One Big Fact about our O-Line

[steelerkeylargo]

Other than Pouncey and to a lesser extent Kemo, the team has no real confidence in any position on the o-line. They continue to just throw crappy lineman up against the wall and see if anything sticks. As evidenced through pre-season by cutting Starks in favor of J. Scott then anointing Chris Scott and Tony Hills and onto bringing back Esssex and inserting Legursky the team has no clue if any of these guys can play. Furthermore if you think Gilbert is the answer...the guy had a less than stellar Senior year and actually looked better as a Junior. The guy is a natural guard and he will get Ben killed if he plays the whole year. This team had better be calling Flozell and looking into trading for somebody like a Kareem Mackenzie or a Joe Staley (last year of contracts). The fact is our OL is in DEEP trouble.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

I am starting to think our OL blows somewhat by design. Most teams with a franchise QB spend a large chunk of their cap on skill players and the OL to protect their investment. We have the skill players on offense, but instead of spending a chunk of the cap on the OL we spend it on the defense.

Most of Ben's big plays are when the line breaks down and he starts running around adlibbing. We don't run a high powered offense like most teams because Ben isn't a timing oriented QB. He is a visual QB. This is why you don't see many timing patterns other than those stupid stay patterns from the bunch formation. You rarely see him throw to a spot and expect the WR to be there.

Look at how we scored the lone TD in Baltimore. Ben running around, WR hangs in there and Ben hits him. Total garbage play. Thats Ben, freaking best backyard football player on the planet but I think he would struggle in a well oiled machine type of offense. Maybe he sucks at pre-snap reads or evaluating defenses or something. No idea. But I do think that the Steelers don't view having a crappy OL with Ben a big deal. Might be why he is always there to defend them. They take such heat, but he knows they are doing the best they can, they just suck.

[steelblood]

Maybe Kugs can coach up Gilbert. He looked solid in the preseason vs Trent Cole and John Abraham.

Jon Scott is what he is. But, he played pretty well last season in the playoffs. He'll never be better than average. But, I think he can be an average NFL tackle.

[Dee Dub]

SKL, I dont agree with you. I think because of Gilbert's feet I think he can help in the long term. He needs to get stronger for run blocking but I think in pass protection at the very worst will do as well as Colon. And he has the ability to do even better. He is a second round pick..that means he needs some time to develop. He also needs some time out the with the first unit to get the much desired cohesiveness. What can be expected of a second round O-lineman who didn't have OTA's and a reduced camp who is now being thrown to the wolves? Give the guy a chance. And show some confidence in your scouting department and coaching staff. They saw enough in his senior year to draft in the second round. I'll go with that.

You can forget the Joe Staley's of the world. The Steelers will be $25 million over the cap next season.

[flippy]

I am starting to think our OL blows somewhat by design. Most teams with a franchise QB spend a large chunk of their cap on skill players and the OL to protect their investment. We have the skill players on offense, but instead of spending a chunk of the cap on the OL we spend it on the defense.

Most of Ben's big plays are when the line breaks down and he starts running around adlibbing. We don't run a high powered offense like most teams because Ben isn't a timing oriented QB. He is a visual QB. This is why you don't see many timing patterns other than those stupid stay patterns from the bunch formation. You rarely see him throw to a spot and expect the WR to be there.

Look at how we scored the lone TD in Baltimore. Ben running around, WR hangs in there and Ben hits him. Total garbage play. Thats Ben, freaking best backyard football player on the planet but I think he would struggle in a well oiled machine type of offense. Maybe he sucks at pre-snap reads or evaluating defenses or something. No idea. But I do think that the Steelers don't view having a crappy OL with Ben a big deal. Might be why he is always there to defend them. They take such heat, but he knows they are doing the best they can, they just suck.

I heard someone on ESPN radio saying something about Ben not having the highest Wunderlic score. And he's one of the few QBs that has success in spite of a lower score. And they were making the case that that score correlates with playoff success in most cases.

Maybe Ben's Wunderlic is the reason he's not the best with pre-snap reads or understanding what the D is doing or something along those lines.

[SanAntonioSteelerFan]

I am starting to think our OL blows somewhat by design. Most teams with a franchise QB spend a large chunk of their cap on skill players and the OL to protect their investment. We have the skill players on offense, but instead of spending a chunk of the cap on the OL we spend it on the defense.

Most of Ben's big plays are when the line breaks down and he starts running around adlibbing. We don't run a high powered offense like most teams because Ben isn't a timing oriented QB. He is a visual QB. This is why you don't see many timing patterns other than those stupid stay patterns from the bunch formation. You rarely see him throw to a spot and expect the WR to be there.

Look at how we scored the lone TD in Baltimore. Ben running around, WR hangs in there and Ben hits him. Total garbage play. Thats Ben, freaking best backyard football player on the planet but I think he would struggle in a well oiled machine type of offense. Maybe he sucks at pre-snap reads or evaluating defenses or something. No idea. But I do think that the Steelers don't view having a crappy OL with Ben a big deal. Might be why he is always there to defend them. They take such heat, but he knows they are doing the best they can, they just suck.

I heard someone on ESPN radio saying something about Ben not having the highest Wunderlic score. And he's one of the few QBs that has success in spite of a lower score. And they were making the case that that score correlates with playoff success in most cases.

Maybe Ben's Wunderlic is the reason he's not the best with pre-snap reads or understanding what the D is doing or something along those lines.

From the Department of FWIW and Redundancy Department:

From an old thread
[url="http://www.planetsteelers.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18209"]viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18209[/url] : apparently Wonderlich score doesn't predict future success in the NFL at any position. Besides which, Vince Young and Dan Marino apparently had the same Wonderlich score.

Go figure!

[SteelTorch]

I honestly don't know how some people continue to make excuses for this O-line. I've heard it all: a bad system, a bad OC, a bad line coach, they don't have time to "gel", Ben holds on too long, etc. The players just stink. No other way around it.

Pouncey is the only one on that line that I would even call "good" at this point. Everyone else, including Kemo, would be playing as back-ups in most other teams around the league. Since 2006, the play of this line has been average AT BEST, but poor most of the time, and it's coming back to haunt us.

[Dee Dub]

I honestly don't know how some people continue to make excuses for this O-line. I've heard it all: a bad system, a bad OC, a bad line coach, they don't have time to "gel", Ben holds on too long, etc. The players just stink. No other way around it.

Pouncey is the only one on that line that I would even call "good" at this point. Everyone else, including Kemo, would be playing as back-ups in most other teams around the league. Since 2006, the play of this line has been average AT BEST, but poor most of the time, and it's coming back to haunt us.

Do you feel this way about Gilbert? Do you believe he doesnt have the ability to become a solid O-lineman?

[feltdizz]

I honestly don't know how some people continue to make excuses for this O-line. I've heard it all: a bad system, a bad OC, a bad line coach, they don't have time to "gel", Ben holds on too long, etc. The players just stink. No other way around it.

Pouncey is the only one on that line that I would even call "good" at this point. Everyone else, including Kemo, would be playing as back-ups in most other teams around the league. Since 2006, the play of this line has been average AT BEST, but poor most of the time, and it's coming back to haunt us.

the OL does suck....

but it's also obvious to me that Ben doesn't mind the way the OL plays.

[phillyesq]

I honestly don't know how some people continue to make excuses for this O-line. I've heard it all: a bad system, a bad OC, a bad line coach, they don't have time to "gel", Ben holds on too long, etc. The players just stink. No other way around it.

Pouncey is the only one on that line that I would even call "good" at this point. Everyone else, including Kemo, would be playing as back-ups in most other teams around the league. Since 2006, the play of this line has been average AT BEST, but poor most of the time, and it's coming back to haunt us.

Do you feel this way about Gilbert? Do you believe he doesnt have the ability to become a solid O-lineman?

Colon was a starting caliber RT, and was actually pretty good in 2009. Pouncey had a bad game on Sunday, but should anchor this line for another 10 years. You can do worse than Kemo, and really, you need to look no farther than right guard to prove that. He can be an average starter, despite his maddening inconsistency and mental errors.

Scott is ideally a backup swing tackle/fill-in, not a starter. He does demonstrate, at times, the ability to perform as a marginal starting tackle.

I bet most teams would love Legursky -- as a backup center.

Gilbert has potential, but is an unknown.

There are a lot of mediocre pieces that so far come together to provide a poor line. With time to gel, their play will likely rise to the level of acceptable, like it did last year.

I'd like to see better. I'd love to see a stud LT, or hell, even a competent RG. But this group will likely be enough to scrape by.