2011 Pittsburgh Steelers Draft/Offseason Thread

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by Hines

Grisham is on the Broncos.

could be ours again if we wanted.

[K Train]

Originally Posted by CDub

Still not sure about Haley. Not just his abbraisive personality, which I am fearful could disrupt what has been a very tight locker room over the years, but also the merrit of his work.

How much of the success in Arizona was actually because of his game planning/play calling vs how much was because of the sheer talents of Warner/Fitz/Boldin/Breaston? How much was because of Whiz?

How far did he get in coaching based on his work vs riding his father's coat tails? Let's not forget this guy never played football, he was on the golf team. I just feel his attitude comes from a sense of entitlement.

I had heard/seen very little of him prior to those years in Arizona and I'm not sure I've seen enough since to be convinced he's a good fit. Maybe that's because I never took the time to do much research on him prior to Arizona, but that's just the way I'm seing it.

they really liked him in dallas as the WR coach and passing game coodinator. You dont have to play football to be a great football mind.

and i think its funny steeler fans afraid of him getting in the face of the players, and yet love bill cowher. maybe a little adrenaline on the sideline would be good for them rather than blank stares

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by K Train

they really liked him in dallas as the WR coach and passing game coodinator. You dont have to play football to be a great football mind.

and i think its funny steeler fans afraid of him getting in the face of the players, and yet love bill cowher. maybe a little adrenaline on the sideline would be good for them rather than blank stares

yeah i mean the only thing i worry about is whether or not his personality will mesh with our vets (mainly ben)

[K Train]

everyone will be happy if they are winning games, i think its a good fit and good enough to prevent an ego clash

larry fitzgerald and anquan boldin talk about the coaching they got from haley, they give most of the credit to their games being elevated so much to haley...wallace, brown, sanders, and cotchery could put up some scary numbers, ben needs to see the potential there and not get pissy if RF doesnt get hired

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Plax is gonna be a free agent, maybe he'll want to sign with us.

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Mock Offseason 2

Updated with Senior Bowl performance, with Arians gone, and after exploring our cap situation.

We're currently about $20 million over, and need to get at least $5 under to sign draft picks.

Retire: + $465,000
- NT Chris Hoke - already announced it

- DE Aaron Smith - very injury prone, and we're really tight at the cap, and is already a FA

- QB Charlie Batch - very old and very frail at this point, save $465,000

Restructure: + $14,264,000
- NT Casey Hampton - cut base salary from $4.89 mil to $2.00 mil, saving $2.89 million

- WR Hines Ward - cut base salary from $4.00 mil to $1.50 mil, saving $2.5 million

- QB Ben Roethlisberger - restructure base salary from $11.6 million to $7 million, getting the money next year as a bonus, and saving $4.6 million

- TE Heath Miller - restructure base salary from $4.274 million to $2 million, getting the money next year as a bonus, and saving $2.274 million

- OT Willie Colon - restructure base salary from $4.50 million to $2.50 million, getting the money next year as a bonus, and saving $2 million

- DE Brett Keisel - restructure base salary from $2.825 million to $2.00 million, getting the money next year as a bonus, and saving $825,000

Release: + $19,419,000
- OG Chris Kemoeatu - we save $3.577 million

- ILB James Farrior - we save $2.825 million

- ILB Larry Foote - we save $3.00 million

- WR Arnaz Battle - we save $1.037 million

- CB Bryant McFadden - we save $2.50 million

- OT Jonathan Scott - we save $2.20 million

- S Ryan Clark - we save $3.00 million

- S Will Allen - we save $1.28 million

Resign: - $9,930,000
- QB Byron Leftwich - sign for $1.5 million

- OT Max Starks - sign for $810,000, same as this year

- WR Mike Wallace - $2.562 million (tender amount for first and third round picks)

- OL Doug Legursky - $927,000 (tender amount for original pick, no pick in his case)

- OG Ramon Foster - $927,000 (tender amount for original pick, no pick in his case)

- CB Keenan Lewis - $927,000 (tender amount for original pick, 3rd round)

- S Ryan Mundy - $927,000 (tender amount for original pick, 6th round)

- RB Isaac Redman - $450,000 (exclusive rights free agent)

- NT Steve McClendon - $450,000 (exclusive rights free agent)

- P Jeremy Kapinos - $450,000 (exclusive rights free agent)

Don't Resign:
- QB Dennis Dixon - wants to play and that won't happen here; didn't really develop too well either

- WR Jerricho Cotchery - we were fortunate to land him because of an injury; he's not too old (29) and would probably play more on another team, with our young receivers being the clear starters.

- TE David Johnson - I think he was a Bruce Arians guy and with him gone, there's no need to keep him. Pretty poor receiver, and while good at blocking, we can definitely find a better FB.

- OL Trai Essex - we've got plenty of younger players who can play all positions, so he's easily expendable.

- P Daniel Sepulveda - Sad to say this, but I genuinely think this is the end of the line for Seppy. I really liked him, but due to his constant knee injuries, I think the team will finally move on and stick with Kapinos for the time being. Maybe he gets invited to camp.

- RB Mewelde Moore - no need for him, really. Mendenhall is the starter, Redman is the backup, Batch is the 3rd down back, and Dwyer and Clay are backup runners. Between all those guys, there is nothing Mewelde does better at this point in his career. He's got Tomlin's trust and doesn't fumble a lot, but those aren't really good reasons for keeping him on the roster instead of one of the younger players.

- CB Anthony Madison - I loved this guy as a ST ace for us, but he's no longer needed and was just signed for ST help during the playoff game.

- CB William *** - I'd take him back, but there's no cap room for him

- OT Jamon Meredith - did nothing, no reason for him to return.

Total Cap Room Left (already counting draft picks): +$43,000

Draft:
1. LB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona - Ray Lewis-like intensity with James Harrison's mentality, both the good and bad. He'd be a fantastic buck for us, taking on blockers (like this), allowing Timmons to slide over to the playmaking mack, with Farrior gone. IMO, this is not a great draft for 3-4 bucks, and Burfict is at the top of my list for this. Kuechly doesn't really fit the bill, and something about Hightower just doesn't convince me he can be a good buck.

2. NT Alameda Ta'Amu, Washington - We need a NT and he's the best value/need combination for us. Big guy, and there's a limited amount of NT to take. Would be groomed behind Hampton, mostly a two down player, as Heyward and Hood would be the nickel D-linemen.

3. OG Amini Silatolu, Midwestern State - We need to improve at the guard position and the top guys will all be gone by now (DeCastro, Zeitler, Washington, Osemele). Not an overly huge guy, but he can hold his own and would probably be able to compete for either guard position from the get-go.

4. TE Michael Egnew, Missouri - add an athletic pass-catching TE

5. WR Gerrell Robinson, Arizona State - bigger receiver than the ones we have, and since Cotchery is gone and Ward will be gone soon, ne need depth at the position too.

6. K Carson Wiggs, Purdue - we need a kicker, and I've liked what I've seen from this guy.

7. FB Bradie Ewing, Wisconsin - he opened up holes for the Badgers' RBs, and was a key component of Montee Ball's success.

7. NT Hebron Fangupo, BYU - big bodied NT, maybe the next Hoke for us? Both were from NYU

7. OT Josh Oglesby, Wisconsin - OT depth, physical size similar to Max Starks, that would probably be his ceiling.

End
Rough off-season when it comes to losses, but we're in a very bad place cap-wise, and we could very well see the start of a defensive overhaul this off-season, as I tried to do here. I wish we could convince more players to simply take a pay-cut as opposed to a restructuring so we're not in terrible shape next year, but I don't see it happening.

[K Train]

im not ok with not resiging cotchery.

but overall...damn

[mikehop05]

Originally Posted by K Train

im not ok with not resiging cotchery.

but overall...damn

im not okay with releasing ryan clark...

but overall...damn

[b316]

Ryan Clark is not going away.

[Hines]

If we release Clark, who is going to play FS? Now I like Mundy, but I don't think he's ready yet.

[K Train]

keenan lewis and cortez allen could play FS better than clark imo.

if mundy isnt ready now hes never going to be imo...hes been on the team a while now

[Mr. Goosemahn]

It ultimately came down to who was more ready to play between McClendon and Mundy for me, and I went with Mundy. I'd hate to see Clark go, but I felt his position would be better covered by Mundy than Hampton's by McClendon.

Also, we're apparently interested in former Raiders HC Hue Jackson.

[Mr. Goosemahn]

According to ESPN's John Clayton, we're "likely" to promote RB Coach Kirby Wilson to offensive coordinator as soon as he gets better, which supposedly was the plan all along.

[Santonio10]

Will he be ready for next year? Certainly his mind isn't on football for a while

[K Train]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

According to ESPN's John Clayton, we're "likely" to promote RB Coach Kirby Wilson to offensive coordinator as soon as he gets better, which supposedly was the plan all along.

thats a terrible plan

[b316]

I don't see how he could be ready by May/June. He still would need all time to put together a playbook.

[Hines]

They should just hire RF and get it over with.

[Sloopy]

I encourage you all to check out my latest three round mock :)

Feedback would be awesome

http://draftcountdown.com/forum/show...45#post2848845

[CDub]

They have been talking about Kirby taking over the OC job for a while now, going back at least a couple years, much the same "next in line" situation that they've been planning for Butler. I like Kirby better than Haley for sure &, based on the teams apparent view, I'm assuming he's an upgrade over Fitchner. From all that I can gather Kirby should have a stronger dedication to the run without completely changing the offense.

[SCSteeler]

Seems like Kirby is the one most likely to get along with Ben, too, right?
They've been workin together for years, know how each other think, it should be a good choice!

[Hines]

Ben has a good relationship with RF too. He's been campaigning for him all off-season.

[Mr. Goosemahn]

Was watching some clips on Sam Acho and I noticed DT Kheeston Randall (#91) playing well. Started watching him and I like what I see. Very solid, takes well on blockers, not thrown around. He doesn't win every play, naturally, but he displays good strength and is very stout. Not moved around with ease.

I know we already invested some high picks on DEs recently, but I wouldn't mind using a third or fourth on this guy. We could always use depth and from what I saw I think he can be a good 5 tech for us.

[K Train]

Originally Posted by Mr. Goosemahn

Was watching some clips on Sam Acho and I noticed DT Kheeston Randall (#91) playing well. Started watching him and I like what I see. Very solid, takes well on blockers, not thrown around. He doesn't win every play, naturally, but he displays good strength and is very stout. Not moved around with ease.

I know we already invested some high picks on DEs recently, but I wouldn't mind using a third or fourth on this guy. We could always use depth and from what I saw I think he can be a good 5 tech for us.

despite the depth at DE now im still a crick in round 2 advocate. sweet sexual DE rotation with crick/keisel/heyward/hood.

Keisel has taken aaron smiths spot as truly mastering the positon and offers OLB versatility in a pinch, hood is an average DE but offers above average NT abiltiy and crick and heyward are more tradtional DEs for a 34

[K Train]

Just a list of guys that interest me sorted by the round they interest me in...was 3/3 last year with the top 3 picks on a similar list

First Round pick:
Mike Adams
Dontari Poe
Cordy Glenn
Peter Konz
Vontaze Burfict

I really am not interested in anyone but these guys at 24, this is excluding players i love like Decastro

Second Round Pick:
Brandon Washington
Alfonzo Dennard
Kenechi Osemele
Mike Brewster
Chase Minnifield
Chris Polk
Jared Crick
Kevin Zeitler
Donta Hightower
Alemeda Taamu

Third Round pick:
Josh Chapman
Brandon Boykin
Emmanuel Acho
Bruce Irvin
Matt Reynolds

4th round and beyond:
Chad Diehl
Blair Walsh
Herbron Fangupu
Chris Rainey

[b316]

I think Washington is going to sneak into the bottom of the first round.