I know Cortez Allen has had a rough start, but

[NorthCoast]

I am in the camp that Mitchell hasn't been all that great so far. Then I checked his overall stats and it looks like he is on pace to match last year's performance in CAR.

And for what its worth, Pete Carroll puts a lot of weighting on the draft picks with high SPARQ ratings. Mike Mitchell was stellar: [URL]http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/8137631/mike-mitchell-wins-sparq-rating-national-championship[/URL]

[pittpete]

Enrico: Great chat as always Ed, how much do you think they miss Ryan Clark right now? And is it safe to say Mitchell has been a disaster?

Ed Bouchette: They don't miss the Ryan Clark of last season. Mike Mitchell has not played up to expectations

.

Mike Mitchell misses tackles, my eyes don't lie. As far as his responsibilities in pass coverage, i cant comment because i dont know what defense was called and cant see the whole field during games.

[feltdizz]

[COLOR=#ffff00]

Mike Mitchell misses tackles, my eyes don't lie. As far as his responsibilities in pass coverage, i cant comment because i dont know what defense was called and cant see the whole field during games.

Everyone on our team has missed a few tackles.

AS far as living up to expectations. Well, what exactly were the expectations of Mitchell this year?

How many people actually watched Carolina last year?

Did people expect Mitchell to turn our front 7 into Carolina's front 7? Did they expect an automatic 12-4? A ton of INT's?

Anyone who watched Carolina last year (I'm forced to watch them since I live here) could see that he benefited from an awesome front 4 but if the QB had time the DB's were often exposed.

I think a lot of fans had unrealistic expectations of Mitchell

[hawaiiansteel]

I think a lot of fans had unrealistic expectations of Mitchell

you mean a lot of fans thought Mitchell might actually be good?

[feltdizz]

you mean a lot of fans thought Mitchell might actually be good?

LOL... I actually think Mitchell is playing good ball

He isn't playing GREAT but he is playing pretty well for a guy with 1 year in DL's system.

His strip in the Texas game was huge...

[fezziwig]

Giving that it's supposed to take players in Lebeaus defense years to learn it, I can wait on Mitchell to get a year under his belt.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

LOL... I actually think Mitchell is playing good ball

He isn't playing GREAT but he is playing pretty well for a guy with 1 year in DL's system.

His strip in the Texas game was huge...

I think that Mitchell has been fine. Not $5M a year good, but hopefully he can improve year by year. I think that two of the problems are that

a) Steeler fans have seen some stellar S play over the past few years between Troy and Clark, and

b) When a safety makes a mistake, the whole stadium sees it

[hawaiiansteel]

I think that Mitchell has been fine. Not $5M a year good, but hopefully he can improve year by year. I think that two of the problems are that

a) Steeler fans have seen some stellar S play over the past few years between Troy and Clark, and

b) When a safety makes a mistake, the whole stadium sees it

I would add that the Steelers' pass rush for the most part hasn't been that great either...

[SteelCrazy]

and I would add Mitchell is an average S with a hard hitting style that excelled in a very good front 7 last year....If this were his 3rd year I would hold out hope that he could improve, but this is his 6th year. What you see is what you're going to get.

[feltdizz]

and I would add Mitchell is an average S with a hard hitting style that excelled in a very good front 7 last year....If this were his 3rd year I would hold out hope that he could improve, but this is his 6th year. What you see is what you're going to get.

you don't think Mitchell can improve in a Lebeau D? A defense that is also missing Troy, Shazier, JJ and Ike?

I could see if we drafted Mitchell but it's 11 games into his first year in this system.

[SteelCrazy]

When Troy, Shazier, JJ and Ike were in he looked the same to me. I haven't been impressed at all with Mitchell this year. He has made some plays, but a lot of the time he is out of position.

[feltdizz]

When Troy, Shazier, JJ and Ike were in he looked the same to me. I haven't been impressed at all with Mitchell this year. He has made some plays, but a lot of the time he is out of position.

obviously your mind is made up so there is no need to continue this convo.

if Mitchell signed a one year deal I would see your point but I think he is going to be here for a few years.

I'm willing to give him a little time.

[SteelCrazy]

obviously your mind is made up so there is no need to continue this convo.

if Mitchell signed a one year deal I would see your point but I think he is going to be here for a few years.

I'm willing to give him a little time.

I'm all for him being a beast. I only want whats best for the team. I hope I'm wrong again.

[phillyesq]

obviously your mind is made up so there is no need to continue this convo.

if Mitchell signed a one year deal I would see your point but I think he is going to be here for a few years.

I'm willing to give him a little time.

With the structure of his deal the Steelers can walk away easily after this year. His signing bonus was only $4.75 million and he is due a $2 million roster bonus before 2015. The Steelers can cut him next year with only $3.8 million in dead money; a manageable hit in one year and quite easy if spread over 2 years.

[feltdizz]

With the structure of his deal the Steelers can walk away easily after this year. His signing bonus was only $4.75 million and he is due a $2 million roster bonus before 2015. The Steelers can cut him next year with only $3.8 million in dead money; a manageable hit in one year and quite easy if spread over 2 years.

Who do we replace him with? We are 7-4 and we are missing a few key people on defense.

I think the coaches are more patient and realistic than the fans... at least I hope so.