This team is a year a away

[Shawn]

This team on O needs at least one new OT, and a TE. The D...geez will need a new OLB once they let Worilds walk, two quality starters at DB, two quality starters at safety...and time for the young uns to actually start producing. This team is not a year away.

[hawaiiansteel]

A year away from what?

from saying we're another year away...

[Shawn]

A year away from annual mediocrity...the new Steeler standard.

[Ghost]

Accept the Steelers don't draft for need. BPA. There's no CB coming in round one...

[squidkid]

Jones, Shazier and Shark healthy and the maturation of guys like McCullers and Tuitt why not? Our offense certainly isn't a problem when Ben isn't off. He got dinged by Upshaw early in the season and then just got dinged again against the Saints. Jones was starting to come on and he got hurt. Shazier was all over the field, he got hurt. Shark has showed promise but he's been buried behind Polamalu and Mitchell until he had a run of hammies. I don't necessarily think we are going to make a run at the Super Bowl but this team isn't far and sure as hell isn't as far away as you implied above. We currently have 2 starters down in Jones and Shazier, Mclendon as well. The coaches are high on McCullers. As it stands right now we should be looking at Heyward, McClendon and Tuitt on the d-line next season with a developing McCullers. We at least one high draft pick at corner and an OLB unless Worilds stays.

just because they are starters doesnt make them good
you just said we are only 1 draft away and now you are saying we wont make a superbowl run....which is it?

[squidkid]

from saying we're another year away...

heard that after the denver debacle, then again the next year, then last year, now once again............how do we have all these A+ drafts every year but still miss the playoffs?

[NJ-STEELER]

havent seen a back up RB mentioned to give bell a break here and there

[Iron City Inc.]

Wow excellent thread with a boat load of excellent comments.
Not going to sugar coat our team but if I was giving a "State of the Steelers" overview I would lay it out like this.
Some pieces are clearly in place mostly on O however some young wr's 10 n 11 who have flashed will need to continue to improve to take the O to elite status.
We need some depth at rb and O line depth would not hurt either. The loss of Wesley Johnson still bothers me but I may be in the minority there.
93 92 43 24 staying or going on D is a few major questions to answer. Our D relies on two solid pass rushing olb's. If 93 leaves n 92 retires again that could set back the D to some extent. I'm not sure how good 95 is or isn't and if it's a rookie opposite him a year from now well there are more questions. A big concern but not the largest concern should 93 be signed.
The huge problem is in the secondary.... no surprise here so that need must be cured on draft day 2015.
Trying to keep this summary short the idea that we are one draft away is not wrong IF that draft is very special. Cap going to perhaps 144m may place us in a position to sign a top end f/a. So if the stars line up 15 could be the year. Perhaps 16 is much more realistic. As long as 7 can continue to play at the level he's at now we will have a shot at the prize.
I truly believe we have a 4-5 year run ahead of us where we will be in the mix.

[Snatch98]

just because they are starters doesnt make them good
you just said we are only 1 draft away and now you are saying we wont make a superbowl run....which is it?

Jarvis Jones was coming in to his own and then lost a majority of his second season. Shazier we've yet to see a consistent sample size, both of his stints are separated by injury. I said it earlier I'm no cheerleader but I see no reason to be so negative all the time and I'm not directing that at you. We've have a lot of young talent. The defense went from one of the oldest defenses to one of the younger defenses before Keisel and Harrison returned. Harrison is getting close to playing like the old Harrison and Keisel was really playing well. I've seen nothing one way or another up until this point to label Jones, Shazier or Thomas as anything good or bad. However because our fan base is so ridiculously spoiled and are fans are just an interview away from running a NFL front office things get ridiculous in a hurry.

[AxnJxn]

I thought we were a year away before the season started, but that was based on Shazier and Jones getting a full year or most of a year of playing time. That obviously hasn't happened. That's unfortunate, because with an offense that should be even better next year, a defense with a couple of young splash players could be enough for us to make a real run. I'm not sure that's going to happen with all of this youth on the sidelines in sweats, though.

[MCHammer]

We need to win out, maybe the back against the wall mentality will help this team over the hump.

One of this team's problems going back years is the inability to take it one game at a time. They should have the "win out" mentality from week 1 so we don't need to win out in week 12. I'm so sick and tired of watching this team come out unprepared/unfocused against the runts of the league. It's great to beat Indy and the Ravens, just so we can get our hopes up to lose to the dregs of the league. Again. And again. And again. And again.

A few more years and we won't have Ben. Then we won't even win the big games. We can just lose them all. Sorry to be a pessimist, but we've pretty much wasted the second half of his career.

[feltdizz]

We didnt waste the second half of Ben's career... he damn near ruined it himself with thr off field distractions.

Ben is a good QB but he plays down to the competition just like the rest of the team.

[WindyCitySteel]

I'm not sure this defense is a year away.

and THAT will continue to be the problem.

If all of these young, unknown quantities on defense (Tuitt, McCullers, S. Thomas, Shazier, Jones) don't pan out, it gets harder. If Worilds leaves, as average as he is, you have to still replace him. Moats and JJ as OLBs in a 3-4? Yikes.

Then throw in Mitchell being terrible and no viable CBs on the roster....

Yeah, a year away?

[AxnJxn]

If all of these young, unknown quantities on defense (Tuitt, McCullers, S. Thomas, Shazier, Jones) don't pan out, it gets harder. If Worilds leaves, as average as he is, you have to still replace him. Moats and JJ as OLBs in a 3-4? Yikes.

Then throw in Mitchell being terrible and no viable CBs on the roster....

Yeah, a year away?

Considering Worilds has been pretty average this year, it shouldn't be that hard to replace him, and we'll save a hefty chunk of change to boot to use elsewhere. It shouldn't be tough to find an OLB who can get 6 whole sacks.

[Shawn]

Accept the Steelers don't draft for need. BPA. There's no CB coming in round one...

I'm not so sure. I do believe the first rounder will be in the secondary. Maybe not DB but could be a safety. I don't base this on history but on the fact that W. Gay is probably the best player in the secondary...which should tell us much.