2008 Off Season/Draft Thread

[Jakey]

I think Max Starks is just as worthy as Faneca...what do you guys think we should do???

[steel man]

if we do then that will change the whole draft...we still need a replacement for Faneca but would not have to draft one for a couple years. Starks is still young ao he would last a few more years before we would have to draft to take his place.

[steel man]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playof...ory?id=3177330

just some reading for you guys

[steel man]

if Starks comes back from his knee surgery in good shape then i say sign them just dont sign Faneca to a super long deal for a lot of cash because he is getting older

[steel man]

what do you guys think of drafting a center, no one has talked about it and i know it is hard for a rookie to start right away but he prob would do just as good?

[Hines]

A center would be good, but I have read that we might move Simmons to center.

[steel man]

who would be better at C Chris Kemoeatu , Kendall Simmons or Darnell Stapleton or could any of them play C and be good at it?

[steel man]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

A center would be good, but I have read that we might move Simmons to center.

i guess you answered my question.

[Hines]

I think Simmons is the better guard.

I could see our next years line being

LT: Starks or draft pick
LG: Kemo
C: Simmons
RG: Colon
RT: FA/Draft pick, hell maybe even Essex

[steel man]

now on to WR. i wanted this guy in the 1st but i figured that everyone would say that we had bigger needs. the guy is Adorius Bowman, then in 2-3 more years get thi kid out of Texas Tech and we would be set at WR, but what do you guys think of :

Adorius Bowman - O St.
DJ Hall - Ala
Marcus Monk - Ark
Paul Hubbard - Wis
and one of my best steal picks
Evan Moore - Stanford

all are tall WR which i think we need and we have Holmes as our speed guy and Hines can move in to the slot. When Ben had Plex he went to him all the time and look what Plex has done for Eli and Ben has got better so could you imagine what he and Plex would be doing if they were still together.

[Hines]

Originally Posted by steel man

now on to WR. i wanted this guy in the 1st but i figured that everyone would say that we had bigger needs. the guy is Adorius Bowman, then in 2-3 more years get thi kid out of Texas Tech and we would be set at WR, but what do you guys think of :

Adorius Bowman - O St.
DJ Hall - Ala
Marcus Monk - Ark
Paul Hubbard - Wis
and one of my best steal picks
Evan Moore - Stanford

all are tall WR which i think we need and we have Holmes as our speed guy and Hines can move in to the slot. When Ben had Plex he went to him all the time and look what Plex has done for Eli and Ben has got better so could you imagine what he and Plex would be doing if they were still together.

Adarius Bowman is a great reciever. Big, fast, has great hands. In the Plex mode. Plays in the slot a lot at OK State. I wouldnt mind him here with our first pick. DJ Hall is a good reciever. He gets taken out of games on occasion, but he is a really good prospect. I dont like Monk at all as I dont think he has enough speed to stick at WR, would be a TE probably. Havent seen much of Hubbard or Moore so I cant comment on them.

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

Adarius Bowman is a great reciever. Big, fast, has great hands. In the Plex mode. Plays in the slot a lot at OK State. I wouldnt mind him here with our first pick. DJ Hall is a good reciever. He gets taken out of games on occasion, but he is a really good prospect. I dont like Monk at all as I dont think he has enough speed to stick at WR, would be a TE probably. Havent seen much of Hubbard or Moore so I cant comment on them.

/agree, <3 bowman and also kelley

[Hines]

A player I would spend a second on is Cornelius Ingram from Florida. He originally is a tight end, but he has the size and speed to be a young Plex, which of whom I compare him too.

[steel man]

RB/FB - my favorite player is at this position Owen Schmitt from WVU. i know some says that we need a short yardage back and then others say Davenport and Co. are good enough, but Kreider is older and is JUST A BLOCKER where Schmitt can be the Triple Header Monster and Monster he is, he can run, catch, and block. IMO he is worth a good pick.
others:

Cory Boyd-SC
Yvenson Bernard -OR St.
Alley Broussard - Missouri Southern
Matt Forte-Tulane
Allen Patrick-OU
Jacob Hester-LSU

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

A player I would spend a second on is Cornelius Ingram from Florida. He originally is a tight end, but he has the size and speed to be a young Plex, which of whom I compare him too.

i wouldn't... i dont see him being the threat that bowman or kelley would be, if he is there in the 3rd i wouldn't mind it but right now unless a player can be a bowman-like threat id rather not grab them in the top 2 rounds where both lines and CB's are needed imo

[steel man]

the way i look at it is the ones that say he is not worth a higher pick then they do not know how much a good FB helps the running game. as a former all-state and college running back my FB was very important to opening holes for me and down field after you past the 1st tier into the 2nd level and they are in front blocking, it is worth as much as any position on the field. if he opens holes that others would not for Parker then thats a home run for us so out of all the teams in the NFL we need a great FB more than any to open holes for the fastest RB in the NFL and he is use to blocking for faster RB's. plus if he can catch out of the back field then thats another option for Ben that we don't have right know and not to mention his breaking face masks when blocking. when he breaks Steelers face masks i will be the 1st to over pay on EBAY for one, if signed then i would pay thousands for it lol. so all in all he is worth as high as any pick whether it is picking up the blitz to protect Ben that the OL that we draft that we thought was so important missed to having him in the back field to run a 4th and 1 in the Patriots game instead of being scared to and running a WR reverse, even if you say they were trying to catch them off guard but if you had someone back there that you KNOW can get a yard then you would have ran the ball up the gut. so IMO YES he is worth a HIGHER pick

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by steel man

the way i look at it is the ones that say he is not worth a higher pick then they do not know how much a good FB helps the running game. as a former all-state and college running back my FB was very important to opening holes for me and down field after you past the 1st tier into the 2nd level and they are in front blocking, it is worth as much as any position on the field. if he opens holes that others would not for Parker then thats a home run for us so out of all the teams in the NFL we need a great FB more than any to open holes for the fastest RB in the NFL and he is use to blocking for faster RB's. plus if he can catch out of the back field then thats another option for Ben that we don't have right know and not to mention his breaking face masks when blocking. when he breaks Steelers face masks i will be the 1st to over pay on EBAY for one, if signed then i would pay thousands for it lol. so all in all he is worth as high as any pick whether it is picking up the blitz to protect Ben that the OL that we draft that we thought was so important missed to having him in the back field to run a 4th and 1 in the Patriots game instead of being scared to and running a WR reverse, even if you say they were trying to catch them off guard but if you had someone back there that you KNOW can get a yard then you would have ran the ball up the gut. so IMO YES he is worth a HIGHER pick

the thing is, is i watch the steeler games and i see carey davis make great kick out blocks, and other good lead blocks, im not doubting what schmitt brings to the table but the fact of the matter is that davis gets it done right now so unless we can get him in the 4th id rather pass

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by Jakey

I think Max Starks is just as worthy as Faneca...what do you guys think we should do???

lately ive been leaning on the "rather sign starks than faneca" side

red has been getting outplayed

[Hines]

Its official, Devin Thomas will declare. That is my second round pick.

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

Its official, Devin Thomas will declare. That is my second round pick.

yup. hopefully he isnt a ***** like former MS receivers...

[mikehop05]

thoughts on the ohio state tackle boone?

i think hes declaring after the game monday

[Mr. Stiller]

Originally Posted by mikehop05

thoughts on the ohio state tackle boone?

i think hes declaring after the game monday

i for one am not a fan. I know 1 or 2 guys from the Steelers that aren't impressed with him.

[Mr. Stiller]

Originally Posted by HinesWardJr

A center would be good, but I have read that we might move Simmons to center.

Some suggested if Faneca were to come back.... that we Move him to Center.. Colon to battle Kemo for LG and Simmons at RG.

To Me, I think we can get John Greco round 3 and he could start as RT rookie season.

Starks ~ Kemo/Colon ~ Faneca ~ Simmons ~ Otah/Greco

[TheWood56]

I posted this in a new thread, but just realised that we actually have a discussion thread about the offseason, free agency and the draft, so I thought I may aswell post this in here since this is where all the talk is. Anyways, here's my post, tell me what you think:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://pit.scout.com/2/717046.html

This is going off of an article I read (above), which means we make an effort to re-sign Faneca and Starks and we succeed in doing so. So here we go, my hopeful Steelers o-line for next season:

LT: Max Starks
LG: Kendall Simmons
C: Alan Faneca
RG: Chris Kemoeatu
RT: Willie Colon

What do you think?

Starks has played well at LT in limited action and this may be his true position considering he was a LT in college and he is left handed. Also, with Smith and his back problems now, you don't know if he's going to be able to return 100% and he only has 1 year left on his contract here anyways.

Shifting Simmons to LG may improve his play as a whole. With Simmons being more athletic and being good on the move and pulling, this may ultimately be his true position considering the LG in our scheme has to pull occassionally and generally has to be the more athletic guard of the two.

With Faneca at C, there's a very good chance this move may very well improve our o-line play as a whole. I made this move keeping in mind what Zierlein said, that being he thinks Faneca's very smart and that he could see Faneca ending his career as a C in this league. I personally think he could make for a great C and could improve our o-line play as a whole. IMO, this would be a very good thing for our o-line.

Kemoeatu finally finds himself in the starting lineup. He's a big road grader that will pave the way for the running game on the right side of the line. With some fine tuning and some starting experience, he could be a force to be reckoned with at RG. Also, IMO, he's a better fit on the right side then he is on the left, which is why he's the RG and Simmons the LG.

Colon has shown a fair bit of potential at RT. People say he's better suited inside at guard, and though that may possibly be true, he's shown he can handle the RT position and with this only being his 1st season starting, he still has a heap of time to grow and improve as a player. I think making him make the transition inside to guard would only prolong his development, so keeping him at RT where he has shown potential to be a really good player is the best thing to do IMO, and I think with Colon entering his 2nd he's only going to get better and improve. I think he could potentially be a great RT in this league.

With our o-line being in place for the next few years, we will have much more flexibility come draft time, which is a very good thing.

[Jakey]

Quick Mock v2

Round 1: Jeff Otah - OT - Pitt - 6'6" - 340 - 5.30

Round 2: Devin Thomas - WR - Michigan St - 6'2" - 215 - 4.50

Round 3: Brandon Flowers - CB - Virginia Tech - 5'10" - 190 - 4.47

Round 4: Kendall Langford - DE - Hampton - 6'6" - 295 - 4.97

Round 5: Darrius Reynaud - WR - West Virginia - 5'10" - 205 - 4.45

Round 6: Jameel McClain - ILB - Syracuse - 6'1" - 253 - 4.79


2008 Depth:

QB: Ben Roethlisberger ~ Charlie Batch ~ UDFA
FB: Carey Davis
RB: Willie Parker ~ Najeh Davenport ~ Gary Russel
TE: Heath Miller ~ Matt Spaeth
WR: Hines Ward ~ Devin Thomas
WR: Santonio Holmes ~ Nate Washington

LT: Max Starks ~ Marvel Smith ~ Trai Essex
LG: Alan Faneca ~ Chris Kemoeatu
C: Kendall Simmons ~ Sean Mahan
RG: Willie Colon ~ Chris Kemoeatu
RT: Jeff Otah ~ Marvel Smith ~ Trai Essex

...

RE: Brett Keisel ~ Ryan McBean
NT: Casey Hampton ~ Chris Hoke
LE: Aaron Smith ~ Kendall Langford

ROLB: James Harrison ~ Arnold Harrison
RILB: Lawrence Timmons ~ Larry Foote
LILB: James Farrior ~ Jameel McClain
LOLB: Lamarr Woodley ~ Jameel McClain

CB: Ike Taylor ~ Brandon Flowers ~ William ***
CB: Bryant McFadden ~ Deshea Townsend ~ William ***
FS: Anthony Smith ~ Ryan Clark/UDFA
SS: Troy Polamalu ~ Tyrone Carter

This would give us a beastly O-Line, with good depth...good young talent at WR...much beter D-Line depth...great, physical corners. The only weakspot would be depth at OLB...but that could be easily addressed. Tell me what you think, thanks guys.