"Austin Matters A Lot"

[NorthCoast]

From Kaboly's mailbag;

Why is no one talking about Teryl Austin? Not that he did anything wrong, but no one gives him credit for the work he?s done so far. ? Najee Q.

I agree. But I?ll also say it is a massive year for him as well. He?s going to have to mix and match pieces on that defense. Sure, he will get help from Tomlin and Karl Dunbar, but it will be up to him to decide the best scheme to stop an opponent based on the type of players available to him. Usually, to me, coaches don?t matter much. Austin matters a lot.

What would constitute a poor/average/standout season for Kenny Pickett?

The correct answer comes in terms of wins and losses. If Pickett leads the Steelers to 10 wins, that?s a standout season. Eight wins is average, and anything less is poor.

read://https_theathletic.com/?url=ht...k-1-mailbag%2F

[Dwinsgames]

I wouldnt call 10 wins a standout season , hell that might not even garner you a playoff spot ...

cutoff is 11 to be sure of a playoff birth IMO

[flippy]

Agree on Austin but I think it applies to all the coaches given all the depth we have.

Gotta mix in 3 ILBs and 3 Ss, and then a hodge podge of DBs and DL and rotate in a really deep set of OLBs and use players most likely to succeed.

So many of these guys are these hybrid players from King to Pat P to Leal. ILBs could be swapped for Ss. And how soon can guys like JJ and Benton and Herbig deserve playing time?

And all of these guys have pluses and minuses. like you know Herbig can?t set the edge, but he?s got pass rush move and quickness for days and will be disruptive as heck in 10 snaps and you know he?s dying to throw the block that springs Calvin for a big return.

Then I heard King recently talking about how he can still return punts too.


On O we have just as much depth I have no idea how there?s enough balls to go around. I feel like we have 10ish skill guys that can contribute. the Oline plus extra blockers in Washington and Brod are exciting with the upgrade at LG. The RBs are poised to breakout. I feel like no one see Austin coming and everyone lights up when they talk about them. Everyone is big on GP, but I sense DJ is gonna be the real breakout star in this O. Plus it?s easy to forget about Pat, Allen, and Meatball who all have such unique skill sets.

Canada has his work cut out for him as much as Austin imho.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I wouldnt call 10 wins a standout season , hell that might not even garner you a playoff spot ...

cutoff is 11 to be sure of a playoff birth IMO

I would also start "average" at 9, not 8.

[Blitzer]

I thought this was going to be about CA3. But yeah the other Austin matters as well

[Joel Buchsbaum]

I wouldnt call 10 wins a standout season , hell that might not even garner you a playoff spot ...

cutoff is 11 to be sure of a playoff birth IMO

With a 7th team added to the playoffs recently, in the AFC and NFC, ten wins pretty much guarantees you a playoff spot..

[WindyCitySteel]

Don't like his criteria. If Pickett plays exactly like last year and they win one more close, low-scoring game, is that a "standout season"? Or if he plays like 2017 Ben but they go 9-8/8-9 for a variety of other reasons, is that average?

Feels like he's trying to get inside Tomlin's head and give the answer he thinks he would give.