Should the Steelers force Lebeau out?

[feltdizz]

Where you see a problem, I see a model for consistency. Corporate America does it everyday, all day. Young engineer works alongs side 'aged vet', learn the ropes. Leads to less mistakes, more consistency, better product.

Where we have the most problems? young guy is assign project, no mentor, ends up floundering and in some cases demoralized from overcomplicated assignment.

Nah... first off this isnt corporate america but even if it was you dont see secretaries using shorthand and old guys smoking in offices...

females have gained ground, technology has advanced, old guys were forced into retirement.

One thing I agree on.... young guys are demoralized with overcomplicated assignments. LOL

[NorthCoast]

Since 2010 opponents have increased their rush attempts/gm by 10% per year against the Steelers.

And they have been more successful; as the rushing yds/att have increase year over year. In 2013, the Steelers defense allowed the opponent to exceed the 4 yd/att rushing barrier by a wide margin for the first time in 10 years.

Casey Hampton was still around in 2010 and 2011 and 2012. ... but he was old.

[Slapstick]

Nah... first off this isnt corporate america but even if it was you dont see secretaries using shorthand and old guys smoking in offices...

females have gained ground, technology has advanced, old guys were forced into retirement.

One thing I agree on.... young guys are demoralized with overcomplicated assignments. LOL

That does not necessarily make dumbing down the assignment the best solution...

[feltdizz]

That does not necessarily make dumbing down the assignment the best solution...

It does if the only one you are confusing is your employees...

our competitors have us figured out.

feels like our competition is using a Mac and taking it out the box and getting to work while we are building our computer from scratch. The PC was great for years but the Mac has caught on and we are still rebooting and fighting off viruses with an old Windows Vista

[feltdizz]

Since 2010 opponents have increased their rush attempts/gm by 10% per year against the Steelers.

And they have been more successful; as the rushing yds/att have increase year over year. In 2013, the Steelers defense allowed the opponent to exceed the 4 yd/att rushing barrier by a wide margin for the first time in 10 years.

Casey Hampton was still around in 2010 and 2011 and 2012. ... but he was old.

This is why I want Nix. In a "passing league" teams are running all over us.

[Slapstick]

It does if the only one you are confusing is your employees...

That's an HR problem, not a management problem...

[Oviedo]

This is why I want Nix. In a "passing league" teams are running all over us.

And Nix will do nothing to prevent teams from passing all over us because we still won't be able to pressure the QB into mistakes that could lead to INTs.

[papillon]

And Nix will do nothing to prevent teams from passing all over us because we still won't be able to pressure the QB into mistakes that could lead to INTs.

I disagree, if teams know they can't gain yards on the ground they become one dimensional and that makes it more difficult to pass. I would rather have a cornerback at 1.15, but I understand how Nix helps the pass defense without actually rushing the passer. He would also be the anchor that doesn't allow a quarterback to step up into the pocket to get a better passing lane or run with it.

Pappy

[Oviedo]

I disagree, if teams know they can't gain yards on the ground they become one dimensional and that makes it more difficult to pass. I would rather have a cornerback at 1.15, but I understand how Nix helps the pass defense without actually rushing the passer. He would also be the anchor that doesn't allow a quarterback to step up into the pocket to get a better passing lane or run with it.

Pappy

We can agree to disagree but a two-down player won't help the pass defense.

We can agree that I would rather have a CB at #15 than Nix....along with a TE, a LT, a WR, or a S.

[feltdizz]

And Nix will do nothing to prevent teams from passing all over us because we still won't be able to pressure the QB into mistakes that could lead to INTs.

Thats why we have other draft picks...

You can't fix a run D with DB's... and unless there is another Troy in the first it doesnt make sense to draft a CB to play zone in the 1st round.

Revis and Asomuaghawhatever where great lock down CBs but they were horrible on zone. Make a team one dimensional and its much easier to defend them.

[phillyesq]

We can agree to disagree but a two-down player won't help the pass defense.

We can agree that I would rather have a CB at #15 than Nix....along with a TE, a LT, a WR, or a S.

Ovi, just for you, from Cliff Avril:

[URL="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/01/30/cliff-avril-brandon-mebane-is-one-of-the-best-nose-guards-in-the-game/"]Avril: Mebane is “one of the best nose guards in the game”[/URL]

Posted by Mike Wilkening on January 30, 2014, 4:01 PM EST

Getty Images

Defensive tackle [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4367/brandon-mebane"]Brandon Mebane[/URL] has been one of the constants of the Pete Carroll era in Seattle.
Including the postseason, the 6-foot-1, 311-pound Mebane has started 62 consecutive games for the Seahawks. Player-rating servicePro Football Focus graded Mebane as the third-best defensive tackle of 2013 and ranked him second among run defenders along the interior line.
Seahawks defensive end [URL="http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/4834/cliff-avril"]Cliff Avril[/URL] believes Mebane is “underrated.”
“He’s definitely one of the best nose guards in the game, but he doesn’t get the recognition for whatever reason,” Avril told reporters on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Mebane wasn’t credited with a sack in the regular season, but PFF charted 26 hurries from the seventh-year pro from California, 14th-best among defensive tackles.
And as Avril observed, Mebane is adept at making life rather difficult for the center across from him.
“He makes the whole defense’s job easier,” Avril said. “. . . If the center can get to where he wants to go, it kind of hurts the team. For (Mebane) to be able to hold centers up and make plays – he makes everybody’s job easier.”

Even in a 4-3, there is room for, and need for, a nose guard that - gasp - occupies blockers.

[papillon]

Ovi, just for you, from Cliff Avril:



Even in a 4-3, there is room for, and need for, a nose guard that - gasp - occupies blockers.

Yup, can you say Ernie Holmes? He was the epitome of staying home, ensuring that draw plays and screens didn't get very far, occupy blockers, so that Lambert could make tackles, etc. How quickly we forget how necessary an occupier of blockers is to a defense, even a 4-3 and the greatest 4-3 that was ever assembled to boot.

Just sayin...

Pappy

[NorthCoast]

Ovi, just for you, from Cliff Avril:



Even in a 4-3, there is room for, and need for, a nose guard that - gasp - occupies blockers.

Don't forget Glenn Dorsey on the Niners. He has been an absolute beast as nose tackle. I think he had almost 90 tackles this season.

Much to my chagrin I will give Ovi some fodder for his 4-3 diatribe:

[URL]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/3-4-schemes-provide-challenges-for-NFL-teams-in-?urn=nfl,229833[/URL]

[URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/3-4-schemes-provide-challenges-for-NFL-teams-in-?urn=nfl,229833"]3-4 schemes provide challenges for NFL teams in draft[/URL]

By [URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner?author=Doug+Farrar"]Doug Farrar[/URL]

Every NFL team has its own theories and formulas when it comes to the science of the draft, but no matter how specific people get, there are certain positional and schematic issues that cause geniuses to look like goofballs. Basketball players become brilliant tight ends. Spread-offense quarterbacks put up historic numbers in college and can't even bust the CFL at the pro level. And the increasing number of NFL teams running 3-4 defenses find it more and more difficult to find key personnel in the draft, for one simple reason -- college teams don't run the 3-4 as their base defense very much.
In fact, of the 120 BCS teams, only three -- Alabama, Cal, and West Virginia -- run a full-time three-man front. That makes the accurate selection of specific players, especially two-gap nose tackles than can dominate the point of attack, more difficult. This is the case even though the 2010 class of defensive tackles may be the deepest ever. As college teams put forth their abilities to create NFL opportunities to recruits, you could see more teams making the switch. This schism was on the mind of more than one AFC coach during the media breakfast at the Owner's Meetings.
"I think that there are always a number of guys in that situation in the draft," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of the "conversion ends", like Tennessee's Dan Williams, who are expected to move to nose at the pro level. "There are hardly any 3-4 teams in college football. Whoever plays on the end of the line, whether it's a linebacker, defensive end or a crash end, whatever you want to call them, those guys are going to play on the end of the line at the next level too. Figuring out who can do what, that's always a tough spot to break down in the draft."
And the "endbackers", 4-3 ends or outside linebackers who convert to edge rushers in 3-4-4 or 5-2-4 sets, are of equal importance -- something Belichick's been dealing with since his days coaching Lawrence Taylor under Bill Parcells in the 1980s. "It's a challenge, but again that's pretty much the way it's been you know going back to ... you could pick out most of those guys going back to Lawrence Taylor, and certainly [Mike] Vrabel, [Willie] McGinest, Chris Slade, [Rosevelt] Colvin, Tully [Banta-Cain], all those guys. Sure, it's a long list of them, guys who didn't play on their feet in college or played on their feet a minimal amount."
Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano knows all about the challenges of putting together a 3-4 front -- he's working around nose tackle [URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4029/"]Jason Ferguson's[/URL][URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/4029/news"](notes)[/URL] eight-game suspension for violating the league's substance-abuse policy precisely because guys who do what Ferguson does are so hard to find. Even as a 35-year-old free agent sure to play only half a season, he's still an attractive option.
"From our standpoint, as you know, Jason Ferguson's a guy that's been very good for us," Sparano said. "When we were in Dallas as well, but very much so when we were here in Miami. Obviously, Jason has the suspension. We're not happy with that, but at the end of the day, it's something that we have to deal with. When Jason got hurt this year, our tongue would've been hanging out to find a player like Jason Ferguson sitting out there at that time. We couldn't find a player like that. To have the ability to have a player like that when he comes back off a suspension I think is a positive thing for us. Of course, Jason, I love him to death, but he's not a young guy. I would say that all these (3-4) positions are positions we'd consider addressing in the draft."
At the Combine, Jets coach Rex Ryan told me about the incredible value of two-gappers, and he was watching every move made by ginormous nose tackle Terrence Cody at Alabama's recent Pro Day. "That might be one of the toughest parts of a 3-4," Ryan said in Indianapolis. "Basically your nose tackle, unless you are always moving to nose, if you are playing a standard 3-4 defense, then you've got a two-gap responsibility which means you got to be able to play the front-side A-gap and the backside A-gap at the same time. You generally need a dominant individual there. And that is what you have like a[URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5491/"]Kris Jenkins[/URL][URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/5491/news"](notes)[/URL], or a [URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/1800/"]Ted Washington[/URL][URL="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/players/1800/news"](notes)[/URL] many years ago in Buffalo was one of the best two-gappers I have ever seen. A guy has to be active, he has got to be able to stay on his feet, his technique on releasing off of blocks has got to be outstanding. If not, you are really going to struggle at that spot."

Last year, the Chiefs and Packers were among the teams switching to the 3-4. In 2010, the Bills and Redskins are making the leap. To get the best recruits, more college teams will catch up to the new trends. In the meantime, you'll see players with specific skill sets suitable for 3-4 fronts sitting in the proverbial catbird seat.

But if you can find a Mebane and Dorsey, you are going to have a good defense all around.

[Rod Polamalu]

Whaaaat the hell are you babbling about? Lebeau LOVES Timmons...

We will never draft 7 or 8 defensive players in a draft but the ones we choose definitely have DL's approval. Do we have a 76 year old legend HOF DC who sits at home doing needle point waiting to hear who we drafted?

Do you honestly beliveve DL has been here this long with ZERO influence over our draft board? If so... please log off.

Knock it off Dizz,...and just admit it,...yer boy Tomlin and Colbert (with 50% of control) are a two gun clusterfook in terms of personnel decisions. lol smh

[Oviedo]

Ovi, just for you, from Cliff Avril:



Even in a 4-3, there is room for, and need for, a nose guard that - gasp - occupies blockers.

So no reason not to go to the 4-3 because we have the players to make that work already here from our failing 3-4 defense.