This past game he looked like he was shot out of a cannon.
He seriously always has. The one thing Worilds has had in spades since his Va. Tech days is that crazy first step.
he's a jerk. i sat on him for maybe three years while he waited for his shot. he stunk it up long enough that i dropped him. now he suddenly gets productive? jerk.
He's gotten the jerk is more like it. A little at least.
Guy was brought in as what the Steelers hoped would be an eventual replacement for James Harrison....but then Harrison held on a season or two longer than I think they anticipated he might, given his back issues/etc. Either way, in Worilds' handful of starts over his first few years he proved that he could get after the passer, but he also proved that he was far, FAR more productive when playing on the left side.
The rub there was that within that time frame they Steelers had given LaMarr Woodley an enormous contract,which he promptly used to eat himself to Michelin Man-esque proportions. That actually wound up getting JW on the field at Sam for more than a few snaps for the first time, as Woodely started getting "out of shape, fat guy injuries"(hamstrings, groins, etc). Worilds wasn't a Pro Bowler or anything, but when put out there at the Sam he was almost always productive and that first step was apparent, even when he'd look overmatched, or would overrun plays. He really just needed more reps. With Woodley's contract though, he wasn't getting benched once he'd return healthy.
Worilds is another guy who is sort of a microcosm of what the Steelers organization needs to change about "how they do business" a bit. They almost NEVER allow rookies to play much on defense, citing "how difficult it is to grasp LeBeau's scheme" (While that may be true, it's football....how hard can it be? I digress). By doing that, they fall into the trap of never letting their young talent fully develop until around year 3....just in time for them to hit FA. As they are almost always running a knife's blade under the cap, because of past contracts to their now aging core, any guy like Worilds(or, say, Keenan Lewis before him) basically prices themselves out of the Steelers plans just by finally getting consistent PT. Worilds has stated that the sporadic nature of his PT really kicked him in the nuts as far as getting a good feel for the scheme, FWIW. He's finally feeling comfortable and it shows.
Word around the twittersphere from beat types is that the team reeeeeally wants to retain him going forward(hence the talk of moving Woodley over to the right side) and I think they'd probably even cut Woodley to do it....if it weren't for that albatross contract. They just can't do it yet and it'll likely wind up costing them the guy who looks to be the superior player at this stage.
