Shazier!

[skialta]

Ryan the flyin ShazzMannian devil was sickk!! He shows the ability to be a Playmaker and tonesetter for this defense...and has shown in 1 game that he is going to be a much welcomed addition to this DEFENSE...aklso with Tuitt and Da Sharkman ready to contribute too...this D can get it's Swagg back and create more turnovers and in turn more opportunities for Big Ben and our offense, which looks much more explosive with key playmakers primed to have breakout seasons of their own.

Chris Berman. You are not

 

[hamster]

I like what I saw. But let's get more of a sampling before we crown him emperor.

 

[deljzc]

Man, Del....I have a LOT of respect for your football acumen and try to check out all your posts. But don't ya think maybe you're being a little "glass half full" here? The dude's first ever NFL action and he puts up a performance like that?

I hear what you're saying about the overall defensive showing, but they were pretty vanilla and like you said "It's pre-season. I don't want to read too much into it."

He got three tackles on passes. I don't really know what to think about that. We all know Manuel hasn't got a long game yet. He's young and throwing way too much underneath (he was 29th in yard per completion).

I'm not trying to poo-poo anything, but the stats don't really lie. The Bills ran a TON of plays. The Bills do a lot of passes underneath into the center of the field.

It wasn't even like Shazier was the only inside linebacker to fill up the stat sheet. Gavin had 7 tackles and a sack. Timmons and Spence had 5 tackles. Vince Willians had 3 tackles.

If anyone's keeping track that's 7+7+5+5+3 = 27 tackles by inside linebackers last night. TWENTY SEVEN!

Our nose tackles got one.

It was a good start by Shazier. The interception was awesome. That's the highlight, not the number of tackles when we couldn't get the Bills off the field last night.

 

[In Ben We Trust]

I agree on the tackles stats but for me it was more the way that he flew to the ball that has me excited. He plays fast, really fast. The pick was amazing and so was the special teams tackle. Not crowning him king by any means but I am excited to see what he brings to this team during the regular season....that defense could use some playmakers.

 

[thesteelcity]

he played one quarter, I believe? For his first pro action, he exceeded expectations. It's a first, of hopefully many more positive steps from Shazier. You can compare stats when they are playing a real game, with real playing time. He played better in one quarter than our 2013 #1 played all of last pre-season. For that, I'm pleasantly optimistic.

 

[Steelers1356]

Of Shazier's 7 tackles on defense only ONE would be considered a "defensive stop/success". Here they are:

3rd and 2 - Pass for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Run/Scramble for 5 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
2nd and 5 - Run for 2 yards (Shazier tackle) - Defensive win
3rd and 7 - Pass for 7 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Run for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Pass for 5 years (Shazier/Timmons tackle) - Offensive win
2nd and 5 - Run for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win

Hypothetically, how much worse would those number's be if a lesser player was inserted in place of Shazier? In some cases you're likely talking much bigger gains instead of 2--7 yards when you remove Shazier's speed and ability to chase down runners.

 

[slashsteel]

Hypothetically, how much worse would those number's be if a lesser player was inserted in place of Shazier? In some cases you're likely talking much bigger gains instead of 2--7 yards when you remove Shazier's speed and ability to chase down runners.

This

Last year there was too many long gains committed by the defense. Against the run and pass. Shazier can help in both of those areas. Shoring up arguably one of the biggest Steeler defense's weaknesses from last year.

 

[insaniti]

Quite a few of the tackles he was coming off his man in coverage to make the tackle as well. The run/scramble for instance. Shazier was in coverage, came off his man and limited the QB to that 5 yards, you call that an offensive win, I call that saving a lot more yards as Shazier was the ONLY Steeler on that side of the field for 20 yards. It was also a very vanilla defense, we weren't scheming and blitzing a whole lot.

 

[mightyguru]

Shazam looks like a can't miss right now...killer plays all over the field.The oskie was awesome!

 

[deljzc]

He should be better than everyone else we had at ILB last year. He's a #15 overall pick.

Is it fair to compare him to washed up Larry Foote or 6th round rookie Vince Williams or barely-in-the-league Kion Wilson?

Honestly, any player drafted in the first 5 rounds this year should be better than those guys. Sean Spence is a huge upgrade over those guys as well.

Shazier is going to get TONS of action this year. We know that. We know Lebeau normally plays his 4 linebackers 100% of the time if they are healthy. We know Shazier is a huge upgrade over the cluster **** we had last year when Foote went down to injury.

I am not disputing any of that. I am not disputing Shazier as a good player.

My concerns are that Shazier is a runner-hitter that needs a clean front to make plays. That he is a bit undersized and will struggle to take on offensive linemen. I also am not sure he really fixes what ails the defense or the fact I believe if investing two #15 picks overall at the ILB spots in a 3-4 defense is quite where I would put those resources. I would also much rather have OLB Jarvis Jones be the guys we're excited about rather than an ILB.

Shazier is going to be a good player for us. I see that.

I just don't know if that's going to correlate to wins as much as we think.

We are getting talent. Look at the defensive starters:

1st and 2nd rounders on the D-line.
Three 1st and a 2nd rounder in the LB's.
1st and 2nd rounder at safety.

Cornerback and nose tackle is where this team keeps "getting by" with mid-round guys.

I guess I still see the need of a 1st round CB as more important than another 1st round ILB. I mean last year I wanted Xavier Rhodes and this year I would have traded back and picked up Dennard or Roby. Two years in a row I've pushed for CB talent and instead the team went to LB's. And I've also pushed for more tries as NT too. I picked Josh Chapman one year. Since I would NEVER have traded a future 3rd round pick for Landry Jones, that pick could have turned into Louis Nix. Just examples of how I would be looking to improve every positional grouping a bit differently than the Steelers have been.

We will see how it works out.

 

[mightyguru]

Peezy comes off the sideline onto the field to furiously chest bump Shazier after the int...lol...he better watch that stuff. Flag happy ******** will get him

 

[Steelerfan81]

Shazier was a stud on special teams also. I believe he made two solo tackles.

 

[Steelers1356]

In the Steelers system Dennard would've been a wasted pick over Shazier.

 

[black and gold apex]

WOW what a pleasant surprise, now see if Tomlin allows him to play.

 

[SteelerAl]

Typical bullshit from Del. I didn't actually see the game, but let me tell everyone who did why I'm smarter than Colbert...

 

[Stryker]

We didn't trade the 3rd round pick for Jones, we did it for Shamarko.

Also, since I WATCHED the game, I do like the way Shazier moved. He was making tackles on people that weren't his man. Though I will say, his best tackle was on special teams, but he was fast, decisive, and though he got pushed for a couple yards after the initial contact, he took his men down.

I don't undervalue linebackers in Pit. They are the engine to what we do on defense. Players like Lambert, Kirkland, Farrior, and Timmons were big pieces to our puzzle the years we made it to superbowls.

I understand the metrics involved in an offensive win vs defensive win, but those metrics fail to incorporate the actual first downs made. You can have 2 offensive 'wins' with a 3rd and 2 and fail to make a first down. Does that negate the previous wins? How about when the team is then stopped again on 4th down (as we did twice last night). Makes those offensive wins moot IMHO.

It's the trouble with statistics. You can use them to find trends, but never for absolutes.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I was skeptical about the Shazier draft pick. However, after watching him in camp and now in the game, I see why they made the choice they did. Could the Steelers have gotten by with Spence or Williams starting? Absolutely, both look like starting caliber backups. Bottom line is that the Steelers need talent to win football games and it looks like they may have drafted the best available talent at the draft position. It's not like he is going to be a plug and play steady player. Shazier has the ability to be a playmaker from the interior of the defense.

 

[Steelerfan81]

I didn't watch the game (although I saw parts of the 2nd half on that website).

The interception by Shazier was impressive. Very athletic. If you scout that, you perk up a bit. No doubt about that.

I try not to read too much into the tackle stats. The Bills ran 45 offensive plays in the first half. That's A LOT. Hopefully we don't allow a team to run that many 1st half plays the rest of the year. The Bills ran 18 times for 64 yards, which isn't bad for a 1st half.

Of Shazier's 7 tackles on defense only ONE would be considered a "defensive stop/success". Here they are:

3rd and 2 - Pass for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Run/Scramble for 5 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
2nd and 5 - Run for 2 yards (Shazier tackle) - Defensive win
3rd and 7 - Pass for 7 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Run for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win
1st and 10 - Pass for 5 years (Shazier/Timmons tackle) - Offensive win
2nd and 5 - Run for 4 yards (Shazier tackle) - Offensive win

So while I agree Shazier was "active", I'm not sure I consider a lot of what the defense was doing a super success. They did some nice things, but giving up 12 first downs, 5 of 9 3rd down chances and 212 yards to E. J. Manuel's offense isn't exactly something I'd brag about.

It's pre-season. I don't want to read too much into it, but not sure I agree with getting excited when a guy tackles somebody after a good play by the offense.

The interception was outstanding. No doubt we need more stuff like that for this defense.

I don't think you can define his play from looking at the game log. I think everyone has already made these points but he was an animal out there. Was always near the ball and everyone in the stands was talking about him. Let's hope he progresses and stays healthy. But he is something to be excited about I feel.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I don't think you can define his play from looking at the game log. I think everyone has already made these points but he was an animal out there. Was always near the ball and everyone in the stands was talking about him. Let's hope he progresses and stays healthy. But he is something to be excited about I feel.

Del may be the only person not impressed with Shazier's play last night. Dude was running by people to make tackles.

 

[LastRide]

Pretty sure Shazier is still playing with a bit of a sore knee. So far he's looking good.

 

[CorpusDsteelers]

I like how Del tells it like he sees it and doesn't sugar coat it and cares less about what people think. Yes he does need to go back and watch the first half like me after work.

 

[Lloyds legend]

Shazier looked great, flew to the football.

 

[Vader]

The only bad play I remember from Shazier was his slipping on the TE and letting him get 24 yards. Most of the time he was Johnnie on the spot. Yes, some of the plays were down the field. But some of those plays he was coming off his guy to make the tackle. Also the DL was horrible at times. So the OL could get to the 2nd level.

 

[SteelChip]

I would like to hear from del on this.

Typical bullshit from Del. I didn't actually see the game, but let me tell everyone who did why I'm smarter than Colbert...

I like how Del tells it like he sees it and doesn't sugar coat it and cares less about what people think. Yes he does need to go back and watch the first half like me after work.

I love it. Someone asks for Dels opinion and then he gets slammed for giving it. Only on the SN .
I appreciate your insight Del, even if it makes my rose colored glasses fog....LOL

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to deljzc again.

 

[SteelerFan448]

The only bad play I remember from Shazier was his slipping on the TE and letting him get 24 yards. Most of the time he was Johnnie on the spot. Yes, some of the plays were down the field. But some of those plays he was coming off his guy to make the tackle. Also the DL was horrible at times. So the OL could get to the 2nd level.

The defensive line hasn't played great and McLendon was especially poor against the run. With their athletic linebackers, I hope they make a serious commitment to a real 3-4 NT for their base defense.