Polamalu says Steelers got rid of the ‘old guys’ on defense too early

Quote :

When it comes to football age, at 33, Troy Polamalu is old.

So, it is understandable why Polamalu has a soft spot in his heart for the old guys, especially the ones who played alongside him for a number of years with the Steelers.

Over the last four years alone, consider who the Steelers jettisoned from their defense because they were too old:

* Aaron Smith

* Casey Hampton

* Brett Keisel

* James Farrior

* James Harrison

* Ryan Clark

Polamalu and Ike Taylor very well could be on deck.

In the now, the turnover led to back-to-back 8-8 seasons, which, as we now know, isn’t good enough.

Now, the Steelers brought back Keisel right before the season and Harrison a couple days ago that led to Polamalu standing up for some of his old pals.

Read more: http://blog.triblive.com/steel-mill/2014/09/25/kaboly-polamalu-says-steelers-got-rid-of-the-old-guys-on-defense-too-early/#ixzz3EMcNbiKv

I don't think it's the case that they got rid of the old players too soon. How many of them went to other teams and contributed a lot? The problem is that some of their replacements couldn't come close to filling their shoes. We had a long stretch where it seemed we never had to rebuild ... just reload. But sometimes you need to rebuild.

Yea I agree. Clark, Smith, Farrior, all those guys were pro bowlers. Its hard to replace talent like that. We had some amazing defenses throughout the 2000s. Once all those guys left you had to suspect we were gonna have to rebuild for a couple seasons. I'm excited to see how this season plays out.

I think the only problem with getting rid of them was the fact we didn't have a talented squad behind them like we have in years past.

However, I disagree with Troy on this one. The Steelers have always discarded players when they've proven to be over their age limit and/or production. Most of those players couldn't keep up with the younger counterparts on offense. Anyone else remember Farrior trying to keep up with the TEs over the last few years. What about Smith? As much as I liked him, he was injury proton the last 3-4 years. Clark, was better known for his hits than his coverage. As for Harrison, remember the back pains he suffered his last 2-3 seasons as a Steeler?

I can't say much for Hampton, I think the Steelers miss him up front, especially the game against the ratbirds.

And even Troy has suffered his fair share of injuries over the years.

Wally hit on it I think. We just didn't have enough younger guys waiting in the wings to step in. Now the news crop is behind the learning curve a little but last week showed (hopefully anyway) what we can do on both sides of the ball. If they continue to improve we could end up with the "Chicken Dinner" this year.
We have the talent. They need to play as a team to get it done.

stlrtruck wrote:

I can't say much for Hampton, I think the Steelers miss him up front, especially the game against the ratbirds.

I 100 percent agree with you there. Casey Hampton was the linchpin of the front seven, the 3-4 zone blitz. Not having him there is a major problem. Scheme doesn't work without a dominant nose guard and pass rush from OLB's. Those NT's are as rare as the type of bulldozing running back that Jerome Bettis is.