Tuitt done

[bradshaw2ben]

Timing could have been much better but at least this chapter is closed now.
Too bad Bush doesn't want to quit.

I thought Bush already quit last season?!

<slow clap>

[Mick]

You guys are all over reacting and putting too much stock into last year.

It was all a bit of a watershed event with a perfect storm of events that led to the bad showing for the run defense last season.. It will not repeat this season and will trend back to normal this year. What happened last year?

(1) Mike Hilton was a great run defender as the slot CB, we failed miserably last year in replacing him. Be it Arthur Maulet, Tre Norwood, I think it will be much, much improved, that slot play with probably the combo of Kazee and Sutton.

(2) Wasn't just the slot CB, but also a moving combination of parts at CB too last year. Haden was a good CB against the run, even at his advanced age. Steven Nelson was also a physical CB but he was cut and so Cam Sutton became for the first time a #2 CB for and entire season and his run defense took some time to get better. James Pierre and Witherspoon also played because of injuries to Haden. We had a lot of turmoil overall in the secondary and it takes time to play the run to a high standard just as it does to cover and do great pass defense.

(3) Vince Williams retired. Joe Schubert was signed late in free agency and was terrible and Devin Bush coming off his ACL looked equally horrendous. Bush is now a year removed from his injury and has a great coach in Flores coaching him up. He also has a new partner inside with Myles Jack and rookie Mark Robinson looks like a real good sleeper as an inside linebacker.

(4) Bud Dupree was a very good run defender, but he leaves in free agency. I am high on Alex HIghsmith but it was his first year as a starter and it takes time to become a quality run defender. You have to take your lumps, learn that you have to get stronger, techniques, etc.

Now, I just listed a bunch of things that happened last year to why our run defense suffered and dropped so much from the previous year. Having your starting NT be gone for the entire season after he plays just 5 quarters would be devastating for ANY team. Buggs wasn't the answer as his replacement, he was no Chris Hoke.

Honestly, with all of that transpiring, Stephon Tuitt being out the whole year was really low on the list for me. True he did have a great 2020 season with 11 sacks but the year before in 2019 he was injured and played in only 6 games. Which Tuitt were we going to get back anyway if he hadn't retired? And I like to point this out too, that 11 sack season was a bit of an outlier, you look at the 4 seasons leading up to that, 4 sacks, 3 sacks, 5.5 sacks, 3.5 sacks, wow, Chris Wormley may not have the talent that Tuitt has but he managed 7 sacks last year in his first year as a season long starter. Tuitt's second best season sack wise was just 6.5 sacks.

Anyway, I think the Steelers did address the issues and problems on defense, did draft and sign players in free agency and added a great defensive mind in Brian Flores to boot. Nothing to worry about. Players have learned from last year and are ready to apply that his offseason to bounce back and give us good run defense again.

But keep crying Steeler Furians, I enjoy the lamentation of your tears.

I’m open to the possibility that the Dline was not the problem last year, that some of those other positions were The Real Killer. But the solutions for the other positions appear as bad/worse than what we did on Dline. From your list:

(1) Slot CB problem: last year we replaced Hilton’s slot snaps with guys like Sutton/Norwood, who aren’t notable run defenders.
2022 slot solution: Probably more Sutton.

(2) Outside CB problem: in 2021, Haden was the only outside CB that played the tun well.
2022 outside CB solution: Let Haden walk.

(3) ILB problem: in 2021, our ILBs were awful with Schobert getting a 50 PFF rating and Bush a truly miserable 30 PFF rating.
2022 ILB solution: replace Schobert with Jack (and his truly miserable 30 PFF rating).

(4) OLB problem: Highsmith was no Bud Dupree.
2022 OLB solution: Alex Highsmith, with less depth behind him than 2021.

[955876]

One of the biggest problems with this team is that Jibbs wants to limit the offense and win with us defense. He’s shown this is who he is far far too many times for it not to be true.

The problem, his defenses even when good are never that good come playoff time. They are paper tigers.

Pile up stats during the regular season (when they are good) but get exposed by superior coaching come postseason.

So even when we have a solid defense it is never enough because that D ends up wavering when it matters most.

[RemoAZ]

One of the biggest problems with this team is that Jibbs wants to limit the offense and win with us defense. He’s shown this is who he is far far too many times for it not to be true.

The problem, his defenses even when good are never that good come playoff time. They are paper tigers.

Pile up stats during the regular season (when they are good) but get exposed by superior coaching come postseason.

So even when we have a solid defense it is never enough because that D ends up wavering when it matters most.

You'd hope that after all this time he's learned something. Maybe with the promotion of Austin and the addition of a former HC on defense, he's decided to delegate most of the planning and strategy to them. Keeping my fingers crossed we finally see something different.

[Kodiak.]

You'd hope that after all this time he's learned something. Maybe with the promotion of Austin and the addition of a former HC on defense, he's decided to delegate most of the planning and strategy to them. Keeping my fingers crossed we finally see something different.

Long, slow decline due to sub-par drafting and player development. I just can't find any optimism that Flores is somehow going to steer the Titanic clear of the iceberg....

Tomlin has always been a pretender propped up by Colbert and Ben. The faster he's exposed the sooner this franchise can get turned around. I never thought, as a fan, that I would root for failure. But Tomlin is destroying the legacy, and the sooner he's gone the better. Before it's too late...

[RemoAZ]

You'd hope that after all this time he's learned something. Maybe with the promotion of Austin and the addition of a former HC on defense, he's decided to delegate most of the planning and strategy to them. Keeping my fingers crossed we finally see something different.

Long, slow decline due to sub-par drafting and player development. I just can't find any optimism that Flores is somehow going to steer the Titanic clear of the iceberg....

Tomlin has always been a pretender propped up by Colbert and Ben. The faster he's exposed the sooner this franchise can get turned around. I never thought, as a fan, that I would root for failure. But Tomlin is destroying the legacy, and the sooner he's gone the better. Before it's too late...

With the now built in QB excuse, we're talking 3 to 5 really bad seasons imo for the Rooneys to make a move. I can't root for that. Really hoping he evolves.

[Kodiak.]

With the now built in QB excuse, we're talking 3 to 5 really bad seasons imo for the Rooneys to make a move. I can't root for that. Really hoping he evolves.

The shocking and unusual extension thru 2024 says it all - Rooney committed himself to giving Tomlin a chance to rebuild the team. My guess is Deuce will see the light over the next two years.

At least, that's what I hope. Being perennial playoff contenders probably met "the bar", but that will change without Ben and Colbert.

I don't want to root for a mediocre team to suck worse, either. But if NHALS is the standard, then the team has to get a lot worse before it can get better.

[Stallworth16]

Tuitt. I liked him as a player. But essentially his retirement started last season. It just hasn’t been announced yet. So the Steelers already have a year without Tuitt and there’s no going back.

Here’s the defensive linemen now: Heyward, Alualu, Wormley, Carlos Davis, Adams, Leal, Loudermilk. (Mondeaux may not make the 53). There is enough depth and skill there to field a decent line.

As far as ILB, I don’t think Devin Bush should be cut any slack. If he can earn it on the field, he can make the roster. If he can’t? Cut him and move on. I’m
not sold on Myles Jack, but willing to give him a chance to prove himself. I think ILB is the weakest position group on the team, until proven otherwise.

[955876]

Cut him and move on

Isn’t Jibbs buddies with his uncle or something?

The prancing fairy Bush will be out there starting till his contract runs out.

[Scunge]

Bad Run Defense is not just about a single point of failure, it usually is systematic because there are multiple points of failure. As I saw it this happened because you had a lot of new faces, inexperienced, and you saw a lot of players out of position.

But as Cam Heyward said recently in an interview, some of those young players took their lumps, experienced how bad things can get when you blow your assignments, don't keep your discipline. He talked about how going through that will allow them to review it, and apply it this offseason to get back to having good run defense again.

Levi Wallace plays a very physical game at CB, including against the run, the moment he steps on the field he will be one of our best run defenders.

I see Highsmith putting in the work and getting better against the run and in terms of backups to Watt and Highsmith, I think Genard Avery was a great signing and I thought Derrek Tuszka played well late in the year.

Tyson Alualu had great physical conditioning for his entire career, he had only missed TWO games before last year, TWO! Hopefully, last season was a fluke and he can play this year as he did in 2020. Because it was not hyperbole to say that he was playing close to a Casey Hampton level as a run stuffing NT.

Brian Flores when he was a coach up in NE, how many great ILBs did they develop? Brian Flores when he goes to Miami, Jerome Baker developed nicely. I expect Flores to get Bush back to playing at an above average level and I expect Myles Jack to have a resurgence. Flores is that good.

One of the things that I found interesting this week was listening to Lolley and Williamson talk about our run defense last year and how having such a putrid offense that was not going to score a lot of points helped us to have a bad run defense too.

If you are a team that is pretty secure in the knowledge that the opposing offense will be lucky to score 17 points, then it shifts your gameplay some in that you can run more. No need to race out of the gates and try and score 30 or 40 points. No, you can just run, run, and run some more because what is the worst thing that will happen, that you have to punt if a drive stalls? Our offense was so weak, that you were certain to get the ball back quickly and could continue to stick to the running game.

You look at how many 4th quarter comebacks Ben had last year, it was because we fell behind and the other team had leads and were again, running the ball, trying to whittle down the clock.

Fix the offense, get a respectable offense again, score more points and more points early and teams are quickly not given the luxury of developing that running game. A lot of factors involved. It was an interesting point of view.

[Kodiak.]

I don't see a significant upgrade in personnel on defense. Some new faces, again, and Highsmith has a year under his belt now.

Otherwise, unless Flores is a miracle worker I expect more of the same. As long as Tomlin continues to run the show, mediocrity should be the base assumption.