I don't understand this. Lewis carries the whole first drive. We had a back that almost racked up 100 against the Ravens D, and did so against the Bengals D. Now we get to go against a weak defense in Buffalo and old man lewis is back in the game.

@fooleeze said:I'd prefer to take him off of returns and keep him on coverage. I think he's a better coverage guy than return guy. Yea, but I think he would make a very good safety and I would also like to see him on the field on offense more. There's a reason Mangini is bringing in guys like Bowens, Elam and Bush. Also a reason he resigned Adams. Adams can really play on coverage on special teams.

@ballpeen said:To me, we have at least 2 holes on the O-line....and 3-4 about to happen....I am not sure Steiny is going to hold up for a long career, Fraly will go down fast, Tucker is a big question mark, and Schaffer isn't a quality RT ....he's a good guy to have, but super RT he isn't.....he's probably better at LT. Nothing can ruin a season faster than a bad O-line, and thus, I would pick O-linemen early, nearly every year. The Steelers do, and they don't do that badly. O-line scores points, and O-line dictates field position. If I had any one unit on the team absolute stud, it would be O-line....and it is the only 5 man unit on the field.....you have to pay it some attention on a regular basis. To be honest, I wouldn't be upset if we used our first two picks on O-line this year.....take Andre Smith at 5 and one of the centers in the 2nd. And the Steelers do something that most teams are unable to do. They draft their O-line low in the draft and they still end up being decent O-lineman. I can't remember them drafting a O-lineman really high....Maybe Faneca? Rothlisberger does get sacked a ton though! Their line consist of an undrafted free agent, a 6th rounder, two 4th rounders, a 3rd rounder

IF that highly unlikely scenario plays out I would have to boycott going to the games this year. Than again I suppose it depends on all of the details... if we got another first fot Da or bq and somehow parlayed that into getting curry or something.... two first round draft picks and 2 second rounders would be ok by me depending of course on the details.

Aloysius said:Because they already have capable starting OLB's, the Steelers can afford to draft hybrid types a little later in the draft. But it's also worth pointing out that most of the names you listed are from at least 7-8 years ago, when there weren't a lot of 3-4 teams searching for hybrid types. With the increase in demand, it's now much harder to find one of these guys later in the draft. You can cite LaMarr Woodley, an early/mid second rounder, as a counterexample, but part of the reason he fell that low was that scouts didn't think he could drop into coverage. If new coach Mike Tomlin hadn't been considering switching to a Tampa 2 defense, I have a sneaking suspicion they wouldn't have taken him. And in that same draft, the Steelers drafted Lawrence Timmons in the first to play WOLB. Though he didn't stick at that spot, it shows that the Steelers do think talented edge rushers are worth taking in the first round. Valid points Aloy but we're getting creative with scenarios and what ifs. Bottom line: Pitt's scouting department, GM and Def Coordinator were all in-tact there before the transition of Head Coaches and Tampa 2 thoughts. Consequently, they knew exactly what was needed for their scheme so ANYONE could co-exist with Dick LeBeau, healthy cap and ideal scouting. Tomlin walked into the same goodies Gruden walked into at Tampa. ALOT of teams try the Tampa 2 and even the 3-4 but we only remember the ones with the best players. Same with the WCO invented a couple decades before SF used the best players and coaching for it. Woodley was drafted just 2 years ago. Harrison starts now so it's tough to get more curent than the current starters. They've always done this. The one kid they recently drafted in round 1 (Timmons) has had considerably less reps than Woodley and Harrison regardless of why/where he fits exactly. Harrison wasn't even drafted in 7 rounds of 32 teams selecting so all I can go by is what I've seen repeated and repeated and repeated by them. If they're replacing good guys with good guys doing that - what's that tell you about how it works? Huey Richardson was their 15th pick overall and that turned out alot worse than these guys: Chad Brown Rd 2 Colorado Greg Lloyd Rd 6 Fort Valley State Jason Gildon Rd 3 Oklahoma State Joey Porter Rd 3 Colorado State James Harrison Undrafted FA - Kent State LaMarr Woodley Rd 2 Michigan Mike Vrabel Rd 3 Ohio State We've drafted the designated pass rusher twice in the upper half of round 1 (and once at #1 overall) and guess what's never changed heading into the next season? We need a more reliable designated pass rusher. I'd LOVE for that to be different but Jamir Miller's 2001 season was the ONLY time we've received a Pro Bowl pass rush off the edge and it's not like he came with intensified pass rusher training beyond the x-stunts. Wimbley, showed tremendous promise as a rookie with 11 sacks BUT somewhere along the lines we found no upside. More on that in a minute. This year, ALOT of the kids that were originally projecting as round 2 are rising into the bottom half of round 1. That means I have to rise with them a little. Therefore, I'd welcome the tradedown and feel much more comfortable going OLB/Pass Rusher in the bottom half of round 1 especially knowing Curry is long gone at #5 and we'll have another pick or 2 moving back. I was as BIG of a fan of OUR Clay Matthews as it gets so I'm LOVING seeing the 3rd generation of Clay Matthews heading to the NFL. If we can't trade down, we gotta go best available player with whomever George and Eric deem that be at #5 and then get our edge guy near the top of rd 2. There's going to be some REALLY good edge guys NEAR where we pick in round 2 (ie; Justin Tuck was rd 3 and Osi Youmeanbasterd was rd 2) while Kiwanunka was drafted #32 overall). Every year, just like the RB position, there's some awesome edge guys drafted in rounds 2 and 3. If we toss Wimbley from our plans for the SAME exact kid possibly even from the same exact school at #5 overall - how have we helped ourselves? We'd be paying 2 upper first round salaries for the SAME position so if we go pass rusher again, this is just my opinion inviting bullets, I'd prefer to give us a better bang for the buck for a kid that is going to get better with experience. For all I know, Hall might even become our Harrison or/Woodley. Let's not forget how long we've been saying these kids need alot better coaching out there. I'm still struggling at the thought of Wimbley waking up a piss poor football player following an 11 sack rookie outing. Nothing about that says "bad future" or "bad player" IMO. In fact, EVERY player that's recently had a GOOD season for us followed up with a crappy season whether we're talking Droughns, Lewis, Edwards, Wimbley, DA, Winslow, etc... ALOT of that is bad coaching and maybe even crappy contract incentives. Here's something REALLY positive to end with: ONE of our new Strength and Conditioning Coaches is a former DE (pass rusher) Rick Lyle that stuck around in this league long after playing for us in the early 90s. I think he's going to be a difference maker in the growth and development process for some of these young edge kids. - Tom F.

@shepwrite said:I'm not a huge Shonn Greene fan... he's pretty slow and I work that he's gonna struggle at the next level about like A-Train from Michigan. I'd rather get Derrick Ward, Rashad Jennings, or even Beanie Wells if we dump Lewis. I agree. Plus Green will be 25 before he ever takes his first NFL snap. Beanie Wells will have been in the league three years by the time he's 25. In a few years after drafting Green you are looking at a 30 year old RB.

Kokinis is heading to NY and Lerner: KOKINIS EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK Posted by Mike Florio on January 21, 2009, 10:19 a.m. EST A league source tells us that Ravens director of pro personnel George Kokinis is on his way to New York to meet with owner Randy Lerner. The thinking is that Kokinis and Lerner will at that time reach an agreement that Kokinis will become the next G.M. of the Browns.

@rr59eagle said:Nice post ...but the wrong team moron..The rats are going home for the winter ..It will be the Team that owns the Browns against the Cards ...The Steelers ........Oh the humanity Not only do we have rich, but now we have fake rich?

oldcow1945 said:I guess Cooper was the better coach and better recruiter then, huh? Tressel has done a much better job of getting better athletes than Cooper ever did. Try going to scout or rivals and taking a look. As a matter of fact, a few classes back the Buckeyes broke the NFL record for players drafted in one year. That arguement about winning with someone else players is ridiculous. Gruden did something with the same squad that Dungy didn't do with them....Dungy went on to do it with Indy, but none the less, he didn't do it in Tampa while Gruden did, and with the same players. I am really not knocking Tressel, nor do I think Cooper was better. If you follow what I was responding to, these were jabs at a certain poster, who made rediculous statements about Gruden.

@ytownbrownsbacker said:"F**K that.........................we just had that with Savage. But he didn't even have absolute power. "Absolute Power" is an uncontrolable ego............................I pass. You hire a coach, let him coach. If he is responsible for wins and losses then let him have a say in the draft and playes on his roster. GMs are administrators. An owner shouldn't even have absolute power. You may be right about the ego trip, which is why you get the right guy for a GM. As far as the 'Owner should'nt have that power', that's a little tough given they're the ones dishing out the employees (players, coaches, etc.) payroll. It's a business and in every business there are the CEO / Boss / Owner. He's the one sustains the business and drops it if it's a loss. It's NOT about Football, it's about Business. If not, why did Modell leave ???? As far as GM and coach relationship, common sense would dictate that these two guys on the same page create a winning atmosphere. If you really think Belicheck drives that boat alone, you're likely wrong. A coach can know football but shit about business. The GM WITH the coach determines how much they will / can spend for what talent. The coach, with the GM, should determine if they can draw more from players for less and use all funding available for as many talented / workable guys they can get. Dallas is a prime example of a team that just spends and I feel does not rely on the coach to 'bring out' the talent. Same with Washington, although I have more respect for Zorn than Phillips. Dallas spends and when it doesn't gel or pan out, they end up like this season. We need a GM / coach combination that will give this organization (especially based on where it is now) the best chemistry for success. The only guy with absolute power is the owner and the next step in the food chain for RECOMMENDATIONS is the GM. The GM works with the coach to make those recommendations. Savage and RAC were obviously NOT on the same page regarding DA vs. BQ this season ... and look where we are.