Heyward gets on the field...so first lets be honest. Second he is a back up to one of the better 3-4 DEs in the game. You'll get no argument from me about Hood.
Again, Mitchell will put the vets on the field...
Where they were drafted is irrelevant...
Keisel played behind Von Oelhoffen until Kimo's deal ran out...
Hood played behing Smith until Smith was too hurt to play anymore, though there were times I felt that Smith's play indicated that he should have been replaced sooner...didn't happen...even after Hood played pretty well when Smith was injured, Smith went back to the top of the depth chart...
And so on and so forth...
Not just vets at any position...on the DL is is particularly difficult to get PT...
We renegotiated with Casey Hampton last season and Steve McClendon played a total of 270 defensive snaps...
Who is the starter this year? McClendon...his time has come...
If they don't resign Keisel, Heyward's time will be next year...
but last year every time McClendon was on the field good things happened. Sure he had some rough plays vs the run but more times than not he pushed the C into the backfield and it looked like he was punished for it.
We've seen it on the offensive side too... Mendenhall had a good game in Chicago, barked after a good run on some "feed me the ball" and the next game... benched.
Dwyer... good game, next game.. benched.
Probably more to it but on the surface it looked suspect.
Last edited by feltdizz; 08-27-2013 at 03:19 PM.
I don't understand how you get that. Hood played his rookie year. He didn't start but he played. For some reason people assume that Hood and Heyward are very good players but just aren't getting their chance. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hood has started since the first part of 2010. His 2nd season. You have to move someone out for anybody to start. So there is always going to be someone replacing someone else.
Also you bring up Keisel. But you didn't add that he missed the entire 2003 season because he had shoulder surgery. He was also a 7th round pick in 2002. So would you play him in 2004 over Oelhoffen? Do you get rid of Oelhoffen in 2005 (where he help win a SB)?
See I don't understand your thinking on this. Keisel started when he was ready. BTW he played in 13 games in 2004 and 16 games in 2005 (where he had 5 sacks). So the idea that these guys don't play is just non-sense.
In addition to Vader's comments, you didn't mention that Keisel has bulked up a bit since he was drafted. We has used effectively as a situational pass rusher behind KVO. When KVO left, many on teh board felt that Keisel was the weak link and that he needed to be replaced.
Keisel needed time to develop, and with that time, has become a very good player.
I'm going to disagree with what you are saying about "occupying blockers". You occupy blockers when you prevent them from getting to their assignment. Hampton was a master at not letting a guard get out to block one of our linebackers. Aaron Smith was good at it also. It's a talent that isn't seen nearly as often anymore because you don't get paid the big bucks for it anymore. Hampton could hold off the center who was blocking him and hang on to a guard and not be pushed off the line of scrimmage all the while still flowing to the ball and protecting his lane.
Back in there heyday it was fun to watch Smith, Hampton and Keisel when the ball was snapped. They moved as one, maintaining their shape, and relentlessly going to the ball. They didn't attack and they didn't retreat. They kept everyone right around the line of scrimmage and let the linebackers fight through the trash and make the tackles on the ball carriers. If one of them penetrated too far or was pushed back off the line it would open up seams that the runner could use to gobble up yards. That didn't happen too often with the 3 guys we had playing.
Fast forward to the present and what do we have? I think we have 3 guys playing as individuals and they don't have the innate ability to know what the others are doing so they can't flow together as one. Ziggy gets blown off the line too often and Heyward and McClendon penetrate too often. This lets the blockers go free to attack our linebackers and opens up the cracks for the runners to cutback. I know many on this board our happy that the D linemen are implementing a more aggressive, attacking style and while this may give us a few tackles for -5 or -6 yards it will also allow more longer runs.
As many on this site think ... The Rooney's suck, Colbert sucks, Tomlin sucks, the coaches suck, and the players suck.
but Go Steelers!!!
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