Is Steelers Draft Pick Landry Jones The Heir Apparent To Roethlisberger?

by Jason and Jayden

The 115th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Landry Jones, has great size, a very strong arm which allows him to make every NFL throw, has a fairly quick release, can fit passes into tight spots, has good timing on his throws and has good accuracy.

And there is little chance he will succeed Ben Roethlisberger as the starting quarterback for the Steelers.

There are two ways to look at this: Barring an injury or some sort of contract dispute, it is too early to draft an actual replacement. But, then, Jones has the requisite tools that you'd want as the man to make sure Renegade keeps playing week after week. Let's go over each.

Admittedly, the injury possibility is a strong possibility with Big Ben. As Skip Bayless said on ESPN's First Take during an interview with Steelers' wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders on Wednesday: "This man is hurt every week....His body is about 30 years older than he is." Adding the motorcycle accident as a reason along with the many hits and sacks he's taken throughout his career.

All in all what Bayless said said is valid: Big Ben is hurt a lot. There very well could be an injury, whether accumulative or via a freak Joe Theismann-like play, that could shorten his career. Having a safety-valve heir apparent in place is smart business.

That part of it, then, makes sense. Because, as Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner said about the situation when Jones was drafted, it was time to "freshen up the (quarterbacks') room." With Geppetto and the Blue Fairy still working on repairing Byron Leftwich, and Uncle Charlie Batch due to receive his AARP card any day now, it was time. - http://tinyurl.com/cme2ycw

At the same time, though, one of the reasons Todd Haley was brought in to be the new offensive coordinator was to limit the hits on Big Ben. As Sanders said in the First Take episode referred to before, "coach Haley and the coaches, they are all worried about the injuries. But they're trying to get the ball out of his hands a lot faster. And, you know, I'm looking forward to Ben taking off because he's definitely in his prime."

That they are and that he is. Before Big Ben's injury, he was on pace for the fewest sacks of his career (23 in 2005), and still ended up being sacked "only" 30 times. The real difference in this is that he suffered the fewest sacks per pass attempt in his career (6.3%).

He also was enjoying a great statistical year that had him in several MVP talks, as he was fifth in the league in passing, was completing 65.2% of his passes, had 15 touchdown passes to only four interceptions, was leading the NFL in third-down passing and was on pace for having one of the best seasons of his career. A well-rested Big Ben will look to get back to that to extend his career.

As far as there being a potential contract dispute next season, while it is very unlikely that one occurs, Big Ben would have the upper hand. His Salary Cap number in 2014 is almost $19 million, and if the Steelers were to restructure him yet again it would only save about $5.5 million in Cap space. That would then push his 2015 Cap hit to almost $24 million. The Steelers simply can't have him or anyone else carrying that big of a cap hit in 2015. So, expect an extension to be signed next season, a la Tom Brady, that will keep Big Ben in Black and Gold for the remainder of his career.

Jones, though, is an intriguing proposition for the future. He was a very productive quarterback at Oklahoma, finishing with an amazing 16,646 career passing yards, 123 touchdowns and several school records on top of the attributes listed at the outset. Plus, he was known for being able to break free from defenders attempting to grab at him and also complete passes with defenders on him...like another passer you might call to mind. And Uncle Charlie believes that the Steelers felt it was time to more directly address the issue.

“[U]ltimately, I think this isn’t about replacing me. Big picture, maybe they’re thinking, ‘Can we develop Landry Jones to be the starter? Maybe two years from now, he could be our guy for the next 10 years.’ We don’t know. But with the contracts for quarterbacks these days, he’d certainly be a heck of a lot cheaper than Ben at age 34 or 35 or 36.” - http://tinyurl.com/cxdfswr

That, though, is contrary to what Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said.

"You look at the great quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, they’re in their mid-30s, and Ben’s just 31,” Colbert said. “We think there’s a lot of football and we hope there’s a lot of football left in him, and hopefully it’s even better than he’s been for us. It’s our job to maximize these years that he has left, and we really think that he has a nice stretch in him.” (italics ours)

Then, why draft him in the fourth round? Why draft a fourth rounder at all as your heir apparent? But that aside for now, if it's your job to maximize those years, why not wait for less-polished quarterbacks Tyler Bray of Tennessee or Zac Dysert Miami of Ohio in rounds six or seven? Therefore, if they don't pan out, less is squandered. Plus, the quarterback situation wouldn't look any differently than it does now, and it would provide the time supposedly desired. (I smell future trade bait.)

Plus, while in all fairness to the Steelers, they took Kirk Cousins to dinner the year before, then Bray's father wouldn't have reason to complain. After all, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Steelers did say that they wanted him. - http://tinyurl.com/ckwfte5

Regardless, the only conceivable way that Jones succeeds as the starter is if Big Ben goes down permanently. Otherwise, like was asked by Ed Bouchette, which actually mimics what Colbert said, "How long are you going to groom someone to take his place?"

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TIDBITS: In case you didn't know, the Steelers 15 undrafted free agents are as follows:
defensive end Brian Arnfelt (Northwestern)
linebacker Alan Baxter (Northern Illinois)
guard Nik Embernate (San Diego State)
wide receiver Reggie Dunn (Utah)
offensive tackle Mike Farrell (Penn State)
offensive tackle Mike Golic, Jr. (Notre Dame)
DE Cordian Hagans (LA-Lafayette)
guard Chris Hubbard (UAB)
defensive tackle Omar Hunter (Florida)
long snapper Luke Ingram (Hawaii)
center Joe Madsen (WVU)
RB Curtis McNeal (USC)
center Ivory Wade (Baylor)
defensive tackle Anthony Rashad White (Michigan State)
and WR J.D. Woods (WVU)

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Steelers number changes:
J. Jones, No. 95;
L. Bell, 26;
T. Hawthorne, 30;
L. Jones, 3;
S. Thomas, 29;
M. Wheaton, 11;
V. Williams, 44;
M. Spaeth, 87;
LSH, 34;
Ta'amu, 74;
DVD, 23;
N. Williams, 91;
and J. Brown, 15.

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There will be 41 rookies who will attend Steelers Mini-Camp in all. Here's the link to the information on the Steelers website: http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/41-to-attend-rookie-minicamp/5e804de0-b33e-4a4d-8b4c-d8791d723eb8

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Hey! Did you know that Ben Roethlisberger's sister was in the wedding of new Steelers rookie QB Landry Jones? Carlee is good friends with Jones' wife, Whitney!

...yeah...I didn't care, either.

Catching Up On Steelers Pro Day Visits

photo courtesy of SBNation

The Pittsburgh Steelers' brain trust has been seen at various Pro Days this month, and If It Ain't Steel decided to revisits the visits. We touched on some in previous blog posts, but not all. Therefore, we decided to catch up all involved on those we know about.

To begin, each university has a Pro Day where NFL scouts are allowed to come and watch players participate in the NFL Combine events at their own school. Many believe that players feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings, and should therefore perform better. Generally, the bigger the football university and the greater the quantity of NFL prospects, the greater interest from scouts and coaches generated.

That said:

According to AP.org, and as we brought to you before, the Auburn Pro Day took place on Tuesday, March 5th, and Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler was there and oversaw Corey Lemonier's linebacker drills. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/03/who-will-replace-james-harrison.html

What was Butler's assessment of the defensive end-turned-outside linebacker and third-round prospect?

"He said definitely I could play some linebacker," said Lemonier.

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Kent State Pro Day, also on the Wednesday, March 6th, was visited by Steelers offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr. He was there, along with three other teams' OLine coaches, to see Brian Winters and Josh Kline.

The 6'4", 320-pound Winters played both tackle and guard at Kent State and even made the All-MAC team. Kline is a 6'3", 310-pound left guard.

Reportedly, the Steelers sent their scouts to see the defensive backs at the Nebraska Pro Day on March 7th. They evidently also talked with safeties Daimion Stafford and P.J. Smith.

Stafford is 6'0", 211 lbs. and runs a 4.54/40. Smith is 6'1 1/2", 212-pound strong safety who runs a 4.89/40. Neither is highly touted, and will either be drafted in the last round or not at all. - http://tinyurl.com/dx8873g / http://tinyurl.com/bp3brjn

The Steelers' brass dined with Tyler Bray of Tennessee on Tuesday night, the night before his Pro Day Wednesday, March 20. - http://tinyurl.com/chpq9ka / http://www.govolsxtra.com/videos/detail/tyler-bray-on-uts-pro-day/

At the same time, though, this could actually be little more than a smokescreen. Remember that they did the same last year with Kirk Cousins of Michigan State. Could their reason for going down have been just as much for Cordarrelle Patterson? We don't think so, but time will tell.

Mike Tomlin was at the Georgia Pro Day on Thursday, March 21. There, outside linebacker Jarvis Jones was center stage. Reportedly, though, he had an unimpressive showing with a 4.9/40. The 6'3", 240-pound Jones didn't do well in the linebacker drills, either. - http://tinyurl.com/c2jy4e3

His draft stock has dropped because of the spinal stenosis with which he was diagnosed, though he has since claimed that he was misdiagnosed. Regardless, the addition of a quality outside linebacker is imperative now that, per Ed Bouchette and ESPN, the Steelers have closed the door on James Harrison's return. - http://tinyurl.com/d3txvml

Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner was at the Miami of Ohio Pro Day last Thursday to observe quarterback Zac Dysert, who draws comparisons to fellow alumnus Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And why shouldn't he?

"I've always looked up to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers," the 6'4" 228-pound Dysert said at the NFL Combine. "He grew up 20 minutes from me. Ben was always a big name in our area. It would be exactly like following in his footsteps." - http://tinyurl.com/btp8lru

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert made an appearance Monday at the Ohio State Pro Day, a private audition for third-round prospect John Simon. Colbert was among representatives from "12 teams at Simon's workout, according to a report from NFL.com's Gil Brandt."

"The 6-1, 257-pound Simon starred as a defensive end for the Buckeyes but will likely have to make the transition to outside linebacker in the NFL." - http://tinyurl.com/c2ysege

Finally, as we touched on in our previous post, the Steelers will be at Tulane's Pro Day this week to observe yet another quarterback, the 6'4", 216-pound Ryan Griffin. That's three QB Pro Days now in a little over a week for a team who supposedly isn't in the market for drafting one.

The natural athlete, though, runs a 4.38/40, threw for 9,036 yards and 56 TDs on 836-of-1,396 attempts, and owns the school record for completions, completion percentage, attempts, and ranks second in passing yards and 300-yard games. - http://tinyurl.com/co6y4jl

That's what is known to this point on the private workout visits. If It Ain't Steel will update this post, or follow it up, if the Steelers attend many more Pro Days.

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UPDATE: Just hours after finishing this post, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted this: "@MarkKaboly_Trib: #Steelers player development guy Ray Jackson was at Notre Dame's Pro Day today"

Tight end Tyler Eifert? Maybe.

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The Steelers were at the Texas Longhorns Pro day, presumably to observe the "Tavon Stopper"(refer to our "Playmakers" post). With the loss of free agent safety Will Allen to the DallasCowboys, drafting a quality safety (or two) is imperative since the only safeties on the roster with any real experience are Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark and Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith.
http://nflspinzone.com/2013/03/26/pittsburgh-steelers-at-texas-longhorns-pro-day-kenny-vaccaro-an-option/

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Another visit made this week was to the LSU Pro Day - the location of another safety, Eric Reid. Stay tuned.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY OF THE NFL COMBINE WEEKEND

As we near the end of the NFL's yearly Beefcake Beauty Contest, it's the defensive backs that take center stage today. According to Steelers beat writer and Trib reporter Ken Laird, 59 Defensive Backs met with the press today at the Combine, including "Antwaun Reed of #pitt and D'Anton Lynn & Chaz Powell #pennstate."

Now, on to players who may have an actual chance with the Steelers.

The Good ~

Shawn Zobel of http://draftheadquarters.com and @ShawnZobel_DHQ on Twitter, tweeted this today: "Dontari Poe of Memphis is now the leader at the 2012 Combine with 44 reps on bench." He ultimately led the day and is now officially "Mr. Poe." I want this man on my team. Now.

He's from Memphis, by the way. Randy Fichtner coached at Memphis, by the way. We may have a connection to him, therefore, by the w...well, you get it.

One of the interviews with Steelers GM Kevin Colbert that hasn't gotten any real replay dealt with how various positions, both offensively and defensively, are evaluated and utilized.

Speaking on success at finding a quality outside linebacker for the NFL level, Colbert said: "The challenge is usually in college football there's not a lot of 3-4 defenses, so you don't get to see those linebackers playing the position that you're gonna project them to. So, there's a lot of guesswork involved mainly with how they'll be able to cover, because that's one aspect you don't get to see a lot of in the 4-3 defensive ends in college football." Does that then create in you a greater respect for LaMarr Woodley? It does in me.

When asked about Ben, offensive line and the decision making that goes into this year's draft, Colbert responded: "It's a little different, ya know. It's a little better on the interior, specifically at guard, which is unusual [compared to] how it has been in recent years. Tackles are still good, it's not as deep as it has been, and center is not very deep at all." Do you hear that, Peter Konz?

The subject of small school talent was next addressed, specifically offensive guard Amini Silatolu out of Midwestern State. The 6-3, 320-pounder from became MSU's first consensus All-American after leading NCAA Division II's top-ranked scoring and yardage offense.

Silatolu also finished second in voting for the Gene Upshaw Award which is presented to the top performing lineman in all of NCAA Division II each season. He's expected to be the first small college lineman selected in this year's draft.

The problem, Colbert said, is that "any small school guy...they have to prove that they can do it at the next level because we can't see them. They're missing a step along the way. So, the further down the line you go in college football, division III, II, I-AA, the harder it is to prove that you're worthy of NFL competition because you're not at that level as you're preparing for that next step."

Based on those statements, getting a good-to-great offensive guard is essential. You have the talent in the draft and you have the need for that talent. Which actually touches on another potentially bad situation I'll come back to later.

Colbert spoke on the defense as well, in particular the defensive line. He mentioned how important versatility is and said it's "huge", but that they have to be able to "play in the base defense first. But, if there's other things that they can bring in from an athletic standpoint, that's obviously a bonus."

He went on to cite Brett Keisel as an example of one who, while being good in the base defense, has that aforementioned versatility because "he can also stand up and give some looks as an outside linebacker, or even stand up and rush from the inside. So, it gives the coaches a lot more flexibility in what they can do. Is it necessary? No. Is it a bonus? Yes." Not pointing you out, Dontari Poe. Just looking in your general direction.

The Bad ~

The Steelers are facing a literal changing of the guard on the offensive line. Tackle also, in that Marcus Gilbert is presumably moving to left tackle to replace Max Starks who's season ended due to injury again. There's the issue: the loss of Starks affects quality/depth and experience.

There is Trai Essex who'll likely be brought back, but no one else on the roster or practice squad is going to make anyone think of Joe Thomas or Ryan Clady. So, depth and quality are certainly affected.

Secondly is the experience at the left tackle position now that Gilbert is going to be there. Gilbert has little experience at left tackle, playing it only for approximately a half of a season in college. He played mainly right tackle before his senior year, even playing some guard. So, there will be some on-the-job training for Gilbert next season. Expect an increase in the running game and a lot of three and five step drops, in that case, to aid in Gilbert's growth.

The Ugly...and somewhat hilarious ~

Cornerback prospect Janoris Jenkins has four kids already. Four. They're ages are three, two, one year old and three months old. Joe Reedy, @joereedy on Twitter, stated: "Janoris Jenkins said he hasn't smoked in a year." Well, obviously! He's been otherwise involved. Finally on the subject, Scott Brown of the Trib tweeted: "Janoris Jenkins has 4 kids and 3 arrests from his time at U of Fla. Some team will take a chance on talented CB. Won't be the Steelers." From your lips to God's ears...

One last thing ~

Ken Laird of the Trib tweeted that Isaiah Pead from Cincinnati, who might be a Steelers running back possibility, ran a 4.41 in the 40 yard dash. Laird said that he would be great change of pace back in 4th round or so.

The "Retirement" of Bruce Arians Might Have Been Ill-Timed

As everyone knows by now, Bruce Arians has "retired" from football. Well, at least football played professionally in Western Pennsylvania, that is.

Look, let's just get this out of the way right off the bat: I'm no fan of Bruce Arians. I've been down on him as offensive coordinator since the infamous naked draw on third and six in the January 5th, 2008 Jaguars playoff game. The seed was planted at that point and kept growing with plenty of limbs and flourishes.

Arians' predictability and inconsistency at times were mind-boggling. It was almost as if he sometimes was thinking, "I'll run THIS play. I know it'll work because I just ran it the same way and it didn't work then, so I know they won't be expecting it again so soon. I'm so smart. I deserve a chocolate milk for that. *chocolate milk, chocolate milk, I love chocolate milk...*"

Ok, let me stop...I made him sound like he rode the short bus to school, and that isn't the purpose here. I'm simply writing this in an attempt to temper the actually undeserved and unnecessary Bruce Arians hatred.

While I have no problem overall with the departure of Arians, I just don't have nearly the same urge to run around like the Queen of Hearts either, saying, "Off with his head!" as others do. My biggest issue with this was just the timing. That's what bothers me. Arians' inefficiencies have been evident for a couple of years now. So, if he'd been gone two years ago, I'd have been carpooling with the rest of you to the South Side to help Arians pack. ("Ok, Bruce, what do you need? Just "need", not want. C'mon, move it! Let's get these boxes filled! Move it, move it! Your ride is waiting outside! He's got the engine runnin! Go, go, go! This is the last chopper outta Vietnam!!!")

Now, though, with these young wide receivers, a new, young tight end just starting to blossom and mature, and with your quarterback in his prime, the last thing you want is for that growth to be stunted by a completely new play book with new terminology, hand signals, etc... Thus, the so-called "power play" by the aforementioned QB to promote Randy Fichtner to be the new offensive coordinator.

Without getting too deeply into it, Fichtner has a good track record. He spent time at Memphis from 1990-1993, and then Fichtner returned to Memphis in 2001 to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, instituting a new and effective spread offense that set school records for total offense. His new system allowed the teams to amass prolific offensive statistics, totalling over 5,000 yards in both 2003 and 2004 to rank in the top 10 for both yardage and scoring. A spread offense, by the way which ran the ball over 50% of the time as well.

Tomlin and Fichtner also have a history dating back to 1998 when working at Arkansas St. together. As soon as Tomlin became the Steelers head coach, Fichtner was one of Tomlin's first hires. So, considering he's already the quarterbacks coach, he'd make sense as being the next OC since he would take into consideration what plays the quarterback would want.

Getting back to the main subject, Arians has often been accused of questionable play calling, and of being predictable and/or inconsistent. Ok. Yeah, I'll give you those. Like I said, I've had my problems with him for a while. So, I know all too well about those imperfections. But, with all of that being said, I could still make, and often have made, the argument that there were just as many execution errors that led to the various offensive problems the Steelers had this year as inept play-calling problems caused by Arians.

There are several examples to choose from with regard to the aforementioned issues, both from the OC/play calling and from the execution standpoint. I've already mentioned the 3rd and six play against Jacksonville as one example, so we know Arians can be inept and leave you scratching your head. But there were also good plays that plain and simple were executed poorly. There were numerous missed hot reads, there were dropped passes, over and under thrown passes, missed blocks and missed assignments that were seen all year. All of that plays heavily into the 3rd down and red zone issues as well.

A good example of this involves Hines Ward. This year, Ward became the eighth wide receiver in NFL history to record 1,000 catches. He accomplished it on a shuffle pass in the week 17 game against the Cleveland Browns. Many have expressed dislike for the bubble screen and the shuffle pass both, except when they work of course (and by the way, the numbers show that they work the majority of the time), and this was an occasion when it didn't work.

Why, though, didn't it work? Was it poorly disguised? Poorly timed? No, it was poorly executed. It was a play that would have produced positive yardage had Mike Wallace or, I believe, Jerricho Cotchery, even thought about blocking D'Qwell Jackson. Instead, Jackson comes in untouched to register it as a completed pass for -3 yards. Poor execution of a potentially good play.

There are plenty of other examples to choose from, as well. Plus, remember that we are dealing with a pass-happy QB here who has the right to call audibles and change plays as he sees fit.

There are those times when we don't know the exact play called, but the results were obviously still basically player error. A good example would be from the 49ers game this past season.

In that game, Ben had a great opportunity to check down to his running back, but instead decided to force the ball into double coverage. Mendenhall was just standing there waiting. He even waived his arm(s) at one point. Ben just said, "Nope, I'm Ben Roethlisberger. I can do this." Mendenhall just stared, jumped, and shouted to get his attention. "Nope, I'm Ben Roethlisberger. I can do this." Mendenhall called Ben's name with a bullhorn and shot a starters pistol. "Nope, I'm Ben Roethlisberger. I can do this." Mendenhall brought the marching band onto the field and had them play a Steelers polka. "Nope, I'm Ben Roethlisberger. I can do this." What happened? Ben ignored the check down and threw an interception. Just try and blame that on the OC. Please, I beg you to try and do it.

You're saying to yourself, "Ok, Jason, l'll give you that. The team had their issues with regard to execution. But Arians was just too predictable." My response to that would be that I agree, but even if your offense is "predictable", even if a defense does know what's coming, they still have to be able to stop you.

We all remember the vintage Vince Lombardi film clip of him preparing his team. It was the classic, "We want to create a seal here and a seal here, then we'll run it right up the alley." The Packers did just that. Often. With precision. Despite the fact that teams knew it was coming. So, yes, you can be "predictable" if you've executed your end of things like you should. That aspect of it ultimately falls to the players. Ultimately, players have to make plays.

For those who didn't like Arians because of the presumed lack of running the ball and/or lack of a true fullback, I'd like to remind them to turn the page on their calendars...then to throw it away because it expired in 1992. The rules changes have made the NFL a very different game. Steelers fans thinking you can win Super Bowls pounding the football for 3 yards at a time between the tackles are not living in the real world. This game simply benefits the passing teams now.

Besides, the Steelers did run the ball. They ran it more than may be realized and more than other playoff teams did, especially on first down. The Steelers ran 55% on 1st down last year for a 4.6 yards per carry average. By way of comparison, the Packers and Patriots ran 45% on 1st down, and the Saints and Giants ran 43% on 1st down. Notice that it's the Super Bowl teams that ran it the least on first down.

So, the problem, organizationally, was that it was not run enough overall. That's where Art Rooney II stepped in.

We know that Rooney II wants to see more running and that this played into not extending another contract to Arians, but does that mean he wants to return to three yards and cloud of dust? Umm...no. While I do believe he wants more running, I don't think he means substantially more. I think they want quality and effectiveness. i.e. running 25 times to attain 125 yards as opposed to running 35 times for the same number of yards. Accomplishing this will still allow the play-action open up, Ben will take fewer hits, the whole offense will get better and the defense conversely will be able to rest more as well.

All of this having been said, at some point you do still reach a critical mass with the other inconsistencies and all that we tend to see. The bottom line is that Arians wasn't nearly as bad as people made him out to be. Was he great? No. Was he the football version of the anti-Christ? No! Only next season, though, will be able to tell us whether or not this was ill-timed.

This one thing is true, people in the NFL who actually know football were knocking on Arians' door as soon as he was let go. He's already the OC for the Indianapolis Colts. So, all the haters who forget that you need to breathe through your nose and not your mouth are either patting themselves on the back or ready to slit their wrists. It'll be interesting to see how much of which unfolds first.