4 bold predictions, 1 that won't happen

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I had the same thought. Tuitt was far and away the better player but his availability seem to always scare me. And you know what they say about availability....

A healthy Tuitt was almost the equal of Heyward.

An unhealthy Tuitt is exactly the equal of Duce Staley.

It's unfortunate. In an 8 year career he only played in 16 games once - his rookie year. Most seasons he only missed a few games (missed one game once and two games 3 times) but even when you get dinged up and miss a couple of games you typically aren't at 100% when you return. In 2019 when he played in 6 games before getting hurt, he was dominant.

[whisper]

Nah, gotta go with whisper here. You are correct about other factors, but we DO sell out to penetrate the backfield. We don’t read and react at all and it is used against us. Tomlin and the DC needs to make sure we aren’t so concerned about records that guys are running open gaps because we are taking the wrong one to try to get a sack.

Word, exactly my point.

[Steel Maniac]

Then I shall disagree with both of you. TJ Watt not only led the league in sacks, he led the league in tackles for loss. The Steelers as a team were 2nd in the NFL in tackles for loss. The biggest problem was our defensive line not being able to occupy blockers and linebackers couldn't fill their gaps. We lost our gap integrity right up the middle. We were last in the league against the rush because backs were getting into our secondary with regularity. Not because TJ Watt was overcommitting to rush the passer or we were selling out to blitz the QB.

I think it’s some of both. Go back and watch the Vikings game and you’ll see what I mean. I’ve watched that game 3 times since then and as painful as it is to see what Cook did to us, I sat and looked and watch the D-line do both of these things as the game went on as it tried to adjust.

We need a run stuffing NT. We just do. Other than when we had a healthy Tuitt , everyone on that line was/is suspect. Gonna miss Tuitt.

[hawaiiansteel]

I had the same thought. Tuitt was far and away the better player but his availability seem to always scare me. And you know what they say about availability....

I do remember Tuitt being injured a lot.

hope that Ogunjobi, Loudermilk, Wormley and/or Leal play well in his place.

[Northern_Blitz]

Yeah, interesting.

Flexibility will be important IMO because our 3 best DL are either pretty old, coming off pretty significant injuries, or both.

[feltdizz]

l'll hold my season recrod forecast until the end of the pre-season. I hold my forecast on the new players until I see the in the pre-season

1 ) Bush still disappoints at ILB.
2 ) Freiermuth takes the next step and becomes a borderline pro bowl guy, Improving as a blocker, and increasing his yard per catch.
3 ) Neither Dotson or Green is the answer left guard but Dotson wins the battle and starts for now.
4 ) Harris has another solid season. He's better because his OL is better, but he not star.

4) “He star, He star this year… You see, you see” - Kevin from The Office

[SteelerOfDeVille]

I had thought of LO as the Tuitt replacement, but he's almost the exact same size as Javon Hargrave. Interesting, he could probably be a similar one-gap NT like Javon was.

I like this one.

I thought the same at first.

But, the more i thought about it, the only position that's locked in on the D-line is Heyward.

For the others, I see a number of groupings on the d-line until the right combination is found.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I thought the same at first.

But, the more i thought about it, the only position that's locked in on the D-line is Heyward.

For the others, I see a number of groupings on the d-line until the right combination is found.

I agree and I don't know why so many people want to pigeon hole everybody now instead of waiting to see how it plays out. The only two conclusions I'm prepared for right now are that 1) Heyward is starting RE and 2) Wormley is a good depth guy but I don't want to see him as a starter.

Loudermilk
Leal
Ogunjobi
Adams
Alualu

All with questions, let's sit back and watch the answers.