Hard decisions on DL? Where?

[SteelerOfDeVille]

imo...all seven of the listed dl make the final 53. You have to factor age for heyward and alualu. Heyward has been miraculously avoiding injury throughout his career. Can it last forever?

sshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Two of your starting front 3 are coming off of serious injuries, one of them is 35. The healthy one is 33. Le'al and Loudermilk are young and big time question marks.

Yes, but this is the difference between how they handled the DL vs. how they handled the OL.

2 years ago you had a starting line of Heyward-Alualu-Tuitt. The horrible line is magnified by having lost two of them due to injury, but the team has made moves to bring in a mix of young players to transition to the next generation.

Wormley is 28, and while he is not anywhere close to being a star starter, he is a good depth piece.
Adams is 26 and was brought in last year to address an injury. He performed decently in limited action while learning on the fly. Doubtful he becomes a star, but looks like a long term rotation piece.
Loudermilk is 24 and a player they obviously like because they traded for the chance to draft him.
Leal was a third rounder this year. Onviously he is expected to be a big part of the future.

When the time comes, there are pieces in place. The team will still have to bring in some new blood, but the cupboard is not bare. In 2019 the Steelers had an OL of AV-Foster-Pouncey-DD-Feiler. Not one of those guys remain and it was easy to see coming as the ages were 30-33-29-29-let walk so who cares. How did this get addressed? Drafted a third rounder in 2018, seventh rounder in 2019, fourth rounder in 2020 and 3rd and 4th in 2021 plus signing an injured, washed up FA. Finally two more brought in this season so that you hope to have a semblance of a line.

[whisper]

Yes, but this is the difference between how they handled the DL vs. how they handled the OL.

2 years ago you had a starting line of Heyward-Alualu-Tuitt. The horrible line is magnified by having lost two of them due to injury, but the team has made moves to bring in a mix of young players to transition to the next generation.

Wormley is 28, and while he is not anywhere close to being a star starter, he is a good depth piece.
Adams is 26 and was brought in last year to address an injury. He performed decently in limited action while learning on the fly. Doubtful he becomes a star, but looks like a long term rotation piece.
Loudermilk is 24 and a player they obviously like because they traded for the chance to draft him.
Leal was a third rounder this year. Onviously he is expected to be a big part of the future.

When the time comes, there are pieces in place. The team will still have to bring in some new blood, but the cupboard is not bare. In 2019 the Steelers had an OL of AV-Foster-Pouncey-DD-Feiler. Not one of those guys remain and it was easy to see coming as the ages were 30-33-29-29-let walk so who cares. How did this get addressed? Drafted a third rounder in 2018, seventh rounder in 2019, fourth rounder in 2020 and 3rd and 4th in 2021 plus signing an injured, washed up FA. Finally two more brought in this season so that you hope to have a semblance of a line.

"Semblance of a line?" Both starting OT's clearly below average. Hard to have a "semblance of a line" where both OTs are below average.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

"Semblance of a line?" Both starting OT's clearly below average. Hard to have a "semblance of a line" where both OTs are below average.

Compared to last year?

One of your below average starters is now a second year guy and you can assume that his play will improve. Hopefully he is at least average this year. I'm not praising the handling of the OL, I am pointing out that they are no longer ignoring it completely.

[whisper]

Compared to last year?

One of your below average starters is now a second year guy and you can assume that his play will improve. Hopefully he is at least average this year. I'm not praising the handling of the OL, I am pointing out that they are no longer ignoring it completely.

No, they didn't ignore it completely, they addressed the interior of the OL. But they did ignore the OT spot, and it was and is below average. Chuk was paid, but let's face it, he isn't inline to get voted to any Pro Bowl in the near future. He has always been considered below average and is still below average, especially at rush blocking, which is what a RT is there for.

At LT our Lads summed up Moore as "An average athlete with average power and agility. Struggled to anchor during the week. Seventh round." Not a ringing endorsement.

These are our starting OTs, I can't imagine the guys playing behind them are all "out of this world" either. Whoever our starting QB is better have his track shoes on.

[Ernie]

They tried to address OT a few years back with the J. Hawkins pick. Sadly, I believe injuries early on derailed what looked like a very promising young prospect.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

No, they didn't ignore it completely, they addressed the interior of the OL. But they did ignore the OT spot, and it was and is below average. Chuk was paid, but let's face it, he isn't inline to get voted to any Pro Bowl in the near future. He has always been considered below average and is still below average, especially at rush blocking, which is what a RT is there for.

At LT our Lads summed up Moore as "An average athlete with average power and agility. Struggled to anchor during the week. Seventh round." Not a ringing endorsement.

These are our starting OTs, I can't imagine the guys playing behind them are all "out of this world" either. Whoever our starting QB is better have his track shoes on.

I will give them credit for this. If you get a stud OT in FA, that's expensive.

They had very specific position targets the last 2 years first round picks (RB, QB) and did what they could. While they may not be *our* choices, imagine if they had taken Tevin Jenkins instead of Najee... In this past draft in particular, they went on to attempt to fill in for Ben at QB, JuJu & James Washington (and Ray Ray was replaced by Gunner in FA). They attempted to fill Tuitt's shoes. There's only so much that can be accomplished at the top end of the draft.

All that said, I believe Dan Moore's progress will determine if an OT is targeted in the first 2 days of the next draft.

[crushedspirit]

This is an aging D-line, and injuries will occur. How the backups fair will be the biggest question mark.