Updated: 1850 hrs, June 1st
"We have more numbers there than people realize. We may have great players in building and they haven't had chance to show us."
Those words by Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau summed up why the team did not select one of the top-level cornerback in the first round of this year's NFL Draft that many expected them to select. Especially when Darqueze Dennard, about whom we wrote as our favorite going into the draft, was sitting there as a fully-ripened fruit ready to be picked.
The Steelers' coaches, however, simply didn't feel that their secondary was as dire a situation as it seemed on the surface. Defensive backs coach Carnell Lake agreed with LeBeau that CB wasn't as pressing a need as perceived. He specifically said that Brice McCain and Antwon Blake will help Steelers.
Add to that, CB Deion Belue, an undrafted free agent out of Alabama that the Steelers claimed off of waivers (Dolphins), and Devin Smith and Isaiah Green and you have those who will be battling for a backup role.
Blake, a UTEP product, falls into the "he's not small, he's short" category in which head coach Mike Tomlin placed rookie running back Dri Archer. He's 5'9", 198 LBs but did 21 repetitions of the 225-pound bench press at his 2012 Pro Day. He also ran a 4.32/40, and is the gunner on Steelers special teams. Rather than a player expected to get snaps in the Steelers' defense, that's where his greatest value is. As for McCain, we wrote about his potential when he was signed back in April. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2014/04/steelers-sign-brice-mccain-bring-in.html
Belue (5'11", 182 LBs) had a turf toe injury which hindered his senior season, but he played well in the 2012 National Championship game against Notre Dame. He's wiry, strong for his size and has good enough speed (4.47/40). A slot man who can occasionally line up out side, Belue has a chance at the practice squad.
Devin Smith and Isaiah Green should be familiar to Steelers fan as the two CBs who were on and off of the practice squad all of last season.
The Steelers finally did address the need for depth at cornerback, though, by selecting Arizona's Shaquille Richardson (6'0", 194 LBs) in the fifth round.
The former Wildcat has versatility, length and a good frame. He looks mainly to be a right CB, but also played a safety/rover position and in the slot in some subpackages. He's also fast (4.43/40), quick and agile, but not physical. He'd rather cut a runner rather than wrap him up, and also tends to squat to much which can affect his backpedal.
Lake's familiarity with Richardson, having helped recruit Richardson to UCLA, is intriguing and he could very well be a diamond in the rough with Lake's guidance.
“I remember Coach Lake being someone I can look up to,” said Richardson, who was also a teammate of Robert Golden at Arizona. “I'm happy to be learning from him and being a Pittsburgh Steeler. It's crazy.”
Lake praised Richardson as well.
“He's a smart, young corner who can come in and contribute,” said Lake. “He gives us good size out there and somebody that has the ability to put a lot of pressure on tall receivers that have been drafted in the last few years.”
Then there are your starters and main substitute, Cortez Allen, Ike Taylor and William Gay, with Gay receiving praise for his play last season. - http://tinyurl.com/kst23t3
Taylor's play was the expect opposite last season, rated by PFF as 107th out of 111 CBs. Something of which is keenly aware.
“I feel after these last two years,” Taylor said, “especially after last year, that I have lot to prove. I feel like I have more to prove than ever.”
Tez Allen had a similar season to his 2012 campaign. He didn't play much of the first half of the season due to injuries, but made his presence felt late in the season. Starting the final seven games, he finished the year with 51 tackles, two interceptions and a touchdown.
Also, one of the most important things to remember is that Taylor isn't following the opponent's best receiver. That responsibility has fallen more to Tez. That disallowed the top WRs from having career days on Taylor and saw a slight increase in coverage, causing the Steelers' pass defense to finish 9th in the NFL giving up 222.1 yards per game.
Free agent acquisition Mike Mitchell will help complement the rest of the safeties, plus an expected improved pass rush from the front seven, as pressure on the quarterback throws off timing (routes) and helps create turnovers, will lead to improving the pass defense.
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Per OverTheCap.com, the Steelers have $357,896 under the Salary Cap as of Sunday, June 1st, a day when there is no loss of compensatory picks for free agents signed. - http://overthecap.com/nfl-rookie-salary-cap-2014.php
As of Monday, June 2nd, the $8 million freed up by the release of LaMarr Woodley will be available. Displacement dictates, though, that his release will be closer to $7.5 million in cap space.
Still, that will be more than enough to sign the remaining four selections from the draft. Sixth-round draft pick DL Daniel McCullers and seventh rounder TE Rob Blanchflower were signed on May 19th, fifth-round draft pick Wesley Johnson and sixth-round pick Jordan Zumwalt on May 27th and fifth-round draft pick CB Shaquille Richardson on May 29th. All were signed to a four-year deals.
None of these picks actually counted against the Cap because of said displacement and the Rule of 51. The top four picks will even displace four players currently counting against the cap out of the top 51.
So, expect the amount used to sign those top four to be less than $3 million (at least $750,000-$1 million less than the amount first reported that we previously covered). That leaves well over $5 million to be spent on another free agent or two with plenty left afterward.
UPDATE: I've since come across more exact numbers brought to light by fellow scribe Neal Coolong of Behind The Steel Curtain. The Cool One wrote that the exact number Woodley's release frees up after displacement is "$7.505" million and that the Steelers' Cap cost for the aforemetioned rookies is "$2,018,643." So, as The Cool One wrote, "let's call it $5.48 million in Cap space after the remainder of the rookie class is signed."
The Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick Ryan Shazier is already making quite an impression. Not all of it may being so good.
As the Steelers OTAs began Tuesday, Shazier lined up as first team Mack linebacker, with his speed and aggressiveness turning heads. However, not all have appreciated his aggressive play. Ask recently-returned center Maurkice Pouncey.
“I didn’t want to break rule No. 10,” said Pouncey, referring to coach Mike Tomlin’s edict which forbids fighting.
He said this because, as reported by Chris Bradford of TimesOnline.com, "Shazier threw down C Maurkice Pouncey during a drill." He tried to "make amends," but Pouncey wasn't having it." - http://tinyurl.com/n6svq3t
Shazier, buddy, c'mon. Love the aggression, but we can't have Pouncey hurt...again.
But the impetus of this article is born of a tweet by Shazier (@RyanShazier on Twitter) on Monday when he portended great things for the city of Pittsburgh when he wrote that within "5 years" the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates would all win a championship in their respective sports.
Leaving the Pens and Bucs to hockey and baseball blogs, the question needs to be asked of the erstwhile Pittsburgh Pirates: Are the Steelers close to reaching and winning another Super Bowl?
First off, I think we have to acknowledge that winning a Super Bowl title involves a healthy dose of good fortune as well as skill. We all agree there? Good.
That said, back in February of this year, If It Ain't Steel laid out what we believed were the seven musts for this offseason. In it we wrote, among other things, that the Steelers need to make sure to have few changes on offense. Because, make no mistake, the offense wasn't the problem. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-seven-musts-for-steelers-2014.html
Sure, things started off badly as the offense was anemic early on. There were a plethora of turnovers - nine in the first four games by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger alone - and no offensive line to speak of - just 1,383 yards rushing, easily their fewest in a 16-game season at only 3.51 yards per carry.
Most all of this was early, however, and it turned around to the Steelers advantage in the second half of the season.
Only the Carolina Panthers (7-1) had a better second-half record than the Steelers (6-2). To accomplish that, they scored 28.2 point average over the final nine games, they went from a -11 in turnovers in the first four games alone to +7 over the final eight, they allowed just seven sacks in the final seven games, they were a more efficient offense going 14-for-20 (touchdowns) in the red zone in the final six games, and they committed to the run more culminating in 461 yards gained with a 4.0 YPC average in the final four games.
Not that the offense will just hit the ground running and automatically beat everyone 28-17, especially with the loss of wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery and the addition of WR Lance Moore and also of running back LaGarrette Blount. By no means, though, is the offense the problem and won't ultimately be the reason this team fails.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the defensive side of the ball.
The Steelers' porous defense surrendered 17 plays of 40 yards or more, including 11 of over 50 yards, last season. Five of those those 17 plays were runs, two of which being by quarterbacks.
There is no way that can continue if the Steelers want to be successful.
We have seen what a brutal, intimidating and opportunistic defense has done for the Steelers in the (recent) past, and we saw what such a defense did for the Seattle Seahawks this past season.
Having a high-powered offense can only get you so far. Just ask the Denver Broncos. Or the 2007 New England Patriots. Or almost any of the top offenses that have faced the top defenses in the Big Game.
Even in this pass-happy, fantasy football-driven NFL, defense still wins championships. And the Steelers must successfully rebuild their unit into a dominant one if they want to be considered Super Bowl contenders again.
There is good news and bad news, however, when it comes to turning around those pathetic statistics and results. The bad news is that upgrading the defense isn't a quick fix. There were holes to fill everywhere - in the defensive line, in the linebacking corps and in the secondary.
The good news is that the Steelers defense still has good players and very good coaches, although it is far from a Super Bowl-contending unit. But, even though it's too early to say definitively, via free agency and the NFL Draft, GM Kevin Colbert and company have seemingly brought together the appropriate pieces.
Finally, though we won't discuss it in detail here, the last thing that shouldn’t be overlooked is Special Teams. The return game is an area the Steelers are continually lacking, but which can only be benefitted by the addition of rookie Dri Archer.
Well, was Shazier's prognostication valid and potentially accurate?
It still may be a couple of years before the Steelers can call themselves Super Bowl contenders or even champions again, but that five-year window is certainly attainable. Why? The aforementioned Super Bowl champion Seahawks had back-to-back 7-9 seasons in 2010 and 2011. It is absolutely feasible.
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TIDBITS: Cam Thomas started at left defensive end opposite Cam Heyward during the first OTAs. Thomas will play both LDE and NT, much like Al Woods and Chris Hoke before him. Heyward is coming off a very good year - 59 tackles (35 solo), 30 QB pressures, 8 passes defended, 5 sacks and a fumble recovery.
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Markus Wheaton opened OTAs as the starting X receiver opposite Antonio Brown. He naturally has the inside track on the job, as that is why he was draft last year.
"There are a lot of us chasing that spot," a humble Wheaton conceded. "It’s not mine. There’s a lot of good competition." The 5'11", 189-pound WR ran a 4.4/40 at the 2013 Combine.
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ROLB Jarvis Jones said he hasn't really gained many actual pounds, but that he is much stronger and that he studied hard to be ready for the new season.
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According to the a Tribune-Review's Mark Kaboly, the NFL’s transactions wire said that the Steelers were awarded former Alabama corner Deion Belue (5'11"/182 LBs) on waivers from Miami on Wednesday.
Belue was a two-season starter for the Crimson Tide, notching 60 tackles, breaking up 10 passes and recording three interceptions.
Steelers waived offensive tackle Kaycee Ike.
