The Steelers have built an outstanding reputation for being a franchise that stands for integrity and doing things the right way. They’ve seemed to always pass on a talented player that might have had a little issues off the field to assemble a locker room full of individuals that worked hard and had a team-first concept. Sure, mistakes were made, but every team makes them. Does the name Bam Morris ring a bell? The draft is a crap shoot in more cases than not, but one thing that has to be consistent is a team-first attitude. Selfish athletes can’t be tolerated. This locker room can’t afford to have any more cracks and teammates complaining to the media about a player’s work habits. That stuff needs to stay in-house, regardless.
A few years ago an unnamed player was complaining to the media about LaMarr Woodley’s work habits and attitude. Woodley gained a few pounds and his heart and dedication was being questioned. I love Mike Tomlin as a coach and I often think he gets a bad rap at times, but I must Say Bill Cowher and Tom Donahoe where much better at getting the perfect mix and match of characters for Pittsburgh.
Since Kevin Colbert has had the reign of General Manager of the Steelers, LeGarrette Blount has been signed and then proceeded to complain and walk off the field because he wasn’t getting enough carries. What was a more troubling sign was that this took place during a win and a game in which his “best friend”, Le’Veon Bell, rushed for more than 200 yards. Colbert also drafted Alameda Ta’amu, Chris Rainey and Mike Adams. If these guys would have panned out we probably wouldn’t be going into the draft with the same issues. The players that were just mentioned all got in trouble in college and Adams even flunked a drug test the day before the most important interview of his life. I’m all for giving a person a 2nd chance but that’s really a troubling sign. You have to examine the commitment and the intelligence of that decision.
In the fifth round of the draft that same year the Carolina Panthers took Josh Norman from Coastal Carolina and he has been a good player. Do you think the Steelers could have used him this past year? Think about this: If Rainey would have performed anywhere near his potential maybe Blount wouldn’t have been signed, Dri Archer drafted and the Steelers have focused on corners and safeties instead, creating more cap room. The Steelers might have even made the Baltimore playoff game more interesting.
Pittsburgh is built through the draft. Pittsburgh has never been a big spender during free agency, so it’s very important that the team hit big on most of their picks. Let’s go back to the 2008 draft. You can argue that this class might have been the worst in the team history. Ryan Mundy might be the only one from that class that’s still playing in the NFL. Jordy Nelson, DeSean Jackson, Brandon Carr and Jamal Charles were all drafted after Rashard Mendenhall. That year Pittsburgh drafted Limas Sweed.
Since 2008, Colbert has also drafted some good players: Antonio Brown, Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, Le’Veon Bell and Cam Heyward to mention a few. So it’s not all lost.
This offseason’s plan might be one of the most important ones in team history. The Steelers have some important decisions ahead. What to do with Polamalu, should Worilds be re-signed, Roethlisberger’s contract and who to cut. ‘Big Ben’ should be the number one priority, but beside that, this draft can’t have major misses with picks.
The Steelers are a few pieces away from have another parade and Super Bowl victory. The reason Pittsburgh was 8-8 for two years straight is probably because of mismanagement with personnel decisions. In order to go to the next level these decisions have to be right.
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DaveB.
February 10, 2015 at 6:11 am
Building your team through the draft is a fine concept and it worked well for decades for the Steelers . However , this is not the 1970’s or 1980’s anymore . Its a different league and free agency like it or not is part of the game . In the 70’s and 80’s it wasnt . In those days you drafted a kid out of college , signed him to a contract , and you knew he was going to be a Steeler for the next eight to ten years . No free agency , no players changing teams every four or five years . Its a different time and a different league and the Steelers have had problems adapting to it . The old school thinking from thirty years ago will not work today . For that to happen you have to be nearly perfect on all your draft picks and bottom line , the Steelers havent . With that being said , the Rooneys need to change their way of thinking and start taking advantage of free agency as an extra way to build your team . Theres good players out there to be had who can help your team , but you have to be willing to change your way of thinking . Until they do , 8-8 and 9-7 are pretty much going to be the norm .
sdean
February 10, 2015 at 1:02 pm
I agree and disagree. I do think Colbert and the Steelers need to get with the modern NFL. I can’t stand Pete Carroll, but he figured out how to use free agency with the draft to get Seattle, a nobody team, to the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons. Art Rooney II has not been stellar in making too many personnel decisions, but I like his hard line approach regarding the organization. Respect it or don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Time for the Steelers to be smarter about free agents. No more KeGarrette Blount or Mike Mitchell or Lance Moore types. If they aren’t going to produce, I’d rather see a practice squad guy move up to active 53, seriously. Earn your spot mentality not just lip service.
Why were the Patriots good? It wasn’t Tom Brady. It was the personnel they keep around him. Denver struggled because they kept some guys they probably should have let walk leaving Mr. Nationwide to try to carry the team. If the Steelers give Roethlisberger the new deal, they need to surround him with talent that is unselfish to the man. Team. Money may talk but so does acting like a 10 year old in a professional career. Time for the Steelers to draft real quality.
Jay
February 10, 2015 at 9:36 pm
Dude, SDEAN, listen to what you say….Peyton manning is surrounded by hoards of talent, way more so than Tom Brady…I’ll take D. Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Julius Thomas, Wes welker and a healthy monte Ball over Edelman, brandon LaFell, Amendola, Gronkowski and whoever the Pats put back there at RB any day! It is tom Brady, I hate the man and wouldn’t shake his hand if one were to pay me to do it but let’s be real here…Peyton’s arm all but fell off the second half of last season plus he had a quad injury. The steelers have surrounded bb with talent…A brown, 6’4″ Bryant, Wheaton, keeping miller on and drafting Lev Bell and rebuilding the o line plus bringing in munchak and Haley who has aided in bb’s sack reduction by not dropping him back in seven step drops every other play like BA was doing. I agree Pitt needs to draft better and perhaps go for quality in lieu of quantity in FA. The latter may force them to open up their pocketbooks. I personally am torn between wanting them to give worilds between 6-8 million OR breaking the bank for Justin Houston! Don’t know if the latter is possible but fact remains we cannot, contrary to popular belief, just simply load up on defensive talent who won’t make an immediate impact at the expense of foregoing on a quality free agent sign. We have a QB and offense which is, for the most part, super bowl ready now….how much defensive youth must we continue to infuse when we have already infused so much already…i.e., JJ, shazier, tuitt, shamarko, Cortez Allen, Hayward, spence, Vince Williams, McCullers, etc. time to get a player on d via FA WHO CAN COME IN AND DONINATE. Not saying to ignore d in the draft but all these people who talk about, ” our first three or four picks need to be defensive…” Hogwash! Get a LT OR TE early… Someone who can come in and help the offense be more effective and consistent.
DrGeorge
February 11, 2015 at 11:38 am
Mr. Chapman states the facts succinctly and well. While it is easy to second guess any team’s draft decisions, it is also true that the Steelers have had some remarkably lame picks in the years since Super Bowl 43, some of which failed due to character issues. Mr. Chapman is quite right in that. And my colleagues above are quite right in the frustrations they describe as well — it simply isn’t possible to fill all of our current neeeds through the draft.
Now, let’s get to the edge of the razor. The immediately preceding article describes Colbert’s new contract talks with Ben R. Here is the Steelers’ future in a nutshell for the next five years. Whatever money the Steelers pay Ben R. above the average for the QB position is money they will not have to sign better talent elsewhere. The prevailing wisdom is that Ben R. is a “franchise QB” (whatever that means) and that the team cannot be successful without him. But it appears we cannot be successful with him, either. Since losing to Green Bay in the 2010 Super Bowl, the team has gone steadily down hill, even with our expensive “franchise QB.” In the past three seasons, Ben R. has proved, his statistics notwithstanding, remarkably ineffective in the red zone. Top QBs like Brady and Rodgers earn their mega-bucks by producing wins. Ben R. has not. Those who fail to see a direct correlation between Ben R’s mega-salary and the mediocrity of the team over all are whistling in the dark. The dominate defense we need has gone into Ben R’s pocket. And Colbert seems intent on making the same mistake again.
Christina Rivers
February 11, 2015 at 5:22 pm
I have read everyone’s assessment here and I want to point out a couple things. Peyton Manning did struggle as a player in 2014, but Tom Brady definitely benefited from Amendola and Gronkowski while Wes Welker had a lot of “personal” issues in Denver. As for surrounding Roethlisberger with talent – I think the point is that Ben has to stop thinking he has to carry the team with some of the antics he has used in the past. Find offensive linemen who can actually move, block. Granted, the O-Line did better in the second half of the season, but I do not see Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams being truly “great” options up front. Even Cody Wallace has yet to show he can take a starting position unless someone else is hurt. I agree with Jay that I would love to see the Steelers go for a big tight end because Heath Miller isn’t getting any younger and both Spaeth and Palmer are best used in blocking. If Ben gets the big money, this Steelers team is going to be scrambling to find the cash for free agents who can come in and “dominate”, as you say. They may have to rely on the draft because ultimately it would be cheaper as we all know that rookie contracts are nowhere near that of a veteran like Antonio Brown and Jason Worilds. The Steelers defense will improve if the offense continues to play at the level they did in their last six games of the season. Get them off the field and put points on the board. I support Mr. Chapman’s assessment that it is time for them to do a better job of vetting the integrity of a free agent player. Ben Tate, Mike Mitchell and Lance Moore were all money that was thrown in the toilet, in my opinion. I doubt the three will be back in 2015. If you take away Brown and Bell, what talent did Roethlisberger have surrounding him? Dri Archer and Josh Harris are not the answers at RB in the current offensive scheme. Martavis Bryant and Markus Wheaton have some great playing time under their belts, but we have yet to see them have a real breakout season…so the jury is out there. Right now the Steelers are in a bad situation because they mismanaged for several years the best options and DrGeorge is right. If they keep spending high dollars on players (like Worilds who has not logged double-digit sacks yet) who are under-performing, the team will face week after week of “must win” games again in 2015. No team can be hot for long under those conditions.