Some Positivity and a Fresh Mindset

[Kodiak]

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/ste ... 1907090112

The good: JuJu says watch out for Washington as a breakout player
The bad: The Board will crucify JuJu for not spending 4-5 hours of his own time studying film. You know, unless that only applies to Ben.

[Ice]

If Washington can continue the trajectory from last season, this is a deep and up and coming group, and maybe better overall than last year.

Now, if only Vanimal can stay healthy.

RB is young and deep.

QB is Big Ben.

Offensive line is a strength.

Gonna be a fun year.

[Louis Lipps Service]

If Washington can continue the trajectory from last season, this is a deep and up and coming group, and maybe better overall than last year.

Now, if only Vanimal can stay healthy.

RB is young and deep.

QB is Big Ben.

Offensive line is a strength.

Gonna be a fun year.

I'm certainly feeling better about it, that's for sure. I was pretty concerned when AB pulled a swissvale and cried and whined his out of town. That certainly is a big talent loss. But they've put some pieces in place that have potential to fill that void, and more. I think some things have to break our way...but I'm feeling better about it.

[Ice]

Not a WR or RB over 25, either. Young and deep. The defense has a ton of youth and potential, as well. Couple that with some fresh air at position coach, and some teachers of the game in the building, and we're really looking at an interesting team.

[swissvale72]

If Washington can continue the trajectory from last season, this is a deep and up and coming group, and maybe better overall than last year.

Now, if only Vanimal can stay healthy.

RB is young and deep.

QB is Big Ben.

Offensive line is a strength.

Gonna be a fun year.

I'm certainly feeling better about it, that's for sure. I was pretty concerned when AB pulled a swissvale and cried and whined his out of town. That certainly is a big talent loss. But they've put some pieces in place that have potential to fill that void, and more. I think some things have to break our way...but I'm feeling better about it.

Seems to me that the cryers and whiners were the numerous ass hats of this esteemed website who engaged in months of juvenile name-calling on Antonio Brown when he left. And last I checked Swissvale hasn't gone anywhere!!

[Thrillsseeker]

Antonio Brown is not a has been, but he is not the dominant, once-in-a-lifetime player that many claim either.

My argument the past few years is that Brown was very fortunate to be in an offense that EXCESSIVELY targeted him, featured him and that he had a Hall of Fame QB throwing to him.

My argument is that you can take any sufficiently talented WR, pair him with Ben, feature him, target him 150 times, and you will get much the same results.

JuJu was targeted 79 times as a rookie, then he was targeted 166 times in his 2nd season and responded with 111 catches and 1,426 yards. It really is that simple.

Be it Hines Ward, Holmes, Wallace, Brown, JuJu, if Ben is throwing the ball to you, targeting you over 100+ times in a season, the production, the stats will follow. This is not something that is unique to Antonio Brown because he was somehow 'special'.

Bell did indeed start fumbling the last 24 games of his Steelers career, 7 times in that span. My theory is that teams were starting to play him differently, starting to figure him out, that and the speed and quickness that he had were diminishing because of his injuries.

Funny how two virtual rookies, Conner and Samuels, combined for 16 TDs and 5 100 yard games and were better in nearly every category than Bell in 2017. And this was at one tenth the cost.

What Bell did as a Steeler was underwhelming to me. They fed him the ball, gave him his carries and catches and the most he could ever do in a season was 11 TDs?? I long argued that he should be producing 20+ TDs a season, every season with that kind of workload, yet he never did. And then Conner and JaySam in their first season together combine for 16 TDs?? And now with Snell??

I can see that trio combining for 22-25 touchdowns this season, double of what Bell ever did.

I see 2019 being a repeat of 2018 when it comes to Antonio Brown. There will be those distraught, all gloomy and doomy and predicting the end for our offense without Brown. And then just like last season, the offense will just plug in the next man/men and the offense will continue on as if nothing ever happened. Last season we didn't have Bell, plugged in Conner and then Samuels and the offense got better?? We set team records for red zone offense??

How do we go from having a Red Zone percentage of 50% in 2017 with Bell and then go to 73.5% with Conner and Samuels??

Maybe, just maybe Bell and Brown were holding this offense back. If Brown is not here being excessively fed the football, if Randy gets Ben to spread the football, distribute the football, not force things and end up with INTs maybe Ben has a career year WITHOUT Brown, maybe the offense does too.

Many worry about the 15 TDs that left town with Brown from last season. I celebrate the 10 INTs that left town with Brown because of Ben forcing the ball to Brown so much. Those 15 TDs are just going to be caught by other people this year, the difference is that if 5 of those 10 INTs from last season are not made this season then maybe Ben and the offense scores 5 more TDs.

So much logic. So much positivity. Its gonna be a great year. Huck and chuck football where Ben just slings it. He’ll have some turnovers but it’ll be less than trying to force it to AB’s bitch ass.
I look forward to the season like i look forward to your posts brother.

[Lynch]

Antonio Brown is not a has been, but he is not the dominant, once-in-a-lifetime player that many claim either.

My argument the past few years is that Brown was very fortunate to be in an offense that EXCESSIVELY targeted him, featured him and that he had a Hall of Fame QB throwing to him.

My argument is that you can take any sufficiently talented WR, pair him with Ben, feature him, target him 150 times, and you will get much the same results.

JuJu was targeted 79 times as a rookie, then he was targeted 166 times in his 2nd season and responded with 111 catches and 1,426 yards. It really is that simple.

Be it Hines Ward, Holmes, Wallace, Brown, JuJu, if Ben is throwing the ball to you, targeting you over 100+ times in a season, the production, the stats will follow. This is not something that is unique to Antonio Brown because he was somehow 'special'.

Bell did indeed start fumbling the last 24 games of his Steelers career, 7 times in that span. My theory is that teams were starting to play him differently, starting to figure him out, that and the speed and quickness that he had were diminishing because of his injuries.

Funny how two virtual rookies, Conner and Samuels, combined for 16 TDs and 5 100 yard games and were better in nearly every category than Bell in 2017. And this was at one tenth the cost.

What Bell did as a Steeler was underwhelming to me. They fed him the ball, gave him his carries and catches and the most he could ever do in a season was 11 TDs?? I long argued that he should be producing 20+ TDs a season, every season with that kind of workload, yet he never did. And then Conner and JaySam in their first season together combine for 16 TDs?? And now with Snell??

I can see that trio combining for 22-25 touchdowns this season, double of what Bell ever did.

I see 2019 being a repeat of 2018 when it comes to Antonio Brown. There will be those distraught, all gloomy and doomy and predicting the end for our offense without Brown. And then just like last season, the offense will just plug in the next man/men and the offense will continue on as if nothing ever happened. Last season we didn't have Bell, plugged in Conner and then Samuels and the offense got better?? We set team records for red zone offense??

How do we go from having a Red Zone percentage of 50% in 2017 with Bell and then go to 73.5% with Conner and Samuels??

Maybe, just maybe Bell and Brown were holding this offense back. If Brown is not here being excessively fed the football, if Randy gets Ben to spread the football, distribute the football, not force things and end up with INTs maybe Ben has a career year WITHOUT Brown, maybe the offense does too.

Many worry about the 15 TDs that left town with Brown from last season. I celebrate the 10 INTs that left town with Brown because of Ben forcing the ball to Brown so much. Those 15 TDs are just going to be caught by other people this year, the difference is that if 5 of those 10 INTs from last season are not made this season then maybe Ben and the offense scores 5 more TDs.

So much logic. So much positivity. Its gonna be a great year. Huck and chuck football where Ben just slings it. He’ll have some turnovers but it’ll be less than trying to force it to AB’s bitch ass.
I look forward to the season like i look forward to your posts brother.

Zed, we most assuredly DO NOT want Ben going full blown huck and chuck. We need to get him back under some semblance of control, like Haley had him under.

[Legacy User]

Antonio Brown is not a has been, but he is not the dominant, once-in-a-lifetime player that many claim either.

My argument the past few years is that Brown was very fortunate to be in an offense that EXCESSIVELY targeted him, featured him and that he had a Hall of Fame QB throwing to him.

My argument is that you can take any sufficiently talented WR, pair him with Ben, feature him, target him 150 times, and you will get much the same results.

JuJu was targeted 79 times as a rookie, then he was targeted 166 times in his 2nd season and responded with 111 catches and 1,426 yards. It really is that simple.

Be it Hines Ward, Holmes, Wallace, Brown, JuJu, if Ben is throwing the ball to you, targeting you over 100+ times in a season, the production, the stats will follow. This is not something that is unique to Antonio Brown because he was somehow 'special'.

Bell did indeed start fumbling the last 24 games of his Steelers career, 7 times in that span. My theory is that teams were starting to play him differently, starting to figure him out, that and the speed and quickness that he had were diminishing because of his injuries.

Funny how two virtual rookies, Conner and Samuels, combined for 16 TDs and 5 100 yard games and were better in nearly every category than Bell in 2017. And this was at one tenth the cost.

What Bell did as a Steeler was underwhelming to me. They fed him the ball, gave him his carries and catches and the most he could ever do in a season was 11 TDs?? I long argued that he should be producing 20+ TDs a season, every season with that kind of workload, yet he never did. And then Conner and JaySam in their first season together combine for 16 TDs?? And now with Snell??

I can see that trio combining for 22-25 touchdowns this season, double of what Bell ever did.

I see 2019 being a repeat of 2018 when it comes to Antonio Brown. There will be those distraught, all gloomy and doomy and predicting the end for our offense without Brown. And then just like last season, the offense will just plug in the next man/men and the offense will continue on as if nothing ever happened. Last season we didn't have Bell, plugged in Conner and then Samuels and the offense got better?? We set team records for red zone offense??

How do we go from having a Red Zone percentage of 50% in 2017 with Bell and then go to 73.5% with Conner and Samuels??

Maybe, just maybe Bell and Brown were holding this offense back. If Brown is not here being excessively fed the football, if Randy gets Ben to spread the football, distribute the football, not force things and end up with INTs maybe Ben has a career year WITHOUT Brown, maybe the offense does too.

Many worry about the 15 TDs that left town with Brown from last season. I celebrate the 10 INTs that left town with Brown because of Ben forcing the ball to Brown so much. Those 15 TDs are just going to be caught by other people this year, the difference is that if 5 of those 10 INTs from last season are not made this season then maybe Ben and the offense scores 5 more TDs.

So much logic. So much positivity. Its gonna be a great year. Huck and chuck football where Ben just slings it. He’ll have some turnovers but it’ll be less than trying to force it to AB’s bitch ass.
I look forward to the season like i look forward to your posts brother.

Zed, we most assuredly DO NOT want Ben going full blown huck and chuck. We need to get him back under some semblance of control, like Haley had him under.

You're trolling, right? Because Haley sucked.

[Lynch]

Well, Ben sucked a whole lot less under him. Hopefully he can keep the interceptathons to a minimum this year.

[Scunge]

Well, yes, nobody wants to have a QB that throws for 16 INTs, leads the NFL in interceptions, but you have to put it into context too.

For example, Ben lead the NFL in pass attempts, 675 to be exact.

So, to throw 16 INTs in 675 pass attempts is not quite as bad as it looks. A better stat to use is to look at Ben's Interception percentage, how often did he throw an INT? Did he lead the NFL in that, was he really as turnover prone as some make it out to be?? Ben threw an INT once every 42.19 pass attempts.

Look at Andrew Luck, feel good story, comeback player, Indy makes the playoffs, etc.

Andrew Luck threw 15 INTs in 639 attempts, he had an INT % of 2.35. Luck threw an interception once every 42.6 pass attempts.
Phillip Rivers was 12 of 508, had an INT % of 2.36, throwing an interception once every 42.333 pass attempts.
Mitch Trubisky was 12 of 434, had an INT% of 2.76, throwing an interception once every 36.16 pass attempts.

These three QBs above all made the playoffs, all made the Pro Bowl and their play was cited as big reasons why they made the playoffs. And yet their proclivity for throwing INTs was nearly identical to Ben's rate, and in Mitch's case, he was worse than Ben, yet nobody is lambasting them for turning the ball over too much, are they???

And Ben was 16 of 675, 2.37%, throwing an interception once every 42.19 pass attempts.

Yes, Ben led the NFL in interceptions with 16, but he did lead the NFL in pass attempts with 675. He was actually 20th overall in interception percentage. So, there were 19 QBs better and 12 QBs worse. Many of those QBs that threw less interceptions than Ben also threw 100, 150, 200, 250 passes fewer. Context does matter.

Do I want Ben to throw less INTs? Yes, but I also realize that he still has that gunslinger mentality and that he had to deal with an egomaniac that wanted his catches and he forced some throws. And he set a career high in pass attempts.

If you look at the previous 9 years, from 2009 to 2017, Ben was averaging 36.13 pass attempts per game, which comes out to 575 per season if he plays all 16 games. Now many of those seasons he might have played in only 11, 12, 13, 14 games, etc, it is the pass attempts per game that is important. So, Ben threw the ball 100 times more than his average last season.

I expect Ben to go back to that 575 average this season and to probably still have 11-12 INTs.

One last point, Ben's INT percentage last season was the 4th best of his 15 year career. Let that sink in for a moment. Ben had 11 other seasons where he threw interceptions more often.

His worst season was 2006, threw 23 INTs but he was throwing an INT once every 20 pass attempts. Brutal.
More recently, Ben threw 16 INTs in 2015, hey we made the playoffs!!! Ben was throwing an INT once every 29 pass attempts.

Last season Ben was throwing an INT once every 42 pass attempts, the 4th best total of his 15 year career. Context does matter. Funny how stats can be spun, how narratives can be established, which prism, which lens do you look at things with?

[Lynch]

If he woulda thrown 45 TD's in all those attempts that's be one thing, but he didn't. His brain bashed 06 season shouldn't be used for comparison.

[Legacy User]

Well, Ben sucked a whole lot less under him.

No he didn't. And the offense sucked a whole lot more.

[Thrillsseeker]

............."Poltargyst"]

Antonio Brown is not a has been, but he is not the dominant, once-in-a-lifetime player that many claim either.

My argument the past few years is that Brown was very fortunate to be in an offense that EXCESSIVELY targeted him, featured him and that he had a Hall of Fame QB throwing to him.

My argument is that you can take any sufficiently talented WR, pair him with Ben, feature him, target him 150 times, and you will get much the same results.

JuJu was targeted 79 times as a rookie, then he was targeted 166 times in his 2nd season and responded with 111 catches and 1,426 yards. It really is that simple.

Be it Hines Ward, Holmes, Wallace, Brown, JuJu, if Ben is throwing the ball to you, targeting you over 100+ times in a season, the production, the stats will follow. This is not something that is unique to Antonio Brown because he was somehow 'special'.

Bell did indeed start fumbling the last 24 games of his Steelers career, 7 times in that span. My theory is that teams were starting to play him differently, starting to figure him out, that and the speed and quickness that he had were diminishing because of his injuries.

Funny how two virtual rookies, Conner and Samuels, combined for 16 TDs and 5 100 yard games and were better in nearly every category than Bell in 2017. And this was at one tenth the cost.

What Bell did as a Steeler was underwhelming to me. They fed him the ball, gave him his carries and catches and the most he could ever do in a season was 11 TDs?? I long argued that he should be producing 20+ TDs a season, every season with that kind of workload, yet he never did. And then Conner and JaySam in their first season together combine for 16 TDs?? And now with Snell??

I can see that trio combining for 22-25 touchdowns this season, double of what Bell ever did.

I see 2019 being a repeat of 2018 when it comes to Antonio Brown. There will be those distraught, all gloomy and doomy and predicting the end for our offense without Brown. And then just like last season, the offense will just plug in the next man/men and the offense will continue on as if nothing ever happened. Last season we didn't have Bell, plugged in Conner and then Samuels and the offense got better?? We set team records for red zone offense??

How do we go from having a Red Zone percentage of 50% in 2017 with Bell and then go to 73.5% with Conner and Samuels??

Maybe, just maybe Bell and Brown were holding this offense back. If Brown is not here being excessively fed the football, if Randy gets Ben to spread the football, distribute the football, not force things and end up with INTs maybe Ben has a career year WITHOUT Brown, maybe the offense does too.

Many worry about the 15 TDs that left town with Brown from last season. I celebrate the 10 INTs that left town with Brown because of Ben forcing the ball to Brown so much. Those 15 TDs are just going to be caught by other people this year, the difference is that if 5 of those 10 INTs from last season are not made this season then maybe Ben and the offense scores 5 more TDs.

So much logic. So much positivity. Its gonna be a great year. Huck and chuck football where Ben just slings it. He’ll have some turnovers but it’ll be less than trying to force it to AB’s bitch ass.
I look forward to the season like i look forward to your posts brother.

Zed, we most assuredly DO NOT want Ben going full blown huck and chuck. We need to get him back under some semblance of control, like Haley had him under.

You're trolling, right? Because Haley sucked.[/quote]









Of course he's Trolling. He’s a troll.

That kinda shit is the reason i will not donate another dollar to this site.

[Lynch]

What? The Zed thing?

[ironzabo]

If you think for a second that Conner is THE MAN - why do you think Snell the bell cow that he is and was was selected and put into the mix.


I have ZERO love for the sPITT program and mind you I was a ball boy back in the day at Pitt Stadium. If you think for a second that impacts my take on Conner being an injury prone JAG then so be it.

He will never ever play a full 16 game season in the big boy league and Snell was taken at the slot he was for a reason - and rightfully so.

We all saw what my man Jay Sam did when given the opportunity last season. Come the F on boys.


Get your head out of your Yinzer rump when evaluating the skill set at play eh ?

Conner is a solid dude that fit the system and he flat out is not good enough on his own as he is a fumbler and soft. He might not see contract 2 as a result of his issues

[Scunge]

The reason why they drafted Snell, IMO, is because the Steelers have put both Samuels and Conner on the Leveon Bell diet plan. Both will come into the 2019 season, slimmer and quicker because they (the Steelers) want both to be dual threats at RB. They have talked about how they plan to use a two RB set where both are on the field. I can imagine them using Samuels more as a move TE, as an H-back, etc. Conner showed nice hands and the ability to tuck and run and get more yards after the catch. Ben talked about this, how he was so impressed about how Conner immediately got up the field after the catch. 55 catches for 497 yards and a 9.0 yards a catch average is pretty impressive.

How impressive was what Conner did catching the ball last season?? Some may look at what he did and say meh!!! Nothing special, what the hell are you talking about Scunge???

Here is a game, take Leveon Bell and eliminate him from the Steeler Record books for catches by a RB. Humor me. Take your fingers and do a Thanos snap and eliminate Bell for this argument.

So, who would then be the RB that holds the Steeler record for most catches in a season and most receiving yards in a season??? Again, humor me.

Would it be Franco Harris?? Walter Abercrombie?? Frankie Pollard?? Tim Worley?? Merrill Hoge? Bam Morris?? Eric Pegram?? John L Williams?? How about Jerome Bettis?? Willie Parker?? Rashard Mendenhall?? Mewelde Moore?? Isaac Redman???

Nope, none of those RBs would own the record for catches and yards by a Steeler RB. So, who is that RB I wonder??

Who could be that RB??

The answer of course is James Conner. In just his second NFL season he put up the 4th most catches and the 4th most yards by a Steeler RB. In my Thanos scenario where Bell and his records just disappear, James Conner's 55 catches and 497 yards would be #1.

How does all of this relate to Snell?? The Steelers are going to use Conner and Samuels in the passing game, both have lost weight to become slimmer, quicker. There was a need to have a hammer, a bigger back, to close, to finish games, in short yardage. Conner and Samuels may both be down to 215 pounds or less, while Snell may play closer to 230 pounds. Snell complements and completes what the Steelers plan to do with their RBs. He is not going to be a bell cow, he is not going to replace Conner as the starter.

That is how I see it.

[swissvale72]

If you think for a second that Conner is THE MAN - why do you think Snell the bell cow that he is and was was selected and put into the mix.


I have ZERO love for the sPITT program and mind you I was a ball boy back in the day at Pitt Stadium. If you think for a second that impacts my take on Conner being an injury prone JAG then so be it.

He will never ever play a full 16 game season in the big boy league and Snell was taken at the slot he was for a reason - and rightfully so.

We all saw what my man Jay Sam did when given the opportunity last season. Come the F on boys.


Get your head out of your Yinzer rump when evaluating the skill set at play eh ?

Conner is a solid dude that fit the system and he flat out is not good enough on his own as he is a fumbler and soft. He might not see contract 2 as a result of his issues

Oboy Zabo...you've said something negative about one of the Sacred Fuckin' Cows of this esteemed website. Look the fuck out!!

You, like me, offering the full narrative on a kid that exceeded expectations, but it wasn't all positive...rarely is.

[swissvale72]

The reason why they drafted Snell, IMO, is because the Steelers have put both Samuels and Conner on the Leveon Bell diet plan. Both will come into the 2019 season, slimmer and quicker because they (the Steelers) want both to be dual threats at RB. They have talked about how they plan to use a two RB set where both are on the field. I can imagine them using Samuels more as a move TE, as an H-back, etc. Conner showed nice hands and the ability to tuck and run and get more yards after the catch. Ben talked about this, how he was so impressed about how Conner immediately got up the field after the catch. 55 catches for 497 yards and a 9.0 yards a catch average is pretty impressive.

How impressive was what Conner did catching the ball last season?? Some may look at what he did and say meh!!! Nothing special, what the hell are you talking about Scunge???

Here is a game, take Leveon Bell and eliminate him from the Steeler Record books for catches by a RB. Humor me. Take your fingers and do a Thanos snap and eliminate Bell for this argument.

So, who would then be the RB that holds the Steeler record for most catches in a season and most receiving yards in a season??? Again, humor me.

Would it be Franco Harris?? Walter Abercrombie?? Frankie Pollard?? Tim Worley?? Merrill Hoge? Bam Morris?? Eric Pegram?? John L Williams?? How about Jerome Bettis?? Willie Parker?? Rashard Mendenhall?? Mewelde Moore?? Isaac Redman???

Nope, none of those RBs would own the record for catches and yards by a Steeler RB. So, who is that RB I wonder??

Who could be that RB??

The answer of course is James Conner. In just his second NFL season he put up the 4th most catches and the 4th most yards by a Steeler RB. In my Thanos scenario where Bell and his records just disappear, James Conner's 55 catches and 497 yards would be #1.

How does all of this relate to Snell?? The Steelers are going to use Conner and Samuels in the passing game, both have lost weight to become slimmer, quicker. There was a need to have a hammer, a bigger back, to close, to finish games, in short yardage. Conner and Samuels may both be down to 215 pounds or less, while Snell may play closer to 230 pounds. Snell complements and completes what the Steelers plan to do with their RBs. He is not going to be a bell cow, he is not going to replace Conner as the starter.

That is how I see it.

I'm not going full research mode, Scunge, but you had just cautioned us not to look too closely at Ben's NUMBER of picks, but rather his pick percentage as the Steelers were throwing the ball so fuckin' much. Yet...you don't offer that same analysis when it comes to Conner's NUMBER of catches, instead leading the reader to believe that he's the second best (next to...hmm hmm Leveon Bell) receiver at running back in Steeler history.

I'm not saying whether he is or he isn't, but the same analysis should be applied here.

[Lynch]

To call Conner injury prone is fair, I'm as concerned about his ability to stay off IR as I am about McDonald's, but a JAG? He looked a little better than that to me last year.

[Scunge]

Well, Swiss, I did look at all of these former Steeler RBs. Show me a RB (besides Bell) who was the starter and put up the production as a pass catcher that Conner did, in his second season to boot. I use 'virtual rookie' a lot when describing Conner last season because it is mostly true. He only played 68 snaps as a rookie in 2017.

He went from 68 offensive snaps as a rookie to 718 offensive snaps in 2018.

But again, his first season as a starter, and he puts up 55 catches for 497 yards, 9 yard avg and 1 TD. At many points of the season he had games where he was averaging over 10+ yards a catch. He had 5 catches over 20+ yards.

Previous to Bell and him establishing records for most catches and most yardage by a Steeler RB, those former records were set by Steeler Fullbacks. Merrill Hoge had 50 catches one season and then John L Williams set the mark of 51. And then you had scat backs, 3rd down backs like a Rodney Carter (yes, going way back to the late 80s), 38 catches, Mewled Moore who had 40 catches one season, Amos Zereoue had 42 catches one year as the 3rd down back. None of these 3rd down specialists were averaging 9 yards a catch, it was usually in the 7-8 yard range.

If you go by the starting RB, the main feature back, man, for a long time our feature back was just really, really below average in pass catching.

With Bettis it was common for him to have less than 20 catches in a season. He had 4 seasons where he was in the single digits for catches and his career high in a season was 22.

Tim Worely??

Willie Parker? He really fought catching the ball, double clutch, most he had in a season was 31.

Franco? He had 36 catches one year for a career high and Barry Foster had the same 36 catches in his huge, 1992 season.

Yes, it was just his first season as a starter, but Conner came in and put up 55 catches in just 13 games. He put up 497 yards receiving in just 13 games. In 13 games Conner did more as a pass catcher than any other Steeler RB had minus Bell. The only other Steeler RB who came close to Conner was 32 year old DeAngelo Williams back in the 2015 season. He was the starter for 10 games that season and he had 40 catches for 367 yards and a 9.2 yard average.

If DWill had started all 16 games that season what might he have done? What might Conner have done had he not missed 3 games this past season. Both most likely would have been at or around 65-70 catches.

Again, to me you would have to say Bell is the best Steeler RB as a pass catcher, he has the team records, has set the standards. But, DWill showed that he was talented as a pass catcher and James Conner in just his second season showed that he was quite adept at it too. I do think that just like Brown, Bell was in a very friendly system that allowed him to set those records.

Bell is gone but that system remains, and again, if you plug in a sufficiently talented player, he will put up similar catches, production.

[swissvale72]

My point, Scunge, is that if you're going to use number of attempts to defend Ben's number of interceptions, pointing the reader in the direction of interception percentage, the same caution should be offered with any receiver's number of receptions...and yes, that goes for Antonio Brown when looking at him in comparison to Swann/Stallworth.

[Ice]

So, we have a Pro Bowl starter who's coming off one of the best all around seasons in team history, an extremely capable utility back, capable of sharing snaps, and a hammer for short yardage, closing games and TD vulturing.

Yup, gonna miss Bell so much this year. No idea how this group could possibly fill his shoes. Oh, wait, we already did. Last season. Reason for positivity for sure.

[Donnie Brasco]

So, we have a Pro Bowl starter who's coming off one of the best all around seasons in team history, an extremely capable utility back, capable of sharing snaps, and a hammer for short yardage, closing games and TD vulturing.

Yup, gonna miss Bell so much this year. No idea how this group could possibly fill his shoes. Oh, wait, we already did. Last season. Reason for positivity for sure.

Fill his shoes?
They outright demolished his production

RB is probably the least troublesome spot on this roster

[swissvale72]

So, we have a Pro Bowl starter who's coming off one of the best all around seasons in team history, an extremely capable utility back, capable of sharing snaps, and a hammer for short yardage, closing games and TD vulturing.

Yup, gonna miss Bell so much this year. No idea how this group could possibly fill his shoes. Oh, wait, we already did. Last season. Reason for positivity for sure.

Fill his shoes?
They outright demolished his production

RB is probably the least troublesome spot on this roster

...and arguably fumbled away two wins in the process, but let's not tell the whole story.

[Ice]

Agree completely, Donnie. I'll add that after RB and OL, WR is right there as a position group that stresses me the least. We're going to end up cutting more than one potential producer there to get to 53.

And Switzer.

[Donnie Brasco]

So, we have a Pro Bowl starter who's coming off one of the best all around seasons in team history, an extremely capable utility back, capable of sharing snaps, and a hammer for short yardage, closing games and TD vulturing.

Yup, gonna miss Bell so much this year. No idea how this group could possibly fill his shoes. Oh, wait, we already did. Last season. Reason for positivity for sure.

Fill his shoes?
They outright demolished his production

RB is probably the least troublesome spot on this roster

...and arguably fumbled away two wins in the process, but let's not tell the whole story.

You still on this non sequitor?
It's like some Sliding Doors bullshit

Maybe if Juju would've done an extra set of bicep curls in the offseason he wouldn't have fumbled vs NOLA
Maybe if AB would've taken his full set of meds he wouldn't have gone rogue
Maybe if Tomlin would remember to jerk off at halftime he'd make better adjustments

[Ice]

Ha. Had him on mute for two days (if you haven't tried it, you really should) and I guessed his post content without having to look. Actually, that's not much of an accomplishment. Never mind.

[K_C_]

So, we have a Pro Bowl starter who's coming off one of the best all around seasons in team history, an extremely capable utility back, capable of sharing snaps, and a hammer for short yardage, closing games and TD vulturing.

Yup, gonna miss Bell so much this year. No idea how this group could possibly fill his shoes. Oh, wait, we already did. Last season. Reason for positivity for sure.

Fill his shoes?
They outright demolished his production

RB is probably the least troublesome spot on this roster

...and arguably fumbled away two wins in the process, but let's not tell the whole story.

Ben had 5 turnovers on opening day, Conner's first start of his entire career and you think he lost the game because of 1 fumble.



Dude, I cannot wait to watch your IC-like reasons/excuses why the Steelers are much better than advertised this season!

Make sure you check them out in the playoffs without MC Hammer Jr.!

[swissvale72]

To Donnie: Huh? What does anything you've said, other than the JuJu fumble, have to do with my comments on Conner??? You've moved the needle from Whataboutism to Whatthefuckism.

To KC: Been over this time and again, my friend. Steelers had overcome Ben's picks and had the game well in hand when Conner put the ball on the ground. Kid had a helluva year..but his fumble did cost the Steelers dearly. What "excuses/reasons" will have it Steelers have a helluva year?? You'll have been right; I'll have been wrong. That's all...and I sure as fuck hope that happens.

To Ice: Dullards like you don't merit a response, other than telling you you don't merit a response.

[Pabst]

To KC: Been over this time and again, my friend. Steelers had overcome Ben's picks and had the game well in hand when Conner put the ball on the ground.

So if Conner's fumble cost the Steelers that game, then what did Ben's fumble on 1st down at mid-field on the very next drive do?