Cam Thomas.

[Shawn]

I think you were also the one who mentioned Carl Davis with the Ravens. They always seem to manage to find these immovable defensive lineman who can beat you up and make you one dimensional.

The Steelers will have to get through the Ravens to make any noise anywhere. And being the less physical team isn't going to help win that battle. I like the speed the team has added on defense, but a lot of the success on D will depend on whether the front 3 can control the LOS.

Agreed. The Ravens are tougher team. While we are better on O, they beat us up in the trenches. I like our DL...I truly think Heyward and Tuitt are going to be a special duo. But, Timmons is 29 and then we have three unproven youngsters. If the LBrs can prove me wrong this season it will go a long way to solidifying this D.

[RuthlessBurgher]

In comparing ourselves to the Ravens, I think our DL rotation (Heyward, Tuitt, McLendon, McCullers) is roughly comparable to their DL rotation (Chris Canty, Timmy Jernigan, Brandon Williams, Carl Davis).

Their starting LB's are significantly better than ours (Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Daryl Smith, C.J. Mosley over Moats, Jones, Timmons, and Shazier), but I like our depth at LB better to rotate in (Harrison, Dupree, Williams, and Spence over Courtney Upshaw, Za'Darius Smith, Arthur Brown, and Albert McClellan).

Their top 4 corners, when healthy, trump our top 4 corners (Ladarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Kyle Arrington, Asa Jackson over Gay, Allen, Boykin, Blake).

With Matt Elam on I.R., our starting safeties and their starting safeties are probably a wash (Kendrick Lewis and Will Hill vs. Mitchell and Thomas).

However, offense, even if we consider our o-lines to be roughly comparable (I like ours a little more, actually), I think that are significantly better than them at every offensive skill position (Ben and Gradkowski over Flacco and Schaub...Brown, Bryant, Wheaton, Coates, Heyward-Bey over Steve Smith, Breshad Perriman, Kamar Aiken, Marlon Brown, Michael Campanaro...Bell, Williams, Archer, Harris, Johnson over Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Javorious Allen, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Kyle Juszczyk...Miller, Spaeth, James over Crockett Gillmore, Maxx Williams, Nick Boyle (with Dennis Pitta still on PUP with his future playing career possibilities still up in the air after back-to-back major injuries).

[pittpete]

So who's looking foolish again lol.

Touche my man..LOL

[steelnavy]

In comparing ourselves to the Ravens, I think our DL rotation (Heyward, Tuitt, McLendon, McCullers) is roughly comparable to their DL rotation (Chris Canty, Timmy Jernigan, Brandon Williams, Carl Davis).

Their starting LB's are significantly better than ours (Terrell Suggs, Elvis Dumervil, Daryl Smith, C.J. Mosley over Moats, Jones, Timmons, and Shazier), but I like our depth at LB better to rotate in (Harrison, Dupree, Williams, and Spence over Courtney Upshaw, Za'Darius Smith, Arthur Brown, and Albert McClellan).

Their top 4 corners, when healthy, trump our top 4 corners (Ladarius Webb, Jimmy Smith, Kyle Arrington, Asa Jackson over Gay, Allen, Boykin, Blake).

With Matt Elam on I.R., our starting safeties and their starting safeties are probably a wash (Kendrick Lewis and Will Hill vs. Mitchell and Thomas).

However, offense, even if we consider our o-lines to be roughly comparable (I like ours a little more, actually), I think that are significantly better than them at every offensive skill position (Ben and Gradkowski over Flacco and Schaub...Brown, Bryant, Wheaton, Coates, Heyward-Bey over Steve Smith, Breshad Perriman, Kamar Aiken, Marlon Brown, Michael Campanaro...Bell, Williams, Archer, Harris, Johnson over Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro, Javorious Allen, Fitzgerald Toussaint, Kyle Juszczyk...Miller, Spaeth, James over Crockett Gillmore, Maxx Williams, Nick Boyle (with Dennis Pitta still on PUP with his future playing career possibilities still up in the air after back-to-back major injuries).

Gawd, their starting LB rotation compared to ours is sickening...

[Shoe]

Gawd, their starting LB rotation compared to ours is sickening...

We have a lot of "if's" in our LB corps, that's the problem. The if's aren't far-fetched, but they are certainly there.

IF Shazier can stay healthy, I think that's all it will take for him to emerge as CJ Mosley did last year.

IF Jarvis can also stay healthy... I don't think he becomes Suggs or anything. But I think he can make some plays for us and be a legitimate starter in this league.

IF those two both do those things, our LB corp (and the whole defense) suddenly looks a lot better. Of course, that all also depends on everyone else's health.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Gawd, their starting LB rotation compared to ours is sickening...

Of course, Elvis Dumervil is entering his 10th season, Daryl Smith is entering his 12th season, and Terrell Suggs is entering his 13th season, so it may not be that way for much longer.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

We have a lot of "if's" in our LB corps, that's the problem. The if's aren't far-fetched, but they are certainly there.

IF Shazier can stay healthy, I think that's all it will take for him to emerge as CJ Mosley did last year.

IF Jarvis can also stay healthy... I don't think he becomes Suggs or anything. But I think he can make some plays for us and be a legitimate starter in this league.

IF those two both do those things, our LB corp (and the whole defense) suddenly looks a lot better. Of course, that all also depends on everyone else's health.

Exactly. I wrote a post awhile ago stating that there are things that I hope will happen on the D, and things that I expect. There were many more "hopes" than "expectations". If Shazier and Jones do stay healthy, our hopes should turn into expectations.

[Steelhere10]

Another write up on Cam on the Depot, like I said I'm not the only one.