hawaiiansteel
10-09-2010, 02:03 AM
Bye Week Analysis and Future Projections
October 7th, 2010
We have 4 weeks in the books and are now on the bye. I like for the bye to be later in the year so I can get a better assessment before I do this but I will go with what we have.
We started off strong with a 3-1 record even without Ben Roethlisberger and it looks like it is going to be a promising season. The Steelers look like they are headed to the playoffs and could be a Super Bowl contender. The return of Roethlisberger looks to put this team over the top. The defense has played stellar as we are number one against the run and have forced a league leading 12 turnovers. Special Teams has even picked it up from last season. We already have a kick return touchdown and Daniel Sepulveda is looking like a pro bowler.
Though the team seems to be clicking on all cylinders there are some areas we are going to have to shore up going into next season.
Team Needs
Cornerback- Ike is headed to Free Agency and our back up corners look just like what they are back up corners. William Gay has played well in the nickel but that is because that is where he belongs. He is not a shut down type guy. He needs to be protected at all times but he is also a free agent. McFadden will be entrenched as the starter next year but we need a shut down type of guy on the other side of him. Lucky for us the draft is loaded with cornerback talent assuming all of them come out of college early and enter the NFL Draft.
Inside Linebacker- James Farrior has lost a step and he may have one year left in him but we need a replacement for him coming soon. We may have gotten that in Stephenson Sylvester but he may need to put on some pounds before he is ready to become an NFL Middle Linebacker. He does have instincts though that you do not see come around very often. If he is not the answer then we need to pick up someone who will be. Larry Foote could be a stop gap but we are going to need someone in that position sooner than later.
Offensive Line- Right Side mostly. Starks and Kemo can do the job we need them to do. Flozell though is ancient and Willie Colon and Trai Essex are Free Agents at the end of the season. We still do not have a right guard. Doug Legursky is a stop gap but he most likely is not going to be the answer, even though I really like him. We also saw what the addition of Pouncey has done for us so far. Add in some talent and you can improve drastically in a short period of time.
Defensive Line Depth- Keisel, Smith, Hampton, Hoke and Eason can’t play forever and we need to get someone other then Ziggy Hood on the roster who can take over when these guys are gone. We did bring in Al Woods to our practice squad which could payoff later and Steve McClendon hasn’t looked bad in the little bit of work he has had a chance to do but this is going to be a need and it could become a need all at once. This is going to be something people say every year as a need until these guys actually retire. At the level they are playing at though it could be a few years.
Free Agency
The Steelers have a few big guys heading into free agency this season. One of which we cannot lose. LaMarr Woodley is heading into free agency and should be our number one priority going into next offseason. He is going to be the cornerstone of our defense whenever the next wave of Steelers defenders comes in. He is a must keep. We did take away some pressure on next offseason with the trade of Santonio Holmes but this is still a pretty big class. Here is the list of free agents on our team:
LaMarr Woodley
Ike Taylor
Willie Colon
Trai Essex
Chris Hoke
Daniel Sepulveda
Jeff Reed
Dennis Dixon
Mwelde Moore
Matt Spaeth
Keyaron Fox
William Gay
Draft
The draft this year is top heavy and could get lighter as the year goes on and labor peace does not settle in the NFL. Players will choose to stay in college and not lose a year of football experience if talks are not worked out by the signing deadline. This could be a good but not great draft class and it has the potential to only get worse. Last year most of the big talent came out as to beat the rookie cap.
The draft has 2 extremely strong areas. The cornerback class and the defensive end class are two of the strongest in recent memory. There could be upwards of a quarter of the first round spent on Corners and Defensive Ends. If they start a run it could be a long run so no one misses out. Some may get overdrafted and make some of the talent at the other positions fall. If the Steelers stick to their normal strategy of Best Player Available they could steal a pick wherever they end up drafting.
I see this team making a deep run into the playoffs so I do not see them picking any higher than 32 in the draft. With that being said that run on Cornerbacks and Defensive Ends should have already happened. We all know that teams overdraft offensive tackles and there are at least 3 quarterbacks who should go in the first round. This could cause some talent to drop deep into the first round.
Things could change drastically in the next 7 months so I am going to take who I want because anybody minus the top 5 or so guys could switch position. The 5 guys at the top are Andrew Luck, A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson, Prince Amukamara and Jake Locker. Everyone else is available on my list.
Round 1 Pick 32
My favorite pick in this years draft is Cameron Heyward but he does not fill an immediate need unless Keisel or Smith retire so I had to cross him out. I went with our biggest need and that is definitely going to be cornerback. I see Taylor leaving for the money. He already has two rings and he is going to go get paid one last time. Someone will give him the money. Thus I am going with:
Round 2 Pick 64
Ras I Dowling, Cornerback, Virginia- Dowling is a Steelers type of corner. He is purely a zone corner. He would struggle in man coverage but could shut down one side of the field in zone. He has great size at almost 6?2, 201 pounds. Dowling is a solid tackler and will step up and make plays against the run. Everything the Steelers look for in a corner. Dowling has one weakness and that could be his straight line speed. This is why he would fit perfectly for the zone scheme of Dick Lebeau. He could step in for Taylor right away. We have tried the 3-6 round pick thing and take a chance on someone who might be able to play. It is time to bring in some talent just like we did with Maurkice Pouncey and the offensive line this year. Just like Pouncey, Dowling has two other advantages to his game. He is very smart and instinctive along with having position flexibility. Many teams think he could be even better at Free Safety then he is at corner.
With the cornerback under our belts now it is time to look to build up that offensive line. The line is getting better with the addition of a whole new right side of the offensive line. Pouncey, Legursky and Adams have helped the line make great strides this season.
There is a chance though that Adams may retire especially if we win the Super Bowl and with Willie Colon possibly leaving via free agency we may need a new Right Tackle. If they stay though Legursky is only a stop gap while we find another right guard. That being the case the perfect prospect for this situation is:
Round 3 Pick 96
Marcus Cannon, RG/RT, TCU- Cannon can play either guard or tackle. If teams portray him as a tackle they may jump to take him much earlier than this spot. He is much better suited to play guard at the next level in my opinion. He has great size at 6?6, 352. Even with that size Cannon has great quickness in a short space. Cannon is actually in my top 5 offensive linemen in this years class. He will be overlooked though if he is slotted to play guard. Other guys who are left tackles or pure tackles will jump ahead of him even though he has the potential to be a better offensive linemen than most of the guys above him. He has not given up a sack in almost a year and a half. He went the whole 2009 season without letting a defender get to the quarterback. He is said to have gotten so much better by facing TCU DE/OLB Jerry Hughes everyday in practice. Sliding him in beside Pouncey on the right side of the line and having Adams come back next season could bolster the line even more than we have this season.
These two additions will help solidify what is already a strong roster. We have a long way to go but I like what I have seen and the future looks bright.
http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic ... ns/3368914 (http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/bye_week_analysis_and_future_projections/3368914)
October 7th, 2010
We have 4 weeks in the books and are now on the bye. I like for the bye to be later in the year so I can get a better assessment before I do this but I will go with what we have.
We started off strong with a 3-1 record even without Ben Roethlisberger and it looks like it is going to be a promising season. The Steelers look like they are headed to the playoffs and could be a Super Bowl contender. The return of Roethlisberger looks to put this team over the top. The defense has played stellar as we are number one against the run and have forced a league leading 12 turnovers. Special Teams has even picked it up from last season. We already have a kick return touchdown and Daniel Sepulveda is looking like a pro bowler.
Though the team seems to be clicking on all cylinders there are some areas we are going to have to shore up going into next season.
Team Needs
Cornerback- Ike is headed to Free Agency and our back up corners look just like what they are back up corners. William Gay has played well in the nickel but that is because that is where he belongs. He is not a shut down type guy. He needs to be protected at all times but he is also a free agent. McFadden will be entrenched as the starter next year but we need a shut down type of guy on the other side of him. Lucky for us the draft is loaded with cornerback talent assuming all of them come out of college early and enter the NFL Draft.
Inside Linebacker- James Farrior has lost a step and he may have one year left in him but we need a replacement for him coming soon. We may have gotten that in Stephenson Sylvester but he may need to put on some pounds before he is ready to become an NFL Middle Linebacker. He does have instincts though that you do not see come around very often. If he is not the answer then we need to pick up someone who will be. Larry Foote could be a stop gap but we are going to need someone in that position sooner than later.
Offensive Line- Right Side mostly. Starks and Kemo can do the job we need them to do. Flozell though is ancient and Willie Colon and Trai Essex are Free Agents at the end of the season. We still do not have a right guard. Doug Legursky is a stop gap but he most likely is not going to be the answer, even though I really like him. We also saw what the addition of Pouncey has done for us so far. Add in some talent and you can improve drastically in a short period of time.
Defensive Line Depth- Keisel, Smith, Hampton, Hoke and Eason can’t play forever and we need to get someone other then Ziggy Hood on the roster who can take over when these guys are gone. We did bring in Al Woods to our practice squad which could payoff later and Steve McClendon hasn’t looked bad in the little bit of work he has had a chance to do but this is going to be a need and it could become a need all at once. This is going to be something people say every year as a need until these guys actually retire. At the level they are playing at though it could be a few years.
Free Agency
The Steelers have a few big guys heading into free agency this season. One of which we cannot lose. LaMarr Woodley is heading into free agency and should be our number one priority going into next offseason. He is going to be the cornerstone of our defense whenever the next wave of Steelers defenders comes in. He is a must keep. We did take away some pressure on next offseason with the trade of Santonio Holmes but this is still a pretty big class. Here is the list of free agents on our team:
LaMarr Woodley
Ike Taylor
Willie Colon
Trai Essex
Chris Hoke
Daniel Sepulveda
Jeff Reed
Dennis Dixon
Mwelde Moore
Matt Spaeth
Keyaron Fox
William Gay
Draft
The draft this year is top heavy and could get lighter as the year goes on and labor peace does not settle in the NFL. Players will choose to stay in college and not lose a year of football experience if talks are not worked out by the signing deadline. This could be a good but not great draft class and it has the potential to only get worse. Last year most of the big talent came out as to beat the rookie cap.
The draft has 2 extremely strong areas. The cornerback class and the defensive end class are two of the strongest in recent memory. There could be upwards of a quarter of the first round spent on Corners and Defensive Ends. If they start a run it could be a long run so no one misses out. Some may get overdrafted and make some of the talent at the other positions fall. If the Steelers stick to their normal strategy of Best Player Available they could steal a pick wherever they end up drafting.
I see this team making a deep run into the playoffs so I do not see them picking any higher than 32 in the draft. With that being said that run on Cornerbacks and Defensive Ends should have already happened. We all know that teams overdraft offensive tackles and there are at least 3 quarterbacks who should go in the first round. This could cause some talent to drop deep into the first round.
Things could change drastically in the next 7 months so I am going to take who I want because anybody minus the top 5 or so guys could switch position. The 5 guys at the top are Andrew Luck, A.J. Green, Patrick Peterson, Prince Amukamara and Jake Locker. Everyone else is available on my list.
Round 1 Pick 32
My favorite pick in this years draft is Cameron Heyward but he does not fill an immediate need unless Keisel or Smith retire so I had to cross him out. I went with our biggest need and that is definitely going to be cornerback. I see Taylor leaving for the money. He already has two rings and he is going to go get paid one last time. Someone will give him the money. Thus I am going with:
Round 2 Pick 64
Ras I Dowling, Cornerback, Virginia- Dowling is a Steelers type of corner. He is purely a zone corner. He would struggle in man coverage but could shut down one side of the field in zone. He has great size at almost 6?2, 201 pounds. Dowling is a solid tackler and will step up and make plays against the run. Everything the Steelers look for in a corner. Dowling has one weakness and that could be his straight line speed. This is why he would fit perfectly for the zone scheme of Dick Lebeau. He could step in for Taylor right away. We have tried the 3-6 round pick thing and take a chance on someone who might be able to play. It is time to bring in some talent just like we did with Maurkice Pouncey and the offensive line this year. Just like Pouncey, Dowling has two other advantages to his game. He is very smart and instinctive along with having position flexibility. Many teams think he could be even better at Free Safety then he is at corner.
With the cornerback under our belts now it is time to look to build up that offensive line. The line is getting better with the addition of a whole new right side of the offensive line. Pouncey, Legursky and Adams have helped the line make great strides this season.
There is a chance though that Adams may retire especially if we win the Super Bowl and with Willie Colon possibly leaving via free agency we may need a new Right Tackle. If they stay though Legursky is only a stop gap while we find another right guard. That being the case the perfect prospect for this situation is:
Round 3 Pick 96
Marcus Cannon, RG/RT, TCU- Cannon can play either guard or tackle. If teams portray him as a tackle they may jump to take him much earlier than this spot. He is much better suited to play guard at the next level in my opinion. He has great size at 6?6, 352. Even with that size Cannon has great quickness in a short space. Cannon is actually in my top 5 offensive linemen in this years class. He will be overlooked though if he is slotted to play guard. Other guys who are left tackles or pure tackles will jump ahead of him even though he has the potential to be a better offensive linemen than most of the guys above him. He has not given up a sack in almost a year and a half. He went the whole 2009 season without letting a defender get to the quarterback. He is said to have gotten so much better by facing TCU DE/OLB Jerry Hughes everyday in practice. Sliding him in beside Pouncey on the right side of the line and having Adams come back next season could bolster the line even more than we have this season.
These two additions will help solidify what is already a strong roster. We have a long way to go but I like what I have seen and the future looks bright.
http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/artic ... ns/3368914 (http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/article_external/bye_week_analysis_and_future_projections/3368914)