First half grades...
- Thread starter SteveA
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2015
- Messages
- 15,544
- Reaction score
- 3,801
- Points
- 113
Coach's grades
OFFENSE:
QB Grade A-. Without Ben this is a 500 football team. Ben has been playing very well, limiting turnovers and getting hot when we need him. He has 18 touchchdowns and just 4 interceptions. To nitpick, he starts slowly at times and has had too many low throws or off-target throws early in games. If Rudy enters the game, we are in big trouble. Getting a better back up should be a medium level need in 2021.
RB Grade B. Conner is what he is at this point, a solid back who follows his blockers well and runs hard. He has been reliable, productive near the goal line, and has not had fumble issues. h drawbacks are he too predictable and not fast enough to feature outside the tackles.
McFarland brings rare acceleration to the hole and very good speed, but he's not good at following his blockers, and IMO goes down too easily. Moves are okay. I don't think the Steelers are using him correctly.
Snell is your typical short-yardage guy, but he's nothing special in any area of the game.
The FB position has made litle impact this year, but I did like our sub in Mondeaux
TE Grade B. Ebron has proven to be a very reliable receiving Tight End, a match up weapon, and a reliable target on third down. His blocking, however, is weak. McDonald who backs him up, is a very good blocker, but with the talent, the Steelers have at wide receiver, he's a bit of a forgotten man. The Steelers don't have a 3rd TE worth dressing.
WR Grade A. Ju-Ju has bounced back. With each passing game, his reliability and tough running with the football in his hands has made a difference. Claypool has monstrous talent. We see it every week, but he needs to work on constancy. The Steelers need to target him often. Johnson is a player that just ins't reliable and always seems dinged up. He can spark plays, I just don't think he's clutch enough to count on, especially on 3rd downs. Washington has proven himself to be a very good 4th WR. McCloud is too electric no to use more often in the offense. What a group!
OL: Grade B- This a unit on decline. Big AL, our only proven left tackle has become too easy to beat. Chucks has done a solid job at Right Tackle, but his push leaves a lot to be desired. Pouncey's play has been a disapotiment, his snaps are often too high / wide, and he doesn't pull the way he used to. He can be bull-rushed and doesn't exactly root out defensive tackles. A former star, now in decline. Decastro remains the shining star of the unit. He is the engine that makes the running game go. Feiler can be our most powerful blocker, at times he's very impressive. His pass blocking remains so -so. Rookie Dotson has at the very least, has proven to be capable when forced to play due to injures. Hassenauer is unproven at Center, the Steelers let Wisnewski go, so they appear to be comfortable with him. Age is catching up to this unit, a high draft pick should be spent here in 2021.
Kicker: A- Outside of a missed extra point, and an extra blocked point Boswell has been money in the bank. Last week he showed a leg I did not think he had on the franchise record 59-yard field goal. His kickoffs have been solid. He can be my wingman anytime. He's clutch.
Kick Returner. Grade A. McCloud has been sensational. What a find. 26 yards on average per kickoff, 15 yards per average on punts! It's only a matter of time until he takes one to the house.
DEFENSE:
DL: Grade A. Tuitt is a real load. A force vs. the run or pass. Tuitt is having his best season with 6 sacks and 17 QB hits after 8 game played. Heyward who plays next to him as been rather quiet by his standards. I don't know why. Alalau replaced Hargrave, but with him out Buggs is making his share of play and newcomer Mondeaux has impressed with effort. Carlos Davis did well in his rookie debut. Wormely is a non factor, With two top front line players and surprise depth, the DL has exceeded expectations though we could really use a powerful DT/NT In the middle at times to stuff the run.
LB: Grade A The Steelers play Watt and Dupree as ends for the most part, but they are listed at Linebacker. Watt is phenomenal. He's very quick off the ball and has elite hand use. He's all pro in his prime and splash play machine. Dupree is haivng a very good overall season, but he disappears in some games. Still worth his cap number for now. Bush had a hot rookie start and hasn't been as good since. He out for the year. His replacement in Spillaine already has more tackles and game-changing plays than Bush had this year despite staring two less games as of 11-12-2020. Splliane appears to be staring material. Vince Williams prodives the old school thump and lead the team in tackles. He's also quality on the middle blitz.Highsmith looks looks like a very promsing player but beyond him there was a void of depth which is why the Steelers traded for NFL veteran Avery Williamson.
DB Grade B. With the best pass rush in the NFL, it should be on the easier side to cover. Haden remins a solid #1 corner, but he's aging. Nelson isn't quite as good this year. He was been burned a bit and give up some scores. Our depth at corner is excellent. Hinton tackles and hits way above his weight class. A factor on the blitz, and a player who makes his share of plays on the ball. Sutton offers good coverage for a #4 CB. I still don't trust Layne. A safety the Steeles had a stud in Fitzpatrick. Gifted at making plays that require split-second timing, Fitz can change the momentium of games. His tackling has not been quite as good this year. Edmunds has matured into an assignment sound type of player, who's actually made a few plays a DB for a change. The depth behind the starters is very suspect. Allen and Dangerfield as speical teams guys, Our next man up here if we ever need one won't be a good story.
P: Grade B So far Berry has looked better than he ever has. Can he keep this up?
LS: Grade D. Canaday has been suspect. His snaps have been off more than once and he has allowed players to block kicks. He adds very little in coverage on special teams. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing him replaced ASAP. This man is on thin ice.
COACHING
Head Coach B- Lets keep it real, Ben is the reason we come back and win. 2-3 players on defense make the key stops. This is the reason we are undefeated. We win with talent, not outcoaching the other side. Tomlin's job in terms of managing time outs and red flagging official decisions are below average. His game time decisions such as when to kick need improvment and almost cost us vs. ,Dallas when he should have opted to kick the FG and go up 8 points. I hear he's in charge of the defense on 3rd down. I see too many linebakcers matched up on wide receivers. Stop it. Furhermore he has bought shame in terms of fines to the organization again. What can you say, Barry Swizer won a super bowl and was 5-2 in the playoffs. On the positive side, the players seem to like Tomlin and he has not blown any games on the road to a lesser team so far, though it has been close. His true grade will have to wait until the playoffs where he is 3-6 in his last nine tires.
OC: Grade B. To be clear, Fichtner is an upgrade over Haley, but he's far from perfect. Fichtner has a lot of talent to work with. He needs to figure out how to start faster. Take out those wide runs by Conner he's not suited for them. Try play action and screens a bit more. Figure out how to use McFarland a bit better. AKA weakside runs, counters, pithes, etc... Use your receivers to their potential. We have at least two mis-matches on the field at any given time. Exploit them. And please don't assume a 14-20 score lead is enough. Call play to win until it makes sense to milk the clock.
DC. Grade B Butler is a hard man to grade as he has a lot of talent around him and Tomlin takes over on 3rd downs. My beef with him is there are some players that rip us, and he's too slow to limit or stop it.
-Coach
OFFENSE:
QB Grade A-. Without Ben this is a 500 football team. Ben has been playing very well, limiting turnovers and getting hot when we need him. He has 18 touchchdowns and just 4 interceptions. To nitpick, he starts slowly at times and has had too many low throws or off-target throws early in games. If Rudy enters the game, we are in big trouble. Getting a better back up should be a medium level need in 2021.
RB Grade B. Conner is what he is at this point, a solid back who follows his blockers well and runs hard. He has been reliable, productive near the goal line, and has not had fumble issues. h drawbacks are he too predictable and not fast enough to feature outside the tackles.
McFarland brings rare acceleration to the hole and very good speed, but he's not good at following his blockers, and IMO goes down too easily. Moves are okay. I don't think the Steelers are using him correctly.
Snell is your typical short-yardage guy, but he's nothing special in any area of the game.
The FB position has made litle impact this year, but I did like our sub in Mondeaux
TE Grade B. Ebron has proven to be a very reliable receiving Tight End, a match up weapon, and a reliable target on third down. His blocking, however, is weak. McDonald who backs him up, is a very good blocker, but with the talent, the Steelers have at wide receiver, he's a bit of a forgotten man. The Steelers don't have a 3rd TE worth dressing.
WR Grade A. Ju-Ju has bounced back. With each passing game, his reliability and tough running with the football in his hands has made a difference. Claypool has monstrous talent. We see it every week, but he needs to work on constancy. The Steelers need to target him often. Johnson is a player that just ins't reliable and always seems dinged up. He can spark plays, I just don't think he's clutch enough to count on, especially on 3rd downs. Washington has proven himself to be a very good 4th WR. McCloud is too electric no to use more often in the offense. What a group!
OL: Grade B- This a unit on decline. Big AL, our only proven left tackle has become too easy to beat. Chucks has done a solid job at Right Tackle, but his push leaves a lot to be desired. Pouncey's play has been a disapotiment, his snaps are often too high / wide, and he doesn't pull the way he used to. He can be bull-rushed and doesn't exactly root out defensive tackles. A former star, now in decline. Decastro remains the shining star of the unit. He is the engine that makes the running game go. Feiler can be our most powerful blocker, at times he's very impressive. His pass blocking remains so -so. Rookie Dotson has at the very least, has proven to be capable when forced to play due to injures. Hassenauer is unproven at Center, the Steelers let Wisnewski go, so they appear to be comfortable with him. Age is catching up to this unit, a high draft pick should be spent here in 2021.
Kicker: A- Outside of a missed extra point, and an extra blocked point Boswell has been money in the bank. Last week he showed a leg I did not think he had on the franchise record 59-yard field goal. His kickoffs have been solid. He can be my wingman anytime. He's clutch.
Kick Returner. Grade A. McCloud has been sensational. What a find. 26 yards on average per kickoff, 15 yards per average on punts! It's only a matter of time until he takes one to the house.
DEFENSE:
DL: Grade A. Tuitt is a real load. A force vs. the run or pass. Tuitt is having his best season with 6 sacks and 17 QB hits after 8 game played. Heyward who plays next to him as been rather quiet by his standards. I don't know why. Alalau replaced Hargrave, but with him out Buggs is making his share of play and newcomer Mondeaux has impressed with effort. Carlos Davis did well in his rookie debut. Wormely is a non factor, With two top front line players and surprise depth, the DL has exceeded expectations though we could really use a powerful DT/NT In the middle at times to stuff the run.
LB: Grade A The Steelers play Watt and Dupree as ends for the most part, but they are listed at Linebacker. Watt is phenomenal. He's very quick off the ball and has elite hand use. He's all pro in his prime and splash play machine. Dupree is haivng a very good overall season, but he disappears in some games. Still worth his cap number for now. Bush had a hot rookie start and hasn't been as good since. He out for the year. His replacement in Spillaine already has more tackles and game-changing plays than Bush had this year despite staring two less games as of 11-12-2020. Splliane appears to be staring material. Vince Williams prodives the old school thump and lead the team in tackles. He's also quality on the middle blitz.Highsmith looks looks like a very promsing player but beyond him there was a void of depth which is why the Steelers traded for NFL veteran Avery Williamson.
DB Grade B. With the best pass rush in the NFL, it should be on the easier side to cover. Haden remins a solid #1 corner, but he's aging. Nelson isn't quite as good this year. He was been burned a bit and give up some scores. Our depth at corner is excellent. Hinton tackles and hits way above his weight class. A factor on the blitz, and a player who makes his share of plays on the ball. Sutton offers good coverage for a #4 CB. I still don't trust Layne. A safety the Steeles had a stud in Fitzpatrick. Gifted at making plays that require split-second timing, Fitz can change the momentium of games. His tackling has not been quite as good this year. Edmunds has matured into an assignment sound type of player, who's actually made a few plays a DB for a change. The depth behind the starters is very suspect. Allen and Dangerfield as speical teams guys, Our next man up here if we ever need one won't be a good story.
P: Grade B So far Berry has looked better than he ever has. Can he keep this up?
LS: Grade D. Canaday has been suspect. His snaps have been off more than once and he has allowed players to block kicks. He adds very little in coverage on special teams. Frankly, I wouldn't mind seeing him replaced ASAP. This man is on thin ice.
COACHING
Head Coach B- Lets keep it real, Ben is the reason we come back and win. 2-3 players on defense make the key stops. This is the reason we are undefeated. We win with talent, not outcoaching the other side. Tomlin's job in terms of managing time outs and red flagging official decisions are below average. His game time decisions such as when to kick need improvment and almost cost us vs. ,Dallas when he should have opted to kick the FG and go up 8 points. I hear he's in charge of the defense on 3rd down. I see too many linebakcers matched up on wide receivers. Stop it. Furhermore he has bought shame in terms of fines to the organization again. What can you say, Barry Swizer won a super bowl and was 5-2 in the playoffs. On the positive side, the players seem to like Tomlin and he has not blown any games on the road to a lesser team so far, though it has been close. His true grade will have to wait until the playoffs where he is 3-6 in his last nine tires.
OC: Grade B. To be clear, Fichtner is an upgrade over Haley, but he's far from perfect. Fichtner has a lot of talent to work with. He needs to figure out how to start faster. Take out those wide runs by Conner he's not suited for them. Try play action and screens a bit more. Figure out how to use McFarland a bit better. AKA weakside runs, counters, pithes, etc... Use your receivers to their potential. We have at least two mis-matches on the field at any given time. Exploit them. And please don't assume a 14-20 score lead is enough. Call play to win until it makes sense to milk the clock.
DC. Grade B Butler is a hard man to grade as he has a lot of talent around him and Tomlin takes over on 3rd downs. My beef with him is there are some players that rip us, and he's too slow to limit or stop it.
-Coach
Last edited:
I'm not going to get into grades, but I will say what I like about each position that is different than before.
QB: Ben is playing the best ball of his life. He has never been this efficient. Turnovers in only 2 games out of 8. He has also never been this good at pre reading a defense and calling audibles to get his people in advantageous situations. He looks like Manning pre snap this year. I really like his progression, and he's never been this hungry to win for the team as well. He's the leader we all knew he could be. Bradshaw would now agree.
RB: I like the diversity of what we have to offer. Conner is an everything back who can carry the load. Snell, is a short yardage/ GL back, Samuels is a great pass catcher, and McFarland is a change of pace. Solid FB in Watt when he's healthy and using a DL as a FB is a first for the Tomlin led Steelers.
WR: The most balanced WR attack we have ever had. 5 deep and we still have Cain on the PS with AJ and Cody Jonson, all over 6'2". DJ is AB light, more elusive, not as strong. Claypool is a freak athlete, Wash is big bodied and clutch, JuJu does everything and does it with power and intensity. He's stronger this year and is finishing plays while keeping the ball. Ray Ray is a great speed option who can play the edge or slot. It's a pick your poison, because if you double team anyone, the rest will feast.
TE: Steelers finally got a FA pickup to work as a pass catching threat. One we really haven't had since Miller. Plus Vance, who was our starter, is still our #2, and has the ability to make plays as well when called upon.
OL. Villa is playing better, Pouncey is slightly better than last year, DD is not. Chukes and Feiler are doing well. Backups have been very impressive in Chukes, Hawk, Haus, and Big Dot. This team is deep at OL even with dumping Wis.
K: Boz hasn't missed a FG this year. They need to fix the blocking scheme, because he's just set the franchise record for a long FG with 3 guys in his backfield...
DL: This is the best 3 man front, talent wise, I've seen for the Steelers. When healthy, you can't run on them.
LB: Watt is still improving, and Bud still hasn't hit his ceiling. Losing Bush hurts badly. He is so athletic and is a playmaker. Spilly is making splash plays and working hard. Shows us all why we kept him over LJ Fort. Vance leads the league in TFLs. He is a monster and we really have to rethink what he is. I know we thought of him as a run stopper, that isn't as good in coverage. He looks faster this year, he's diagnosing the play faster than anyone else on D, and he's making huge plays for us. Keep it up VW!
S Edmunds is solid this year. He's not special, and he's not a liability, but at least he's in the right spots and starting to make plays. Minkah is amazing, and the team is fortuante to have him. Thanks Miami!!
CB: Hilton and Sutton are diverse play making slot corner/safeties. We need Hilton back to improve the run D in base. Sutton has been improving as a cover corner, and I could see him starting on the edge of our defense one day. Nelson and Haden are solid, not as good as last year, but they are improving each week within the defensive scheme.
P: Berry's best year. He only needed to be cut to light a fire under his ***. Colquitt was a Scobee level mistake. At least Dustin didn't cost us games though...
LS: Canaday needs to improve his blocking after the snap. His snaps are perfect, but he was owned on the A gap all last game. This can not continue.
PR/KR: I'm glad we found Ray-Ray. DJ isn't durable enough and was starting to play timid on PR. Ray Ray is 2nd in punt return yardage per kick, and showing wiggle, quicks, and elusiveness. He will break one this year
QB: Ben is playing the best ball of his life. He has never been this efficient. Turnovers in only 2 games out of 8. He has also never been this good at pre reading a defense and calling audibles to get his people in advantageous situations. He looks like Manning pre snap this year. I really like his progression, and he's never been this hungry to win for the team as well. He's the leader we all knew he could be. Bradshaw would now agree.
RB: I like the diversity of what we have to offer. Conner is an everything back who can carry the load. Snell, is a short yardage/ GL back, Samuels is a great pass catcher, and McFarland is a change of pace. Solid FB in Watt when he's healthy and using a DL as a FB is a first for the Tomlin led Steelers.
WR: The most balanced WR attack we have ever had. 5 deep and we still have Cain on the PS with AJ and Cody Jonson, all over 6'2". DJ is AB light, more elusive, not as strong. Claypool is a freak athlete, Wash is big bodied and clutch, JuJu does everything and does it with power and intensity. He's stronger this year and is finishing plays while keeping the ball. Ray Ray is a great speed option who can play the edge or slot. It's a pick your poison, because if you double team anyone, the rest will feast.
TE: Steelers finally got a FA pickup to work as a pass catching threat. One we really haven't had since Miller. Plus Vance, who was our starter, is still our #2, and has the ability to make plays as well when called upon.
OL. Villa is playing better, Pouncey is slightly better than last year, DD is not. Chukes and Feiler are doing well. Backups have been very impressive in Chukes, Hawk, Haus, and Big Dot. This team is deep at OL even with dumping Wis.
K: Boz hasn't missed a FG this year. They need to fix the blocking scheme, because he's just set the franchise record for a long FG with 3 guys in his backfield...
DL: This is the best 3 man front, talent wise, I've seen for the Steelers. When healthy, you can't run on them.
LB: Watt is still improving, and Bud still hasn't hit his ceiling. Losing Bush hurts badly. He is so athletic and is a playmaker. Spilly is making splash plays and working hard. Shows us all why we kept him over LJ Fort. Vance leads the league in TFLs. He is a monster and we really have to rethink what he is. I know we thought of him as a run stopper, that isn't as good in coverage. He looks faster this year, he's diagnosing the play faster than anyone else on D, and he's making huge plays for us. Keep it up VW!
S Edmunds is solid this year. He's not special, and he's not a liability, but at least he's in the right spots and starting to make plays. Minkah is amazing, and the team is fortuante to have him. Thanks Miami!!
CB: Hilton and Sutton are diverse play making slot corner/safeties. We need Hilton back to improve the run D in base. Sutton has been improving as a cover corner, and I could see him starting on the edge of our defense one day. Nelson and Haden are solid, not as good as last year, but they are improving each week within the defensive scheme.
P: Berry's best year. He only needed to be cut to light a fire under his ***. Colquitt was a Scobee level mistake. At least Dustin didn't cost us games though...
LS: Canaday needs to improve his blocking after the snap. His snaps are perfect, but he was owned on the A gap all last game. This can not continue.
PR/KR: I'm glad we found Ray-Ray. DJ isn't durable enough and was starting to play timid on PR. Ray Ray is 2nd in punt return yardage per kick, and showing wiggle, quicks, and elusiveness. He will break one this year
I think DD has been held back by injuries and as the season goes he will improve.
Wonder how much Derek watts hamstring has played into the seemingly poor offensive game plans.
I agree, good point Slash!
We couldn't run the ball at all last year when Nix was hurt. 1 complete game from Nix last year and that was the only game we had a 100yd rusher.
You're like an encyCOPEdia
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2014
- Messages
- 357
- Reaction score
- 237
- Points
- 43
I think people make too much of the run defense "issues" because of the Baltimore game. They were fine at the outset. A shitshow of non-productivity by the offense allowed them to wear down. It is no secret that when the defense contiues to be hung out to dry, a run first team will start having their way. The D is fine, run or pass. They just need the offense to start quicker and not wear their ***** out before they decide to cleat up and play...
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2014
- Messages
- 31,485
- Reaction score
- 32,751
- Points
- 113
- Location
- between $2 short & ten buck two
NOT very much. Last year they ran very similar plays. We have a FB sub but when you run Conner as lone back from shotgun, you can see what you get. Also I don't think Conner is the wide sweep type back. BEN is trying to set up the run with the pass but our play action is non-EXIStANT (why is that?). These WR jet sweeps can work but we use that play way to much so the surprise element isn't there as earlier in the year, again Randy Fichtner why is this?
I think we will get better on track against the bungles and Randy / Canada will have some more wrinkles that will seem to bring a little surprise back into the offense. I think Conner will get near 90 yards and BEN will break 300.
Salute the nation
I think I would be a bit harsher on the O. Dallas has one of, if not the worst D in the league and we could not get going. A personal foul against Dallas substantially helped keep our last drive alive. We put it on Tenn early, but then fell flat. In the Balt game, the defense and the Ravens trying to hand us the game allowed us to come back. The defense has been a bit concerning lately. We got run over against Balt and thankfully Jackson forgot what team he plays for or we would have lost that one. Tenn mounted a huge comeback against us and we almost lost to a bad 2-6 team playing a 4th string QB. Obviously 8-0 is great and we played 2 brutal games before the Dallas game, but I think this weeks game against Cinci will see which way this team is trending.
A few additional comments
Ray Ray got love for half season all pro second team at returning for a few sites. Honestly its nice to have someone who’s looking to turn the ball upfield asap but shifty and speedy enough to make the edge if need be
This wr corps offers ben the best Variety of the types of receivers he has worked with through his career
Juju is a ward type... he makes plays in tight spaces
DJ is an AB lite type..
Claypool is a much better Plex or Martavis ... he also is the closest thing we have to a true burner
Washington is a lesser Juju... or imo a better Nate Washington type
mcCloud is a much better Switzer type
Most of these guys are 4.53 40 types that play way faster than their times...
The only metric that the Steelers really are missing is the sub 4.0 burner like Wallace or dhb....
Its not the worse thing that these Steelers are 8-0 despite a ton of crappy quarters of play the first half
We haven’t peaked... if the end of tge season is merciful with injuries and things gel atvthe right time, this can be a special season
Ray Ray got love for half season all pro second team at returning for a few sites. Honestly its nice to have someone who’s looking to turn the ball upfield asap but shifty and speedy enough to make the edge if need be
This wr corps offers ben the best Variety of the types of receivers he has worked with through his career
Juju is a ward type... he makes plays in tight spaces
DJ is an AB lite type..
Claypool is a much better Plex or Martavis ... he also is the closest thing we have to a true burner
Washington is a lesser Juju... or imo a better Nate Washington type
mcCloud is a much better Switzer type
Most of these guys are 4.53 40 types that play way faster than their times...
The only metric that the Steelers really are missing is the sub 4.0 burner like Wallace or dhb....
Its not the worse thing that these Steelers are 8-0 despite a ton of crappy quarters of play the first half
We haven’t peaked... if the end of tge season is merciful with injuries and things gel atvthe right time, this can be a special season
I think when you think about that speed element you are thinking about stretching the field capability. I think Claypool brings you that.
I wrote an article on it last year and the importance of our FB in our running game's success. I was a huge Nix fan. From my seats in the stands, I'd watch him every play, because he just destroyed guys in the hole!
Good points and all true. The difference defensively, is this team is getting turnovers. That is the difference between wins and losses in all of those matchups. Minus the TEN game of course.
Similar threads
