Will Steelers Take Alabama's Dont'a Hightower WIth 24th Pick?

[Steelersrock151]

Broncos burned Steelers with their passing game and not running game. NFL offense has evolved and i think Steelers Defense should also change. We see teams throwing 40-45 times a game. Gone are the days of Marty-ball. I think we need a Defense with speed inside. Young DBs and ILB like Timmons are the way to go in future.

Let your OLB and D-linemen bull-rush the O-linemen.

Broncos burned the Steelers with the passing game because we over-gamed planned. We were so worried about Tebow running the ball that we didn't get anything faintly resembling a pass rush. With the time he had, any pro-level quarterback could have beaten us.
And how exactly would a faster linebacker helped on the touchdown pass in overtime. Or those throw it up in the air passes that our corners got burned by? I don't remember the Broncos TEs doing very much against us at all.

[grotonsteel]

Broncos burned the Steelers with the passing game because we over-gamed planned. We were so worried about Tebow running the ball that we didn't get anything faintly resembling a pass rush. With the time he had, any pro-level quarterback could have beaten us.
And how exactly would a faster linebacker helped on the touchdown pass in overtime. Or those throw it up in the air passes that our corners got burned by? I don't remember the Broncos TEs doing very much against us at all.

I am not worried about Broncos. I am more worried about Ray Rice and Ed Dickson. The Bengals with Andy Dalton and Cheatroits who throw more than 10 times a game to their TEs.

[Oviedo]

I am not worried about Broncos. I am more worried about Ray Rice and Ed Dickson. The Bengals with Andy Dalton and Cheatroits who throw more than 10 times a game to their TEs.

Me too and that suggests Hightower is not the best selection at #24

[Oviedo]

Broncos burned the Steelers with the passing game because we over-gamed planned. We were so worried about Tebow running the ball that we didn't get anything faintly resembling a pass rush. With the time he had, any pro-level quarterback could have beaten us.
And how exactly would a faster linebacker helped on the touchdown pass in overtime. Or those throw it up in the air passes that our corners got burned by? I don't remember the Broncos TEs doing very much against us at all.

A question back at you: "How would a slower, run stuffing LB help us against the elite teams like the Pats, Ravens, Packers, etc who
we have to beat to win a championship?' All adding Hightower does is increase the probability that you get the meaningless end of season title as "#1 against the run." But of course that is OK for some because it will skew the final stats and make the defense look more formidable than it really is.

We will win a championship because of Ben not the defense. Ben has to be near 100% healthy tyhe last two months of the season. We do that by protecting him. Everyone got their wish for a new OC and now many are willing to see the most glaring weakness on the offense continue to exist in the OL while we strengthen our "legendary defense." Our offense wasn't ineffective because of playcalling, it was an OL that couldn't execute the plays that were called. Fix the OL.

[Shawn]

A question back at you: "How would a slower, run stuffing LB help us against the elite teams like the Pats, Ravens, Packers, etc who
we have to beat to win a championship?' All adding Hightower does is increase the probability that you get the meaningless end of season title as "#1 against the run." But of course that is OK for some because it will skew the final stats and make the defense look more formidable than it really is.

We will win a championship because of Ben not the defense. Ben has to be near 100% healthy tyhe last two months of the season. We do that by protecting him. Everyone got their wish for a new OC and now many are willing to see the most glaring weakness on the offense continue to exist in the OL while we strengthen our "legendary defense." Our offense wasn't ineffective because of playcalling, it was an OL that couldn't execute the plays that were called. Fix the OL.

I couldn't agree more.

[pfelix73]

"The Broncos did not beat us with the run, they beat us passing the ball when we were fixated on stopping the run due to a stupid defensive gameplan. That is how we will lose 90% of the games we lose...the pass not the run. So why get a player whose primary strength is run defense? Logical? Me thinks not!"

So, now ya want to can Ike. If Ike could've tackled the guy, we may not have lost.....

[pfelix73]

"We will win a championship because of Ben not the defense. Ben has to be near 100% healthy tyhe last two months of the season. We do that by protecting him. Everyone got their wish for a new OC and now many are willing to see the most glaring weakness on the offense continue to exist in the OL while we strengthen our "legendary defense." Our offense wasn't ineffective because of playcalling, it was an OL that couldn't execute the plays that were called. Fix the OL. "


How quickly we forget.....

Don't you remember Ben got his leg all beat up because of his actions in the Cleveland game? That was not on the OL there. Go back and watch it again. Ben is Ben- he stays in there too long at times- so what.. Yea, he's probably gonna have a shortened career because of it- so be it... It's the way he is- Gee whiz... we've been talking about this for years.......You can't expect any Olman to hold on blocks as long as Ben stays back there making plays..nothing wrong with that.

And furthermore- which is really funny- you are wanting a guy- Zeitler- who is a way better run blocker than pass blocker. Think about it- if you are so worried about protecting Ben wouldn't you want a better OL with pass blockers? So many inconsistencies on these boards..Personally, I'd rather run the ball more using better formations, a better blocking TE and maybe even a FB!! Haley will make a big difference...

[Oviedo]

"We will win a championship because of Ben not the defense. Ben has to be near 100% healthy tyhe last two months of the season. We do that by protecting him. Everyone got their wish for a new OC and now many are willing to see the most glaring weakness on the offense continue to exist in the OL while we strengthen our "legendary defense." Our offense wasn't ineffective because of playcalling, it was an OL that couldn't execute the plays that were called. Fix the OL. "


How quickly we forget.....

Don't you remember Ben got his leg all beat up because of his actions in the Cleveland game? That was not on the OL there. Go back and watch it again. Ben is Ben- he stays in there too long at times- so what.. Yea, he's probably gonna have a shortened career because of it- so be it... It's the way he is- Gee whiz... we've been talking about this for years.......You can't expect any Olman to hold on blocks as long as Ben stays back there making plays..nothing wrong with that.

And furthermore- which is really funny- you are wanting a guy- Zeitler- who is a way better run blocker than pass blocker. Think about it- if you are so worried about protecting Ben wouldn't you want a better OL with pass blockers? So many inconsistencies on these boards..Personally, I'd rather run the ball more using better formations, a better blocking TE and maybe even a FB!! Haley will make a big difference...

I would somehat disagree with you. Fix the OL and the time we keep the ball and the success rate of our offense will increase to the point Ben doesn't have to scramble. Yes that means better running. Because Zeitler is a great run blocker doesn't mean he isn't a better pass blocker than Legursky or Foster. Both are terrible and leak pass rushers up the middle all the time. The one who Pouncey doesn't help usually loses the battle with the interior rusher.

[Steelersrock151]

Just guess that sometimes the Hightower hatred goes way overboard. He can't do everything, so why have him?
No one is arguing that we don't need o-line. Hell, if even the most pro-Hightower people on here saw us passing on him to pick Reiff, or DeCastro, or Glenn, they're not going to come on here and start an "end-of-the-world" thread. But holy crap, the anti-Hightower contigent will be here in full force if he's picked over Zietler or Silotulu.
Hightower ran a 4.62 40 at the combine. Same time as Lamaar Woodley. Same time as Lawrence Timmons. But he's slow? Stop repeating the crap you read on message boards. Every mock that has Hightower being passed over by the Steelers for some made up reason has him being picked by the Ravens as the perfect person to replace Ray-Ray. The Ravens draft boards, I can guarentee, aren't all over the place slamming him. They're praying to God that they get him.
You people are the same ones that would have had us passing on Jack Lambert because he was too small. Get a grip.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Broncos burned Steelers with their passing game and not running game. NFL offense has evolved and i think Steelers Defense should also change. We see teams throwing 40-45 times a game. Gone are the days of Marty-ball. I think we need a Defense with speed inside. Young DBs and ILB like Timmons are the way to go in future.

Let your OLB and D-linemen bull-rush the O-linemen.

The Broncos beat the Steelers when we had three backup fatties playing without subs for 3/4 of the game. We were beaten without our starting FS in the game. We were beaten with a good part of our pass rush playing in his first game back.

Don't make it seem like we need to make changes because of what happened against Denver. Any changes we may need to make have nothing to do with the Denver game.

[hawaiiansteel]

You people are the same ones that have had us passing on Jack Lambert because he was too small. Get a grip.

my problem with Jack Lambert was always that he just wasn't tough enough...


jack-lambert.jpg

[Eddie Spaghetti]

we had alot of things break against us against Denver.

and even though I am a Lebeau supporter, that was an awful gameplan. he should have adjusted at halftime, very poor decision.

[Slapstick]

The Steelers were #1 against the pass last year...

You know what really might have helped them in the Denver game? Another healthy pass rusher...

[Sugar]

The Broncos beat the Steelers when we had three backup fatties playing without subs for 3/4 of the game. We were beaten without our starting FS in the game. We were beaten with a good part of our pass rush playing in his first game back.

Don't make it seem like we need to make changes because of what happened against Denver. Any changes we may need to make have nothing to do with the Denver game.

Can I get an AMEN! up in here? Remember also, that this much-maligned OL was plagued by injuries all year. How many games did we actually have the same group playing in position?

Do we need some depth to solidify the OL? Always. Would it be great to have a top OL talent fall to us. Sure. However, the sky is not falling if we don't take OL in the top 2.

The thing about Hightower is not just his physical presence, but also his football mind. We need a new QB for the D. Sure, Foote may work in the short-term. However, it would be great to get someone here before it becomes an emergency.

[Oviedo]

I just find it amazing that for years this board has been filled with posts about our "inconsistent offense", "our inability to make plays in short yardage", "our failures in the red zone", etc. Is anyone really delusional enough to think that was really because of Arians' playcalling? It was because for the past 4-5 years we have had an OL that couldn't execute what was called consistently from one play to another. They are too easily overmatched.

So what do we do when we have a chance to add improved talent in the draft, we default to lets add more to the defense that has been getting the lions share of the talent for years. We aren't going to get better until we fix the OL. I also use to think you could do it with mid round talent but I now see that that is a false philosophy. We need some top end talent on the OL. It isn't a coincidence that the two best players on the OL going into camp will be a 1st Round pick (Pouncey) and a 2nd Round pick (Gilbert). The other guys are mediocre at best and should be back ups.

Ben is the most important player on this team and we have to protect him. A developmental pick in Round 4 isn't going to do that.