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Blow it up
- Thread starter ChampYINZ
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First of all I would never say I hate Najee and don’t understand the few on here that are really giving him the gears.
The kid has the heart of a lion.
Now that being said,how about a honest and fair assessment of his play this year. Hopefully others will join in.
Disclaimer of course is our line. We all know that. So,yes it is a bit unfair to assess.
I think the one thing I would say Is I really hoped he would have a little more speed than he is showing. I was watching closely today,there were actually a few holes if he would have instinctively cut towards them with burst . He is getting too used to smashing into the backs of the line. I don’t really blame him,he must be getting discouraged and run down. I’ve watched a lot of football,the truly great ones make something out of nothing consistently. He’s done it a handful of times. To be honest,I was expecting more. So far,in my eyes he has not even come close to what Bell did in the passing game. Part of that is QB play and line again. But still a disappointment to me. Ben a few years ago would roll out and Bell would be on that side and pickup lots of yards. That does not happen anymore.
I love the fact that he will not give up. My fear is they will run the wheels off and by second contract time he will be done. He has the talent and heart,there is no doubt.......let’s hope they don’t squander it.
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The poor play from the OL has him not trusting his vision and he's regressed as a result. He runs tough and has good hands when he's in rhythm. Early in the season he was making a lot of yards on his own and has potential to be a top 10 running back. The problem is we have a bottom 5 run blocking line and all of the progress he made has reverted into trying to make too much happen on his own....quite similar to what happened with James Conner when he was here with a bad offensive line. I was a little disappointed in his drop off in production in the passing game, however, I believe that is part a product of so many defenders being near the line and not allowing Harris to get into any free space. Either he isn't capable of a more elaborate route tree or Matt Canada sucks as a play designer/caller to try to get the ball in his hands in different ways.
Harris is tough, physical, and doesn't have any quit in him. But we all know how Tomlin uses his running backs and he will run the wheels off, which will make a second contract interesting. His second contract may also align with just when our future QB starts to hit his stride.
Great analysis. No he is certainly not the problem.
And you’re wrong. I have seen one RB in the history of the NFL that could make something consistently out of nothing.
And that was Barry Effing Sanders.
An NFL back is paid to break arm tackles that is it. When they get direct hits on you before you get to three yards that is not on the ball carrier. And no. No one including Barry Sanders could be successful in this situation. It is more than just the abysmal blocking to. It's everything.
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I said this in the game thread that I believe Najee is shell shocked at this point in the year. He is trying to find holes that are not there and it is making him indecisive. Instead of just plowing through he moves east / west and gets blown up. He is also getting hit in the backfield and the god awful play calling is definitely not helping. If we had 11 guys like Najee on the team we would be in much better shape. I was not a fan of the pick, but Najee is the least of our problems.
The thing that really irks me is we have $$ to spend. We could have brought in a few bodies and I find it hard to believe they would be worse than what we have. There has to be a center out there that can at least stand his ground. It was clear many weeks ago the O line and the D line is garbage and we just sat on our hands. Tomlin / the FO / All other coaches should be embarrassed by this team.
The thing that really irks me is we have $$ to spend. We could have brought in a few bodies and I find it hard to believe they would be worse than what we have. There has to be a center out there that can at least stand his ground. It was clear many weeks ago the O line and the D line is garbage and we just sat on our hands. Tomlin / the FO / All other coaches should be embarrassed by this team.
Dumblin is the worst ******* coach on the ******* planet. I’d take Rich ******* Kotite over that piece of **** ************. He’s horrible, worthless and wasted over a decade of Ben’s best years. He’s a piece of ****.
Are you sure that Tomlin knows what we already know? Because for some reason he felt like it was necessary to see Rudolph perform against KC's backups, after calling his timeouts on defense with under 3 minutes left in the game down by 26 points.
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Based on the contract he got for next year, I think they know. I don't even think he should be a one-year stopgap QB. I'd rather take a chance on a high risk, high reward UFA if they aren't going to take one in the first or second round.
I'm going on vacation this week so I hope you all get this **** fixed before I get back.
Najee is large, fast enough and never quits on a play. He has decent hands and good vision. The O-line is sad .... no one is making an impression at any of the positions. Blocking scheme can only be described as blocking scams. Najee is getting hit 2 yards behind the LOS consistantly so I have noticed the east and west over north and south running directions that have become more prevalent as the season has progressed. I would rather he put his head down and run over rather than hurdle moves.
He has over 60 receptions but not alot of them put him in a position to gain large yardage after the catch. How would Drew Brees put it ..... oh yeah ...throw a guy open..
Ben has never been overwhelming at setting up screens. If someone asked you if a rookie RB stayed healthy and put up 1000 plus yards on the ground and had the 2nd most receptions on the team before the season started ....... I think most would have jumped aboard the train
Don't even get me started on the OC play calls that limit this Offense.
He has over 60 receptions but not alot of them put him in a position to gain large yardage after the catch. How would Drew Brees put it ..... oh yeah ...throw a guy open..
Ben has never been overwhelming at setting up screens. If someone asked you if a rookie RB stayed healthy and put up 1000 plus yards on the ground and had the 2nd most receptions on the team before the season started ....... I think most would have jumped aboard the train
Don't even get me started on the OC play calls that limit this Offense.
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Najee with a mediocre O Line has 1200 yards rushing every year for the next 8 years. We need to build around him and Freiermuth on Offense and TJ and Minkah on D. Period.
I don’t think it was a mistake to bring ben back… i think it was a mistake not to get at least one more veteran oline starter on the left side and a better alternative vet center than finney… Tomlin loves the undersized centers though… i think if we had this offense with a better oline it would be significantly better…
Also people need to grasp the concept thatcthis was the rebuilding year… the offense was totally scrapped… you dont rebuild off a rebuild after one year… yeah we need to upgrade and add, but the base of the future offense is there sans the qb…
The next two years top pick ought to be a stud tackle or guard and a qb the second you think a franchise one is available…
You need another high end wr but you can get those in the second or third…
The rest should be used on D… a legit Dt/nt type… an ilb, and a safety… there is a lot of talent on the roster that just needs development … Witherspoon is a starter type, pierre too if he continues to improve… a bunch of those ypung slot cbs/safeties seem promising… loudermilk is going to be a starter in time…
I don’t think we are in the burn ot down phase… we just have to look at this team as one of the youngest teams in the league especially on o and realize we are in a rebuilding phase
Sanders would lead the league in yards as well as tackles for loss… aso Sanders was great, perhaps the best running back ever, but he never won a super bowl
1st round rbs rarely do these days, at least not for the team that drafted them…
Well for sure you need a new OC next year, and a new QB and you should need a new HC. So no I really don't think the rebuild has begun. At least not the big pieces that need fixing.
I think Tomlin will have a warm seat after this but they won’t replace him… i think its 50/50 on replacing Canada… regardless of what fans think…
i do think butler is in danger of being axed and them bringing in a dc to run the D apart from Tomlin..
Klemm is out for sure, I think hilliard might be too…
Id like Danny Smith to go, but that won’t happen
My fear is that John Mitchell is going to retire and he secretly was the one holding everything together and it collapses
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They blew up this team years ago - they just never rebuilt anything.
And Chuks gives up on plays quite often.
Even if Butler gets fired, they will likely move Terrel Austin to DC. In other words, the defense will still be run by Tomlin.
Did you ever notice that the only coaches that come here are because they are desperate for a job. Nobody out there says ,gee I want to work for Mike Tomlin.
Did you ever notice that the only coaches that come here are because they are desperate for a job. Nobody out there says ,gee I want to work for Mike Tomlin.
I'm starting to think a full on collapse is required for the needed change.
I know that is what is needed. Only because Tomlin will not surround himself with the type of coordinators needed to make up for his lack of X and O. IMO that is the only way you can keep him at this point. Rooney is happy with his income so I think until his wallet gets impacted we will see no change.At least ones that will result in significant results.
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We can all agree that with Tomlin as the coach the team won't attain success again. Therefore it doesn't matter much which players come and go, the mentality of the team and the strategic planning is not there to guide them
I've come to the conclusion that this will be journey not an event. And the journey will have to begin with Colberts exit. I'd be sitting him down this week and saying we appreciate your excellence but we don't believe you are the right man for what needs to happen now. Then I go outside the organization to find the fresh eyes that will be required to move on from Tomlin. If one of these two things happens:
1. Colbert isn't gone right after the season signals he won't be gone at all. Because draft evaluation and FA planning take time.
2. Or they promote Kahn cause he is a Tomlin guy.
Then you can expect an 8 to 10 year process to real relevance instead of 4 to 6.
What everyone has to understand including the ownership is that if you are gonna hold onto mediocrity for fear of becoming the Lions or the Browns or the Dolphins you will NEVER get where you wanna go.
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Colbert will most certainly retire with Ben. I’ll be stunned if he comes back. Brandon Hunt will get promoted to take over.
Speaking of Tomlin guys, DK flat out wrote Tomlin hires coordinators he can control as they’re less threatening. Don’t know if those are his words or if that is indeed the cases. Either way, it’s something many on here have said for years.