Keisel Officially A "Rover" (1 Viewer)

[Memphis Foundry]

Reposting this from the Steelers thread in the Shark Pool. This move has been rumored for most of this offseason but it looks like it is actually happening. After the Steelers drafted two OLBs in the first three rounds, I wasn't sure that it would. But this should make Keisel a very interesting prospect in leagues where the scoring is sack-heavy.

Steelers' Keisel loves new role as rover

STEELERS MINICAMP

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Forget whether the Steelers will run a 3-4 or a 4-3 defense. Are NFL offenses ready for their 99 alignment?

It does not yet have a name, but 99 might be appropriate given the tasks the player wearing that jersey number will be asked to do in some new defenses.

Defensive coordinator **** LeBeau hopes that Brett Keisel can do for his front seven what strong safety Troy Polamalu does for his secondary -- a do-it-all from all over the field. Keisel still will be listed as the team's right defensive end on the depth chart, but in new defenses LeBeau introduced at the minicamps, he can wind up anywhere, before the snap and after it.

"He's just technically a roving linebacker is what he is," LeBeau said. "He's moving around, depending on where we put him and tell him where to end up. He won't always be just rushing as he is as a defensive lineman. We think he can cause some offenses some problems."

Think Mike Vrabel and former Raven Adalius Thomas of New England, or Junior Seau in his heyday. All three of them are linebackers. Keisel is a 6-foot-5, 285-pound end with a linebacker's mentality and athletic ability. He led all Steelers defenders with 23 quarterback pressures last season playing in a 3-4 scheme designed for the outside linebackers to pressure the quarterback. His 5.5 sacks ranked third on the team, 1.5 behind leader Joey Porter (who had 12 pressures).

Kevin Colbert, the Steelers' director of football operations, said the defense did not put enough heat on quarterbacks last season, so using Keisel in this manner is a way to try to get more pressure, plus confuse the quarterback.

Keisel served as an emergency backup outside linebacker the past two years and can play there if they need him.

"He's shown us the athleticism that lets us know he can operate in space and yet present some pretty good problems size-wise up there at the line of scrimmage," LeBeau said. "We're going to try to take advantage of his particular talents there."

In the new defenses, Keisel can line up in a three-point stance at right end and, at the snap of the ball or just before it, jump up and rush from the left -- or middle -- or drop into coverage. He can stand up in his initial alignment anywhere along the front, then switch into something else.

"I love it," said Keisel, who cut his teeth on special teams before he became a full-time starter last season. "I think it just really causes the offense problems. They don't know if I'm rushing or if I'm dropping into coverage. They don't know where I'm rushing from. They don't know if I'm containing or coming up the middle. It causes a lot of problems for them.

"We'll do it out of the 3-4, do it out of the 4-3, we'll do it out of everything."

His teammates seem to love it as well.

"They just have him moving around, trying to get the offensive linemen to know where he's at all times," left outside linebacker Clark Haggans said. "Sometimes he's blitzing inside, sometimes he's coming off the edge."

Keisel said he takes his inspiration from Polamalu, who can cover an entire field even before the snap. Polamalu has lined up outside of left end and at the snap of the ball speed around right end to blitz.

"He comes up and acts like he's doing one thing and does the complete opposite," Keisel said. "He's the master at it, no question."

If Keisel can pull it off, it will give a new meaning to disguising defenses.

"When the defense is called, I know where I'm supposed to be at the finish at the snap of the ball," Keisel said. "We're just experimenting with some things right now and, hopefully, we'll run them right and we can use them."

LeBeau has used players in a similar way in the past, but never in his two tenures with the Steelers. He has to go back to the late 1980s, early '90s to a player named Skip McClendon with the Cincinnati Bengals, who was 6-6, 300. But McClendon only had eight sacks in his entire career.

Baltimore has done it a lot, although with Thomas gone to New England it might prevent the Ravens from effectively deploying those types of defenses.

"It's a lot of what Baltimore did last year, they caused offenses a lot of problems," Keisel said. "Hopefully, we can do the same thing."

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com. )

Link

 

[Jene Bramel]

Thanks Keith.

As a Bengal fan, I'll be happy for **** LeBeau to drop Brett Keisel into coverage whenever he likes. I don't care how many quarterback pressures he had as a DT, he doesn't exactly strike the fear of an elite pass rusher or cover backer to me. You'd think **** would've learned his lesson with the great Skip McClendon.

Also pretty interesting that LeBeau actually said "...we'll do it out of the 4-3..." :whoosh:

 

[redman]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.
The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

 

[Memphis Foundry]

Thanks Keith.As a Bengal fan, I'll be happy for **** LeBeau to drop Brett Keisel into coverage whenever he likes. I don't care how many quarterback pressures he had as a DT, he doesn't exactly strike the fear of an elite pass rusher or cover backer to me. You'd think **** would've learned his lesson with the great Skip McClendon. Also pretty interesting that LeBeau actually said "...we'll do it out of the 4-3..."

Keisel's got some pretty decent moves in short to medium range but I wouldn't want to see him try to extend coverage more than about 10-15 yards downfield, though. LeBeau has actually been much more nonchalant than I expected about downplaying the scheme transition and its importance to the team this offseason. All I can say as a Steelers fan is GB him for not making a religious crusade out of it. That way we'll wind up with whatever works best on the field, which is cool with me.

 

[Sigmund Bloom]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.
The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

:X Years and years to build an interlocking roster and scheme down the drain...

I hope Im wrong, but I sense a 6-10 type season coming.

Why rebuild the defense when the defense (except the secondary) wasn't a problem?

 

[Jene Bramel]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.
The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

:X Years and years to build an interlocking roster and scheme down the drain...

I hope Im wrong, but I sense a 6-10 type season coming.

Why rebuild the defense when the defense (except the secondary) wasn't a problem?

I feel your pain man. Even as a Bengal fan, the Steeler 3-4 was a beautiful thing to watch.Still, in the era where more and more teams are adding elements of a 3-4 defense and there is more competition for the best 'tweener prospects while the number of undersized backers seems to be growing exponentially, it will be very difficult for any 3-4 team to get the monopoly on 3-4 OLB that the Steelers had for so long.

And I really liked how aggressive Tomlin's Viking defense was last season. Given the right 4-3 edge rusher(s) and LB corps with Polamalu, the Steeler brand of defense may have a different skin but keep the same Steeler guts.

 

[redman]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.
The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

Why keep Lebeau then? He's a 3-4 guy, through and through. I just think this is going to be a painful transition year for a defense that was pretty good. Once again, I see a coach in Tomlin who places more value on "his" scheme than on the talents of the players on his team.

 

[Jene Bramel]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.

The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

Why keep Lebeau then? He's a 3-4 guy, through and through. I just think this is going to be a painful transition year for a defense that was pretty good. Once again, I see a coach in Tomlin who places more value on "his" scheme than on the talents of the players on his team.

I'm kind of presenting the Devil's Advocate argument here but I think it's worth considering.On the surface, Tomlin has been very vocal about appreciating LeBeau's knowledge and a marriage of Cover-2 concepts and the 3-4 is certainly possible. The Steelers ran plenty of traditional Cover-2 behind the zone blitz in recent years.

LeBeau will be 70 years old in September, though, and the Tampa-2 scheme works if you've got the personnel. Both Super Bowl teams ran it. The Vikings were a top ten defensive unit last year, improved from a bottom half finish in 2005. The Bucs were a perennial top five defense in their prime and won a Super Bowl running the Tampa-2. I wouldn't fault Tomlin for valuing his scheme. He got what he needed in this draft. A guy with 4-3 edge rush potential and arguably the best all-around 4-3 OLB in the draft.

Why not move to what you know? The Steelers aren't exactly stacked with youth along the front seven.

 

[Biabreakable]

Does it strike anyone else that the Steelers seem to be trying to both maintain their 3-4 defense and also install a 4-3 at the same time?

I'm not referring to a hybrid situation. It just looks to me like they don't have a consistent plan for what they want to do with that defense.

I think they have a plan. I just don't think they're publicly saying that they'll be a 4-3 defense by next season, if not before.To wit:

There were much better fits for the 3-4 than Timmons/Woodley when/where they were drafted. Much better. The Timmons pick screeeeeeeams Tampa-2 WLB to me. He'll have to be lightning quick to get to the QB against NFL OTs because he'll get pancaked if they get their hands on him.
The attempted redemption of Ike Taylor is with the Cover-2 in mind.
Ryan McBean might be a better 4-3 DT (UT) than 3-4 end, although he'll do okay there.
It's the last year of Clark Haggans' contract.
Brent Keisel is being tried as a rover. Precursor to a 4-3 SLB role?There may still be elements of a hybrid in place in future years. But, to me, similar to how the Belichick hybrids are predominantly 3-4, the Steelers look to be moving toward a predominantly 4-3 hybrid.

Years and years to build an interlocking roster and scheme down the drain...

I hope Im wrong, but I sense a 6-10 type season coming.

Why rebuild the defense when the defense (except the secondary) wasn't a problem?

I feel your pain man. Even as a Bengal fan, the Steeler 3-4 was a beautiful thing to watch.Still, in the era where more and more teams are adding elements of a 3-4 defense and there is more competition for the best 'tweener prospects while the number of undersized backers seems to be growing exponentially, it will be very difficult for any 3-4 team to get the monopoly on 3-4 OLB that the Steelers had for so long.

And I really liked how aggressive Tomlin's Viking defense was last season. Given the right 4-3 edge rusher(s) and LB corps with Polamalu, the Steeler brand of defense may have a different skin but keep the same Steeler guts.

I agree with this. Other teams have been scooping players that years ago would have fallen to them.Porter is gone and Haggans has never been quite good enough. Recent picks like Jackson have busted and I just don't see the Steelers having ideal personel for running the 3-4 scheme. Nor is it as easy to aquire them with SD Dallas NE Jets and others competing for similar players every year.

While the defense may not have been a problem yet I don't think it has been as strong as it was a few years ago. The Steelers have been focusing on building thier offense the past few years and those later round steals on the defensive side of the ball they used to be able to get just have not been there for them in recent drafts.

LeBeau has been around long enough that he has probobly been able to teach his young HC a few things about the cover 2 as well as other defenses that Tomlin had never thought of before. Especialy ways to zone blitz out of it or other schemes as well as give personel looks that will cause the offense to read one thing while the defense attacks in another way. That is somthing he specializes in adding these wrinkles to otherwise straightforward schemes. I think they will work well together and change can be a good thing here. Especialy for suprise factor.