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View Full Version : Dan Connor for ILB?



D Rock
02-14-2012, 03:03 PM
I think if the Steelers are able to go outside the organization to get a guy, then Connor could fit the bill.

He's been stuck behind All-Pro Jon Beason for years, but he has a ton of skill and is a smart player.

Would he work on the inside in a 3-4?

phillyesq
02-14-2012, 03:08 PM
I haven't seen much of Connor, but wasn't the reason that he slid to the mid rounds of the draft a lack of speed? If the Steelers are going to stick with a slower ILB, I'd prefer Farrior or Foote with a rookie behind them.

D Rock
02-14-2012, 03:14 PM
From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

BigRob
02-14-2012, 03:38 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

D Rock
02-14-2012, 03:59 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?


the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

BigRob
02-14-2012, 04:36 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?


the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

That's interesting. Would you mind linking to an article quoting him saying that?

I currently have it calculated that we need to clear 17 to 20 million more dollars to get under the cap, tender RFA's, and sign draft picks.

How in the world does anyone think we will have room to sign any kind of starting caliber FA's?

I think Colbert made it pretty clear that we won't have room to sign any FA's in the first 2 to 3 months of free agency.

I had dreams of Paul Solia coming here too, but alas I don't think either will be a Steeler unless they take an extreme sweet heart of a deal.

phillyesq
02-14-2012, 04:39 PM
From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

D Rock
02-14-2012, 04:47 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?


the same guy you quoted above.


Colbert said they wont have room to make a move before free agency on their own guys. He also said they would like to try and go after some outside guys too if they can...when the FA period arrives.

That's interesting. Would you mind linking to an article quoting him saying that?

I currently have it calculated that we need to clear 17 to 20 million more dollars to get under the cap, tender RFA's, and sign draft picks.

How in the world does anyone think we will have room to sign any kind of starting caliber FA's?

I think Colbert made it pretty clear that we won't have room to sign any FA's in the first 2 to 3 months of free agency.

I had dreams of Paul Solia coming here too, but alas I don't think either will be a Steeler unless they take an extreme sweet heart of a deal.


It was in a recent post from FordFixer of a Colbert interview...


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20344 (http://www.planetsteelers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20344)


Q: Are you surprised at how much work you’ve had to do with the salary cap and will it hinder you in putting the roster together?

A: We’ve seen this coming for awhile and we knew we were going to have to make some serious adjustments after this past season because the previous season we didn’t have a salary cap and really we took some liberties that year that we probably would not have been able to in a cap season and some of that carried over into this year. Moving into this year we knew we were going to have serious issues that we were going to have to deal with. I think with a combination of terminations and restructurings that we’ll be able to handle this along with doing new business with our own potential free agents and possibly some others from the outside.

BigRob
02-14-2012, 04:48 PM
From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

Your not mistaken in your belief that he is a run stuffer. He is not a coverage linebacker at all. He would be similar to Foote in our system.

D Rock
02-14-2012, 05:23 PM
From what I've been able to find, he missed the combine but lit it up at his Pro Day.

4.67 40 yd dash, 4.25 short shuttle, 35" vertical, 9' 7" long jump

I may well have been mistaken, and I certainly haven't seen much of him with the Panthers.

Your not mistaken in your belief that he is a run stuffer. He is not a coverage linebacker at all. He would be similar to Foote in our system.


That' what I want in an ILB next to Timmons. Very similar to how the guy next to Troy needs to stay at home and take care of business...The same type of player needs to be next to Timmons.

D Rock
02-14-2012, 05:34 PM
Another reason I like the idea of signing Connor....

http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2012ILB.php

He's not the top guy at his position, or even close to it, available as a free agent this year. He's got 3 or 4 other young and really good players in front of him to pick up the big bucks from the really ILB starved teams.

Tulloch, Lofton, and Jackson are clearly the studs of this years crop for teams to throw big money at.

BigRob
02-14-2012, 08:52 PM
Assuming all you say is correct. I would have two more questions:

1) Is he an upgrade to Foote/Farrior who knows the system very well?

I don't think he could play at any higher of a level than Foote/Farrior. He is not a linebacker with coverage skills. Wouldn't we be better off bringing back on of them and draft a stud ILB replacement for them?

2) Would he be willing to give the Steelers a major discount to come "home" so to speak?

steeler_fan_in_t.o.
02-14-2012, 08:58 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

BigRob
02-14-2012, 09:10 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

Is he an upgrade really?

steeler_fan_in_t.o.
02-14-2012, 09:23 PM
Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

Is he an upgrade really?

I don't know enough about him to determine if he is an upgrade, my point is that he is affordable despite our cap situation.

D Rock
02-14-2012, 09:46 PM
[quote=BigRob]Kevin Colbert said today they wouldn't have the ability to sign any of their own unrestricted free agents by the start of the league year.

What makes you think they will have room to sign a ILB that is going to get good play on the free market?

If they think that Conner is a starter on this team and comes at a relatively cheap price, that might allow them to release both Farrior ($2.825M savings) and Foote ($3M savings).

The ILB position is deep in this year's FA market, so Connor might come at a reasonable price, and easily cheaper than either of the two we would be releasing.

Is he an upgrade really?

I don't know enough about him to determine if he is an upgrade, my point is that he is affordable despite our cap situation.[/quote:3k6hva5o]


I'm no talent scout. I can't say whether he would be an upgrade or not. What I do know is that a lot of people regarded him very highly coming out of PSU. A lot of people still do regard him highly, even though he was in a bad situation in Carolina buried behind an incredible player.

He's also about 10 years younger than Potsie and Foote. That surely counts for a lot. Don't forget...a lot of people thought Farrior was an underachiever when the Steelers got him in FA.

I think Donta Hightower would be great as a Steeler next to Timmons. As long as Connor can be be had for the 3-4 mil/year range (less than Farrior and Foote are getting combined right now) and be a solid player, and we can get another potentially great player at 1.24 instead of Hightower, then I am all for it.

-Save money over the Farrior/Foote combo.
-Get 10 years younger.
-Still have a pick at 1.24 that doesn't need to be used on an ILB


That sounds good to me.

Captain Lemming
02-15-2012, 02:45 AM
That surely counts for a lot. Don't forget...a lot of people thought Farrior was an underachiever when the Steelers got him in FA.

DRock, what are you talking about? UNDERACHIEVER?

Farrior had more tackles as a Jet OUTSIDE LBer the season we signed him than HE HAS EVER HAD as a Steeler. I'm talking like 140 somethin total tackles. Only young Ray Ray in his prime had more that season (2001). Again he did that on THE OUTSIDE.

He was by no means an underachiever. Dude was seriuosly UNDERAPPRECIATED.

Dan CONNER can in no way compare to Farrior on the Jets.

Just look at the guy. Nothing about him screams elite athlete:

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgztx7rjGv1qz4zhao1_400.jpg

D Rock
02-15-2012, 08:23 AM
Answer me this Lemming...

would you be happy if the player your team selected 8th overall in the first round had these stats his first four years?

Farrior had more tackles in the one year you mentioned (year 5) than he did in years 2-4 combined. Those years would seem to indicate 'underachiever' for a number 8 overall selection.

He was nowhere near the player as a Jet that he was as a Steeler, with the exception of year 5 in the last year of his contract.