Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

[NorthCoast]

Some are claiming it's because Aaron Smith's poor play that we are being gouged in the run game. I tell you it is because no one has shown Smith's All-Pro abilities (when he was healthy) to play the run like he used to. There was no better gap defender or more consistent player in the league. Now we try to plug someone else in and they don't have the same consistent play, with a miss here or there, and that's all it takes for a RB to have a 100+ yd game.
We will miss Aaron Smith's ironman play for a very long time until someone can develop his consistency at gap responsibility.

[Eddie Spaghetti]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

we actually got better last year when ziggy stepped in.

not sure your theory holds water.

[feltdizz]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

we actually got better last year when ziggy stepped in.

not sure your theory holds water.

shhh.. some people need to keep Aaron Smith on a pedestal. His time has come and gone... he WAS great.. WAS great... WAS!!!

[steelblood]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Hood has not yet demonstrated that he is as good as Aaron smith was in his glory days. Hood has not played this season as well as he did in the second half of last season. Still, Hood has played better than Smith this season.

[NorthCoast]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Hood has not yet demonstrated that he is as good as Aaron smith was in his glory days. Hood has not played this season as well as he did in the second half of last season. Still, Hood has played better than Smith this season.

steelblood actually read and understood the OP. No one has played to the level of Aaron Smith in his prime, so it should not be surprising we have slipped in run defense.

Ziggy? ..not even close. in two games played he has a total 3 asst on tackles...that's it. Even Heyward in two games has 3 solos.

Troy leads the team with 26 tackles. Not sure if they says something about our LBs if our safety is leading this stat.

[BURGH86STEEL]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Smith hasn't been in his prime for several years now. The run defenses struggles is bigger then about one player.

[fezziwig]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Several years ? I wouldn't go that far with Smith. I know Smith has been injured for a couple of three seasons but when he was healthy he wsa a stud.
I wouldn't have signed him to this years team because he has reached his limit with age and injuries.

What gets me, everyone knew that our d-line is aging and they did the right thing when they drafted a d-lineman in the first round. Be it that someone else may have wanted a corner or o-lineman but, that is besides the point we, have a youthful number one pick in Hood but yet, he is still waiting in the wings for an obvious injured proned old timer in Smith.
Face it, Smith is done and is not the same force. Give Ziggy the chance to gain experience and to prove he can get the job done.

[Shawn]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

we actually got better last year when ziggy stepped in.

not sure your theory holds water.

$$$

We should have retired Smith. Why again is he starting over Ziggy?

[Shawn]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Hood has not yet demonstrated that he is as good as Aaron smith was in his glory days. Hood has not played this season as well as he did in the second half of last season. Still, Hood has played better than Smith this season.

Yet the Steelers had their best run D in decades last season...Smith out...Ziggy in. Coincidence?

[steelblood]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Hood has not yet demonstrated that he is as good as Aaron smith was in his glory days. Hood has not played this season as well as he did in the second half of last season. Still, Hood has played better than Smith this season.

Yet the Steelers had their best run D in decades last season...Smith out...Ziggy in. Coincidence?

Um, yeah. I'm agreeing with you. Hood should have been the starter at the beginning of this season. Just made a point about Smith in his glory days being better than Hood at this stage of his career. But, to be clear, Hood was at least as good if not better than Smith last season. And, this season, for what it is worth, Hood has not stunk as badly.

[feltdizz]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

Hood has not yet demonstrated that he is as good as Aaron smith was in his glory days. Hood has not played this season as well as he did in the second half of last season. Still, Hood has played better than Smith this season.

steelblood actually read and understood the OP. No one has played to the level of Aaron Smith in his prime, so it should not be surprising we have slipped in run defense.

Ziggy? ..not even close. in two games played he has a total 3 asst on tackles...that's it. Even Heyward in two games has 3 solos.

Troy leads the team with 26 tackles. Not sure if they says something about our LBs if our safety is leading this stat.

Last year we were stout against the run after Smith went down... it's more than a DE playing at Smith's All Pro level.

Now we have an old smith, 2 old LB's in Farrior and Foote plus Timmons and Woodley haven't showed up yet.

[Ghost]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

From his chat today:

Ed Bouchette: I don't know that you need to name anyone a fulltime starter if someone is hurt. And I don't know that Ziggy has played any better than Aaron.


I think Smith's day has come and gone but it's not as if the coaches have ben keeping a player off the field who's tearing it up and has become a destructive force out there. This team gets gouged for yards when Hood is out there. He's no where near to shutting down one side or making it possible for the LB's to dominate.

[fezziwig]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

I also hear stuff about Hampton not getting the job done or he is gunshy now because of the chop blocks, why not try Hoke or McClendon ?

[steelz09]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

You can't measure a 3-4 d-linemans success by tackles. The 3-4 lineman are suppose to eat up blockers (2) so the linebackers don't get picked up ... that's why in a 3-4 the LBers get the glory. The d-line eats up the blockers which should allow the LBers to run free any make the tackles.

Our entire d-line is not consuming 2 blockers each. When that happens, the OGs get to our ILBers and then you see gaping holes in our run defense which is exactly whats happening.

Speaking of our d-line getting blown up... did anyone see Hoke get pushed back 5 yards into the endzone in our goaline defense (if you can call it that)? And that was against a single blocker. Needless to say, the RB walked into the end zone.

[steelz09]

Re: Loss of Aaron Smith Cause of Poor Run D

I also hear stuff about Hampton not getting the job done or he is gunshy now because of the chop blocks, why not try Hoke or McClendon ?

I'm surprised to say this..... but Hampton has been the better of the 3 d-lineman this year IMO.

I will say that I would like to McClendon in there a lot more to spell big snack. I think McClendon has a future on this team and possibly as a starter. He needs to see some more playing time.