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Kaboly: Steelers can’t lose sight of Jarvis Jones in wake of James Harrison’s return
March 23, 2015 by Mark Kaboly
PHOENIX — James Harrison is back.
Good for him. Good for his family. Good for the fans.
But is it good for the Steelers? Well, that all depends.
After hearing Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert talk on Sunday about the reasons why the organization felt (in an offseason where they eradicated, or are in the process of eradicating all the 30-plus year-olds from their defense) the need to bring back the second oldest defensive player in the league, they indeed have the right mindset.
Harrison provides a veteran presence in a locker room that is now void of the likes of Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel and likely Troy Polamalu. He provides depth and he provides a pretty rock-solid insurance policy in case of an injury.
If – and it’s a big if – the Steelers follow that plan, Harrison’s return will have nothing but positive ramifications on the team. Now, deviate from that, and the signing will instantly turn counterproductive.
Harrison’s signing can’t cut into Jarvis Jones’ development this year – a very important year for the former first-round pick. Anything short of a total and utter disaster by Jones week-after-week should keep him on the field in lieu of Harrison.
That’s sometimes easier said than done, especially when it comes to the Steelers. The win-now-at-all-costs mentality by Mike Tomlin sometimes isn’t the best way to go about building confidence for young guys.
The Steelers need to find out about Jones now. Not next year or the year after. Right now, they just don’t know what they have with him. They could have a Pro Bowler right in front of them or another Huey Richardson. Again, they don’t know and they won’t know unless they give Jones and entire uninterrupted year to truly evaluate him.
Jones’ rookie year was like, well, like a lot of player’s rookie years – up and down. Then last year, he looked pretty good in the 10 quarters he played before suffering a dislocated wrist that forced him to miss 10 weeks.
Mind you, that’s not only games, but 10 weeks of practice. When he finally came back, Tomlin deferred to Harrison. The final two weeks of the regular season and the wild-card playoff game, Harrison played 87, 95 and 91 percent of the defensive snaps. Jones played 12, 4 and 9 percent during the same span.
It happened with Brett Keisel, too. The Steelers planned on using him about a dozen snaps per game when he returned before the start of last year but ended up routinely playing 40 snaps a game.
Don’t get me wrong, Harrison can be a valuable one-the-field piece as well … if used correctly. Used correctly means limiting his snaps.
It doesn’t matter if Harrison doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on his body. The fact is that he’s the second oldest defensive player in the league behind Charles Woodson. There is a reason for that, you know.
Harrison can’t take the load of 1,000 snaps anymore. Actually, 500 may be pushing it and the Steelers know that.
At least Colbert alluded to it.
“I think you have to be careful with any type of player at that age, except a quarterback, you have to be careful so as to not – I guess you have to be careful so as to maximize their abilities and have them be contributors over 16 games and hopefully a postseason season,” Colbert said.
If the Steelers stick to that plan, the signing is great.
If the first sign of Jones struggling finds him losing snaps to Harrison, regardless of production, then it’s a terrible signing.
[URL]http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/2015/03/23/kaboly-steelers-cant-lose-sight-of-jarvis-jones-in-wake-of-james-harrisons-return/#ixzz3VEngJ1w1[/URL]
March 23, 2015 by Mark Kaboly
PHOENIX — James Harrison is back.
Good for him. Good for his family. Good for the fans.
But is it good for the Steelers? Well, that all depends.
After hearing Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert talk on Sunday about the reasons why the organization felt (in an offseason where they eradicated, or are in the process of eradicating all the 30-plus year-olds from their defense) the need to bring back the second oldest defensive player in the league, they indeed have the right mindset.
Harrison provides a veteran presence in a locker room that is now void of the likes of Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel and likely Troy Polamalu. He provides depth and he provides a pretty rock-solid insurance policy in case of an injury.
If – and it’s a big if – the Steelers follow that plan, Harrison’s return will have nothing but positive ramifications on the team. Now, deviate from that, and the signing will instantly turn counterproductive.
Harrison’s signing can’t cut into Jarvis Jones’ development this year – a very important year for the former first-round pick. Anything short of a total and utter disaster by Jones week-after-week should keep him on the field in lieu of Harrison.
That’s sometimes easier said than done, especially when it comes to the Steelers. The win-now-at-all-costs mentality by Mike Tomlin sometimes isn’t the best way to go about building confidence for young guys.
The Steelers need to find out about Jones now. Not next year or the year after. Right now, they just don’t know what they have with him. They could have a Pro Bowler right in front of them or another Huey Richardson. Again, they don’t know and they won’t know unless they give Jones and entire uninterrupted year to truly evaluate him.
Jones’ rookie year was like, well, like a lot of player’s rookie years – up and down. Then last year, he looked pretty good in the 10 quarters he played before suffering a dislocated wrist that forced him to miss 10 weeks.
Mind you, that’s not only games, but 10 weeks of practice. When he finally came back, Tomlin deferred to Harrison. The final two weeks of the regular season and the wild-card playoff game, Harrison played 87, 95 and 91 percent of the defensive snaps. Jones played 12, 4 and 9 percent during the same span.
It happened with Brett Keisel, too. The Steelers planned on using him about a dozen snaps per game when he returned before the start of last year but ended up routinely playing 40 snaps a game.
Don’t get me wrong, Harrison can be a valuable one-the-field piece as well … if used correctly. Used correctly means limiting his snaps.
It doesn’t matter if Harrison doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear on his body. The fact is that he’s the second oldest defensive player in the league behind Charles Woodson. There is a reason for that, you know.
Harrison can’t take the load of 1,000 snaps anymore. Actually, 500 may be pushing it and the Steelers know that.
At least Colbert alluded to it.
“I think you have to be careful with any type of player at that age, except a quarterback, you have to be careful so as to not – I guess you have to be careful so as to maximize their abilities and have them be contributors over 16 games and hopefully a postseason season,” Colbert said.
If the Steelers stick to that plan, the signing is great.
If the first sign of Jones struggling finds him losing snaps to Harrison, regardless of production, then it’s a terrible signing.
[URL]http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/2015/03/23/kaboly-steelers-cant-lose-sight-of-jarvis-jones-in-wake-of-james-harrisons-return/#ixzz3VEngJ1w1[/URL]
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