Velasco to IR

[Ernie]

nevermind... went back and read it again and caught the sarcasm. Will have to agree to disagree I guess. I hold the position that he's not a top center in this league..and not noticeably better than Velasco. Just my opinion though.. If you guys think he's great, well that's all well and good.

[feltdizz]

Lots of reasons why guys are available. In Velasco's case, he was a casualty of a salary cap issue with Tennessee.

Sorry that you can't see the possibility that Pouncey is overhyped, injury prone, and an underachiever in recent years.

Pouncey started out on top... how much better will a guy get when he is rated top 5 his first year with a pro bowl?

Overhyped.. lol.

[feltdizz]

nevermind... went back and read it again and caught the sarcasm. Will have to agree to disagree I guess. I hold the position that he's not a top center in this league..and not noticeably better than Velasco. Just my opinion though.. If you guys think he's great, well that's all well and good.

I think he is still a top 10 center... I wouldn't break the bank to keep him but I also wouldn't rush to crown Velasco due to a nice mini run while going no huddle.

[birtikidis]

kidis.. just read your post in another thread about how you thought Pouncey was overrated. Before I jump to conclusions, I wanted to give you a chance to clarify your last statement. Is an "Overrated" Pouncey better than Velasco?

Absolutely.
Do I think he's the best in the NFL? NO, but he's top 5. He hasn't been our problem.

[Ernie]

dizz
He did come out of the gate as a top center. Not disputing that. He hasn't maintained that level of performance though. You admitted as much yourself in the above post. Shouldn't be too much to ask for a guy to at least maintain his "Rookie" level of performance when he's in year 4-5.

[Ernie]

Absolutely.
Do I think he's the best in the NFL? NO, but he's top 5. He hasn't been our problem.

I don't think he's top 5 right now (when healthy)...but would agree that he hasn't been our problem. Neither has Velasco since taking his place.

[Ernie]

I think he is still a top 10 center... I wouldn't break the bank to keep him but I also wouldn't rush to crown Velasco due to a nice mini run while going no huddle.

and I think Velasco is a bit more proven than the "Mini run" with the no huddle. He was pretty solid in Tennessee.

[Shoe]

Lots of reasons why guys are available. In Velasco's case, he was a casualty of a salary cap issue with Tennessee.

Sorry that you can't see the possibility that Pouncey is overhyped, injury prone, and an underachiever in recent years.

If you are arguing that Velasco is a better football player than Pouncey, then you don't have much of a leg to stand on. Because if you asked the 32 pro personnel directors in the league, I'm going to guess that 32 of them would choose Pouncey.

Now obviously, player values can't be done in a vacuum. It probably can be argued, that Velasco and his salary, is at least in the discussion with a Pouncey and his 1st round money.

[Ernie]

If you are arguing that Velasco is a better football player than Pouncey, then you don't have much of a leg to stand on. Because if you asked the 32 pro personnel directors in the league, I'm going to guess that 32 of them would choose Pouncey.

Now obviously, player values can't be done in a vacuum. It probably can be argued, that Velasco and his salary, is at least in the discussion with a Pouncey and his 1st round money.

Not saying Velasco has had a better career than Pouncey.. when you look at the accolades... etc...

If you look at Velasco's performance this year versus Pouncey's... well... I'd say I have a case. Pouncey was abused this preseason

[Shoe]

Not saying Velasco has had a better career than Pouncey.. when you look at the accolades... etc...

If you look at Velasco's performance this year versus Pouncey's... well... I'd say I have a case. Pouncey was abused this preseason

Are you serious? Velasco has played 10+ games. Pouncey has played one quarter. OF COURSE HIS PERFORMANCE IS BETTER!

If you are seriously citing preseason games as your evidence...

[Ernie]

absolutely... unless you are saying that those guys don't actually try in the preseason.

[birtikidis]

absolutely... unless you are saying that those guys don't actually try in the preseason.

they try, but they don't game plan. Big difference.

[steelz09]

I can't say that I disagree with the initial post. Pouncey was a REALLY good rookie. But is he a top notch veteran center? I don't think so. I've seen both Legursky and Velasko replace Pouncey will little to no drop off.

That isn't a coincidence. I would be hesitant to give Pouncey a big time contract considering I've seen 2 backups replace him relatively easily. Pouncey biggest problem is strength and power and he hasn't improved that in the slightest since his rookie year.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I love the all-pro argument for why he is so good. You do know how a player makes all-pro, don't you? It is voted on by a panel of sports writers. How many of those writers do you think watch each team's Oline and analyze their play? How many are even capable of that? I would think that it is more likely that most of their OL analysis comes from watching football on the weekend and Monday night, and listening to the talking heads.

Pouncey's rookie year also coincided with several prime time games for the Steelers. Every time you watched them that season, he was talked up huge, as is typical in games like this. You hear a lot of hyperbole on Sunday and Monday night, it is not just Pouncey. It was a nice story for a franchise that has a great tradition at center. You would not hear "this kid is having a good rookie campaign", you would hear "Pittsburgh has not seen this kind of play at center since the like of Webster and Dawson" every couple of weeks, all year long. It is what these guys do.

After that, there are no stats and highlights to go by, so every year they are more likely to vote for the guy they know, and center is probably one position that rarely has a new guy come along to knock the last guy out of your thought process.

And for the record, I am stating that it is not by high expectations that make him look like he is not playing as good. It is has been his play. Velasco has played at least as good as Pouncey, and that is not because I had low expectations. It is because I have not seen him get abused by defensive linemen like Pouncey has.

[feltdizz]

I love the all-pro argument for why he is so good. You do know how a player makes all-pro, don't you? It is voted on by a panel of sports writers. How many of those writers do you think watch each team's Oline and analyze their play? How many are even capable of that? I would think that it is more likely that most of their OL analysis comes from watching football on the weekend and Monday night, and listening to the talking heads.

Pouncey's rookie year also coincided with several prime time games for the Steelers. Every time you watched them that season, he was talked up huge, as is typical in games like this. You hear a lot of hyperbole on Sunday and Monday night, it is not just Pouncey. It was a nice story for a franchise that has a great tradition at center. You would not hear "this kid is having a good rookie campaign", you would hear "Pittsburgh has not seen this kind of play at center since the like of Webster and Dawson" every couple of weeks, all year long. It is what these guys do.

After that, there are no stats and highlights to go by, so every year they are more likely to vote for the guy they know, and center is probably one position that rarely has a new guy come along to knock the last guy out of your thought process.

And for the record, I am stating that it is not by high expectations that make him look like he is not playing as good. It is has been his play. Velasco has played at least as good as Pouncey, and that is not because I had low expectations. It is because I have not seen him get abused by defensive linemen like Pouncey has.

I love the 10+ games and hyperbole reasoning for why Velasco is "as good or better"