Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

[insanesteelersfan]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

On a side note, today IS my Birthday,,,and maybe I'm a liitle adjetated that I am closer to Death

Happy Birthday my fellow Steelers brother....

The HELL with the picture,,,where are the ACTUAL Cupcakes~ ? :P

[NJ-STEELER]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

very surprised we didnt select a TE

perhaps they would bring in someone like saunders as a UFA who came in on a visit

[flippy]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

On a side note, today IS my Birthday,,,and maybe I'm a liitle adjetated that I am closer to Death

It's the grumpy old man syndrome

I totally get it. I get a little more jaded every year that passes.

Happy birthday, btw.

[steelblood]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

take the first "s" out of insanesteelerfan and whadda ya get?

[Ghost]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

Taylor - I think the Steelers will do a lot to get him signed but I also think there is a real possibility of some team throwing ludicrous money at him and the Steelers not matching (as they shouldn't). I'm guessing the coaches are seriously discussing this scenario.

Sweed - not worried about his achilles nearly as much as his head and his apparrent loss of ability to hold on to the ball since coming to the NFL. If he can't distinguish himself early, cut him - it will be time to walk away.

Spaeth - The coaches just love this guy for some reason. He's found away to be here 5 years. There are 5 TE's on the roster and it is an underwhelming group after Heath. MS has a final roster spot waiting for him again this season.

Suisham - there is a second kicker on the roster from AL-Birmingham. Disappointing. I don't think he is the clutch kicker they need. Maybe he's been frantically working out in the off season knowing this is his last shot. Hopefully....

Gay - routinely the worst player on the field for either team when he's out there. Let him walk and give a younger guy a shot. Would love to see both the rooks become special team aces. (And Gay can take Madison with him as well).

Eason - good bye. Good back up but not worth the roster spot anymore.

Dwyer - this may be one of the most interesting camp battles this year. Do they hold onto Moore for one more year or can Batch fill that role? What exactly does Dwyer bring to the table? Got to figure 2 of three - Moore, Batch , Dwyer make the team . Guessing Johnson from Kan St isn't a factor.

There HAS to be a season this year!!!!!!!!

[Oviedo]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

Taylor - I think the Steelers will do a lot to get him signed but I also think there is a real possibility of some team throwing ludicrous money at him and the Steelers not matching (as they shouldn't). I'm guessing the coaches are seriously discussing this scenario.

Sweed - not worried about his achilles nearly as much as his head and his apparrent loss of ability to hold on to the ball since coming to the NFL. If he can't distinguish himself early, cut him - it will be time to walk away.

Spaeth - The coaches just love this guy for some reason. He's found away to be here 5 years. There are 5 TE's on the roster and it is an underwhelming group after Heath. MS has a final roster spot waiting for him again this season.

Suisham - there is a second kicker on the roster from AL-Birmingham. Disappointing. I don't think he is the clutch kicker they need. Maybe he's been frantically working out in the off season knowing this is his last shot. Hopefully....

Gay - routinely the worst player on the field for either team when he's out there. Let him walk and give a younger guy a shot. Would love to see both the rooks become special team aces. (And Gay can take Madison with him as well).

Eason - good bye. Good back up but not worth the roster spot anymore.

Dwyer - this may be one of the most interesting camp battles this year. Do they hold onto Moore for one more year or can Batch fill that role? What exactly does Dwyer bring to the table? Got to figure 2 of three - Moore, Batch , Dwyer make the team . Guessing Johnson from Kan St isn't a factor.

There HAS to be a season this year!!!!!!!!

(And Gay can take Madison with him as well).

Getting rid of Madison would be an instant upgrade to our secondary. he has clung on to a roster spot too long based upon an unsupported legendary status as a special teams player. Reality is that Sylvester and a couple of others were better or just as good last year.

Having Madison on the roster is like wasting a spot on a second lon snaper. See ya later.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Post Draft Looks Good For The Return Of Chris Hoke To The Steelers



Everyone knew the Steelers would be addressing the defensive line during the draft, but the only question was to what degree they would do so. Prior to the draft defensive end was the most apparent need with nose tackle being a distant second along the defensive front. While it would have come to no surprise if the Steelers would have drafted a young nose tackle to groom behind Casey Hampton, they didn't.

Hampton signed a new three-year contract last February and his play in 2010 was well above the line. He logged just over 500 snaps on defensive last season including the playoffs and only missed the one game against the Titans early in the season due to a hamstring injury suffered in week one against the Falcons. He showed no real signs of slowing down even though he will turn 34 in September.

Chris Hoke was again the back up Hampton at the nose tackle position last season and in addition, he rotated in at defensive end throughout the season due to attrition on the defensive line. Left defensive end Aaron Smith tore his biceps during the week 7 game against the Dolphins and never played another down for the rest of the season. In addition to Smith, right defensive end Brett Keisel missed 5 starts due to quad/hamstring issues. Hoke was there to pick up the slack in both instances and only missed the week 4 game against the Ravens due to an MCL sprain suffered in mop up duty against the Buccaneers a week earlier.

Like Hampton, Smith and Keisel, Hoke is over 30 years of age as he just turned 35 last month. He logged just over 260 snaps last season on defense for the Steelers including the playoffs and played well when inserted into the game. Hoke is currently an unrestricted free agent who almost certainly would love to end his career in Pittsburgh. Being as the Steelers did not address nose tackle in the draft it is looking even better for him to return for at least one more season in 2011.

The Steelers could and likely will sign an undrafted free agent nose tackle type as soon as free agency begins, but the longer the lockout rolls on, the more the deck is stacked against that player making the 53 man roster and he certainly would not have the versatility or experience that Hoke has in the Dick LeBeau 3-4 system. Versatility is usually the key for a player on the bottom end of the 53 man roster and Hoke has it. An undrafted free agent nose tackle at this point would seem almost certain to be destined for the practice squad out of training camp and that is just how the career of Hoke started in Pittsburgh.

Outside of his play on the field, Hoke is also model player and a great leader in the locker room. He has earned everything he has received since going undrafted out of BYU and is the consummate professional. He almost certainly will be open to helping out first round draft Cameron Heyward in his rookie season and in the further development of defensive end Ziggy Hood in addition.

Hoke deserves one more season in the black and gold and now looks almost certain to be re-signed once free agency opens. Hoke knows his role on the team and he plays it well. At the start of the offseason I thought Hoke may be a 50/50 proposition to return depending on what the Steelers did in the draft, but noted it would hard not seeing him return regardless. Now as we sit here almost one week after the draft, I would say it looks more like 90/10 he will be back. I hope he is and I hope the Steelers can send him out in style with yet another Super Bowl ring. Here is to the return of Hokie.

[url="http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/05/post-draft-looks-good-for-the-return-of-chris-hoke-to-the-steelers/"]http://www.steelersdepot.com/2011/05/po ... -steelers/[/url]

[sentinel33]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

As far as Taylor is concerned, the Steelers need to do everything they can to keep him.
A-he is worth top-tier money. Always healthy. Great character. Essentially a shutdown corner with not-so-good hands. Madison and Gay need to be jetisoned. need that $ to sign Ike. Brown takes Madisons spot. Easy-peezy.

With Sweed, I can't tell you guys how hard I am praying that he can get it straight. His physical attributes are the missing link to this passing attack. But they will cut him if he doesnt have it. But he has to beat out both Randle El and Battle. We are only gonna carry 5 WR's, so only one spot at that position is open. Be that guy, Sweed! Or you are done.

Was hoping to upgrade over Spaeth, but that didn't happen. He'll be here for another year unless a UCFA comes in and blows the doors off. But we all know that won't happen.

What ever happened to piotr czech? I can remember hearing good things about him, but then nothing materialized. Sweezy better be gettin ready!

Eason has been a very solid reserve and it will be sad to see him go. But not that sad with Heyward coming in. WOW! Talk about having serious badas$ depth on the Ends. Can't wait to see our pass rush this season. Take care Eason. I appreciated your effort along the way and I know I'm not the only one. Good luck to you.

I have a hard time believing Dwyer will be let go. The way Tomlin likes to run them "'til the wheels come off" means we need a guy like him on the roster. Furthermore, the team needs $ for Ike and Moore will be that casualty. I will miss Moore very much. I followed him when he played for Tulane and rewrote alot of there records. I was actually hoping the Steelers would somehow take him, but picking up Fast Willie that year was a nice consolation and I would not rewrite that one if I had the chance. You can imagine how stoked I was when we picked him from Minnesota(my 2nd favorite team)(lived out there for 8 years, so...). I will miss MeMo.
And with Baron looking more and more like a steal, we can overcome the loss of Moore.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(ke)!!!

[flippy]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(ke)!!!

Nice. Another Kunta Kinte pic

[RuthlessBurgher]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(ke)!!!

Nice. Another Kunta Kinte pic

Instead of being whipped, though, he gets hit with a 2 X 4, though (or perhaps a metal folding chair).

[Keyplay1]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

Lolley's name came up in a thread several days ago on another site due to a mix-up of another site with sideline in its name. I thought the link was to his blog but saw it was not after I opened it. Anyway, since his name popped up, I did decide to take a look at his latest articles.

As soon as I saw the article I nearly flipped. Of course, you immediately see where he was coming from. Steeler winners and losers. Funny!.

But it was even funnier to me for this reason. Prior to the draft, I was not one who was thinking the Steelers would be big on getting OL. As a matter of fact, I was wondering wtf they were going to do with the bushel they already had. Yeah, I know this was not consensus thinking but that is what I thought for many reasons. Well, the Steelers not only drafted one in rd2 but picked another up in a later rd. The first thing that popped into my head then of course was so long someone or two. Obviously, there will be significant changes.

Anyway, here is Lolley's article sort of letting quite a few players start breathing again. Thank the lord for BPA/BAA. Incidentally, NJ-STEELER, that TE guy Hendricks everyone liked went real high in rd2. That would really have stirred the pot.

Anyway, i found nothing there to seriously disagree with. The only comment I could think of was in regards to Ike. Had the Steelers taken this position in rd1 no doubt it might affect their thinking. However, the first thing that crossed my mind was maybe not only Ike is a winner here but also the Steelers are really the big winners. I recalled the reason the Steelers got James Farrior. The Jets drafted a #1 pick LB. This clouded their thinking on James. The Steelers capitalized. Needless to say how this turned out.

[birtikidis]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

I still can't believe we took Gilbert in round two. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think it was a terrible pick.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

I still can't believe we took Gilbert in round two. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think it was a terrible pick.

maybe this will help you to feel better about Gilbert, both Mike Mayock and Walter Football had him rated very highly:


Mayock On the Draft: Offensive Tackle, Interior Line


The Riser

Marcus Gilbert

6-6, 330
40-time: 5.41

Mayock: ``Has long arms. Is a strong kid. I thought he was a pretty solid player on tape. I liked him even better at the Senior Bowl. He looks the part and is a solid second-round pick, but it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody took him late in the first.’’

Round projection: 2

Read more: [url="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag"]http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag[/url] ... z1KmohhzeN


and this is who WalterFootball has us selecting at 2(63) in his latest mock:


2(63) Pittsburgh Steelers: Marcus Gilbert, OT, Florida

Marcus Gilbert's draft stock is gaining some momentum. Mike Mayock recently said that he could be chosen in the second round.

[url="http://www.walterfootball.com/draft2011_2.php"]http://www.walterfootball.com/draft2011_2.php[/url]

[birtikidis]

Re: Steelers Draft: Winners and Losers

I still can't believe we took Gilbert in round two. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think it was a terrible pick.

maybe this will help you to feel better about Gilbert, both Mike Mayock and Walter Football had him rated very highly:


Mayock On the Draft: Offensive Tackle, Interior Line


The Riser

Marcus Gilbert

6-6, 330
40-time: 5.41

Mayock: ``Has long arms. Is a strong kid. I thought he was a pretty solid player on tape. I liked him even better at the Senior Bowl. He looks the part and is a solid second-round pick, but it wouldn’t surprise me if somebody took him late in the first.’’

Round projection: 2

Read more: [url="http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag"]http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eag[/url] ... z1KmohhzeN


and this is who WalterFootball has us selecting at 2(63) in his latest mock:


2(63) Pittsburgh Steelers: Marcus Gilbert, OT, Florida

Marcus Gilbert's draft stock is gaining some momentum. Mike Mayock recently said that he could be chosen in the second round.

[url="http://www.walterfootball.com/draft2011_2.php"]http://www.walterfootball.com/draft2011_2.php[/url]

I'm a Gator fan. I may have missed 2 games in the last 5 years. He's garbage.