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The ***OFFICIAL*** 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers Thread (1 Viewer)

BigSteelThrill said:
His productivity is unquestionable. 

Biletnikoff award winner. 

PFFs #2 overall rated WR (Ridley, Washington, Moore, Sutton) ;)

  • OVERVIEW:
  • Maintains speed in and out of breaks. Allows him to get on cornerbacks quickly and run away from them at the top of the route.
  • Ranked eighth in the nation with 3.25 yards per route against Power-5.
  • Led the nation with 815 yards on deep passes in 2017 and ranked second with eight touchdowns on deep passes.
  • Caught all 10 of his slant targets for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Ranked fourth in the nation with 343 yards in contested situations and tied for third with three touchdowns.
  • Top receiver during Senior Bowl practice week.
  • Dominated both the 1-on-1s, particularly against press coverage, and the team drills.
  • Other than posts and slants, did most of his work outside the numbers.  Can he be a middle-of-the-field option?
  • Production certainly padded in Big 12, where he was given plenty of 1-on-1 situations with room to work.
  • Has continued to improve his ability to win at the catch point
  • BOTTOM LINE: Washington has been one of the nation’s most efficient deep receivers over the last three years as he showed the ability to run away from cornerbacks and he’s continued to improve his game in contested situations. His speed plays well on the field, especially his ability to maintain it in and out of his cuts, and he answered questions about facing press coverage with a dominant Senior Bowl. Washington should be in the mix to be one of the top WRs off the board.
#1 in nation on deep pass receptions and yards. #1 "elusiveness rating" in nation on balls caught more then 10 yards down field.
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So why do so many people rank him as low as they do in this WR class?

i think he is excellent. 

 
There has been much talk about the linebacker depth on this team, and it is concerning.  But, I think all of these big safeties are going to play a large role of this defense.  The fact is that the Steelers 'base' defense is really only on the field for a small percentage of plays these days.  I think it's entirely possible to see two of Morgan Burnett, Terrell Edmunds and Marcus Allen on the field at the same time.... most of the time, in a dime/hybrid look.  They should be able to run with TEs in coverage and support the run better than some of their smaller counterparts in the league.  And it could help to disguise coverages.  I.E. Is Burnett the defacto LB this play or is Edmunds?

You can't replace a Ryan Shazier, but this is the most talented group of guys playing in the secondary for the Steelers in a very long time.  I just hope that the coaching staff can put players in the right spots and push the right buttons.

 
brewer said:
There has been much talk about the linebacker depth on this team, and it is concerning.  But, I think all of these big safeties are going to play a large role of this defense.  The fact is that the Steelers 'base' defense is really only on the field for a small percentage of plays these days.  I think it's entirely possible to see two of Morgan Burnett, Terrell Edmunds and Marcus Allen on the field at the same time.... most of the time, in a dime/hybrid look.  They should be able to run with TEs in coverage and support the run better than some of their smaller counterparts in the league.  And it could help to disguise coverages.  I.E. Is Burnett the defacto LB this play or is Edmunds?

You can't replace a Ryan Shazier, but this is the most talented group of guys playing in the secondary for the Steelers in a very long time.  I just hope that the coaching staff can put players in the right spots and push the right buttons.
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:goodposting:

 
JJ Wilcox was cut.

FromSteelers Depot -

"

In one of the expected moves of the offseason, whether it was going to happen before or after training camp is the question, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the release of safety J.J. Wilcox.

 Pittsburgh Steelers

✔
@steelers
 We have released S J.J. Wilcox.

MORE: http://stele.rs/eXXH8G

3:02 PM - Apr 30, 2018
275
122 people are talking about this
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Wilcox’s fate was sealed after the team drafted two safeties over the weekend, selecting Terrell Edmunds in the first and Marcus Allen in the fifth. Wilcox’s $3.125 million base salary had a lot to do with the decision as well.

Traded from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last preseason for a 6th round pick. Wilcox was an unproductive move. His work at safety was middling, though to his credit, he did intercept one pass, but after the group got healthy, his repeated mistakes on special teams made him friends with the bench, inactive for most of the rest of the season.

Locks for the roster at safety include: Morgan Burnett, Sean Davis, Edmunds, and I assume it’s safe to keep Nat Berhe in that camp as well. Allen will be the favorite for the #5 spot with only Malik Golden, returning after suffering a groin injury last season, there to really offer a push."

 
moondog said:
JJ Wilcox was cut.
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Was definitely expected, and will save them some from the cap.

The only other 2 cuts I could see coming, in terms of cap space, are Landry Jones and Cody Sensebaugh. If we think that we have enough to move on without them, we can save $3 million by cutting them, $2 million of that is from Jones. If Rudolph takes the #2 spot I wouldn't be surprised if we rolled with Dobbs at #3.

 
steelers1080 said:
Was definitely expected, and will save them some from the cap.

The only other 2 cuts I could see coming, in terms of cap space, are Landry Jones and Cody Sensebaugh. If we think that we have enough to move on without them, we can save $3 million by cutting them, $2 million of that is from Jones. If Rudolph takes the #2 spot I wouldn't be surprised if we rolled with Dobbs at #3.
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I think Dobbs is probably the odd man out though I think they could cut and then stash him on the practice squad.

 
So, I’m having a bit of a second thought that what I’ve seen of Rudolph is the correct assessment of him. I’ve been of the belief he locks onto WR’s and has trouble feeling pressure but maybe I underestimate his room to grow:

“On Mason Rudolph being first-round caliber
When compared to Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Lamar Jackson, new Steelers QB Mason Rudolph had the second-highest Independent Quarterback Rating (IQR). IQR is a stat that measures QB effectiveness, taking into account the factors that he most controls.

Rudolph also had the highest IQR among himself and the first-round quarterbacks when playing against a man defense.”

Link

 
Does Juju move to the slot? Can the guy we signed from Pitt play there well? Washington is the replacement for Bryant, but who replaces Rogers?

 
Finally, Big Ben feels threatened. Big Ben is now saying he wants to play 3-5 more years. If he can maintain a high level of play, I'm all for it. And I think it's drafting a potential replacement that has finally gotten him to either become competitive again, or to be honest about how long he wants to play. I expect the will he/won't he retirement talk to stop.

If Rudolph shows himself to be a very good QB, I anticipate the Steelers starting him in 2020 or 2021 (assuming Ben stays healthy). If Rudolph is pretty good, then I think the Steelers let Ben play himself into the sunset.

 
steelers1080 said:
Finally, Big Ben feels threatened. Big Ben is now saying he wants to play 3-5 more years. If he can maintain a high level of play, I'm all for it. And I think it's drafting a potential replacement that has finally gotten him to either become competitive again, or to be honest about how long he wants to play. I expect the will he/won't he retirement talk to stop.

If Rudolph shows himself to be a very good QB, I anticipate the Steelers starting him in 2020 or 2021 (assuming Ben stays healthy). If Rudolph is pretty good, then I think the Steelers let Ben play himself into the sunset.
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I hope Ben plays 3-5 more years, but it feels like he's the aging lion threatened by the newcomer to the pack.  First it was, "I'm not guaranteeing I'll play next year," then it was "I may play three more years," then (as soon as they have a new QB on a 4 year deal) "I want to play 3-5 more years."

 
steelers1080 said:
Does Juju move to the slot? Can the guy we signed from Pitt play there well? Washington is the replacement for Bryant, but who replaces Rogers?
Click to expand...
Juju played in the slot a lot last year.  IMO, that's where he'll be much of the time with AB and Washington outside.

 
steelers1080 said:
Finally, Big Ben feels threatened. Big Ben is now saying he wants to play 3-5 more years. If he can maintain a high level of play, I'm all for it. And I think it's drafting a potential replacement that has finally gotten him to either become competitive again, or to be honest about how long he wants to play. I expect the will he/won't he retirement talk to stop.

If Rudolph shows himself to be a very good QB, I anticipate the Steelers starting him in 2020 or 2021 (assuming Ben stays healthy). If Rudolph is pretty good, then I think the Steelers let Ben play himself into the sunset.
Click to expand...
It's just him saying whatever he feels like saying.  He pissed and moaned last year because he hated Haley.  Haley's gone now so Ben is refreshed.  Until he gets drilled in the head again, then he'll start talking about leaving the game while he can still eat solid food and play with his kid yadda yadda.  It's what happens to old QB's.  They live in the moment and speak about the moment.  When it's time it's time and that's when he'll go.

 
The Steelers just did a very classy move - they converted almost all of Shazier's salary this year  to a bonus so he gets the money immediately instead of   getting weekly checks during the season. 

From theredzone.org

"

Source: Shazier's salary converted to bonus
May
3
5/3/2018 10:01:48 AM
|More
The Pittsburgh Steelers have converted $8.26 million of linebacker Ryan Shazier's $8.718 million base salary for 2018 into a signing bonus, Field Yates of ESPN reports.  This according to a league source.

In doing so, Shazier will receive this money immediately, a solid gesture by the organization for a beloved player throughout Pittsburgh.

Shazier continues to rehab and recover from a spinal injury suffered last season in a game against the Bengals. While his football career remains in doubt at this point, he has made notable progress, including an inspiring moment in which he walked across the stage to announce a team draft choice during the 2018 NFL draft last week in Arlington, Texas.

Shazier, 25, was placed on the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday, signaling the end to his 2018 season.

http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/69857/Source--Shazier-s-salary-converted-to-bonus

 
moondog said:
The Steelers just did a very classy move - they converted almost all of Shazier's salary this year  to a bonus so he gets the money immediately instead of   getting weekly checks during the season. 

From theredzone.org
Click to expand...
It's cool and all, but they didn't do it for him.  They did it because it lets them reduce this year's salary cap and amortize the money over the course of multiple seasons - up to 5 when there is an extension in place.  I think since there are no additional years it's still only 20% allocated to 2018 and the remaining 80% all hits next year - still a very effective way to kick the can down the road a bit. 

 
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Hankmoody said:
It's cool and all, but they didn't do it for him.  They did it because it lets them reduce this year's salary cap and amortize the money over the course of multiple seasons - up to 5 when there is an extension in place.  I think since there are no additional years it's still only 20% allocated to 2018 and the remaining 80% all hits next year - still a very effective way to kick the can down the road a bit. 
Click to expand...
   Shazier is on the team's fifth year option this season.  All of his money counts to this years cap.   

From ESPN  

"

Steelers convert most of Ryan Shazier's salary to signing bonus
10:31 AM CT
Field Yates
ESPN Insider
 
The Pittsburgh Steelers have converted $8.26 million of linebacker Ryan Shazier's $8.718 million base salary for 2018 into a signing bonus, according to a league source.

In doing so, Shazier will receive this money immediately, a solid gesture by the organization for a beloved player throughout Pittsburgh.

A source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler that Shazier approached the Steelers about the conversion and the move was done at his request.

Shazier continues to rehab and recover from a spinal injury suffered last season in a game against the Bengals. While his football career remains in doubt at this point, he has made notable progress, including an inspiring moment in which he walked across the stage to announce a team draft choice during the 2018 NFL draft last week in Arlington, Texas.

Shazier, 25, was placed on the physically unable to perform list on Wednesday, signaling the end to his 2018 season.

While the move has no salary-cap consequences for the Steelers, it's a move that benefits Shazier in receiving the vast majority of his salary now."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/23392247/pittsburgh-steelers-convert-most-ryan-shazier-salary-signing-bonus

 
Well good on them then.  They could have, and may still/have, structured it so the cap hit mostly falls down the road - depends on how they want to write it up.  These things tend to get updated once all of the details are released.  Either way it's good for him so I'm all for it.

 
I still think the Steelers should have signed Shazier to a 3-year deal for ~$11 million or so. It adds money to the deal for a player who will probably never play again, and allows them to spread out the cap hit over 3 years. And they can still make most of the contract a signing bonus to give him the most money up front.

Not sure if this is allowed with seriously injured players though.

 
steelers1080 said:
I still think the Steelers should have signed Shazier to a 3-year deal for ~$11 million or so. It adds money to the deal for a player who will probably never play again, and allows them to spread out the cap hit over 3 years. And they can still make most of the contract a signing bonus to give him the most money up front.

Not sure if this is allowed with seriously injured players though.
Click to expand...
Sure it is, but it's not a good deal for either party unless they make the years voidable, which they could have done (actually it's what I expected they would do, to spread out the hit).  They may have just decided to eat it all now and start next year clean though.

 
Hankmoody said:
Sure it is, but it's not a good deal for either party unless they make the years voidable, which they could have done (actually it's what I expected they would do, to spread out the hit).  They may have just decided to eat it all now and start next year clean though.
Click to expand...
No point in saving that money now. FA is done, draft is done. Eat it this season. Roster is pretty much set.

 
Bojang0301 said:
No point in saving that money now. FA is done, draft is done. Eat it this season. Roster is pretty much set.
Click to expand...
True, just kind of wish they'd done it immediately, so they'd have the money for Preston Brown or Avery Williamson, or another better ILB. Don't have a ton of faith in Bostic.

 
steelers1080 said:
True, just kind of wish they'd done it immediately, so they'd have the money for Preston Brown or Avery Williamson, or another better ILB. Don't have a ton of faith in Bostic.
Click to expand...
They had Bostic ranked highly when he came out. Anything is going to look bad in comparison to replacing Shazier. I think they are changing the defense too. Burnett played a hybrid S role in GB at times and Edmunds has been talked about in the same way. Marcus Allen is definitely a box safety, so I’m curious to see if there is some type of adjustment they think they can make. They may be mimicking what Arizona has done the past few years with keeping three safeties on the field most of the game.

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
Am I the only one who thinks Justin Hunter could emerge from camp as a starter?
Click to expand...
Maybe not a starter, but he'll probably see some time this year.  If Washington, AB, or Juju get hurt, it may be a lot of time.  He was originally signed as Martavis insurance, now is certainly the time to cash in that policy.

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
Am I the only one who thinks Justin Hunter could emerge from camp as a starter?
Click to expand...
Probably not the only one, but definitely in the minority. He's not guaranteed to even make the team. 

 
Leeroy Jenkins said:
Am I the only one who thinks Justin Hunter could emerge from camp as a starter?
Click to expand...
I have already pointed out to you that Washington has big time speed and is a deep threat. Go ahead and continue this narrative though. The 21.12 mph high speed at the senior bowl Washington ran was only .6 mph slower than Bryant’s highest speed of 21.72 mph last season. 

 
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The post-draft void is so boring. The huge build-up, then the main event, and even a short scrum afterwards to scoop up undrafted free agents, followed by some expected cuts. Now we sit in a lull until the rookies get signed, probably by mid-june, and wait and see if Bell gets signed, which would probably happen around July 16th, if at all. There will be small things happening from now until the end of July, but nothing really worth reading about.

Sadly, while no news is usually good news, it's also boring.

 
steelers1080 said:
The post-draft void is so boring. The huge build-up, then the main event, and even a short scrum afterwards to scoop up undrafted free agents, followed by some expected cuts. Now we sit in a lull until the rookies get signed, probably by mid-june, and wait and see if Bell gets signed, which would probably happen around July 16th, if at all. There will be small things happening from now until the end of July, but nothing really worth reading about.

Sadly, while no news is usually good news, it's also boring.
Click to expand...
Rookie mini camp is May 11-13th I believe.

 
Headline: "Steelers Hire Fisher as a Scout"

I was like, what? That's crazy! Nooooooooooo.

But it's ok guys, it wasn't Jeff Fisher.

 
So it seems like the idea is to have safeties who can act as LBs and we can disguise the defense better and have a lot of athletes on the field who can tackle. I kinda like that new “base” defensive idea. How does that help defend the big plays that were given up far too often last year though?

 
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Leeroy Jenkins said:
Cowher to the Panthers for Steelers south?
Click to expand...
That would be interesting. I thought I remembered hearing that if he returned he'd want to coach in Carolina because his Daughters live near there, but I can't recall for sure if that's true or not. I do think that Rivera is overrated and should be replaced if they find an adequate candidate, which I think Cowher is.

That said, as a Steelers/Skins fan, I'd rather he went to DC as long as Bruce Allen is gone. Don't think that'll ever happen though. The fans are good, but the owner is possibly the worst in the league.

 
It sounds like Edmunds and Allen are bonding really well, which is great since they are expected to be the core of our defense on the back end (allegedly).

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
I believe they'll make a run at him. Matter or cap space/salary demand, but if he's willing to take less to likely start for a Super Bowl contender than he could get somewhere else, I think it's a possibility. 
Click to expand...
I think the only way they can sign him is if we restructure someone, or sign Leveon long term because then we can lessen his cap hit this year.

Also, read that Dupree and Watt will be switching sides. This could be interesting. I wonder what they saw that made them think this is a good idea. Maybe the right side drops into coverage more, and Watt was much better at that than Dupree.

 
steelers1080 said:
I think the only way they can sign him is if we restructure someone, or sign Leveon long term because then we can lessen his cap hit this year.

Also, read that Dupree and Watt will be switching sides. This could be interesting. I wonder what they saw that made them think this is a good idea. Maybe the right side drops into coverage more, and Watt was much better at that than Dupree.
Click to expand...
They seem to like Matakevich and maybe think Bostic is the answer as a 3-down guy, so they may think they're set.  Also, with all the box safeties drafted, you have to think they're planning to hybridize the defense.  However, they did do some sniffing around Kendricks in the past and may just not have been able to fit his $6M salary under the cap.  If he's willing to take a short and/or inexpensive deal, I'd have to think they'd at ;east want to talk to him.  Hard to say.

 
If they think Bostic is an answer as a 3-down guy then they haven't been paying attention to his career, like, at all.  He's a run stopper and that's about it.

Kendricks would be an immediate upgrade, but as you say....."money talks" etc, etc.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
They seem to like Matakevich and maybe think Bostic is the answer as a 3-down guy, so they may think they're set.  Also, with all the box safeties drafted, you have to think they're planning to hybridize the defense.  However, they did do some sniffing around Kendricks in the past and may just not have been able to fit his $6M salary under the cap.  If he's willing to take a short and/or inexpensive deal, I'd have to think they'd at ;east want to talk to him.  Hard to say.
Click to expand...
I like Matakevich too, a lot. I think he's got high character and fights as hard as anybody, but his athleticism limits him. He just can't cover well enough and is a liability on passing downs. They might think we're set with a lot of ILBs and lots of safeties, but Kendricks would definitely be an upgrade, just one we might not be able to afford.

 
bananafish said:
I'm really disappointed in Art Rooney for supporting this ridiculous position on the anthem that the NFL is taking. I guess I naively thought the Steelers were better than this.

When combined with the head injury concerns I find my commitment to professional football wavering for the first time in my adult life. Some things are more important than sports.

I know, I know, don't let the door hit me on the ### on the way out.
Click to expand...
I think it's a decent compromise. I'd rather they allow any kind of protest as I enjoy civil disobedience and believe it's a right incumbent with being an American citizen. But I also understand the pressure from advertisers and the need to sell tickets and attract eyeballs, so there needed to be some sort of middle ground. I don't really mind it. Then again, I don't care much, I have more important concerns in life. 

 
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