Don't resign AB

[pittpete]

Shoe, i definitely agree that AB will be uncoverable when/if Bryant gets back?
Thing is he might be great in fantasy football, but when the smart coaches take him out of a game its up to Haley/Ben to feed the open guy.
I just dont see us being able to keep both Bell and sign Brown to a looooong lucrative deal.
Its my opinion that Bell is more important to the team in the long run.
If anything happens to Ben, or he retires in a year or two, do you see Brown being the type that will step up and become a leader?
Would he be an asset to a young QB or just worry about his stats?
We survived losing Wallace and Sanders. We seem to be a wideout manufacturing machine the last few years

[SS Laser]

I don't buy into the WR making machine. Sanders is the only one to move on and is better else where then with Ben. Oh wait Plax also. But he was a good WR anyway. Bryant is good but has his problems wonder why he was there at his pick.
AB is very good but also needs a good QB and 2nd Wr to help him out. He can't over come being covered with help to have as big of games. All the other WR's as of now are a product of Ben and AB pulling coverage. I hope AB is not a ass with his contract demands and a happy deal for all can be done. AB here elevates Bryant and even Bell working as a WR. Without AB this offense changes a lot.n

[flippy]

What if we frame this discussion in a different way:

What if we had Denver's D this season? Including their approach, coaching, and D game plan against NE.

Could we have gotten to the SuperBowl with DHB, Rogers, and Ayers as our starting 3 WRs? I'd say yes.

We need to revamp the D, including coaching. And I believe Tomlin owns this performance as much if not more than Butler.

Disclaimer - I like Tomlin and AB is one of my favorite Steelers. I just prefer SuperBowls

[Iron Shiek]

What if we frame this discussion in a different way:

What if we had Denver's D this season? Including their approach, coaching, and D game plan against NE.

Could we have gotten to the SuperBowl with DHB, Rogers, and Ayers as our starting 3 WRs? I'd say yes.

We need to revamp the D, including coaching. And I believe Tomlin owns this performance as much if not more than Butler.

Disclaimer - I like Tomlin and AB is one of my favorite Steelers. I just prefer SuperBowls

Flippy is right in my eyes. Using fellow North Division team as an example:

Ravens 2012 Super Bowl winning WRs: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Dennis Pitta, Jacoby Jones

Ravens 2000 Super Bowl winning WRs: Shannon Sharpe (actually quite good!), Travis Taylor (ha), Jermaine Lewis (ha-ha) and Qadry Ismail (HAHAHA).

I think this illustrates a point made about 7 pages back by someone saying Super Bowl winning teams traditionally have not had a Salary Cap shattering WR on their roster. Julio Jones could change that (for a year anyway)!

Fix the D if its not attainable to keep Brown / Bell at reasonable price tags....can't believe I'm saying that.

[NorthCoast]

In the last 32 yrs the Steelers have never been to a SB without a top 10 defense. On the other hand 2 SBs featured Steeler offenses not in the top 10.

[Captain Lemming]

What if we frame this discussion in a different way:

What if we had Denver's D this season? Including their approach, coaching, and D game plan against NE.

Could we have gotten to the SuperBowl with DHB, Rogers, and Ayers as our starting 3 WRs? I'd say yes.

We need to revamp the D, including coaching. And I believe Tomlin owns this performance as much if not more than Butler.

Disclaimer - I like Tomlin and AB is one of my favorite Steelers. I just prefer SuperBowls

Let me add.
If we had Jerry Stinkin Rice in his prime, we STILL get DESTROYED against the Pats if the defense is the same.
You don't need to pay elite receiver money to win Championships!

[Shoe]

Shoe, i definitely agree that AB will be uncoverable when/if Bryant gets back?
Thing is he might be great in fantasy football, but when the smart coaches take him out of a game its up to Haley/Ben to feed the open guy.
I just dont see us being able to keep both Bell and sign Brown to a looooong lucrative deal.
Its my opinion that Bell is more important to the team in the long run.
If anything happens to Ben, or he retires in a year or two, do you see Brown being the type that will step up and become a leader?
Would he be an asset to a young QB or just worry about his stats?
We survived losing Wallace and Sanders. We seem to be a wideout manufacturing machine the last few years

Oh, I'm with you. I think, all things considered, life would go on without AB. And I also think that if this was the *, they'd let him go. I'm just trying to put a positive spin on this. I think it would actually be a marginal situation if we don't have a beastly #2 WR like Martavis with Brown. I just have a feeling that Brown's production is bound to start to tail off. With just a Wheaton level #2, he'd get smothered and we'd definitely have problems.

But with a guy like Bryant, essentially he would be our #1 at times, and AB would still be AB. I just don't think you can guard Martavis with any NFL DB. Remember that play against ARZ last year? Who makes that play? Julio Jones? Maybe Demaryus Thomas in his prime?

[pittpete]

What happens when Bryant in a few years expects big $$$$$$$$ and AB has it all?
If Bryant stays straight he's the man. I agree, he's dangerous.

[NorthCoast]

Guess I am not seeing this all worldness some of you are seeing in MB. You need to consider that MB's playmaking was as much about AB as it was about MB. Teams were putting their best on AB meaning MB only had to beat their #2.
Exit AB, where does that leave MB? Cover rolls his direction and then it's a different story. Fortunately, maybe Rodgers can be a poor man's AB in the offense, but will it be enough?

[Captain Lemming]

Guess I am not seeing this all worldness some of you are seeing in MB. You need to consider that MB's playmaking was as much about AB as it was about MB. Teams were putting their best on AB meaning MB only had to beat their #2.
Exit AB, where does that leave MB? Cover rolls his direction and then it's a different story. Fortunately, maybe Rodgers can be a poor man's AB in the offense, but will it be enough?

Where does that leave MB?
I don't know.....oh wait!
How bout the last game he played? AB was hurt.

Not only was AB hurt, both Bell AND Deangelo were out. BustWheat was choking. Miller was old and slow.
Lets examine how he "struggled" without AB, heck as the ONLY LEGIT weapon Ben had on the entire offense.

9 catches,154 yards receiving. Heck he had 40 yards RUSHING! He was THE MAJORITY of our ENTIRE OFFENSE, as the only player that mighty Bronco defense had to fear.

All this against a Bronco pass defense that was BEASTLY against EVERY OTHER RECEIVER in that playoff.

Bryant accounted for more offense than any TWO wide receivers had against the Broncos in that playoff.

[feltdizz]

Bryant is a beast but he isn't reliable. You can't bet on MB being a #1 his first year back. That type of pressure makes a kid want to smoke.

[Captain Lemming]

Bryant is a beast but he isn't reliable. You can't bet on MB being a #1 his first year back. That type of pressure makes a kid want to smoke.

That's awesome.......and true

[NorthCoast]

Where does that leave MB?
I don't know.....oh wait!
How bout the last game he played? AB was hurt.

Not only was AB hurt, both Bell AND Deangelo were out. BustWheat was choking. Miller was old and slow.
Lets examine how he "struggled" without AB, heck as the ONLY LEGIT weapon Ben had on the entire offense.

9 catches,154 yards receiving. Heck he had 40 yards RUSHING! He was THE MAJORITY of our ENTIRE OFFENSE, as the only player that mighty Bronco defense had to fear.

All this against a Bronco pass defense that was BEASTLY against EVERY OTHER RECEIVER in that playoff.

Bryant accounted for more offense than any TWO wide receivers had against the Broncos in that playoff.

Half those yards came on two plays. He was targeted 15 times and caught 9. It was a good game for him, but it was only one. And the Broncos were focused on stopping Wheaton in that game. The previous game?... caught 5 passes for 29 yds with AB in the game.

[feltdizz]

Half those yards came on two plays. He was targeted 15 times and caught 9. It was a good game for him, but it was only one. And the Broncos were focused on stopping Wheaton in that game. The previous game?... caught 5 passes for 29 yds with AB in the game.

So you want to punish him for large gains? I never got that argument.

Catching 9 of 15 targets against the Broncos is a great stat line.

[Shoe]

Guess I am not seeing this all worldness some of you are seeing in MB. You need to consider that MB's playmaking was as much about AB as it was about MB. Teams were putting their best on AB meaning MB only had to beat their #2.
Exit AB, where does that leave MB? Cover rolls his direction and then it's a different story. Fortunately, maybe Rodgers can be a poor man's AB in the offense, but will it be enough?

Lemming mentioned that his last game against DEN in the playoffs. Also against DEN, if you remember that game when AB roasted Chris Harris, DEN had Talib on Bryant and Bryant more than held his own too. I think youtube has a clip on it.

I think MB is going to be motivated to show he's changed. Down the road, who knows? But next year, I think he comes in ready to prove himself. So I think he'll be fine. If you're talking about putting pressure on the kid, ABs still there. He's still going to be AB. It doesn't matter what you call them (#1 WR, #2 WR), everyone will look at AB as the team's #1. Pressure comes from salary. MB doesn't make much, and probably won't be making much for another 2-3 years. By the time MB needs a new contract, AB should be at the end of his... and if we feel MB has earned a big deal, we can choose between him and an older AB.