Do We Have Too Many DLinemen?

[Chadman]

[/COLOR]And WHY? Because I think if Lego has to start, I think it's better to have the better athlete at guard, and leave Lego at center.

Pouncey IMO is wasted as a C. His talent would be used BETTER at guard. If you want to run the ball? You needs guards who can block. Pouncey/Lego/DeCastro inside would be ridiculous.


I also think Lekursky is better at calling blocking schemes than Pouncey.

Woodley will not be a 4-3 DE for us. He's paid to be a OLB, and that's where he stays. His advantage as a player is because he can do both speed and power as a OLB.

Why the obsession with always trying to change people?

This is different how?

[Va Steelr]

Are You OK? No, he's not and No we don't !!!

[Oviedo]

Woodley will not be a 4-3 DE for us. He's paid to be a OLB, and that's where he stays. His advantage as a player is because he can do both speed and power as a OLB.

Why the obsession with always trying to change people?

You mean like converting college DEs to OLBs in the NFL and taking 2-3 years to do it?

[Oviedo]

[/COLOR]And WHY? Because I think if Lego has to start, I think it's better to have the better athlete at guard, and leave Lego at center.

Pouncey IMO is wasted as a C. His talent would be used BETTER at guard. If you want to run the ball? You needs guards who can block. Pouncey/Lego/DeCastro inside would be ridiculous.


I also think Lekursky is better at calling blocking schemes than Pouncey.

When healthy, Willie Colon is a far superior player to Legursky so if Pouncey?Lego?DeCastro is "ridiculous" then Colon/Pouncey/DeCastro should be super ridiculous. Let's all face the fact that Legursky is a good back-up not an NFL starter.

[birtikidis]

D line are players that for the most part rotate. They're fatties and if you hadn't noticed they don't appear to be in the best shape. That's their job description though. You list McClendon who is a career backup. They needed three young guys to replace three old guys. They did that. Too many? Nope. Year from now we won't be screaming that we don't have replacements for the guys we lose to retirement.

[Slapstick]

Since we're dealing in hypotheticals...

Woodley would be a DE if the Steelers ever changed to a 4-3...but, he would most likely be an "elephant" type DE...also known in some defenses as a "Leo" or even a "Jack"...that type of DE plays as a standup player who basically plays DE like an 3-4 OLB...

Really, the only differences between LeBeau's 3-4 and most 4-3 Ds are gap responsibility...the players on LeBeau's 3 man line are all 2 gap defenders...most 4-3 D-Linemen are one gap defenders (with the exception of the 4-3 NT, for the most part)...

If you lined up the defense in a 4 man line, with a "Leo" DE, the front would be virtually indistinguishable from a 3-4 front...the difference would be gap responsibilities...

Short story long, the Steelers are most likely going to be spending less and less time in the base defense and more time in special packages, so the base D becomes increasingly irrelevant...

[Slapstick]

Oh, and incidentally, I think Timmons would be the MLB in a 4-3 D...

[phillyesq]

When healthy, Willie Colon is a far superior player to Legursky so if Pouncey?Lego?DeCastro is "ridiculous" then Colon/Pouncey/DeCastro should be super ridiculous. Let's all face the fact that Legursky is a good back-up not an NFL starter.

Agreed. And Colon has never had problems run blocking.

Legursky is a good guy to have on the team. He is a capable backup at the interior spots and a nice goalline fullback. That is about it.

[pfelix73]

"When healthy, Willie Colon is a far superior player to Legursky so if Pouncey?Lego?DeCastro is "ridiculous" then Colon/Pouncey/DeCastro should be super ridiculous. Let's all face the fact that Legursky is a good back-up not an NFL starter."

I'm not convinced of that. I think Legs could be a starter in the NFL- if ever given the opportunity......

[Crash]

I'm not convinced of that. I think Legs could be a starter in the NFL- if ever given the opportunity......

Not at guard though.

[pfelix73]

Sure. Why not? He's young, smart, probably still the strongest man on the team.. He proven he's an adequate C and I think if given the reps at OG would be a good one....

[Oviedo]

"When healthy, Willie Colon is a far superior player to Legursky so if Pouncey?Lego?DeCastro is "ridiculous" then Colon/Pouncey/DeCastro should be super ridiculous. Let's all face the fact that Legursky is a good back-up not an NFL starter."

I'm not convinced of that. I think Legs could be a starter in the NFL- if ever given the opportunity......

He's been in the league like 4 years. I think the opportunity has been there for the taking and he has proven he isn't up to it.

[pfelix73]

Disagree. He won the job last year only to be moved around again because of all the injuries. Really hasn't been given the opportunity to start at OG. We'll see what happens in camp and down the road.. Colon is, what? only signed for 2012? He isn't the long term answer at LG...

[flippy]

The problem this defense has had for the last few years is getting pressure without blitzing. I'm hoping this investment in DLine means we can start to get consistent pressure with 4 on passing downs which are becoming almost every down in the NFL.

I think we may be able to get some serious/consistent pressure with Keisel, McClendon, Ziggy, and Heyward as a situational 4 man front.

The other option we have is if Hood, Heyward, McClendon are ready to take over up front, we could start using Keisel as a 3rd down pass rushing specialist again. He got tons of pressure rotating in on 3rd downs early in his career. Keisel could also be used as a situational OLB to keep our OLBs fresh and allow them to bring more pressure.

[flippy]

I view us as moving to a 4-3 eventually given our current roster. But I don't see it happening until Harrison/Lebeau are gone.

I could see Timmons, Spence, Hood, McClendon, Ta'Amu as good fits in a 4-3.

Keisel and Heyward - probably.

Woodley, Harrison, Hampton - not so much.