Great big Scott has shot at guard

Friday, August 12, 2011
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Chris Scott is one of the lucky ones. As a fifth-round draft choice in 2010, he could participate in offseason training activities, watch film and sit in on coaches meetings before he went to training camp.

Without that, he might not be where he is today -- on the verge of becoming the starting right guard for the Steelers.

"Being able to learn what I learned last year by sitting in the classroom, all of the time I was able to do that, was good for me," Scott said. "The coaches really focus on a lot of drill work and technique. Now rookies are getting thrown into the fire."

Scott never made it to training camp as a rookie because he broke his foot working out at his alma mater, Tennessee, in late June. Even though he missed the entire preseason, the Steelers placed him on the physically-unable-to-perform list because they liked what they saw of Scott (6 feet 5, 340) in offseason workouts.

Six weeks into the regular season, when he was eligible to be activated, the Steelers placed him on the 53-man roster, and he never has left.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11224/1166811-66-0.stm?cmpid=steelers.xml#ixzz1UmlrWpcO

This is something we desperately need... o-line help. I hope this guy pans out. Get us a new left tackle and we might have a pretty solid unit with ?-Kemo-Pouncey-Scott-Colon as our unit.

Everyone has been freaking out since the draft because we haven't addressed the O-line. Is it possible the front office might know what they're doing?

Wallace108 wrote:

Everyone has been freaking out since the draft because we haven't addressed the O-line. Is it possible the front office might know what they're doing?

I've been guilty of that myself. I'll believe it when I see it.

Wallace108 wrote:

Everyone has been freaking out since the draft because we haven't addressed the O-line. Is it possible the front office might know what they're doing?

Of course not; everyone can do the job better than it's already being done.



Can anyone really argue with what they have been doing though? How many times have we been to the playoffs in the last 6 years? Have we been labeled as one of the "premier" teams on numerous occasions?



Until we get to the Browns/Bengals/Lions level, I'm not going to complain too much about what they are doing, because when it comes down to it- it's been working.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

Wallace108 wrote:

Everyone has been freaking out since the draft because we haven't addressed the O-line. Is it possible the front office might know what they're doing?

Of course not; everyone can do the job better than it's already being done.



Can anyone really argue with what they have been doing though? How many times have we been to the playoffs in the last 6 years? Have we been labeled as one of the "premier" teams on numerous occasions?



Until we get to the Browns/Bengals/Lions level, I'm not going to complain too much about what they are doing, because when it comes down to it- it's been working.

But you have to admit there's been a lot of room for improvement. The o-line has been shaky at best most of the past 3 seasons. The front office needs to address that. It'd be nice to see another 1st or 2nd round pick there next year.

Buddha Bus wrote:

But you have to admit there's been a lot of room for improvement. The o-line has been shaky at best most of the past 3 seasons. The front office needs to address that. It'd be nice to see another 1st or 2nd round pick there next year.

There is ALWAYS room for improvement, even on the best of the best teams. O-line is a tough position to play, and we can get away with it because of BR7 and the weapons he has. Do you think Ben would be able to make as many big plays if he had all day to sit in the pocket? My guess would be no, because if a team knows they aren't going to be able to blitz successfully, they will most likely amp up the coverage and look to get more coverage sacks.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

But you have to admit there's been a lot of room for improvement. The o-line has been shaky at best most of the past 3 seasons. The front office needs to address that. It'd be nice to see another 1st or 2nd round pick there next year.

There is ALWAYS room for improvement, even on the best of the best teams. O-line is a tough position to play, and we can get away with it because of BR7 and the weapons he has. Do you think Ben would be able to make as many big plays if he had all day to sit in the pocket? My guess would be no, because if a team knows they aren't going to be able to blitz successfully, they will most likely amp up the coverage and look to get more coverage sacks.

Yes, but that's at the risk of getting said QB seriously injured playing with that fire. I'd at least like to see a solid LT to protect his blindside. I agree Ben may not be as effective in letting plays break down and playing "sandlot football", but could his perceived lack of ability to read and throw from the pocket be his fault or the the OC's fault?

Buddha Bus wrote:

Yes, but that's at the risk of getting said QB seriously injured playing with that fire. I'd at least like to see a solid LT to protect his blindside. I agree Ben may not be as effective in letting plays break down and playing "sandlot football", but could his perceived lack of ability to read and throw from the pocket be his fault or the the OC's fault?

For as long as I have watched Ben, he hasn't ever really been a pocket passer, so sitting in the pocket isn't what got him to where he is. He wasn't always as big as he is now either. That being said, I don't know that it's either of them's fault because Ben is comfortable playing a certain way and either the offense works with it or it doesn't, and obviously it has been working pretty well.



I agree that I don't like Ben getting hit, but sometimes as long as the O-line is a speed bump to slow down the attack, that's all you need for a big play.

BGSU A Dub wrote:

Buddha Bus wrote:

Yes, but that's at the risk of getting said QB seriously injured playing with that fire. I'd at least like to see a solid LT to protect his blindside. I agree Ben may not be as effective in letting plays break down and playing "sandlot football", but could his perceived lack of ability to read and throw from the pocket be his fault or the the OC's fault?

For as long as I have watched Ben, he hasn't ever really been a pocket passer, so sitting in the pocket isn't what got him to where he is. He wasn't always as big as he is now either. That being said, I don't know that it's either of them's fault because Ben is comfortable playing a certain way and either the offense works with it or it doesn't, and obviously it has been working pretty well.



I agree that I don't like Ben getting hit, but sometimes as long as the O-line is a speed bump to slow down the attack, that's all you need for a big play.

He could still move out of the pocket and run around buying time. I'd just rather see him get a chance to look downfield more often than he seems to sometimes. He doesn't need to be running for his life all the time to be an unconventional scrambling QB.