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Many good points were made in this thread on both sides of this debate. I believe Nix would be a powerful anchor for our 3-4 and free up our LBrs in ways they haven't seen since Hampton. But, the points about how other teams will game plan and exploit our NT made much sense to me as well. I would be very happy with Nix as our pick. With that said, this debate has swayed me more towards going with a LBr who wont leave the field...a guy who will give the D flexibility. Tell me how valuable it would be to have a linebacker who can stuff the run and cover slot WRs. Mosley might be that guy. If Dennard isn't there, I think the Steelers roll with Mosley. If both are gone I must believe it's Nix.
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Trolls are people too. -
Im personally looking for a WR or a pass rusher with the first pick. Evans, Benjamin, Lee, Moncreif, Mack, or possibly one of the TEs.
The zone blocking stretch play is absolutely made to neutralize big bodied NTs, thats where I like Nix because he can not only explode and anchor, he can penetrate.
Heyward is a bad man out there, probably one of the best Dlinemen that no one really knows about and we could definitely use another DE there too. Hageman or Tuitt would be badass additions to the dline. Tuitt is looked at as being more finesse but imo his only position is 5 technique, Hageman would be a terror opposite Heyward as well.
Mosely is absolutely a 3 down LB, Timmons is king out there still but Timmons and mosely would definitely rival Willis/Bowman in that regard. I think maybe they might consider ending up moving Jarvis inside the same way they did timmons. I love Jones but not sure he will ever be the sack artist we would hope, i think hes a great football player and adds somethign to the defense but going after a guy like mack would really add an explosive dynamic that they currently do not have.
Dennard is a great player but I think he may be a poor fit for lebeau, gilbert is the more versatile player, the better return man, and the better fit for the defense. Would rather look at CB in the second round personallyComment
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Nix will give you more than Hampton in pass rush...I agree. Nix won't be the guy penciled in as rush DT in sub. That isn't Nix's strength. You want your True NT to come off in pass to get a breather if possible. A True NT, if doing his job, exerts himself in the trenches & you don't want him chasing around a QB in shotgun because if they get a 1st...You don't want him winded. That's just the reality of it. If you are a Ngata or a Poe with extraordinary stamina...They stay on the field....But Nix isn't that guy.
One of the things you stated is actually one of the things he needs to work on. Coachable & with conditioning...Should be correctable. Again, getting him off the field in pass rush will help that too. When Nix wears down he plays upright. When he starts playing upright he tries to control with his upper body & he gets washed. If you are playing NT...You better be playing with your legs & pushing your body forward. You can watch any game tape on him & see that down the stretch. This should be something correctable with coaching & conditioning. When Nix is fresh...He will give you a true 0 tech with above average range.Comment
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I agree his conditioning at a point was poor, Brian Kelly threatened his job i believe and he trimmed down quite a bit heading into his Junior year, weight and conditioning is always an issue with a 340 pound player. My favorite player on that defense is still Tuitt, its just most years i think NT in the first is a waste but this year I would be OK with Nix.
I agree you put in other guys to rush the passer (woods, hood, ect even though i Loathe Evander Hood). My point was he isnt the guy that adds absolutely nothing to a pass rush and he can definitely collapse a pocket and get a good push up the middle, even if thats not ideal.Comment
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2014 NFL Mock Draft: Post Senior Bowl edition sees a familiar face heading to Pittsburgh
By big_jay71 on Jan 27 2014
15. Pittsburgh Steelers - Louis Nix lll NT, Notre Dame
Team needs: OT/NT/CB/S/WR
While this pick could definitely be influenced by free agency the law of averages says it will most likely come down to drafting philosophy. Colbert & Co. typically spend early round picks on front seven defensive players and offensive linemen, of course a truly elite prospect could always trump tendency or need. Despite injuries and some very bad rough patches the offensive line started to come together by the end of the season and with the newly hired O-line miracle maker that is Mike Munchak I'm sure the Steelers will bypass taking a lineman early. Of course should the impossible happened and Jake Matthews is still available he should be a no-brainer pick.
The biggest issue on the front seven of the defense is the free agency of Ziggy Hood and Brett Keisel. It's conceivable that both could be resigned but at least one of them should. If Omar Khan can work his magic and keep Jason Worilds that would be great but even if he can't it'll be Jarvis Jones and Woodley starting at OLB. Woodley's contract carries too much dead money to release him. If Anthony Barr or maybe even Khalil Mack fell they could be picked but with Jones and Woodley on board they likely spend a mid-to-late-round pick on a DE/OLB tweener project. They could draft C.J. Mosley which would be an upgrade next to Lawrence Timmons but they do have the platoon of Larry Foote, Vince Williams, Sean Spence, and Terence Garvin so unless they feel like Mosley is in that elite category he won't be an option.
The Steelers will definitely have to face the issue at CB at some point in this draft. If he were available Justin Gilbert fits the mold of the type of CB that they seem to prefer, Darqueze Dennard does not however, but they generally wait until the middle rounds to draft a tall, lanky, raw but athletic CB from a non-powerhouse school. Eric Ebron would be very enticing to be an eventual successor to Heath Miller but he probably has 4 good years left before he needs to be replaced and with the rumors that his contract will be extended it's unlikely the Steelers would be looking for his replacement here. Manny Sanders is a free agent but as with CB's the Steelers prefer to wait until the middle rounds to draft WR's but could certainly kick the tires on Marqise Lee.
Based on everything above the likely candidate is Louis Nix. Steve McLendon is a decent NT but would be much better off play DE which would shore up that position should the Steelers not be able to resign both Hood and Keisel. Just like the Steelers wanted to get back to running the ball on offense they just as likely want to get back to stopping the run on defense.
Louis Nix is Casey Hampton incarnate. "Irish Chocolate" as his Notre Dame teammates call him, may only ever be a two-down player, although he continues to shed weight and improve his conditioning every season since his freshman year and has the potential to play all three downs, but he is a necessary tool to put opposing offenses in 3rd-and-long situations instead of 3rd-and-short. He is considered to be an elite player so getting him at 15 is a steal even if he does take a breather on 3rd down.
[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014-nfl-draft/2014/1/27/5308518/2014-nfl-mock-draft?utm_source=behindthesteelcurtain&utm_medium= nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs[/URL]Comment
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I didnt see this before, but before you say this please watch some of Poes tape from memphis, he was not even able to dominate in the C-USA. He was not a good player, he had a ton of potential, was freakishly strong and fast but as far as his tape...easily some of the worst tape ive ever seen from a first round pick.
Nix, imo isnt one dimensional...not poes level as an athlete, but far superior to him as a football player at this stage.Comment
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First I will say...I did extensive research when Poe came out. I do every draft with many prospects. I was one on the Poe bandwagon in the 1st. If you knew me...You might know that. Since you are under 100 post I could only assume you are new & won't say you are a regular hiding under another created name. I saw what I need to see on tape & was hoping he would fall to the Steelers. Experts & perhaps 32 teams had a 1st round grade on Poe...KC had a high enough grade on him to take him 11th overall. If you say that was the worse you ever saw...Well that says you were off with your assessment. Speaks volumes against your "not a good player" tag.
Poe has done it in the NFL. Saying "but far superior to him as a football player at this stage" really hurts a persons intellect when you are trying to compare a college prospect to a distinguished NFL player. Right now...Poe would be "Far Superior" on every level because he has done it in the NFL. Nix is just a "projection". Nix could turn out to be great...He could be a bust. He has to do something in the NFL before you could crown him anything.
Nix will come off the field in subs. There is limited evidence to suggest otherwise in his college tape. Nix is a space eater with limited range. He's more Hampton than Poe. That's not a knock on the guy...That's just the animal he is. If you are looking for comparison...Ta’amu was a little better as a pass rusher. Ta'Amu showed a better motor on tape. There isn't a big separation between the 2 in pass rush. Nix plays with better leverage on tape against the run. Ta'Amu played more as a penetrator rather than staying engaged. This is the bigger difference between the two. Nix shows me more ability to anchor than I saw in Ta'Amu. If his knees are healthy...He should get pretty darn close to what Hampton gave us. But just like Hampton...Nix wears down late. That's the two sided sword. You are going to want to get him off the field in subs because you may need him late. So even if he shows a sniff of pass rush ability at the next level...You can find better options in sub. Keeping Nix fresh for the 4th will have to be the focus. If the Steelers are playing from behind...You will need Nix playing like he did coming out of the tunnel. You will have to keep his snap count down to keep him effective late in the game.Comment
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At this stage in the draft process is what I meant, not at this level of football. I was a big Poe advocate, I would have loved him to fall to the steelers he was such a rare athlete I thought he could make up for his short arms and lack of production at Memphis. He was extremely raw, an extremly big, fast, and strong raw piece of clay though and that why he justified that 11th overall pick. He had horrible tape at memphis though, and memphis was an exceptionally bad team (which at the time i recognized) i was just commenting on your "He definitely doesnt command double teams on tape" comment. Basically whay i meant was just because that is the case doesnt mean they cant be used in a way that makes them wildly effective, but if you liked poe when he came out and see what hes become you know that.
I do not know you, I was just commenting on an earlier post as i was reading through the thread. My first post was my overall assessment of Nix and that post i quote preceded my first post. Had a lot of good debates about poe as a prospect, I do think Nix is the better football player now than poe was back then though (obviously poe turned out to be a stud in only his second year, but my analysis of him was spot on...lacked the dominance and production youd like to see at a smallish school, but had all the tools in the world).
If the steelers did take him I imagine he would have even seen the field yet, John Mitchell HATES raw players...hence the reason why Al Woods took 4 years to see the fieldComment
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The forgotten man in this debate is Nick Williams
[URL]http://www.steelers.com/team/roster/Nick-Williams/cbc84adf-f54b-43db-9b51-8e7b35f62915[/URL]
He was the kid they drafted in the 7th round last year. They knew he was raw but apparently had great athletic ability. Can't discount him from the Def Line discussion. With Woods, Arnfeldt and Williams we have some young Def Line talent that hopefully can be developed."My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"Comment
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Id rather roll the dice on Nick Williams (maybe bring in Carriker or Alex Carrington) than resign hoodComment
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1. CB – Marcus Peters – Washington – 6/190
2. OG – Josue Matias – Florida State – 6-6/320
3. OLB – Geneo Grissom – Oklahoma – 6-4/250
4. DL – Ellis McCarthy – UCLA – 6-5/330
5. TE – Jeff Heurman – Ohio State – 6-5/255
6. FS – Adrian Amos – Penn State – 6/200
7. DT – Terry Williams – East Carolina – 6-1/340
UDFA
DB – Justin Cox – Mississippi St. – 6-2/190
OLB – Davis Tull – Chattanooga – 6-2/242Comment
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Al Woods is the guy to keep an eye on.Trolls are people too.Comment
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Was Steve McLendon That Bad? And What About Louis Nix?
February 17, 2014 by Alan Robinson
Was Steve McLendon good, bad or in between?
And do the Steelers really need to upgrade at nose tackle after just one season of McLendon starting there — and with two more seasons left on his $7.25 million contract?
Of all the Steelers’ starters, McLendon is the most enigmatic, at least in the eyes of the multiple evaluation services that assess NFL players’ performances.
McLendon, in his first season replacing long-time starter and run game-stopper Casey Hampton, played 355 snaps last season, or only about one-third of all those by the Steelers defense.
McLendon was given a positive grade by Pro Football Focus both as an overall defender and as a run defender. He ranked 33rd among all NFL defensive tackles, and 25th against the run, by a service that grades every player on every play, much like a player’s own position coach would do.
For comparison’s sake, Hampton ranked 77th among the 85 most-used defensive tackles, and 37th against the run, in 2012. Hampton was not signed after that season and did not play in 2013.
However, in McLendon’s first season on the nose, the Steelers plummeted from second against the run in 2012, allowing 90.6 yards per game, to 21st, giving up 115.6 yards. In comparing him to others at his position, Pro Football Focus judges him as “average, a solid starter.”
McLendon’s move into the lineup wasn’t the only reason for the Steelers’ falloff, and the worst performance they’ve had against the run with Dick LeBeau as defensive coordinator.
They also missed linebacker James Harrison, who signed with the Bengals, safety Troy Polamalu was forced to play as an undersized inside linebacker at times following inside linebacker Larry Foote’s season-ending injury in Week 1; and first-round draft pick Jarvis Jones had an uneven rookie season at outside linebacker.
But, overall, the Steelers’ defensive line was better overall in 2013 than the season before; defensive end Cam Heyward became a playmaker and Brett Keisel was steady until getting injured late in the season. Ziggy Hood was about the same, but he yielded his spot — and quite a few snaps — to Heyward.
When I asked Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert about McLendon last week, here’s what he said:
“He did OK. He was OK,” Colbert said. “He fought through some injuries and gave us some good work. But, again, to say that anybody was good enough, including myself, when you’re 8-8, I think that’s a disservice to the organization.”
McLendon’s play is being judged more harshly by others. Football Outsiders calls nose tackle the Steelers’ greatest position of need, based on McLendon’s average tackle following a gain of 3.0 yards, the worst of any starting tackle in a 3-4 defense.
As multiple NFL analysts begin posting their mock drafts, quite a few are predicting the Steelers will take Notre Dame defensive tackle Louis Nix III with the 155h pick.
Such a pick would appear to be a reach for several reasons. One, Nix played only eight games for Notre Dame last season before needing surgery to repair a meniscus tear. Second, the Steelers would appear to have far greater needs at cornerback, safety, wide receiver and inside linebacker to take Nix — despite their struggles against the run.
With Ryan Clark likely leaving, the Steelers will be precariously thin at safety as Shamarko Thomas becomes a starter. And if Ike Taylor hasn’t already played his final game at cornerback — if he’s coming back, it’s almost certainly at a lower salary– he probably will in 2014. And that means another position that needs help in a hurry.
It’s also difficult to foresee the Steelers investing such an important pick on a defensive lineman after Colbert said that it’s their job to surround Ben Roethlisberger with weapons — and one of them, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, has been a virtual lock to leave via free agency since he failed to sign a multi-year contract last summer.
Nose tackle and run defense might be a concern, but the Steelers have far bigger ones in what is shaping up to be yet another crucial draft for a team that easily could go in either direction — back up the standings or further down them — in 2014.
[URL]http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/2014/02/17/was-steve-mclendon-that-bad-and-what-about-louis-nix/#ixzz2tiy0Ov96[/URL]Comment
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If the DL was better in 2013 it means we really need to pick Nix.Steelers 27
Rats 16Comment
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