Steelers defense no longer giving out internships

[Slapstick]

Then take into account what has happened already
Shazier running with the first team on first day of OTA
And the press conference after the draft saying the rookies have a chance to get more playing time.

Fine. But, that has nothing to do with what any Rooney said...

If no one had said anything, Ryan Shazier would still be the best option on the roster at Mack LB...just as Tuitt would probably be the best option at LDE...

[phillyesq]

There it is right there, no Aaron Smith, no Casey Hampton, no James Harrison, no Lamar Woodley, no Ryan Clark, no James Farrior, no Larry Foote, no Brett Keisel, when that defense was together where were you going to break in? Unseating Troy Polamalu? Lawrence Timmons? Ike Taylor? or any of the above?

To play early you have to have opportunity, there isn't a defensive coordinator in the NFL that would have broken up that defense to get a rookie onto the field. This year however, do opportunities exist? H3ll yea, NT, RDE, ILB, ROLB, FS, LCB, the givens are Cam, Timmons, Worilds, Ike and Troy, the rest are up for grabs, probably won't be taken by a rookie, but opportunity exists, unlike a few years ago.

Pappy

Nailed it.

[Vader]

...or it says alot about the Def Coord being incapable to adapt to the players he actually has and not the ones he wishes he had. And Coord can look great with the perfect combination of players. The truly great ones can do more with less.

Well obviously the Steelers have not had a great DC in years because:

If Shazier and Tuitt start in Week 1 and stay in the lineup all season, it would be the first time since 1971 the Steelers had multiple rookie starters on defense.

Losing teams are the ones that play rookies. See how many rookies start for Seattle the next few years.