Offense? What about Defense?

[Chadman]

we've already inverted the young player on the defense. they're already on the roster

worldis, carter, hood, heyward (timmons and woodley hitting their prime years)

allen, brown... mcclendon\

thats almost a whole defensive unit

Conversely, on Offense...Brown, Sanders, Saunders, Pouncey, Gilbert, Mendenhall, Redman, Legursky, Foster, Wallace, Chris Scott, David Johnson...etc, etc...8 of those young Offensive players just mentioned are already starters...

It's not like the Steelers have neglected Offense these last 3-4 years.

And for every Legursky/Foster/Chris Scott/Johnson/Saunders/Sanders "Have not proven they can start effectively" argument you put forward, Chadman will give you a McLendon/Worilds/Carter/Sylvester/Allen/Brown/Heyward etc "Have not proven they can start" argument in return.

Fact is- SIGNIFICANT starters on Defense are at the end of the rope, with little back-up in place at NT & ILB- 2 of the most important positions on a 3-4 Defense. Do you feel comfortable with McLendon as the starting NT & Sylvester the starting ILB?

On Offense- all the 'areas requiring upgrades' are filled by players with their talent levels on the rise (OG- no player over 27). Could they do with an upgrade? Yes, Chadman won't say no to that. But an actual Vet may prove a better investment to come in & start now, putting Legs/Foster & perhaps a rookie in competition for 1 spot. Hold on to them all, let them develop.

[NJ-STEELER]

how many years in a row have we had a top defense?

the players that make it happen will still be here. harrison, woodley, troy, keisel, ike, timmons, clark

i'll repeat everyone that we deem 'needs to be replaced' (farrior, hoke,smith) was an average player the last year or 2 (with maybe hampton playing above average 2 years ago)
heyward and hood were premium draft picks to replace some of the DL. same with worldis and the LBs. they're already on board
then they have carter and sly who they've groomed to fill in at LB.
plus 2 Cbs last year and mundy ready for more playing time


even with those average performances by the older guys, they still ranked 1st and 3rd in the entire league the last 2 years. how much of a drop off could we have if we're just replacing average performers? we are not replacing ike,woodley, harrison or troy next year. yes, having to replace one of them would hurt the defense

lastly, is it really that hard to see the OL is in shambles or that more is needed in the weapon department to get more red zone production. i'd rather take a big WR that could be a true #1 in the 1st round then take an NT or ILB. we won 2 super bowls with larry freakin foote starting at ILB. you dont need pro bowlers or 1st rounder all across the LB unit to be successful

improve the damn areas that we've struggled at for years