert. Oh well, we'll see what happens.

[Count Steeler]

As well as the departure of Wallace, Mendenhall, almost departure of Sanders.

Some articles are so obvious. I guess they have to write something.

[fansince'76]

Uh, Cook DOES realize that Harrison settled for about half the contract with Cincy that the Steelers offered, right? Besides, we'd have to replace Harrison sooner rather than later anyway. Might as well try to do so this year.

[Moose]

I'm happy so far with the way things worked out, even the Harrison's situation. And as fan76 said, we would have had to do something with the Harrison slot eventually ( 35yrs old), so might as well do it now while the reloading situation is going on. GO STEELERS

[HollywoodSteel]

It's not so obvious that we'd have passed on Jones even if we had re-signed Harrison. Historically the Steelers have gone with the guy they think is the best available player regardless of need. And it's not like Harrison would have been productive for more than a year or two. Also with linebackers in Dick Labeau's scheme it's rare that anyone is a year one starter unless there's an injury so it's nice to have a great one in the wings while you still have a Porter or a Harrison. Even first round Timmons was a backup to Foote his first year. So, unless you're sure that Worilds is the future world-beating pass rusher, OLB was still a need.

On the other hand, I can see the appeal of Eifert. Some guys were saying that he was the single best football player in the draft and I can see the point. He is the one guy who is almost guaranteed to make your football team significantly better day one. That's not to say that other guys, especially the LTs at the top of the draft, aren't better investments, but Eifert's immediate value can't be denied, especially in today's NFL. I think Dalton is salivating right about now.

[steelreserve]

Uh, Cook DOES realize that Harrison settled for about half the contract with Cincy that the Steelers offered, right? Besides, we'd have to replace Harrison sooner rather than later anyway. Might as well try to do so this year.

I'm happy so far with the way things worked out, even the Harrison's situation. And as fan76 said, we would have had to do something with the Harrison slot eventually ( 35yrs old), so might as well do it now while the reloading situation is going on. GO STEELERS

Yeah .. the real shame is that we tried to find Harrison's replacement twice but failed (Worilds, B. Davis). Hopefully the third time's a charm. Only worry about doing it this way is that if he turns out to be any good:

first-round pick + good pass rusher = $10M contract

so we'll be right back in the same boat three years from now.

Also, much as I'm happy with the guys we got in this draft so far, they're pretty much 1-for-1 replacements for guys we just lost this offseason, in many cases guys who we just drafted not that long ago ourselves. We're pretty much counting on all of them to pan out quickly, which as we've seen from the last few years is dangerous.

[Edman]

The Steelers are going to have to unload Harrison eventually, so why not now?

Jesus, the guy isn't going to play forever.

[st33lersguy]

Jarvis Jones was a better player than Tyler Eifert anyway, heck the guy was being mocked to the fricking Jaguars at no. 2 overall before the spine and slow 40 time and who knew how long James was going to play anyway, Chris Carter and Jason Worilds did not show me much when they did play anyway

[Dwinsgames]

The Steelers are going to have to unload Harrison eventually, so why not now?

Jesus, the guy isn't going to play forever.

he has been gone for a month , hard to drop him again when he is a Bengal now LOL

[Psycho Ward 86]

Yeah .. the real shame is that we tried to find Harrison's replacement twice but failed (Worilds, B. Davis)

we definitely dont know that yet

[Dwinsgames]

Yeah .. the real shame is that we tried to find Harrison's replacement twice but failed (Worilds, B. Davis). .

I may be wrong as I have tried to erase that part of my Memory , but was not Bruce Davis supposed to replace Clark Haggans ?

[Wallace108]

Also, much as I'm happy with the guys we got in this draft so far, they're pretty much 1-for-1 replacements for guys we just lost this offseason, in many cases guys who we just drafted not that long ago ourselves. We're pretty much counting on all of them to pan out quickly, which as we've seen from the last few years is dangerous.

This ^^^^^^^^^^

Like you, I'm also happy with the draft. And like you alluded to, they're not doing anything to improve the team ... they're trying to break even.

Jones to replace Harrison
Bell to replace Mendy
Wheaton to replace Wallace
Hawthorne to replace Lewis

Four of our first six picks are players to replace players that we just lost. Hypothetically, if we would have kept Harrison, Mendy, Wallace, and Lewis, we still would have come into this draft with other needs. Those needs aren't being addressed because we now have to replace the players we lost. That's not improving ... that's breaking even (and only if the new players pan out).

I'm not knocking the draft so far. Actually, I'm excited about it. It's more of a knock on everything that happened leading up to the draft. This has been a rough offseason. Hopefully, 3 or 4 of these picks can make an impact and we can find some diamonds-in-the-rough free agents.

[steelreserve]

This ^^^^^^^^^^

Like you, I'm also happy with the draft. And like you alluded to, they're not doing anything to improve the team ... they're trying to break even.

Jones to replace Harrison
Bell to replace Mendy
Wheaton to replace Wallace
Hawthorne to replace Lewis

Four of our first six picks are players to replace players that we just lost. Hypothetically, if we would have kept Harrison, Mendy, Wallace, and Lewis, we still would have come into this draft with other needs. Those needs aren't being addressed because we now have to replace the players we lost. That's not improving ... that's breaking even (and only if the new players pan out).

I'm not knocking the draft so far. Actually, I'm excited about it. It's more of a knock on everything that happened leading up to the draft. This has been a rough offseason. Hopefully, 3 or 4 of these picks can make an impact and we can find some diamonds-in-the-rough free agents.

Don't forget Thomas to replace Allen/Mundy for depth.

Basically, if most of these guys work out, we'll have the same team as last year, only without forking over an extra $30M in payroll that we didn't have, plus a regular person instead of a headcase for an RB. Which wouldn't be so bad, because if it wasn't for the injuries last year, we would've at least been competitive. So if we're lucky, we just helped dig out from half our salary cap mess. LET'S NOT DO IT AGAIN!


Dwins: You're right, we drafted Bruce Davis the year after Haggans left - but we already had Harrison and Woodley, so Davis would have been the next-in-line or insurance for one of them. Either way, whatever he was supposed to be ... fart.

[Craic]

This ^^^^^^^^^^

Like you, I'm also happy with the draft. And like you alluded to, they're not doing anything to improve the team ... they're trying to break even.

Jones to replace Harrison
Bell to replace Mendy
Wheaton to replace Wallace
Hawthorne to replace Lewis

Four of our first six picks are players to replace players that we just lost. Hypothetically, if we would have kept Harrison, Mendy, Wallace, and Lewis, we still would have come into this draft with other needs. Those needs aren't being addressed because we now have to replace the players we lost. That's not improving ... that's breaking even (and only if the new players pan out).

I'm not knocking the draft so far. Actually, I'm excited about it. It's more of a knock on everything that happened leading up to the draft. This has been a rough offseason. Hopefully, 3 or 4 of these picks can make an impact and we can find some diamonds-in-the-rough free agents.

Yeah, um, if we break even then I'm very happy, since we went to the Super Bowl a little over two years ago with those guys. And I thought that the foregone conclusion was that Wallace sucked and could only catch passes if they hit him between the numbers. So wouldn't pretty much any WR that can run a sub-4.5 be an improvement? Mendy only played a couple games last year due to injury and not having his head on straight. So wouldn't having a player that can actually suit up for a game be an improvement over some all-star that is sitting on the bench? Harrison was average at best last year until the last two or three games due to injury. He's been having quite a few problem the last few years like that so once again, to find someone "equal" that can actually play a full season is quite a step up in real life.

And I think you're wrong on coming into this draft with needs. We still would have needed an OLB if Harrison stayed, because he has not proven that he can play a full season anymore. We still would have needed a RB because Mendy can't stay healthy/can't keep his head straight. I'll give you WR, but that's iffy with the way our WR corp played last year. We had three CBs last year that could have started. Now we have two. So where exactly is the need? Gay is a Steeler again and despite the bad wrap, he is one of the best knickel CB's in the league, so that is three CBs that can play well at the NFL level. Again, I don't see the need.

There's a reason these players were let go. It wasn't mismanagement. It was a lack of fulfillment by the players and/or wanting too much money.

[st33lersguy]

This ^^^^^^^^^^

Like you, I'm also happy with the draft. And like you alluded to, they're not doing anything to improve the team ... they're trying to break even.

Jones to replace Harrison
Bell to replace Mendy
Wheaton to replace Wallace
Hawthorne to replace Lewis

Four of our first six picks are players to replace players that we just lost. Hypothetically, if we would have kept Harrison, Mendy, Wallace, and Lewis, we still would have come into this draft with other needs. Those needs aren't being addressed because we now have to replace the players we lost. That's not improving ... that's breaking even (and only if the new players pan out).

Losing players is part of today's NFL, that is what the salary cap brings

[Steeldude]

If Jones pans out, the best thing that could have happened to this team was that Harrison didn't accept the Steelers restructured contract offer. Harrison will probably have an overall better season than Jones this year. But if I had to bet, I'd wager that Jones will be playing as good or better than Harrison by December.

If he starts at all at any point in the season. It would nice if he absorbed it all in pre-season so he can start. Then move Worilds to the left.

[Craic]

If he starts at all at any point in the season. It would nice if he absorbed it all in pre-season so he can start. Then move Worilds to the left.

In place of Woodley? No way. People forget that Woodley suffered from nagging injuries over the last two years. I really think that it's one of those things where compensating for one thing, opened something else up for injury. That's why he had groin, hamstring, and ankle problems. That's all behind him now (hopefully), and he already made a commitment in January to come out to Arizona and work with a coach because he realized that his body wasn't responding to the programs he was putting it through.

Personally, I think we'll see a lot more of the old Woodley this year.

[Steeldude]

In place of Woodley? No way. People forget that Woodley suffered from nagging injuries over the last two years. I really think that it's one of those things where compensating for one thing, opened something else up for injury. That's why he had groin, hamstring, and ankle problems. That's all behind him now (hopefully), and he already made a commitment in January to come out to Arizona and work with a coach because he realized that his body wasn't responding to the programs he was putting it through.

Personally, I think we'll see a lot more of the old Woodley this year.

I don't want the old Woodley either. IMO, he's a 4-3 DE trying to play OLB in a 3-4. Also, his contract is ridiculous and it kills the Steelers' cap.

Woodley could play "OLB" if he would get down to 250 and work on his effort. It would be nice to see him chase down plays on the other side of the field ala Harrison.