David Orochena Principal at Orochena Consulting Services LLC
Posted this article on the linked in Steelers group:
It is a good article and I thought I should make some comments:
The Todd Haley Situation:
BWG’s take: He has to go! We actually have been defending him for two years, but at this point it is a major distraction. He also has completely abandoned the run which was evident in the loss to Miami. The offensive line has struggled most of the season and just when it started to gel, we lost Velasco and Beachum. Both stabilized the line and did good work. All of this plays into the failure of Haley’s offense. You need to make the adjustments to the personnel you have and Haley has failed at that.
Who stays and who goes?
I think this is pretty simple, first I didn’t agree with the article as the Steelers have cut veterans when they felt they had a lower cost or younger replacement. IE See Silverback playing for the freakin’ Bengals. The Steelers have several key free agents and here is my take on them:
Ryan Clark, FS: He has to go. I love this guy and he provides veteran leadership that will be missed. He was coming off his best year and now arguably he is having his worst. His coverage skills have eroded and while one more season is probably in order, it is letting him go one year early than one year late.
Ziggy Hood, DE: Bring him back. He has started to show why he was a 1st rounder and his play warrants a new contract and a chance to play with Cam Heywood and Steve McLendon for years to come. Don’t over pay but he is worth bringing back.
Brett Keisel, DE: Bring him back, but it has to be at the right price and with the idea that he will be a reserve. He has had several nagging injuries and he hasn’t been the factor that he was in the past. He is a great clubhouse guy and we need him to begin the transition.
Jason Worilds, OLB: Bring him back. Worilds has been excellent this year and solidified his place in the lineup. He certainly should be back and he should push LaMarr to get in better shape and play better. The only issue is someone will throw cash at him and we might not want to chase.
Manny Sanders, WR: Let him go. I was torn on this one but he lacks consistency and someone will be willing to pay him big dollars. I.e. see Mike Wallace. The Steelers have Wheaton and Moye, to replace him. It’s time for him to move on and find his fortune elsewhere.
Jerricho Cotchery, WR: Bring him back, I would give him a reasonable contract and have the veteran here. He has done a fantastic job for the Steelers when called upon. The only thing that might make me change my mind is Plex’s situation. I would like to see Plex get one more shot.
Al Woods, DE: Bring him back. He would solidify the defensive line and he knows the system, I see him as the next Keisel when he finally gets his chance. With Heywood, McClendon, Ziggy, Fangupo and Keisel this would be a huge strength for the Steelers.
The Draft
We always need better results out of the draft. According to the article: “Only 14 of the team’s picks in that span are current starters (or are replacement starters because of injuries), and a remarkable few are still with the team. These are true statements, but lets look at the team and tell me who some of these guys were supposed to replace. The 14 players that are starters replaced players who left for riches elsewhere or retired. Over the last ten years, the Steelers have also absolutely nailed the non drafted free agents.
It is hard to argue, with the Steelers track record of success on the field during Tomlin’s tenure. Their strategy is sound, the Steelers have put together good drafts, but had some bad luck or things didn’t break their way. It is easy with 20/20 hindsight to say the drafts were lousy, but the formula is the right formula. Also keep in mind that four out of Tomlin’s six drafts, the Steelers picked in the mid to high 20’s. The two drafts the Steelers picked in the teens have the potential for very nice yields.
The “disaster draft” of 2008, Tomlin’s first. I watched the draft at the Wayne Chrebet draft party in NYC and EVERYONE felt they killed the draft. It hurts that none of those players are still with the Steelers, but it is hard to fault the thinking of the draft and the players that they took. Mendenhall became the starting running back in two Super Bowls. Ryan Mundy, contributed during his entire tenure. Limas Sweed was a bust but a well respected pick, he just didn’t produce the results that were needed. It is hard to fault the Steelers on that. QB Dennis Dixon and T Tony Hills contributed albeit not that much. Bruce Davis and Mike Humpal were camp bodies and while they both had potential had very little shot of breaking into the Steelers LB corp.
The 2009 Draft, This is the only draft that I have an issue with Tomlin on. The Steelers picked at the end of the draft and it yielded two starters (Mike Wallace, Keenan Lewis, who other teams paid big money to get) and two contributors (Ziggy Hood, Dave Johnson). The issue with that draft was the Steelers picked up several good players and let them walk, namely A.Q. Shipley and Craig Urbik both of whom would look pretty good right about now in Steeler uniforms. Frank Summers is a nice player but I like our RB situation.
The 2010 Draft, yielded four starters! Center Maurkice Pouncey, OLB Jason Worilds, WR Manny Sanders and oh yeah, WR Antonio Brown who might be the best player on the Steelers right now! They also grabbed some nice contributions from Jon Dwyer and Sly Sylvester.
The 2011 Draft, yielded three starters, DE Cameron Heywood, who is having his breakout year, RT Marcus Gilbert and starting CB Cortez Allen. They were thin on reserves that year, but again I think that is because of the depth of the org.
2012 Draft, is the diamond in the rough draft, it was also the most cursed of the draft classes. They yielded only two starters so far, Dave DeCastro and Kelvin Beachum. It’s also way too early to determine if this is a good draft or not. I think the jury is still out on LT Mike Adams and ILB Sean Spence, who suffered a career threatening injury. Chris Rainey and Alameda Ta’amu were huge discipline issues, otherwise both would have been contributors. TE Dave Paulson is a contributor.
2103 Draft, again is way too early to grade. The early returns look to be nice! It already yielded two starters, RB Le’Veon Bell is the real deal and will be the starter for years to come. LB Vince Williams is a diamond in the rough and has done a good job since being thrown in. Shamarko Thomas and Jarvis Jones will be starters at some point. WR Markus Wheaton will contribute although he has extremely weak pinkies. Not sure what Landry Jones story will be but he is a young QB with huge upside?