Steelers release Justin Gilbert

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

I would wait another year to draft a QB. Like SteelersNorth pointed out we have more urgent needs and this year's QB class is really meh, worst class in years imo. I believe that only Trubisky is kind of NFL-ready right now, .

Did you watch Trubisky play this season?  He had some good games and has the tools, but he looked less than inspiring in the loss against NC State and the loss in the Sun Bowl against Stanford he had 2 TD and 2 INT and q QBR of 43.

This is what I find Hilarious........Mitch Trubisky throws 2TD and 2 INT(pick 6) in the SUN BOWL against Stanford and he is the best QB in the draft.  DeShaun Watson throws for 400+ yards against Alabama in the National Championship Game (2 YEARS IN A ROW)....and he just isn't ready.

I've been away for over a week and just now getting caught up on the back-and-forth of this thread. Good debate! I find myself split right between your arguments. I would love to see a franchise QB sitting at #30 for the Steeelers to take. Even for just the idea of calling Ben on his retirement bluff (how pissed will he be if they pick up a QB?). Unfortunately, I don't think Watson is it ... not because anyone else claims he's not ready, I just don't think his game will translate to the NFL. He had outstanding college WRs and a solid O-line, kinda like Johnny Football (before anyone gets their shorts in a wad, I know Watson is far better than Johnny d-bags). He was also a very real threat to run. Watch most of the games Clemson played and the defense always had to account for Watson's run ability. His speed isn't so blazing that NFL teams just won't be able to neutralize him. I just don't believe in his arm and his decision making. Watching that Alabama game showed me that Alabama's secondary couldn't cover those tall, fast receivers.

There's really not a QB coming out this year that I think the Steelers need to spend a 1st round pick on. Trubisky is interesting because he has the tools, but his head coach is a train-wreck so it's hard to tell if he'll be able to escalate his play to the NFL level. If we take anyone from UNC it should be Hood. I've watched that kid play since he was in 9th grade. He's only leaving because ... his HC is a train-wreck (I have someone on the inside that informed me of that decision prior to the Sun Bowl, where the commentators were going on about how he was coming back next season). Pick Hood up in the 4th, that's my sleeper of the day. But I'd stay away from Trubisky at #30 just as I would stay away from Watson.

At the end of the day, I see BPA as something other than QB. Regardless, no matter who they pick I'll cheer them on.

PS: Gonz, although in hindsight I'd take Brooks over Bruener, I think Bruener was the best blocking TE in football during his time and the Steelers run game would have suffered without him. They were covered for a few years at ILB and were able to hold onto a strong defense during that time.

kirklandrules wrote:

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PS: Gonz, although in hindsight I'd take Brooks over Bruener, I think Bruener was the best blocking TE in football during his time and the Steelers run game would have suffered without him. They were covered for a few years at ILB and were able to hold onto a strong defense during that time.

Kirk, this is what can happen when you take need over talent. You get a good blocking TE for 8 years, but pass on having a HOF linebacker for 14 years.

Again, I don't think Watson gets to #30, so its not really something I will pound the table on. Taj Boyd had DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins and Dewayne Allen to throw to. Arguably Boyd had better weapons than Watson, but I don't recall him beating up on Alabama teams filled with future NFL players.

I think its amusing how many pundits lauded Carson Wentz for being a "winner" because of his D2 titles and beating Illinois St. The same now devalue Watson after torching Alabama defense for 2 years in a row. I wonder why this is??

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

Stella Nation wrote:

I would wait another year to draft a QB. Like SteelersNorth pointed out we have more urgent needs and this year's QB class is really meh, worst class in years imo. I believe that only Trubisky is kind of NFL-ready right now, .

Did you watch Trubisky play this season?  He had some good games and has the tools, but he looked less than inspiring in the loss against NC State and the loss in the Sun Bowl against Stanford he had 2 TD and 2 INT and q QBR of 43.

This is what I find Hilarious........Mitch Trubisky throws 2TD and 2 INT(pick 6) in the SUN BOWL against Stanford and he is the best QB in the draft.  DeShaun Watson throws for 400+ yards against Alabama in the National Championship Game (2 YEARS IN A ROW)....and he just isn't ready.

Yes, I saw him play and I saw Watson too. And yes, Watson was better than Trubisky in college, no doubt about that. But Trubisky's style fits the NFL more than Watson's style right now, so imo he's more NFL-ready than Watson. I believe that if Watson is drafted by the right team (like a explained before) that he will develop in a better QB than Trubisky. But it will take 2-3 years as I believe that his style doesn't translate to the NFL. Btw I also believe that it's better for Trubisky to begin the season as a back-up. And I also stick to my statement that this is a poor QB class.

Here are some interesting scouting reports of Walterfootball and what NFL-teams think of them:

On Watson:
http://www.walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2017dwatson.php

On Trubisky:
http://www.walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2017mtrubisky.php

Here is a list of 2018 potential QBs entering the draft. They say it is a deep class:

http://www.deepishthoughts.com/potentially-stacked-2018-qb-class

SteelersNorth said this:
Well I guess the following teams need to draft a QB this year since their guys are getting up there in age:
Giants
Packers
Chargers
Saints
Steelers
Patriots***
Ravens (although they don't have a QB as it is)
Wherever Romo goes that team will need a new guy after game 1 or 2

So on this line of thought these teams will be looking hard at this bumper crop next year. Where does that leave us?
I'm saying that based on our history with QBs (We've had 2 great ones in the last 40 years. That's how long we went before winning our first championship.)
I think the sense of urgency should be kicking in soon in the FO unless we want to see another drought. I know I don't.

Ben's style of play has changed but he still gets injured and misses games. He's getting older and it takes longer to heal. His style of play has resulted in around 12 missed games in the last 10 years. I don't care how tough you are this will shorten your career. He's had 2 foot,2 ankle,2 knee,1 rib,3 shoulder,1 throwing hand, and 1 concussion.  The next one could end his career. IT can and will be argued that this is true of any QB and it is. But this one happens to play for the Steelers and the one question I don't want to hear when he can't play any more is this: Who's next?

broken record, this is a defensive draft and there will be a lot better defensive players at # 30 pick then if a QB falls.

One or both of these guys may turn out to be a decent NFL QB.
I don't think either will develop into a "franchise QB."

First round picks are too valuable to take a shot on either one of these guys.
Although, there's talk in the NY-NJ metro area about the Jets possibly taking Watson at pick #6 and the media is calling it a Geno Smith 2.0 pick.

IMO strengthen the team defensively, get a playmaking WR, a backup RB, and hope to get a chance at a better QB prospect next year when the pickings will be better.

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

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PS: Gonz, although in hindsight I'd take Brooks over Bruener, I think Bruener was the best blocking TE in football during his time and the Steelers run game would have suffered without him. They were covered for a few years at ILB and were able to hold onto a strong defense during that time.

Kirk, this is what can happen when you take need over talent.  You get a good blocking TE for 8 years, but pass on having a HOF linebacker for 14 years.  

Again, I don't think Watson gets to #30, so its not really something I will pound the table on.  Taj Boyd had DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins and Dewayne Allen to throw to.  Arguably Boyd had better weapons than Watson, but I don't recall him beating up on Alabama teams filled with future NFL players.

I think its amusing how many pundits lauded Carson Wentz for being a "winner" because of his D2 titles and beating Illinois St.  The same now devalue Watson after torching Alabama defense for 2 years in a row.  I wonder why this is??

I would take Brooks over Bruener knowing how it all turned out ... again, hindsight is awesome. I could use that by saying when the Steelers draft a TE in the 1st round, they go to the Super Bowl the following season. However, the bigger point is the Steelers had Kirkland and Brown as their ILBs when they drafted Bruener ... so it's not like they suffered by passing on Brooks. But at that time, they had Jonathan Hayes (near the end of his career) as a TE. By drafting Bruener, the Steelers were able to have a dominant run game for 14 years. Given they were near the top of the league on defense without Brooks, I can't say they whiffed in the 1st round of the '95 draft. And Bruener wasn't just a good blocking TE. He was an elite blocker in the league for almost the entire time he played. Going with BPA at a position of need is usually not a bad thing. Otherwise, you could end up with a team with a strong O-line but a weak secondary ... oh, wait.

kirklandrules wrote:

El-Gonzo Jackson wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

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PS: Gonz, although in hindsight I'd take Brooks over Bruener, I think Bruener was the best blocking TE in football during his time and the Steelers run game would have suffered without him. They were covered for a few years at ILB and were able to hold onto a strong defense during that time.

Kirk, this is what can happen when you take need over talent.  You get a good blocking TE for 8 years, but pass on having a HOF linebacker for 14 years.  

Again, I don't think Watson gets to #30, so its not really something I will pound the table on.  Taj Boyd had DeAndre Hopkins, Sammy Watkins and Dewayne Allen to throw to.  Arguably Boyd had better weapons than Watson, but I don't recall him beating up on Alabama teams filled with future NFL players.

I think its amusing how many pundits lauded Carson Wentz for being a "winner" because of his D2 titles and beating Illinois St.  The same now devalue Watson after torching Alabama defense for 2 years in a row.  I wonder why this is??

I would take Brooks over Bruener knowing how it all turned out ... again, hindsight is awesome. I could use that by saying when the Steelers draft a TE in the 1st round, they go to the Super Bowl the following season. However, the bigger point is the Steelers had Kirkland and Brown as their ILBs when they drafted Bruener ... so it's not like they suffered by passing on Brooks. But at that time, they had Jonathan Hayes (near the end of his career) as a TE. By drafting Bruener, the Steelers were able to have a dominant run game for 14 years. Given they were near the top of the league on defense without Brooks, I can't say they whiffed in the 1st round of the '95 draft. And Bruener wasn't just a good blocking TE. He was an elite blocker in the league for almost the entire time he played. Going with BPA at a position of need is usually not a bad thing. Otherwise, you could end up with a team with a strong O-line but a weak secondary ... oh, wait.

around that time the Steelers were losing someone to free agency and plugging holes with the draft. the first year of the salary cap was 1994 36.4 million. coach them up and lose them to free agency.

Source: Free Agent DB Justin Gilbert has been suspended by the Commissioner for the first 4 weeks of the 2017 season. Former 1st rd pick.

— Courtney Fallon (@CourtneyFallon_) 25 May 2017

*violating the NFL Substances of Abuse policy

wasted talent