NT Daniel McCullers To Resume Practicing

[Stryker]

Yea, cause the defense CAN'T improve after week one in preseason. Smh...

 

[Drink IRON City]

Looks like they were able to determine that nearly everyone sucks at this point.

I'm not sure if they have determined it OR if some here, as fans, have determined it.




Salute the nation

 

[Wingman]

I'm not sure if they have determined it OR if some here, as fans, have determined it.
Salute the nation

That was in response to what they have put on the field to this point. This would be the time to begin to iron out the wrinkles of a new defense and see what works and what does not. So far we have seen lots of what does not and they have been abused by according to I believe a Jack Ham quote "lots of guys that will be working construction in two weeks." I hope they will get better but so far they do not look like they are doing much to improve.

 

[steelhurt]

With vanilla scheming, and some of the D starters playing little, really hard to tell where the D stands.

Not to say with their pedigree that no stone should be unturned, and obviously above the line play is expected.

Around here the standard is the standard.

Thank you Coach Tomlin. Very well said.

 

[Rod Farva]

WB big man..........just plug the middle and let the rest handle the rest.

 

[Drink IRON City]

That was in response to what they have put on the field to this point. This would be the time to begin to iron out the wrinkles of a new defense and see what works and what does not. So far we have seen lots of what does not and they have been abused by according to I believe a Jack Ham quote "lots of guys that will be working construction in two weeks." I hope they will get better but so far they do not look like they are doing much to improve.

I agree, we have seen a lot of what doesn't work. I think another preseason game, then we start to get better picture.



Saluter the nation

 

[SteelerSask2]

I don't put stock in preseason other than you do want the ones to look good. I don't give a ****. This is a game of block and tackle, cover and pressure. What you are in the preseason is what you will be in the regular one. I've listened to that vanilla **** for years. Especially on defense you are what you are.

 

[Punxsutawney]

I don't put stock in preseason other than you do want the ones to look good. I don't give a ****. This is a game of block and tackle, cover and pressure. What you are in the preseason is what you will be in the regular one. I've listened to that vanilla **** for years. Especially on defense you are what you are.

Yep.

Either you can consistently win your respective matchups at the line and in the secondary or you cannot. The talent on the defensive side of the ball for the Steelers has fallen to a ridiculous extent over the past five years.

It's almost disgraceful, given the tradition of the franchise from the early 1970s onward.

 

[Coach]

Im interested to see McCullers in game action, mostly his conditioning... I want to see what he does when teams spread them out and go hurry up when he is out there... Hampton would get tired or mad or both then just blow through the line once or twice and more or less kept that stuff at a minimum. I remember him looking so winded after a series of plays vs the spread, then blowing up the middle for a rare sack once and he moved like the QB was made of steak then he blew up the next play too IIRC... they quit trying that shortly after... I believe he is an upgrade in the run stuffing department, but till he proves he isn't a liability vs a pass heavy format, I will reserve judgment..

I do hope he can do it and replace McClendon, though. McClendon doesn't draw the double teams consistantly and Tuitt cant handle the double teams yet. I see McClendon more of a Hoke type player... certainly not bad, but not exactly what we are used to at NT

Big Dan has some value as a goal line / 3rd a short type of defender, but you are correct. His stamina is poor, and he's zero threat as a pass rusher. McClendon by the way has just 1 sack in the past two years. He's not a pass rusher either. I still think NT is an issue for the Steelers,

One thing Dan can work on is deflecting passes. Big Dan is tall with perhaps the longest arms in the NFL. If he becomes more alert he could swat down a few passes.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Yep.

Either you can consistently win your respective matchups at the line and in the secondary or you cannot. The talent on the defensive side of the ball for the Steelers has fallen to a ridiculous extent over the past five years.

It's almost disgraceful, given the tradition of the franchise from the early 1970s onward.

As Chuck Noll said upon arrival, "The challenge isn't deciding who to cut, it's deciding who to keep."

 

[papillon]

IDK, the defensive schemes seem mostly vanilla to me... yes we are running new things, but I don't think they are slated to a teams strengths or weaknesses just yet... its more see how people play in the basic new defensive roles... I mean what are you going to do, gameplan for the 1 series you see the starters in these games?

Here's my counter question to that. Shouldn't they be able to make a play athletically or purely from a football IQ perspective? Blake Bortles put up 17 points by halftime against many of the starting defensive players. If Bortles can do this, what is a top tier NFL quarterback going to do? We'll probably find out during Aaron Rodgers 1st quarter this weekend.

Papillon

 

[steelhurt]

Well for me I'm waiting to see how the defensive starters play in game #4 next weekend. Thats like the dress rehersal game in the NFL and our defensive starters for the season opener should play the first half.

I'm also still not completly sold on Butler yet until I see what he will bring to this defense once the season starts. He talked about about introducing new wrinkles to this defense and more pressure from the D-Line. We shall see soon in New England if these new wrinkles make a difference.

So many questions on defense to be answered. Will the Uncle Jarvis experiment finally start to bear fruit or will this experiment be deemed a failure? Can Shamarko Thomas live up to the expectations or is this another failed defensive draft pick? Can Big DMac supplant SMac at Nose Tackle or is Tomlin married to SMAc? Can we get the push we need from Heyward and Tuitt and whomever is the NT?
Is James or Moats our best pass rusher off the edge? Or can Jones and Dupree capture that title? Imagine that, a 37 year old and a bargain basement guy in Moats potentially as your starters when you have 2 first rounders on your team. I'm hoping for Bud to make a big leap here and hope the same for Jones. I can excuse Bud since its his first year but Jones has had ample time.

CB and Safety I feel etter about with Boykin,Allen, Gay and Blake especially with the addition of Boykin. Safety I'm unsure of. I don't know if Mitchell was a flash in the pan for a season with Carolina and we bit too quick on him or his was injury related. As earlier mentioned, with Shamarko I have a big question mark. Will Allen as a stop gap but quite long in the tooth.

Tomlin and Colbert have really done a terrible job of restocking the cupboard on defense over the last few years. Way too many misses and just some very ordinary players. No difference makers yet. We'll see if that changes this year. A team always,always identified by their defense has suddenly become soft on defense. Never thought I'd see that day come.It always seemed to be a constant.

 

[papillon]

I have a question for those that have more knowledge of the purpose behind some of the things done in preseason. In this case my question concerns the vanilla defense that I keep hearing about. Do they run the vanilla defense because they don't want to show their actual defense to the league or do they run the vanilla defense to see if players can dominate their man and make plays without a scheme to help them or a combination of both or neither?

Papillon

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I have a question for those that have more knowledge of the purpose behind some of the things done in preseason. In this case my question concerns the vanilla defense that I keep hearing about. Do they run the vanilla defense because they don't want to show their actual defense to the league or do they run the vanilla defense to see if players can dominate their man and make plays without a scheme to help them or a combination of both or neither?

Papillon

I think a little of both, plus the starters don't play much so they're not going to make it real complicated and ask much from a lot of guys who will be working construction jobs in a few weeks.

 

[papillon]

I think a little of both, plus the starters don't play much so they're not going to make it real complicated and ask much from a lot of guys who will be working construction jobs in a few weeks.

The rookies, UDFAs and young vets that don't get much PT can't learn the scheme in time, so it seems that what the coaches are looking for are the players that can go out and just play football, line up across from a guy and dominate him. Then if they like what they see there they keep him and teach him the scheme. Unfortunately, for the Steelers, their most recent (the past 3-4 years) drafted defensive players haven't shown the ability to win against the guy on the other team consistently. Even Dupree who is the athletic freak isn't winning right now, hopefully that will change after a year of teaching and training/conditioning.

Papillon