Steelers not receiving big returns on their offseason investments

By Alan Robinson

The Steelers spent approximately $137 million during the offseason adding free agents, locking up their rookie class and re-signing veterans such as Marcus Gilbert and Cortez Allen to multi-year contracts.

What do they have to show for it after two games? A 1-1 record, an ongoing inability to stop the run, more protection issues for Ben Roethlisberger and a big step backward from the 6-2 finish of last season.

It's too early for Art Rooney II, Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin to say this is money poorly spent. There's too much of the season remaining and, as the 2013 season proved, early impressions aren't always final impressions.

But what must be worrying the Steelers is all those players who were brought in to make them younger, make them faster, make them harder to defend and make them better aren't doing it yet on either side of the ball.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/6765469-74/yards-defense-yet#ixzz3DLoTFfgm
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook

Protection problems are simple:

Note the first play in this sequence:



And Haley's done nothing but keep Ben in the pocket since he's been here.

mrcrash wrote:

Protection problems are simple:

Note the first play in this sequence:


And Haley's done nothing but keep Ben in the pocket since he's been here.  

That game was in 2009. If the protection problems are simple, why did Ben get sacked 50 times that year ... the most of any season in his career?

I do agree with what you're saying though ... they can't have Ben be a sitting duck in the pocket. But protection has been a problem for a long time.

---------------------------------------------

Out of all the offseason moves, the one I'm most disappointed in right now is Mitchell. I know it's only Week 2, but so far I haven't seen anything that convinces me he'll be as valuable to our defense as Ryan Clark was.

I don't care about sacks. That 2009 offense was awesome.

And they fell on the sword for Dick LeBeau after that season.

And that's when this all started.

You might not care about sacks, but Ben's body cares about sacks. He's not 25 anymore. No one can ever question Ben's toughness and heart, but toughness and heart don't stop or slow down the effects of an aging body. If you watch Ike and Troy, you can clearly see that they've lost a step. They're not the same players they used to be because their bodies can't do what they once were able to do. And Ben's body can't take the same kind of abuse it did when he was in his mid-20s.

Sacks don't do it. It's kill shots.

He hasn't had many of those in 10 years. A lot of the time he sees the sacks coming and braces for it, prepares for it.

Haley's way to protect Ben is to limit his chances to make plays.

And that's silly. You can pay any scrub $5 mil a year to do that.

Quote :

Sacks don't do it. It's kill shots.

This statement is simply not true.  THIS I know from years of studying anatomy and physiology, researching the affects of falls and blows to the body, and interning with a prominent group of ortho surgeons in San Francisco. 

Even without the sacks, his body is still aging. Joints become more vulnerable after the age of 30 caused by decreasing synovial lubrication making the body more prone to cartilage injury -- and I could go on and on.  Even an ankle sprain can potentially cause problems years down the road.

The sacks do create havoc on so many anatomical levels that is beyond the scope of your understanding.  Not so much for a 25 year old, but increasingly as the body ages.

I think what Haley has realized is that Ben is not a pure pocket passer. Ben does change a lot of plays and we're not hearing about any riff anymore. It starts with the line. Whether Ben throws from the pocket or on the run he still needs time to do either and he hasn't had that luxury. I know the NFL is now a pass first league but SB teams win by both passing and being able to run on offense. (yeah I know you need a defense too but let's stick with offense for a minute). This is where Bell comes in. I would say Bell and Blount but in my opinion Blount hasn't shown us anything except poor decision making. Bell is patient and waits for his blockers. If they fail he still finds a way to get tough yards which is what we need right now. First and foremost we need pass protection. Talk about no return on investments. How about Munchack? I really thought our line would improve with him.

solardave wrote:

Talk about no return on investments. How about Munchack? I really thought our line would improve with him.

I think a lot of us were expecting a miracle. We probably needed to be a little more realistic. It's going to take a little time. I'm not going to panic after two games, but if the line is still struggling by like week 5 or 6, then I'll be concerned.

mrcrash wrote:

Protection problems are simple:

Note the first play in this sequence:



And Haley's done nothing but keep Ben in the pocket since he's been here.  

5 and half minutes of Joe Buck was waayyyyy too many this early in the AM.

Gingerchip wrote:

Quote :

Sacks don't do it. It's kill shots.

This statement is simply not true.  THIS I know from years of studying anatomy and physiology, researching the affects of falls and blows to the body, and interning with a prominent group of ortho surgeons in San Francisco. 

Even without the sacks, his body is still aging. Joints become more vulnerable after the age of 30 caused by decreasing synovial lubrication making the body more prone to cartilage injury -- and I could go on and on.  Even an ankle sprain can potentially cause problems years down the road.

The sacks do create havoc on so many anatomical levels that is beyond the scope of your understanding.  Not so much for a 25 year old, but increasingly as the body ages.

I can speak from the point of view that I'm still a weekend warrior and play QB for my semi-contact flag football team. This is my 10th season and I can definitely tell that I'm much more sore after 2 games than I was after 2 games when I was in college. It also makes a big difference how many hits I take during a game. If I get tackled/thrown to the ground 5 times a Sunday, that is 5 opportunities to have something jolted or land wrong and really mess something up. Also, the more I have to scramble around, the more fatigue my body feels. If I could just sit in the pocket and throw passes all day, I would MAYBE have a sore shoulder instead of the sore ankles, knees, back, and ribs that I have today.

Back to the original subject of this thread: in the first two games (the short term), the Steelers haven’t received a decent return on their investments. What are the Steelers looking for from both an expectations as well as timeframe perspective. They’ve invested in new players and doubled down on a few current guys.

Larry Foote was the old school inside linebacker who was great at fighting off the blocker and making the stop near the line of scrimmage. His weakness came in the passing game where he was susceptible in coverage. Vince Williams took that position last year and seemed go through growing pains last year, until finishing the year looking a little stronger. Shazier should be an upgrade to Foote and Williams in the long term, but in the short term may appear like a downgrade. Raise your hand if you think it’s worth sticking with Shazier because you think the longer term is an upside for him.  

Mike Mitchell really should be an upgrade over Clark. He’s younger and faster. Last season Clark was missing tackles he made earlier in his career (eg: Adrian Peterson run in London). And more bothersome, he was missing those tackles because he wasn’t getting to the point of attack fast enough. Mitchell seems to be able to get to the point of attack quick enough, but is missing some of those tackles as well … something he didn’t have a problem with last season in Carolina. Although Mitchell should be an instant and long term upgrade over Clark, he hasn’t shown it.

I know Cam Thomas hasn’t fared well thus far, but is he really worse than Ziggy Hood? Ziggy is a powerful guy and I thought he had very good potential, but he seemed to always be heading in the wrong direction. There have been some very long runs that have gone off Cam’s side and I don’t see him even close to making the play. Everyone wanted The Beard back, but he hasn’t performed well against the run either. Tuitt hasn’t sniffed enough of the field to make an impact.  Hopefully he can get up to speed and contribute on the line. Of the three positions I’ve mentioned, defensive line is my top concern. Wish Al Woods had given the Steelers an opportunity to match his offer. Cam Thomas is a push (sorry couldn’t help the pun here) compared to Ziggy Hood.

Of the three top upcoming free agents the Steelers extended, I think Suisham was the best choice, although the Steelers were concerned if Cortez Allen and Marcus Gilbert had the option to walk after this season. Allen was a big question mark coming into the season, in my opinion, and doesn’t look good this year. And Marcus Gilbert is doing a great job of helping the fans forget how bad Mike Adams was last year. In the short term, that would be one good investment and two bad investment choices for extensions. Will the long term outlook of these guys change?

Like any investment decisions, timing is key. How long do they allow players who are underperforming continue to underperform. I imagine they are hoping to see these guys begin to turn things around. As I’ve stated in other posts, this team has gone through an almost complete turn over in the last two years. Does Tomlin have the patience to allow the team to stick together and gel, or will he become reactionary and begin making changes due to short term investment losses?

How’s your portfolio?

kirklandrules wrote:

Does Tomlin have the patience to allow the team to stick together and gel, or will he become reactionary and begin making changes due to short term investment losses?

And THAT's the million dollar question. The Steelers have a long history of showing patience and not making knee-jerk reactions. That, possibly more than anything else, is a key reason for their sustained success. But as we know, and as Crash keeps pointing out, we have a different Rooney running the show. We'll have to wait to see if the Steelers Way still exists.

Oh, and more great analysis Captain.

I wish me and you didn't agree on just about everything. We could have some astoundingly long debates. Neither of us have the ability to analyze something in a few sentences, and we could have our debates published in book form. It would probably look something like this:

kirklandrules wrote:

Of the three top upcoming free agents the Steelers extended, I think Suisham was the best choice

Wait, Wally.... you agree with this???

SteelersYak wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Of the three top upcoming free agents the Steelers extended, I think Suisham was the best choice

Wait, Wally.... you agree with this???  

I wasn't against us re-signing Suisham, because there's not a better option right now. I just didn't want us to be content with him long-term. I'd still like us to start looking for someone who is more reliable beyond 40 yards.

Wallace108 wrote:

Neither of us have the ability to analyze something in a few sentences

Sure we do.

It's so easy to make a statement like: Although the o-line looks better already than last year, they have so much more potential. Therefore, look for the Steelers offense to continue to improve over the course of the season.

But then we're missing out on so much fun by not getting into the nitty gritty details like: Is Marcus Gilbert really this bad? Or is he having trouble adapting to Munchak's methodology? Apparently, Munchak has the line playing closer to the line of scrimmage and Gilbert is having trouble stopping the outside rush with this new alignment. Does Munchak believe Gilbert will get comfortable with this new alignment, or should we look for more TE alignments to his side or having a RB chip or double Gilbert's defender? Or will Steelers fans demand the return of Mike Adams? It doesn't help when the Steelers work themselves into obvious passing situations as it allows the defense across from Gilbert to tee-off and rush the passer. Aligning the linemen closer to the line of scrimmage is showing positive results in the run game, but Marcus Gilbert can't be having fun in the passing game.

Wallace108 wrote:

SteelersYak wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Of the three top upcoming free agents the Steelers extended, I think Suisham was the best choice

Wait, Wally.... you agree with this???  

I wasn't against us re-signing Suisham, because there's not a better option right now. I just didn't want us to be content with him long-term. I'd still like us to start looking for someone who is more reliable beyond 40 yards.

Well so far this year he is 1 for 1 on game winning kicks (which was from 41 yards). He seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders (not a basket case like Vanderjagt) and he went to a REALLY good school. He arguably kicks in one of the toughest stadiums in the NFL and has done pretty well thus far.

I had another point, but I forgot it when I had to Google Vanderjagt.

SteelersYak wrote:

I had another point, but I forgot it when I had to Google Vanderjagt.  

Thanks for making me laugh. I needed that before heading off to work.

Wallace108 wrote:

SteelersYak wrote:

I had another point, but I forgot it when I had to Google Vanderjagt.  

Thanks for making me laugh. I needed that before heading off to work.

I am really glad that there is a delete button on the keyboard and that there isn't technology that makes me type exactly what I'm thinking. It's amazing how I can get lost in my own head. Even AAA can't make a road map for that.

Ah, the kicker really is the Rodney Dangerfield of football ... "No respect I tell ya". Suisham is the most accurate kicker in Steelers history. The game winning kick against the Browns was pretty cool. Yes, it wasn't a 50 yarder, but did you see how the wind took that kick from right to left? How many kickers could play the wind like that? And did you see the reaction of the team after that kick, especially Keisel's?  It's easy to blame the kicker when he misses twice all year in one game, but I always believed that a kicker is only out on the field because the offense failed ... but because the kicker misses it's really his failure? Guess I like the guy ... in part because he hasn't beaten up a paper towel dispenser, yet.

kirklandrules wrote:

Ah, the kicker really is the Rodney Dangerfield of football ... "No respect I tell ya". Suisham is the most accurate kicker in Steelers history. The game winning kick against the Browns was pretty cool. Yes, it wasn't a 50 yarder, but did you see how the wind took that kick from right to left? How many kickers could play the wind like that? And did you see the reaction of the team after that kick, especially Keisel's?  It's easy to blame the kicker when he misses twice all year in one game, but I always believed that a kicker is only out on the field because the offense failed ... but because the kicker misses it's really his failure? Guess I like the guy ... in part because he hasn't beaten up a paper towel dispenser, yet.

Well, it had to happen sometime. We finally found something we disagree on. Hey, you can't be right ALL the time, Captain.

It's not that I don't like Suisham. I think he's a good kicker. But that's the problem ... he's just good. I'd like to have a really good kicker. He's the equivalent of a Tommy Maddox. I'd rather have a Big Ben.

If you look at Suisham's stats from last season, they look awesome on the surface. 30 for 32. Almost perfect. But if you look at the individual kicks, it's not that impressive. He made 9 FGs between 20 and 29 yards; 13 between 30 and 39 yards; and 8 between 40 and 49 yards. His longest FG of the season was 48 yards. He didn't even attempt a kick beyond 49 yards.

Lets look at the Ravens' Justin Tucker. His stats are almost identical to Suisham's. He made 38 of 41. He made 10 FGs between 20 and 29 yards; 12 between 30 and 39 yards; and 8 between 40 and 49 yards.

                 20-29    30-39    40-49
Suisham       9           13          8
Tucker          10         12           8

Almost identical. Until you look at the column I didn't include ... 50+ yards. Suisham didn't attempt a kick of 50+ yards. Tucker made 6 of 7 beyond 50 yards, including FGs of 51, 52, 53, and 61 yards. I'm not sure Suisham can reach the end zone from 61 yards, much less put it through the uprights.

To me, it says a lot that Suisham didn't attempt one kick beyond 48 yards. It tells me that Tomlin doesn't have confidence in him. If Suisham kicks a couple 35-yarders during a game, we treat him like he's Gary Anderson. But if he has to line up for a 51-yard game winning kick, how much confidence do you have in him?

Wallace108 wrote:

But if he has to line up for a 51-yard game winning kick, how much confidence do you have in him?

Is the wind at his back?

Honestly, we'd have to go back through the games to see if we had opportunities for said kicks, if we went for it due to it being 4th and short, or maybe they tried to play truck special teams by coffin cornering a kick.

That 50-yarder Suisham just missed (badly) supports what I said earlier ...

Wallace108 wrote:

To me, it says a lot that Suisham didn't attempt one kick beyond 48 yards. It tells me that Tomlin doesn't have confidence in him. If Suisham kicks a couple 35-yarders during a game, we treat him like he's Gary Anderson. But if he has to line up for a 51-yard game winning kick, how much confidence do you have in him?

That missed kick before the half is exactly why I've always felt that we need an upgrade at kicker. Suisham is reliable inside the 44. Beyond that, he's reliably bad.

Yeah right. Missing that 50 yard field was NOT the reason we lost that game. Dogshit secondary coverage, pansy ass pussy offensive play calling in the 4th is the reason we lost that game against the worst team in the NFL.