Ingram to Chiefs

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Here is something that hasn't been talked about WRT the Ingram trade. Obviously the incompetent Steelers FO could not get more than a sixth rounder for a backup pass rusher who has not performed very well this year and is a FA after this season. I know we all wish we had the ultimate FO like they have in New England. After all, while the Steelers got fleeced, the Pats pulled off this gem:

Patriots trade Stephon Gilmore to Panthers

• Patriots receive: 2023 sixth-round pick
• Panthers receive: CB Stephon Gilmore

[NorthCoast]

They brought him at the end of the Chiefs game we were barely holding the lead & he sacked Smith on 3rd down to help seal the win. Every time he played he did well. Chickillo wasn't even NFL material in my opinion. If Harrison was on the bench behind Greg Lloyd or Lawrence Taylor it would have been understandable.

The Harrison sleeping is the Pittsburgh media being told by the Steelers front office to trash Harrison. It happens every time the front office wants to swing perception of fans because they know the majority like yourself believe everything you read. Sorry i'm too smart to buy that garbage as to why he wasn't playing. Not saying he didn't do it to make a point. I'd be mad to if i spent all offseason getting up at 3am lifting weights & working out because Tomlin lied & told me i'd be a big part of the D as he had a role for me. He didn't deserve the bench as his "role" hall of famer who Chickillo couldn't carry his jock.

Harrison was great even in his final year at sealing the edge vs the run. Not sure Chickillo even knew what that term meant.

That's your story but teammates tell a different one;

Players witnessed Harrison sleeping in a recliner during position meetings and snoring loudly while outside linebackers coach Joey Porter tried to teach, the source said.

And I've said it before. Better to get rid of a player one year early than one year late.

[skyhawk]

According to multiple sources only suitor for Ingram was KC. Not sure what options they had at this point...would you have kept him?

Bottom line:

Tomlin prefers "volunteers not hostages ". Who wouldn't?

[LPMAN]

That's your story but teammates tell a different one;



And I've said it before. Better to get rid of a player one year early than one year late.

If Chickillo didn't suck you might have had a point.

One thing i've noticed from quite a few people on this board is the "organization never does the wrong thing ever" mentality. I love the Steelers & as a fan can't control anything they do, but i'm not naive enough to live in fantasy land that they are always right in how they handle every move & situation.

[Northern_Blitz]

The Harrison situation was Tomlins fault though not JH. Anthony Chickillo might be the worst outside LB vs the run in Steelers history. He single handily lost the Bears OT game in 2017. Why Harrison didn't get more playing time that year is more of a mystery than where Hoffas body is located.

I think the Blount situation is a better example of this than Harrison.

Although I guess the argument there is that Bell was an elite player and we wanted to give him all the work he could handle. I don't like that strategy for RBs but Bell was a special player while he was with us.

[NorthCoast]

If Chickillo didn't suck you might have had a point.

One thing i've noticed from quite a few people on this board is the "organization never does the wrong thing ever" mentality. I love the Steelers & as a fan can't control anything they do, but i'm not naive enough to live in fantasy land that they are always right in how they handle every move & situation.

They were wrong the way they handled AB. They learned their lesson. There is no appeasing 'me first' players. Everyone wants the ball, everyone wants to start. Players need to understand their role on the team. Funny how AB finally came around to his senses..."I didn't know how good I had it".

And there were plenty of people that didn't agree with bringing Roethlisberger back for another year (including me). But the org saw it differently so we cheer him on for one last ride.

I also think they tend to handle their own draftees different than FAs in many cases (maybe that is normal for all teams). After all, they saw something that made them draft them in the first place. Age is probably a factor as well. A 32 yr old FA is may be handled different from a 24 yr old.

[Northern_Blitz]

They were wrong the way they handled AB. They learned their lesson. There is no appeasing 'me first' players. Everyone wants the ball, everyone wants to start. Players need to understand their role on the team. Funny how AB finally came around to his senses..."I didn't know how good I had it".

And there were plenty of people that didn't agree with bringing Roethlisberger back for another year (including me). But the org saw it differently so we cheer him on for one last ride.

I also think they tend to handle their own draftees different than FAs in many cases (maybe that is normal for all teams). After all, they saw something that made them draft them in the first place. Age is probably a factor as well. A 32 yr old FA is may be handled different from a 24 yr old.

Will be intersting to see the comparison between hostages (what CLE seems to be doing with OBJ) vs. how we handled a guy like AB.

After everything hit the fan with AB, we could have refused to trade him and asked him not to come in.

Instead we traded him for what seemed like scraps at the time.

We'll see how the Browns do now.

[hackjam]

If Chickillo didn't suck you might have had a point.

One thing i've noticed from quite a few people on this board is the "organization never does the wrong thing ever" mentality. I love the Steelers & as a fan can't control anything they do, but i'm not naive enough to live in fantasy land that they are always right in how they handle every move & situation.

Chickillo had a job because of special teams. Period. To your point, he was getting more snaps than JH which seemed asinine at the time and still does. He was like Jason Worilds if Jason Worilds couldn't rush the passer worth a lick and was even worse at run defense.

Chickillo ranks closely alongside Mondeaux for my least favorite players to regularly occupy a roster spot. Maybe he's better than Cassius Marsh.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

One thing i've noticed from quite a few people on this board is the "organization never does the wrong thing ever" mentality.

I would not put myself in that category, but this is what I would say.

1) The organization makes the ir move with a lot more information regarding the discussions and actions going on behind the scenes.

2) The organization has a pretty good track record. Not perfect, not great, but good enough to get the benefit of the doubt.

Right or wong, who knows? But I will at least wait it out to see if it was a bad decision.

[LPMAN]

I would not put myself in that category, but this is what I would say.

1) The organization makes the ir move with a lot more information regarding the discussions and actions going on behind the scenes.

2) The organization has a pretty good track record. Not perfect, not great, but good enough to get the benefit of the doubt.

Right or wong, who knows? But I will at least wait it out to see if it was a bad decision.

I wouldn't put you in that group either. I was referring to playing Chickillo as the 3rd OLB after Watt/Dupree in 2017 instead of James Harrison. If you watched the play of both that year there really is no defense of that decision as being wrong. I know at the time Steelers were probably thinking if Chickillo can do OK we'd rather "develop" him than play Harrison. But he was so horrible that my only assessment can be Tomlin or Butler had dug his heels in playing Chickillo over Harrison & wasn't going to go back on that & admit he was wrong.

[LPMAN]

Chickillo had a job because of special teams. Period. To your point, he was getting more snaps than JH which seemed asinine at the time and still does. He was like Jason Worilds if Jason Worilds couldn't rush the passer worth a lick and was even worse at run defense.

Chickillo ranks closely alongside Mondeaux for my least favorite players to regularly occupy a roster spot. Maybe he's better than Cassius Marsh.

That's true but they also must have thought he was going to develop into at least a solid backup OLB otherwise why play him on more than special teams to the detriment of the team. That OT vs Bears Chicago ran almost every play on that drive to his side to win the game.

[NorthCoast]

The truth can sting sometimes;

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2mGM8NL][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2mGM8NL]Capture[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/191750946@N04/]R W[/url], on Flickr

[LPMAN]

If you asked most Steelers fans or better yet NFL fans who was better Ingram or Highsmith how bad does Highsmith lose both votes? Not saying he might not develop but right now he looks like Tarzan plays like Jane. Very raw player with the skills but is average vs run & only has shown 2 moves as a pass rusher. He collapses the pocket but rarely gets by the left tackle.

[NorthCoast]

If you asked most Steelers fans or better yet NFL fans who was better Ingram or Highsmith how bad does Highsmith lose both votes? Not saying he might not develop but right now he looks like Tarzan plays like Jane. Very raw player with the skills but is average vs run & only has shown 2 moves as a pass rusher. He collapses the pocket but rarely gets by the left tackle.

Ingram was so awesome he had a total of one NFL team bid for his services... and even then all they were willing to trade was a throwaway pick..... Shocking how they couldn't see the obvious.

[Northern_Blitz]

If you asked most Steelers fans or better yet NFL fans who was better Ingram or Highsmith how bad does Highsmith lose both votes? Not saying he might not develop but right now he looks like Tarzan plays like Jane. Very raw player with the skills but is average vs run & only has shown 2 moves as a pass rusher. He collapses the pocket but rarely gets by the left tackle.

I think that this shows how perception can outweigh reality.

The evaluation of the play of these two players shows that Highsmith is better.

I also think that if you asked a random sample of NFL fans who should be the pro-bowl C in the AFC last year, many would say Pouncey. Like Ingram, he was a household name and previous accomplishments give him higher name recognition.

Ingram isn't bad. He is a valuable player. But he wasn't playing as well as Highsmith this year and he got the role that he earned on this team.

He understandably wanted to go to a place where we could improve his market value as a UFA next season. And we decided to take the peanuts we got for him instead of holding on to him (and then probably cutting him for nothing after eroding the locker room).

I am not a fan of the result.

But it looks like the only way to avoid the result was to put a worse defense on the field most of the time. And that probably wrecks Highsmith's morale.

I know not everyone loves Butler, but he knows linebacker play. And maybe he's just following the company line here, but his assessment is in line with the data NC posted.