Tomlin-era bad personnel decisions

[Oviedo]

I believe they drafted Timmons with the idea of placing him at OLB. No one could account for Harrison becoming one of the best OLB in the league. The coaches moved to plan B to get Timmons on the field. I don't believe one statement or judgement should sum up an individuals assessment skills. The team drafted a pretty good OLB in Woodley with Tomlin as HC.

Why provide a rational explanation when the intent is to criticize Tomlin. Harrison was a complete unknown on how he would perform as a starter when we drafted Timmons. Also, I still believe it was far from a done deal that we were sticking with the 3-4 when Tomlin first took over. Everything that was said about Timmons as an OLB was a comparison to Derrick Brooks who played outside in the 4-3. Timmons was never compared to a 3-4 OLB.

I think that once Tomlin got to see what he had and how he could sustain the 3-4 it became more of where to fit Timmons in, but I believe to this day that the reason the took Timmons was because Tomlin was seriously considering the switch to the 4-3 he knew so well but that was overtaken by events.

[SteelCrazy]

1. Keeping Bru Bru Bru Bru.....I cant even say it, but keeping him too long as our OC.
2. The Revis Blunder
3. I think sometimes his confidence is a weakness...Translation - He makes decisions sometimes that arent the best at the time, but is too stubborn to admit to himself that it may be wrong.

I'm starting to feel a little like Sigmund Freud.

[phillyesq]

I'll go with Tomlin letting the cat out of the bag regarding our opinion of Darelle Revis in a pre-draft press conference (so the Jets knew exactly which team that they had to trade up in front of to get him).

Interetingly, Wexell said on twitter recently that Revis would not have been the pick even if he was there. Maybe the interest in Revis was a decoy?

[RuthlessBurgher]

Good thing Tomlin wasn't hired for his judge of 3-4 OLB skills.

Harrison was finally given a chance to start under Tomlin, and Woodley was brought in under Tomlin.

[pfelix73]

Not sure I agree. I think Tomlin came in and immediately started forming his team as he wanted it. I think he made the call to axe Porter as he was well aware Porter was the leader of the pack & didn't want any other voice to compete with. We dumped Porter for nothing in return & the guy went on to lead the league in sacks.

You may not agree, but I think you would be wrong. Did you read Lance Zierlien's article that was posted on here? He's the son of our old OL coach, and even though I never liked Zierlien as an OL coach, his son would know a few things about how they run the team- considering he interviewed his dad.....

Here's a quote from the article.

"The Steelers do care about off-the-field character and the Rooneys will either drop players down the list or remove players entirely based on character issues. Mike Tomlin will work with Kevin Colbert in terms of stacking the board, but it is my understanding that Colbert runs the show."

Lance isn't the only one who I've heard this from. Local radio as well, but who would know best? An old coach under Tomlin himself has said this...Anyway...I'm sure they all have their input, but Colbert runs the show...

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Porter had 1 good year after we got rid of him ... his 2nd year in Miami. He would never have been worth the money he was asking for. That was a great personnel decision in my book.

He had one year left on his contract at the time of being released...so what is the point of your comment? You think they knew Woodley would start year one 2 weeks after drafting him, so cut Porter? That is a great personel decision....cut your vet LB with a year left on his current contract.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

You may not agree, but I think you would be wrong. Did you read Lance Zierlien's article that was posted on here? He's the son of our old OL coach, and even though I never liked Zierlien as an OL coach, his son would know a few things about how they run the team- considering he interviewed his dad.....

Here's a quote from the article.

"The Steelers do care about off-the-field character and the Rooneys will either drop players down the list or remove players entirely based on character issues. Mike Tomlin will work with Kevin Colbert in terms of stacking the board, but it is my understanding that Colbert runs the show."

Lance isn't the only one who I've heard this from. Local radio as well, but who would know best? An old coach under Tomlin himself has said this...Anyway...I'm sure they all have their input, but Colbert runs the show...

Did you not read the article I posted up stating Tomlin made the call on passing up Lee for Worilds and overrode our draft board? That is what leads me to not agree with your previous statement.....

[BURGH86STEEL]

People will continue to blame Tomlin no matter how many times it's stated that the Steelers make decisions as an organization. No players are signed unless the owners put up the cash. I believe Colbert and his staff do a majority of the scouting. Tomlin and the coaching staff evaluate the players based on the organizations standards. Without knowing the inner workings of the organization, it's difficult to suggest who has the final say on draft picks or players that do or don't make the team. It seems that there were times the team choose depth over quality. Sometimes players made the team because they were specialists. I believe final decisions on roster spots are always difficult to make. Hindsight is 20/20. I believe there were logical reasons behind releasing players.

[steelz09]

Harrison was finally given a chance to start under Tomlin, and Woodley was brought in under Tomlin.

Harrison was a given. We was a monster on special teams and he was real good when he saw playing time because of injuries.

Woodley was a no-brainer.

[ikestops85]

He had one year left on his contract at the time of being released...so what is the point of your comment? You think they knew Woodley would start year one 2 weeks after drafting him, so cut Porter? That is a great personel decision....cut your vet LB with a year left on his current contract.

They released Porter because his play had declined, he had a big cap number, and they didn't plan on signing him to a new contract. About the only left tackle Porter could beat was Clevelands so he had to go. It was one thing for Porter to run his mouth when he could back it up but another when he was just full of hot air. Woodley was never going to replace Porter and Woodley NEVER started a game in his rookie year. Harrison was going to be the man as our right side backer.

So yes, cutting a linebacker who was past his prime and had a big cap number was a great personnel decision.

[Steelerphile]

He had one year left on his contract at the time of being released...so what is the point of your comment? You think they knew Woodley would start year one 2 weeks after drafting him, so cut Porter? That is a great personel decision....cut your vet LB with a year left on his current contract.

Are you really criticizing him for releasing Porter? You are really reaching. Porter was not too happy with his contract and his play was on the decline. He got his sacks but he was not that good of an overall linebacker when he left the Steelers. That was very astute to release Porter when he did.

Worilds still has some upside. The entire story is not written on his career. You can jump on Tomlin for that call right now, but in the next few years, you might not look that great.

[Northern_Blitz]

Can't see that releasing Starks was an issue. By all accounts he was unfit to play when they cut him. We put in plan B, which didn't work (in large part due to injuries). Then we got Starks back (at a reduced cap hit?) when he was fit to play again. In that season we went 12-4.

Hard to argue that cutting Starks was some huge mistake. Especially when every other team took a pass on him.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

Are you really criticizing him for releasing Porter? You are really reaching. Porter was not too happy with his contract and his play was on the decline. He got his sacks but he was not that good of an overall linebacker when he left the Steelers. That was very astute to release Porter when he did.

Worilds still has some upside. The entire story is not written on his career. You can jump on Tomlin for that call right now, but in the next few years, you might not look that great.

Porters numbers in 2006 were on par with every other year of his career other then one, 2002 when he had a lot more tackles. So to say he was showing signs of declining is essentially wrong unless you are overall just saying he was never a very good OLB for the Steelers. He left here, played 2007 in Miami where his overall tackles went up from 2006 but sacks went down....and then in 2007 he led the NFL in sacks. So like I said, they had him signed through 2007 and didn't need to cut him for cap room. I said I feel Tomlin wanted to come in and not have to deal with a veteran player who was the mouthpiece of the team and near Tomlins age so he put down the lead dog so he had no competition.

[Sugar]

I said I feel Tomlin wanted to come in and not have to deal with a veteran player who was the mouthpiece of the team and near Tomlins age so he put down the lead dog so he had no competition.

While I don't think that is what happened, I would commend Tomlin highly if it is. That would be the smart thing to do. I just thought the Steelers didn't want to pay an old LB when they had James Harrison waiting in the wings. But if he was smart enough to get Ben on his side while chopping the head of a vocal part of the old regime, that's just good management there.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

While I don't think that is what happened, I would commend Tomlin highly if it is. That would be the smart thing to do. I just thought the Steelers didn't want to pay an old LB when they had James Harrison waiting in the wings. But if he was smart enough to get Ben on his side while chopping the head of a vocal part of the old regime, that's just good management there.

Again, Porter was signed through that season so they only had to pay him what his contract amount was....around 5 million. And it isn't like they had to dump Porter to play Harrison when Clark Haggans was on the other side. Timmons & Woodley had been drafted about 2 weeks prior to the dumping Porter so its not like they woudl of known Woodley would be ready to go year one either.