Pro Football Focus rates Antwon Blake # 167 among 172 CBs

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

KeepHarrisonTilHes92 wrote:

Fire Arians wrote:

yeah this really needs to be addressed, 2 starting cb's we have were waiver wire pickups. we either are really bad at scouting CB's or bad at developing them

gay is the only cb we drafted that ended up being anything and that seemed like eons ago

Probably a little bit of both. We may like Lake because he was a good player for us, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's a good coach. I'm not saying he's a bad one. I'm just saying I would turn over stones about instilling a fresh new philosophy into that secondary because the current one sucks. I always blame the coaches, because our corners and safeties are athletic NFL players with equal potential as JJ Watt or a practice squad guy. I'm not saying they can be elite, but when a whole football unit looks bad, that's on the coach at that point.

I'm a big Senquez supporter. I liked the pick and I still do and I hope he makes the kind of impact I want him to make next year. Still need to draft back there. Need to look into coaches too.

I am starting to question if Lake is the right secondary coach.  He doesn't have the best talent to begin with, but Boykin has been one of the best slot CB's the past few seasons.  Blake has proven to be one of the worst CB's in the league this year.  At some point you put the best players on the field, not pegging guys into holes.

This team is better off with Cockrell and Gay starting and then Boykin in Nickel corner.  I think Lake is a big fan of Blake and let his personal bias get in the way of success of the secondary as a whole.  Coaches sometimes believe in "their guy" and give him opportunities to bounce back...I've seen it, I've probably done it.  At some point the DC or HC needs to ask the position coach if he has the right guy playing...then he needs to tell the position coach to "get somebody else in there".  

Agreed with this line of thinking. At some point, you accidentally stumble across a guy who can play. Sooner or later, you'd have to find a winner. It doesn't take a 1st rounder to play like a starter .. other teams don't use 1st rounders as their starters and they aren't in the bottom of the league. As bad as Blake looks, I find it hard to believe that Cortez Allen couldn't be coached up. He was a guy with all the talent, but lacked confidence. Hell, you can coach that ... you obviously can't coach poor talent. At least Allen could tackle. When chopped liver QBs are carving them up in the later part of the season, there's definitely something wrong. I remember thinking this unit might just need time to gel. Unfortunately, they didn't gel, just became runnier.

Maybe time to kick the tires on a new DB coach. Should be several available on Monday.

Cuz back injury!?

"With Antwon Blake dealing with a back injury, Brandon Boykin, acquired this past offseason from Philadelphia, may start his first game for the Steelers this Sunday in Cleveland against the Browns.

Throughout the season, Pittsburgh fans have been clamoring for Boykin to play more, especially after the Steelers' secondary fell to 31st in the NFL against the pass following the Steelers' Week 12 loss at Seattle. After the game, the fans did get their wish, as Pittsburgh went to a three-man rotation at cornerback after the Steelers' loss to the Seahawks.

Boykin got even more playing time last week. Replacing an injured Blake, Boykin made eight tackles and a sack, as the Steelers' defense held the Ravens to just three points in the second half of last Sunday's loss.

For Boykin, Sunday's game could be a chance to show the Steelers what he can do as a starter after spending much of the season openly wondering why he had only been used sparingly throughout most of the year. Boykin could also earn his way onto the team's starting lineup for the playoffs, as long as the Steelers win and the Bills can win on Sunday, in what should be a wild finish to the 2015 season."

rellimie wrote:

schillah wrote:

Another strike out at the CB position

We didn't draft Blake.

No I mean inserting average cb's as full season starters

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

jak341 wrote:

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

The Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake broke PFF records for yards allowed in coverage (1,074) and missed tackels (28) this year.

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 4, 2016

jak341 wrote:

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

I'm shocked....he wasn't last.  


We don't need a grade to confirm what we all saw this season from Blake.      

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

jak341 wrote:

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

The Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake broke PFF records for yards allowed in coverage (1,074) and missed tackels (28) this year.

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 4, 2016

Really? I hadn't noticed. I was convinced he was the scapegoat.

I'm sure this isn't all Blake's fault. Maybe he just keeps tripping over Mike Tomlin's feet running up the sidelines.

Buddha Bus wrote:

jak341 wrote:

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

#172:

When I think of scarecrow Blake, I see something more like this......






When I think of fans saying he is being unfairly criticized and is a scapegoat, I think it's more like......

pczach wrote:

When  I think of scarecrow Blake, I see something more like this......

More like this.

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

jak341 wrote:

Blake finished 2nd to last in the final CB grading. Cockrell, Gay, and Boykin finished respectably.

https://twitter.com/PFF/status/684116719686815744

The Steelers cornerback Antwon Blake broke PFF records for yards allowed in coverage (1,074) and missed tackels (28) this year.

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) January 4, 2016

He gave it a good run, but could not seal the deal and finish #1 in the rankings. At least he set a record for yardage allowed and missed tackles.

All the crap about "coaches don't play guys that don't give them a chance to win" is BS. Somebody coaching B&G will start the worst CB in the NFL in a playoff game on Saturday.

Steel Peon where art thou?

Cockrell ranked #21, that's a surprise. I really think that kid's got potential and can get even better. Unlike blake he's really good at turning his head around and playing the ball

The coaching staff never benching blake is almost reminiscent of watching toast mcfadden play every week, it took them almost the entire year to finally bench him

Fire Arians wrote:

Cockrell ranked #21, that's a surprise. I really think that kid's got potential and can get even better. Unlike blake he's really good at turning his head around and playing the ball

The coaching staff never benching blake is almost reminiscent of watching toast mcfadden play every week, it took them almost the entire year to finally bench him

I am not surprised. He has good technique, does a good job of putting his back foot in the ground to break on short slants, hook/curl routs and plays the ball well with his hands. He also does a good job of turning to run with the bigger receivers he matches up against and attacks the upfield shoulder, so he is in position to challenge the pass.

He had some games where it looked like he wasn't entirely sure about who in the zone he would play, so he gave the guy he was on a bit more cushion than he needed and gave up some easy receptions. Cockrell looks like the best CB on the team from a technique and athletic standpoint, he just needs time to play in the league so he sees things slow down like they probably do for vets like Gay, Boykin, Will Allen.

at this point, he's probably 173

I gotta show some love for Antwon Blake, I thought he played very well against the Bungals...

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

I gotta show some love for Antwon Blake, I thought he played very well against the Bungals...

True. There were no major breakdowns. He played a pretty solid game, and had a gimme interception on a terrible throw from McCarron.

If I'm going to rip him when he plays badly, I need to compliment him when he plays well. He played well in this game. Good for him. I hope he has three more good games in him this year.

Agreed.

Yeah, Blake was targeted 5 times and McCarron completed one pass. Yes, the underthrown INT was one where he was beat and luckily underthrown, plus another dig route to Green was thrown behind him and incomplete.

Blake closed on a couple quick slants from what I remember and looked good when things were in front of him, but again he was beat a few times, but thankfully McCarron didn't make the throws. PFF graded him out at +0.9, so lets be positive that he finally got a positive grade for the first time in several weeks.

I still glad we saw Cockrell down the stretch, as Blake is always a TD waiting to happen.

I was happy with Blake's performance in the last game. He was breaking on the ball with a fierce energy, something we haven't seen much in the past.

He made a nice heads up play on that deep ball, it's too bad he can't make that kind of adjustment while turning and running with a receiver. But overall, I give Blake a B+, I think he held his ground just fine.

I saw Will Gay giving a huge cushion most of the game, and then on the Green TD he ran up to the LOS to play press man coverage and I thought "Oh shit....Green will get behind him for a TD" and sure as shit that's what happened. I think Gay knew he made the wrong move right after it happened.

lotas wrote:

I was happy with Blake's performance in the last game. He was breaking on the ball with a fierce energy, something we haven't seen much in the past.

He made a nice heads up play on that deep ball, it's too bad he can't make that kind of adjustment while turning and running with a receiver. But overall, I give Blake a B+, I think he held his ground just fine.

I saw Will Gay giving a huge cushion most of the game, and then on the Green TD he ran up to the LOS to play press man coverage and I thought "Oh shit....Green will get behind him for a TD" and sure as shit that's what happened. I think Gay knew he made the wrong move right after it happened.

Blake has always been able to break on the short passes in front of him. Its when the WR runs him on a 10-15 yard dig route and cuts inside, that Blake is normally so far off that its an uncontested reception. Green did just that on one of his targets, but McCarron threw it behind Green.

I saw what you described of Gay. He showed off coverage, then ran up to what looked like press coverage....but if you watch him, Gay turned around to where he was slightly outside of Green and was going to run in the same direction as the WR. That is called a "bail technique". Good to disguise the tech with the young QB.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Yeah, Blake was targeted 5 times and McCarron completed one pass.  Yes, the underthrown INT was one where he was beat and luckily underthrown, plus another dig route to Green was thrown behind him and incomplete.

Blake closed on a couple quick slants from what I remember and looked good when things were in front of him, but again he was beat a few times, but thankfully McCarron didn't make the throws.  PFF graded him out at +0.9, so lets be positive that he finally got a positive grade for the first time in several weeks.

I still glad we saw Cockrell down the stretch, as Blake is always a TD waiting to happen.

snap counts against the Bungals:

Gay 72
Boykin 62
Blake 62
Cockring 10

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/steelers-vs-bengals-player-snap-counts-wild-card-week/

Hawaii 5-0 wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Yeah, Blake was targeted 5 times and McCarron completed one pass.  Yes, the underthrown INT was one where he was beat and luckily underthrown, plus another dig route to Green was thrown behind him and incomplete.

Blake closed on a couple quick slants from what I remember and looked good when things were in front of him, but again he was beat a few times, but thankfully McCarron didn't make the throws.  PFF graded him out at +0.9, so lets be positive that he finally got a positive grade for the first time in several weeks.

I still glad we saw Cockrell down the stretch, as Blake is always a TD waiting to happen.

snap counts against the Bungals:

Gay 72
Boykin 62
Blake 62
Cockring 10

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/01/steelers-vs-bengals-player-snap-counts-wild-card-week/

I thought it was something terrible like that. but I was so happy to see #31 on the field at the end of the game to pick up that fumble. If it was Blake, he would have been another 7-10 yards away from the play as usual.