Vincent Jackson: Impact on Wallace

[Oviedo]

Forgive me if I offend anyone, but I think that part of the reason many fans are so slanted toward WR's in general is that pervasive blue collar/pick up truck mentality that a lot of steeler fans have. I mean, it was the same way with Santonio, Plaxico, Nate Washington etc.. and now Wallace. A lot of fans have no use for WR's no matter how good they are. It's like, why do I need a ferrari when I can get there just the same with my blue, beat up truck with the hatch on the back.....Like, Wallace is too sleak and flashy to be a real steeler... His game does not represent "steeler football". Get rid of him so we can go out and draft a bunch of guards so we can protect Ben

Some points but I think you miss the essence of the debate. Allow me to use a baseball analogy since it is the right time of the year.

Who do you want? Willie Stargell (Wallace) or Roberto Clemente (Antonio Brown)? Do you prefer the good power hitter who gets you a home run very 10-12 times up and gets intentional walks in critical situations or the "Five- tool" outfielder who is consistent and gives you some homeruns but gets you high BA, lots of doubles, Stolen bases and plays Gold Glove in the field.

Obviously a great team has both and they are complementary (situation we have now) however it is not always possible to keep both because of free agency (situation we may have). My preference would be Roberto, however some prefer the "spash" occasionally to the routine but steady.

[feltdizz]

both of you have good points... I think Steeler fans do value the blue collar WR over the flashy guy. It's the reason Ward is a fan favorite. Not fast, not big, not the ideal WR but he laid people out and worked his butt off.

People see Wallace and love the big gains but aren't fans of the "if it ain't perfect, it ain't gettin caught... knock him over with a gust of wind" style of Wallace.

If Wallace would draw a freaking PI flag or go up and snatch the ball out of the air one time.. just once, I think he would become the most loved Steeler WR of all time. I know that's not his game but after watching Ward, Stallworth and Swann I think Steeler fans don't trust Wallace yet. All 3 of those WR's would take a crushing hit to catch the football or make sure the defender doesn't intercept it... but Wallace is the type of WR who will leave Ben out to dry on a pass that isn't perfect.

Everytime we go deep and I see Wallace with a step I know it's a TD... but anytime I see us go deep and the DB is on Wallace I know for a fact he isn't coming down with it. Once he shows Steeler fans he can catch the ball in tight spaces and won't hang Ben out to dry I think more Steeler fans will be in his corner.

That being said.. I don't think fans want Wallace to get snatched up but if he does, the attitude is "oh well, at least we got a 1st for him"

[Slapstick]

So, who has said that they don't want Wallace?

I would love to have Mike Wallace in a black helmet for a long time...but, only if he's going to catch the ball...

If he's going to drop passes that hit him in the breadbasket, we can get Limas Sweed back for that...

What I'm hoping is that the Mike Wallace of the 2nd half of the 2011 season is not the Mike Wallace for whom the Steelers will be backing up the Brinks truck...

If opposing defenses have figured out how to defend him and he is unwilling/unable to adjust...

[RuthlessBurgher]

It's not as if the only catches that he ever makes are when a defender is 5-10 yards behind him...

[D Rock]

I hope he plays for the Steelers in 2012 and the offense doesn't focus on him a whole lot but does awesome with great balance and the way to winning the Super Bowl. Then he signs a 6 year deal next offseason relatively cheaply...and then the offense EXPLODES and he becomes the best WR to ever play the game.

Or he just signs a fair market long term deal this offseason. I'll take either.

[Oviedo]

I won't be happy if Wallace leaves (well, if someone like Minnesota feels the need for a deep threat and gives us the #3 pick, then I'll relent and accept Matt Kalil for Mike Wallace, but otherwise, I'd prefer to keep him). Some may consider Antonio Brown to be more "complete" than Wallace, but it is easier to replace that level of "complete" receiver than a guy who is truly elite in a particularly valuable aspect of football (deep speed to make big play TD catches). To say that Brown is more valuable because of the added dimension of return ability, that may have been true for this past season (hence the team MVP vote for Brown), but now that he is a full time starter, the team will not risk him on special teams on a regular basis (likely only special occassions, few and far between). I believe that this front office will be able to figure out a way to keep Wallace, Brown, and Pouncey on long-term deals within the next few seasons...have faith in the magic of Colbert & Khan...they have never lost a young, talented player that they truly wanted to keep.

That being said, Chadman's original post asked about what we could do if we got the #19 pick from Chicago, so I'll indulge with an idea (even though my ultimate preference would be keep Wallace). My sig indicates that I'd be willing to sacrifice our 2nd round pick to move up from #24 to get DeCastro. Well, with the #19 pick, the possibility could exist for us to keep that valuable 2nd round pick and use our 3rd round pick to move up from #19 to get DeCastro. Then we could possibly trade back from #24 to recoup the lost 3rd round pick in the DeCastro trade (actually getting a higher 3rd round pick than our original 3rd). We could possibly trade back with, say, Jacksonville, giving up our #24 pick in exchange for their 2nd and 3rd round picks. With Jacksonville's early 2nd rounder, take South Carolina WR Alshon Jeffery (since we now have a hole at wideout after losing Wallace). He's a different player than Wallace certainly and provides something that none of our other receivers offer (rather than a burner, you'd get a big-bodied guy who will fight for the ball and will be able to come down with fade passes for TD's while in the red zone). Then with our own 2nd round pick, take our NT of the future with Alameda Ta'Amu. And with our 3rd round pick from Jacksonville, we can upgrade our o-line even further with our RG of the future, Brandon Brooks from Miami of Ohio.

All told, that would give us a two-day haul of:

1.16 OG David DeCastro
2.38 WR Alshon Jeffery
2.56 NT Alameda Ta'Amu
3.71 OG Brandon Brooks

Our o-line of the future would be Gilbert-DeCastro-Pouncey-Brooks-Colon.
Our d-line of the future would be Heyward-Ta'Amu-Hood.
Our wideouts of the future would be Brown-Jeffery-Sanders-Cotchery.

That would truly be an awesome two day haul that would really accelerate our youth movement.

[Crash]

Vincent Jackson deal in Tampa: 5 yrs, $55.55 million, including $26 million guaranteed

[Lebsteel]

It's not as if the only catches that he ever makes are when a defender is 5-10 yards behind him...

Whatever happened to THAT Mike Wallace?

[NJ-STEELER]

so we're ready to base our passing offense around a guy who started 4 games? couldnt beat out and old and done ward for the first 12 games.

i like AB as much as the next guy, i just dont get why everyone is crowning as the next great Wr with his small sample size

21st in scoring last year. wally having more TDs in his "2nd half dive" then AB all year and now if wallace is gone that extra attention goes to Brown. cant wait to see the monday morning b!tching about the offense this year

[NJ-STEELER]

why is there doubt whether wallace can stay healthy? he's done it the last 2 years. starting 16 games in each (IIRC).

what we dont know is if a smaller player in AB can stay healthy for a full season. especially if he's going to play the slot and be faced with getting hit by bigger defenders all the time

[Chadman]

Chadman has said it before & been critisized, but...

Wallace's first 3 years in the NFL compare very favourably with the likes of Andre & Calvin Johnson & Fitz...

[grotonsteel]

why is there doubt whether wallace can stay healthy? he's done it the last 2 years. starting 16 games in each (IIRC).

what we dont know is if a smaller player in AB can stay healthy for a full season. especially if he's going to play the slot and be faced with getting hit by bigger defenders all the time

I am not a big fan of Mike Wallace because of his play in 2nd half of last year and also in SB but looking at MW stats its still one of the best in the league. I also think he helps AB a lot.

With current FA WR signing 9-10 million/yr would be great signing.

[williar]

Wow! Jackson got a TON of money.. I guess it ain't looking for MW in the B&G.

[Oviedo]

I am not a big fan of Mike Wallace because of his play in 2nd half of last year and also in SB but looking at MW stats its still one of the best in the league. I also think he helps AB a lot.

With current FA WR signing 9-10 million/yr would be great signing.

The only problem is that we don't have $9-10M per year to give him until 2014 when the cap is projected to jump significantly. As good as the front office and Omar Kahn are they can't make 1 equal 10. Math is a pretty precise discipline.

[RuthlessBurgher]

The only problem is that we don't have $9-10M per year to give him until 2014 when the cap is projected to jump significantly. As good as the front office and Omar Kahn are they can't make 1 equal 10. Math is a pretty precise discipline.

Yes, they can. A large signing bonus (which is spread evenly over each year of the deal), with veteran minimum salaries for the first couple of seasons gets it done. If he gets a $20 million signing bonus on a 5 year contract, his cap hit would be $4,685,000 if we give him a veteran minimum salary of $685,000 in the first year (his cap hit is already $2,700,000 with the RFA tender, so it's not a monumental increase). His base salaries would have to be much more than that in later years, but the increase in salary cap should be able to handle that.