Since the moment Art Rooney II uttered the words “Ben needs to tweak his game” I’ve been concerned about the direction of the offense.
Regardless of what or whose offense the Steelers were running in the final half of the 2013 season, no one can deny that it was clicking.
Roethlisberger wasn’t being sacked, the running game was coming around in large part due to the successful passing game and Roethlisberger himself was playing extremely well.
Several months later the Steelers have seen two of their top three wideouts depart for seemingly greener pastures while the answer has been to bring in Lance Moore. While I believe Moore has an opportunity to do well in this offense, I have greater concerns now as the draft nears in roughly 45 days because of other moves and potential ones.
This past week, Pittsburgh re-signed tight end Michael Palmer who at his absolute best will be a special teams player. The team also entertained LaGarrette Blount who averaged 5.0 yards per carry behind a pretty good New England offensive line and they brought in Maurice Jones-Drew who at 28 years old may be a question mark.
All of these moves and potential moves have me concerned that an offensive weapon is no longer a consideration in the first round of the draft.
If the team goes ahead and signs Blount which is no guarantee, the question would be why? This offense does not need a pounder, it needs speed. Would the signing of either Blount or MJD signal a shift back to the power running game some long for?
I believe it would and I also believe it would alter the way many are thinking in terms of the Steelers’ draft direction with their top pick.
Common thought has the Steelers taking a wide receiver or defensive back with pick number 15 but now I’m not so sure. With Greg Robinson, Taylor Lewan and Jake Matthews on the board as top offensive tackles, I’m not ruling them out.
Granted, it’s expected that Robinson will be long gone before pick 15 but Matthews and Lewan have been projected all over the first round.
With the influence of new offensive line coach Mike Munchak, could the Steelers draft one of these tackles? I don’t think it’s a stretch although I do think it’s a bad move. The team has so many other needs right now that his selection in the first round just wouldn’t fly.
The bottom line is that Art Rooney II has made it no secret that he wants to return to the days of old when running the ball was the only way to win. The recent moves have me wondering if that still the top priority on his list.
Marc Uhlmann writes for and co-owns www.steelcityblitz.com. Follow him on Twitter @steeldad and follow the website at @SCBlitz. He can be heard Mondays on Trib-Live Radio at 730pm ET talking Steelers and is a blogger for ESPN 970 in Pittsburgh.
10 comments
Right now I still think round 1 is a CB, but I don’t think Moore signing has changed my opinion about anything really.
I think Lance Moore will be an average slot guy. If the Steelers don’t go WR early-ish I think that will tell us that they have a lot of faith in Markus Wheaton. I think that MW can provide what Sanders did last year personally… But I’m still not opposed to another WR in the mix.
You see this every year from the Steelers. They’ll attempt to fill as many holes as possible with guys like Moore, which are guys with experience capable of starting, but not necessarily your favorite option. It allows them to not have to reach come draft day.
I don’t think anything is locked in stone. I see the Steelers taking a player of need, if he is there, and is a value pick. If not, and they can’t trade back, they take the best player available. The following would be my draft value chart for players that might be available at 15.
1. Justin Gilbert
2. Darqueze Dennard
3. Mike Evans
4. Eric Ebron
5. Anthony Barr
6. Taylor Lewan
7. C.J. Mosley
How many times have I said: If they take another OL in the 1st round it means they made a mistake in taking Adams and Gilbert and the Steelers never admit to a mistake. Yet some fans out there think an OL should be considered an option in the 1st. My 2 question are: 1.Why? and 2.Have you the fans gone nuts? I don’t wanna hear that it should be considered an option cause that is bogus and you people know that. I’m also sick and tired of fans also putting TE on the list of 1st round options. They resigned Palmer and have Miller, Spaeth and Johnson also on the roster. That’s 4 TE’s so tell me if they do take one what exactly was the point of signing those guys if you take a TE in the 1st round? Barr will not be there at 15 and don’t say you don’t know that cause I counter with: how can you be sure that a Gilbert or Dennard be there at 15. If you go out and read the scouting reports on Dennard you will see they all point to the same thing: To Physical and will be prone to PI penalties in the NFL. Why would you guys want a Rookie RB as bell’s backup and not a guy like Blount. Blount is the perfect counter to a guy like Bell. Bell is not a bruiser and not a speed back he is a patient type of RB, Blount will just plow through the middle like any power back would in this league. If you want a speed back a 3rd down option that’s fine I won’t argue with you but as bell’s backup you must think that bell is a power back when in fact he is not. nobody here seems to put Benjamin up there as a 1st round pick. Why? If Evans is gone that’s your 2nd best choice and behind him is Coleman of Rutgers. ART II is fool and everybody knows that. But the problem is nobody can do anything about it. The guys that work for ART II are scared of telling him that a run first offense is outdated and no longer works in this league. He feels that passing is a last resort and it’s still a running league. Lets look at some of the teams that have gone to the Superbowl: Did they get there by running the ball or by passing the ball?
While it’s unlikely that the Steelers will grab at tight end in the drat I believe it to be a mistake. Heath has been an excellent Steeler but if he goes down, are we really going to rely on Matt Spaeth? Good blocker? Yes, but that’s where it ends. He can’t stretch the field the way Heath can and don’t even try telling me Palmer and Johnson are receiving threats.
I look at this from the perspective from the Todd Haley offense which likes tight ends rather than just spewing about likes or dislikes of TEs. Like many other positions on this team, it lacks talent and real depth.
give my paisano vito a column on your blog. he nails it again, except when refering to art 2 he would use a–hole.
Did I say that Palmer and Johnson were threats, no I did not, but why add another one when if you do that you run the risk of not being able to fill out another spot on the roster. How do you justify having 5 TE’s on the roster when you risk weakening another position on the team? 4TE’s is more than enough depth. How many times during Miller’s career has he missed more than 1 or 2 games in a season(excluding this past season)? They like Palmer and Johnson and feel they can contribute. If you draft a TE what are you exactly telling those guys you signed to contracts to be on the team? Until Miller is gone from the team avoid TE at all costs. Besides there going to bring in at least 2 or 3 undrafted FA TE’s to camp as well, you know they will. Miller first job is to block for the passing and run games. The 2nd part of his job is to make key catches at key moments. He is not like a Graham or a Gronk who will get 6-8 catches per game. Miller doesn’t always grab a pass and it does no bother me that much when it happens. This draft should be focused on these spots: WR, CB, DT,DE, OLB and OL.
Both Palmer and DJ have contracts that are easily dismissed should we bring in someone who does more than occupy a bench seat. Miller’s durability is now in question. Anytime you have a catastrophic knee injury your past ability to stay healthy is diminished. I agree there are other more pressing needs in the draft but I have no confidence in anyone behind Miller.
You and other fans may feel that way but I don’t. Almost every person thinks that this 2TE threat offense would be the right thing to do just based on the fact of how it was done in NE. NE ran that offense cause they had not other good WR’s besides Welker and so they relied on those 2 TE’s way to much and it cost them big games such as the 2010 Div. Game vs the Jets, The Superbowl vs the Giants and the AFC Title game vs the Ravens. The Pats failed to realize that a 2TE offense cannot get you what you want the most. Look at the Ravens they tried the same thing as NE with Pitta and Dickson and look where they are now. They paid Pitta even though he was hurt most of the season and it showed they hade more faith in him than in Dickson who now finds himself without a team. How about SD: they aren’t running that NE type offense. In fact there reasoning for taking Green was to replace Gates which he did this past season and the stats back that up. I will take guys like Palmer and Johnson over these TE’s in the draft any day of the week. The TE’s behind Miller are more than enough for the Steelers and there is no need to another one. You say that those contracts should be dismissed if they brought in Ebron, but what are you telling those guys who signed there contracts hoping they will get a shot to show something only to be told “sorry we don’t need you anymore we want a guy like Ebron over you guys”. Forgo TE at all costs and focus on the holes you need to fix and not a position that is filled up and has no need to add another.
I am not suggesting, nor have I ever suggested that a two TE set become our base offense. I am and will be for the foreseeable future an advocate of a three-wide, single RB system as the base. This said, that doesn’t mean that you won’t need heavy sets from time to time. I’m not crazy about those sets but this is the Todd Haley offense we are talking about not our own. Despite the success of the no-huddle last year, I can guarantee you that the two and even three TE sets will return much to our displeasure.
I do not expect the Steelers to draft a tight end in this draft, but I can understand if one is.
As far as sending guys packing who have already signed, this is a business Vittorio, you know that. Bill Belichick signed and released the same guy multiple times in the same season last year. Just because Palmer and Johnson are under contract doesn’t mean they have a roster spot. The NFL doesn’t do guaranteed contracts.
The 2 and 3 TE offense I can deal with for this reason: more often than not if they go in that formation it usually means it’s a run play. I know there are no guaranteed contracts but both Palmer and Johnson should get a fair chance instead of dumping both guys for a guy who will end up as miller’s backup and not see much of the field. Mark my words none of the TE’s in the draft that the Steelers take will make any impact if at all. With guys like Spaeth, Palmer you know that they will get there fair amount of catches and with Johnson he is there “fullback”. At least we can agree on what kind of offense the team should run. I don’t want a double TE threat attack. If the OL would block better than a guy like Spaeth would see more catches come his way. Think about it for a moment: If the OL can block well enough than guys like Spaeth and Palmer would see more catches and I believe you feel the same way.