How the Steelers can seriously contend until 2030 [One old fart's plan]

[SteelBucks]

I tend to agree. Use this year to rebuild the OL and restock the DL. If you focus on the OL (which can be done in one year) then you can maximize the contributions of Najee. Start to restock the DL so we don't see the situation we did this year on the Off Line where we lost everyone at once.

Give Mason a chance. General assumption is that he will fail. I'm not so sure with a full off season as "the guy." I've said before, I think he can play to the Kirk Cousin/Derek Carr level. You can win with that. The reality is it is unlikely any QB in this draft is a franchise guy. I have said before the wildcard could be Malik Willis who I think in the right situation could be very good. If Rudolph fails then we are likley drafting high next year in a much better QB draft. I would NOT bring in a Mariota who has proven several times he can't cut it.

Need to add depth at LB. I'd actually restructure Schoebert versus cutting him as many want to do. A full off season could be what he needs to get back to a high level...same for Bush. That said, I'm draft both an ILB and OLB and look to add competition at one of those spots via free agency

I'm resigning Witherspoon and adding depth via free agency to the secondary. Of course I lock in Minkah but I'm also keeping Edmunds who is solid if not spectaclar and never misses a game.

I agree with all of this. They got some extra cash to play with this offseason for a change. They can dabble in FA a little and start the OL/DL rebuild before the draft. They need an OT and a NT. Be aggressive but not stupid. Resign Minkah and Witherspoon. Forget about QB for a season. Let Mason fail (again) and then move on.

[Flasteel]

First, I'm not sure he's the best back in the draft. He lacks a 2nd gear. Second, we didn't know at the time Humphrey would be there, and still prioritized RB over C. Organizational stupidity.

Running backs are replaceable and fungible, it's irresponsible to draft one in the first round when you have so many other holes. It's what dumb organizations like the Vikings, Panthers, and Giants do.

That's a near-sighted opinion...in my opinion! Najee Harris is special and I'm pretty sure the organization is glad he was the pick - in hindsight. I can't wait to see what he does behind a better line. You might want to start checking how many centers are taken in the first round before you start throwing dirt on the running back position.

[papillon]

First, I'm not sure he's the best back in the draft. He lacks a 2nd gear. Second, we didn't know at the time Humphrey would be there, and still prioritized RB over C. Organizational stupidity.

Running backs are replaceable and fungible, it's irresponsible to draft one in the first round when you have so many other holes. It's what dumb organizations like the Vikings, Panthers, and Giants do.

Whether Najee is the best back in the draft or the 2nd best doesn't really matter, if I recall correctly, there were 4 quality centers last year in the draft, Humphrey, Dickerson, Myers and Meinerz so the chances of a quality center being available in the 2nd round were pretty good. IMO, the Steelers screwed the pooch by not taking a true center in round 2 and then followed that up by taking Green in the 3rd when there was still a true center available to them (Quinn Meinerz).

Now, except for Humphrey, I have no idea how the other 3 centers did this past year but that really isn't relevant because when you're drafting you don't know how a player will turn out. One thing though, it would be difficult for me to believe that any of those centers struggled as badly as Green this past season. Harris and a true center was what I was hoping for and the opportunity was there but the Steelers didn't take it, so be it, I was shocked when Humphrey wasn't the choice and then shocked again when Meinerz was there and they took a guard/center project to replace Pouncey.

Pappy

[SteelBucks]

Now, except for Humphrey, I have no idea how the other 3 centers did this past year

Pappy

Myers was a stud in GB. I was shocked when the Steelers passed on a quality Center in the 2nd round. It’s water under the bridge now but they need better than what they have.

[papillon]

Myers was a stud in GB. I was shocked when the Steelers passed on a quality Center in the 2nd round. It’s water under the bridge now but they need better than what they have.

Yup, so that's my point, they got Harris and could have had a quality true center in the 2nd. They could have had their cake and eat it too but opted for the 2nd rated TE. Hunter Long was taken 6 spots in front of the Steelers in round 3 and the first TE taken after Pat Freiermuth in the second round. If they had taken Humphrey in the 2nd, they could have tried to move up in the 3rd to grab Freiermuth, the difference between 3.18 and 3.24 is somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 points, that's a 6th round pick.

Of course the Steelers wouldn't know how far they would have had to move up but they could take an educated guess by checking for TE starved teams and try to move one spot in front of them, easier said than done. anyhow, the possibility existed that the Steelers could have had Harris/Humphrey/Freiermuth rather than Harris/Freiermuth/Green. The Steelers wouldn't have been able to draft Greg Rousseau in the 6th had they traded up in the 3rd.

As you say, its water under the bridge now, they need to coach up Green and Hassenauer to play center and let the other be depth at either position which has value.

Pappy

[steeler_george]

Whether Najee is the best back in the draft or the 2nd best doesn't really matter, if I recall correctly, there were 4 quality centers last year in the draft, Humphrey, Dickerson, Myers and Meinerz so the chances of a quality center being available in the 2nd round were pretty good. IMO, the Steelers screwed the pooch by not taking a true center in round 2 and then followed that up by taking Green in the 3rd when there was still a true center available to them (Quinn Meinerz).

Now, except for Humphrey, I have no idea how the other 3 centers did this past year but that really isn't relevant because when you're drafting you don't know how a player will turn out. One thing though, it would be difficult for me to believe that any of those centers struggled as badly as Green this past season. Harris and a true center was what I was hoping for and the opportunity was there but the Steelers didn't take it, so be it, I was shocked when Humphrey wasn't the choice and then shocked again when Meinerz was there and they took a guard/center project to replace Pouncey.

Pappy

OK Pappy here I have to argue with you, just so you know I always like your input.

I am not pro guard to center Green. I wanted guard to center, Meinerz really bad, but I was OK with us taking Green in the 3rd. His SPARQ grade as a center was equal to that of Humphrey's score.
Don't get me wrong Humphrey would have looked good in B&G, but not sure if he would of looked good next to our injury plagued guards.
Don't forget Humphry played to the highest paid guard in the legaue in Thuney, and an elusive QB in Mahommes.
Myers started and played solid in GB, no sacks, no penalties.
Also,Dickerson and Meinerz( who also made the switch from guard to center) played back up guards in their 1st season, but got promoted to start because of injuries.

HERE IS THE ISSUE: If we had a true center solid stop gap, instead of Finney or JC, we would not we be making such a big deal about Humphrey over Mouth, and how sucky Green played. Hell, maybe Green would of played just as good as DIckerson and Meinerez as a back up guard who had to start.

[NJ-STEELER]

First, I'm not sure he's the best back in the draft. He lacks a 2nd gear. Second, we didn't know at the time Humphrey would be there, and still prioritized RB over C. Organizational stupidity.

Running backs are replaceable and fungible, it's irresponsible to draft one in the first round when you have so many other holes. It's what dumb organizations like the Vikings, Panthers, and Giants do.

it should be one of the easier positions to fill.

but have you checked out this franchises track record on RBs outside the 1st/2nd round ?

its horrendous

[WindyCitySteel]

it should be one of the easier positions to fill.

but have you checked out this franchises track record on RBs outside the 1st/2nd round ?

its horrendous

Foster, Morris, Zereoue, Conner, Haynes, Chris F-M, Warren Williams, Hoge, Pollard, Thornton....not all horrendous.

Not saying you're finding HOF'ers anywhere, but you can certainly build a RBBC with later round guys. I'd bring in a ton of free agents, too.

Now look at some of the missed high picks: Hawthorne, Abercrombie, Mendenhall, Worley...

[whisper]

This is clearly not true.

You need a GOOD QB in a cheap deal to get into easy mode. But getting that QB is hard.

And sometimes you get the good QB but the timing of when he gets good ends up bad (like Buffalo).

I don't know how you can say that. Bills had the #1 D in the NFL this season, a good OL and good receivers. The team has grown and improved right along with Allen. They gave KC everything they could handle. Buffalo is right there as far as being a legit contender.

[Northern_Blitz]

I don't know how you can say that. Bills had the #1 D in the NFL this season, a good OL and good receivers. The team has grown and improved right along with Allen. They gave KC everything they could handle. Buffalo is right there as far as being a legit contender.

When I said that the timing was off, what I meant was that Allen only got to "above average" in his 4th year. His last really cheap year.

I think this is his 5th year option / 1st year of contract 2. Which is kind of the last "cap magic" year.

Next year his cap hit jumps from $10.2M to $16.3M. Then the year after that, it's $39.7M.

The QBs that have done the best in recent years (not Brady) are probably Russell Wilson and Mahomes. Both of whom did very well during their 1st contract. So their teams maximized the cheapest years when they had the biggest cap advantage.

I think the Bills will still be good over the next 5 years (probably even the next 10 years). But I think it will be the kind of good we've been over the last 10 years. Not the kind of good KC has been over the last 5 years.

I will be interesting to see what Herbert does over the next 2 years to see if they can get some playoff success while he's still super cheap. Cincy should go all out to maximize the next 3 years IMO.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I don't know how you can say that. Bills had the #1 D in the NFL this season, a good OL and good receivers. The team has grown and improved right along with Allen. They gave KC everything they could handle. Buffalo is right there as far as being a legit contender.

I'd say going into next season the 3 top contenders in the AFC are Cincy, Buffalo, KC.

[NJ-STEELER]

Foster, Morris, Zereoue, Conner, Haynes, Chris F-M, Warren Williams, Hoge, Pollard, Thornton....not all horrendous.

Not saying you're finding HOF'ers anywhere, but you can certainly build a RBBC with later round guys. I'd bring in a ton of free agents, too.

Now look at some of the missed high picks: Hawthorne, Abercrombie, Mendenhall, Worley...

connor is the only one that fits in with the current staff/ FO structure

snell, rainy,archer, mcfarland, baron batch, dwyer are the guys I was referring to

[Bawb the Revelator]

"Cincy should go all out?" ROTFLMAO! With the only owner conceivably worse than Bullet Bob Nutting?

[Bawb the Revelator]

Hey, y'all. Trust a retired shrink just this once, okay? I made whatever I made by studying behavior and especially habit formation.
"THE NFL IS A PASSING LEAGUE" is our current Revelation-From-Some-Burning-Bush!
WIN UGLY AND BIG FOR TWO YEARS AND THIS CERTAINTY VANISHES!
Sign an O'Donnell level QB [Minshew?]. Draft O-line and Inside LB. Get a D tackle and a #2 RB to relive Najee in FA
Can't hurt and it just might help.... Cheers an' 'at!

[hawaiiansteel]

I'd say going into next season the 3 top contenders in the AFC are Cincy, Buffalo, KC.

so we're not favored to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl next season like we usually are?