With the resignation of Dick LeBeau as the team’s defensive coordinator, the biggest question I’ve received has been “If Keith Butler gets the job how will he be different than LeBeau?”
My honest opinion right now is that I just don’t know but what I can tell you is this; why would Mike Tomlin make the change if he didn’t expect something different on defense?
I’m thinking Butler will be tasked with doing two things.
The first will be figuring out better ways to create pressure. When even the most novice of fans can call out Dick LeBeau’s famous A gap crossfire stunt then perhaps predictability has become a problem.
Butler needs to get back to more exotic looks and even more exotic blitz packages. LeBeau was once there, but he got more conservative and was unwilling to really let young players actually be play-makers.
The other area is in coverage and I see this almost hand-in-hand with pressure. Will Butler allow his corners to gamble a bit more? Will he be able to have better cover-corners overall?
No secondary is effective without good pressure but that doesn’t mean coverage skills can’t improve. The overall ball skills of this year’s secondary were below average in my opinion. Can Butler and secondary coach Carnell Lake make this better with LeBeau not there?
Again, if it is indeed Butler, there will have to be changes or else why would the switch have been made? If it isn’t Butler then we’re going to have an entirely different discussion very soon.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteelDad and the website @SCBlitz. Check us out on Facebook at facebook.com/steelcityblitz and on Fancred.com. You can hear him weekly during the season on game day on the Trib-Live Radio Steelers Pre-Game
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