I like AB

AB wearing google glass

444

Just for the heck of it I'll mention that I just hit lucky number 444 post.  Pittsburgh Sports Buzz, everything Pittsburgh Sports established in 1999.  Thanks for reading peeps.

From 2 to 8 in one offseason. The Wide Receiver dilemma.

At the beginning of last year it looked like the Steelers may be down to 2 wide receivers when Speed demon and big mouth peyton lover decided to move on, or at least test the market.  It looked like the Steelers may be down to Antonio Brown and Jericho Cotchery starting.  They had drafted Markus Wheaton and the other half of the Brown brothers, Justin and there were various other pickups including Derek Moye. 

We know that it usually takes at least  a year for players to be productive in the various offensive and defensive positions on the Steelers, but if the players are talented enough and the position is depleted enough then there is a chance that  those players will be at least semi-productive.  The Steelers decided to match the offer for Emmanuel Sanders and they had 3 wide receivers with experience and the replacement for the planned departure of Emmanuel Sanders after the season, Markus Wheaton was there to learn the ropes.  Wheaton played a little and then broke his finger and the season was mostly a loss for him.  Moye beat out Justin Brown and it looked like they might have a steal that could contribute out of the box, but there was little to no contribution offensively for Moye after the early season touchdown fade pass for a touchdown.

Fast forward to this year.  The wide receiver position, despite the loss of Sanders, seems to be a possible strength  and the choice as to who will make it may be a tough one.  The candidates left over from last year are Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton, Justin Brown and Derek Moye.  Then the Steelers signed 2 free agents in Lance Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bay, then they draft another tall fast receiver in Martavis Bryant.  In addition to that they get a call from one of the best cornerbacks ever who asks them to take a look at a young receiver that hasn’t done much in college, but has got his attention with his size, athleticism and speed.  Mel Blount doesn’t just recommend anyone to the Steelers.  Seriously, from what he’s said this young receiver may be the first player he’s recommended to the Steelers.  So, you know there must be something special about him. CJ Goodwin is his name. 

In case you’re counting that is 8 wide receivers.  You know they are not going to keep 8.  At most they’ll have 5 on the roster when the season begins.  From what everyone is saying all these guys are looking good.  There is much to look forward to because these guys are all fast.  HB might be the fastest and I’m not sure he’ll be in the team picture when everything shakes out.  The other good thing is that Ben wanted a tall receiver.  When the decision comes he may have 2 to 4 to throw to.  Martavis Bryant, Justin Brown, Derek Moye, and DHB are all 6’2” or taller and Goodwin, Brown, Moye and Bryant are all 6’3” or taller.  That’s a little extra height that Ben can put on the ball to give the receivers a little advantage over those short corners.

So, who’s going to be in the team picture, as the saying goes.  Since camp is only been in session for a week it’s hard to say, but……  I’ll put my 2 cents in as to who I think will make the team.

I think AB has the team made and probably has a starting position locked up.  Those team MVPs might help his case.  Then there is Markus Wheaton.  He has been hyped as the next starter opposite AB since last year.  Lance Moore, formerly of the Saints, has received major praise from everyone in the organization and can play the number 2 receiver as well as the slot.  That’s 3 spots.  Antonio’s brother, Justin, has also received praise from his coaches after a year on the practice squad.  That’s four.  Then this year’s fourth rounder who they drafted to provide Ben with a big receiver is number five.   So, DHB, Moye and Goodwin are left out of the picture.  

But, even though you don’t hear much about him I think the Steelers will keep Goodwin on the practice squad.  His potential is intriguing.  Then again, I don’t know if anyone would pick him up if he wasn’t on the practice squad so they may put Moye on there and tell Goodwin to keep working and be ready in case the need arises for another WR.  Most likely he wouldn’t see any action anyway unless he shows he can contribute to special teams.  I’d say DHB is left out  unless 2 of the others get in the doghouse.  I do think the Steelers have a solid future with the guys they have at WR and they definitely have size and speed.  They just need everyone to get up to speed with Todd Haley and the offensive system.  If they do this offense could be explosive combined with the running game that they may have.  Oh yeah,  and after all that they have this other burner that could be as fast as Wallace, Dri Archer.  Watch out for him. He'll be coming at us from all angles, returning, running back, and wide receiver.  

What be the price, Aaarrrggg……

At the time I’m writing this the Pirates are now 1 game back of Milwaukee in the standings and a half game in front of St. Louis.  They are 8 games above .500 and are one of the winningest teams in the last few months of the season.  After that less than great start that is what it took to get back into the race.  So, what will it take now to overtake the Brewers and pull away from the Cardinals in the NL Central? 

The Pirates have a few options and those options involve a lot of other options.  Option number one was to stand pat and play with the cards Neil Huntington has dealt to them at this point.  Who do the Pirates have to trade and what do they get in return?  Here’s how I see it.  The Pirates farm system is stocked and they have a few pieces on the major and minor league rosters that could be traded for the right price. 

The ideal major league team has a player that can provide quality play at each position day in and day out, while once in a while getting a day off.  Very few teams have a player at each position that can do that.  So they try the platoon system.   The Pirates have 6 positions that I’m confident that they are set at and 2 that are basically unstable.

Second base is set with the Pittsburgh kid, Neil Walker.  He’s living up to his first round status this year, a breakout year, that even included a short derailment due to emergency appendectomy surgery.  I thought that would cause him to get off track for an extended period of time, but when he came back he has been just as good as he was before the surgery. 

This year it looks like Mercer might be someone that the Pirates can depend on.  He has provided quality play at short and after a slow start he has hit the occasional home run and also hit for a respectable average. 

Pedro has been a major problem this year.  He has steadied his average, but his power numbers are not what was hoped for after he shared the league lead last year in Home runs and his throwing problems on defense have led to Clint Hurdle replacing him with late game leads.  But, there is always the chance that he’ll go on a tear and start slamming home runs left and right.  I keep thinking this will happen at some point, but I think his defensive issues are causing his offense to suffer.    The problem with trading Pedro is that his value is low right now.  But, the only way for his value to increase is for him to start playing better and if he’s playing better why would they want to trade him.  It’s hard to trade someone who could win a game with one swing of the bat.  So, for me, I’m going to hang onto Pedro and hope that he can do enough to help the team to the postseason.  Then there’s always the chance that he’ll be a postseason monster.  After all he was a pretty big part of the Pirates playoff successes last year.

The other weak link in the Pirates infield is first base.  This has been a sore spot for several years now and it is not any better this year.  It seems like Gabby is just there.  He doesn’t help out too much, but also he doesn’t usually hurt too much.  Really the same goes for Ike.  The problem is if you’re not helping and you’re not hurting, you’re just there.  The Pirates need a lot more than just being there.  At the least they need someone that will hit for a decent average.  That doesn’t mean .300.  It means .270 or so.  Then, most guys that hit around there will end up with a few home runs in some key situations.  I’ve heard Ike say that he’s a second half player.  Yeah, I’ve waited and waited for other first basemen to play well in the second half.  Adam LaRoche, Garrett Jones.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t.  We can’t wait Ike, we want to win a pennant and the World Series.  Unfortunately, Ike and Gabby have no value whatsoever in trades.  We need a first baseman that will start the year at least at a mediocre clip then at least kick it into another gear as the year goes on.  Not one that will hit .200 for a few months and then start hitting .220.  In short that is still a need for the Pirates.  Frankly, the Ike trade was a wasted one.  It was a gamble, one that Huntington has tried several times.  Find a player that has had a very good year but gone downhill and hope that they will rebound and return to that one year form with the Pirates.  Gabby has been another wasted gamble.  One very good year with Miami and that’s it.

The outfield is set.  If there is even one iota of a crazy thought about trading the Marte partay someone needs to take a sledgehammer and knock it out of the head of anyone in the front office’s head that thinks it may be a good one.  This outfield has the makings to be historic.  They may not hit 120 home runs each year, but they can save a lot of runs by running down nearly anything hit to the outfield and they all have the speed to create runs. 

We know what Mr. MVP can do.  But we are just scratching the surface of Marte and Polanco’s abilities.  I, for one, want to see what they’ll do while they are under the Pirates contractual control.  Even if Polanco doesn’t sign long term, he’s still here for 6 years.  In other words, the outfielders are untradeable and should be pieces of the long term plan. 

At catcher, Russell Martin, is the veteran glue that holds the team together.  The only issue the Pirates have with him is whether they can resign him for next year and that is an entirely different story.  For now Martin is a must in the chase for a championship. 

The discussion about the starting pitching staff and relief staff could go on for days.  The good thing about the issues with the starters is they’ve found several within the organization that can pitch and a couple pickups they’ve made were good decisions.  Did anyone expect Vance Worley to pitch as well  as he has.  He has 1 of the Pirates 2 complete games.  Not bad for a reclamation project.  Same goes for Edinson Volquez.  Worley’s counterpart in the complete game category.    Volquez has had a few bad games, but I’d have to say the good has outweighed the bad for him.  The other starters have been erratic at best.  Liriano was being counted on to be the ace of the staff along with Gerrit Cole, but  injuries and inconsistency has caused their output to be undependable and their win total to be low.  Charlie Morton has also provided nothing in the win category, although he has escaped the injury bug and provided innings in most of his starts.

The Pirates have also counted on Brandon Cumpton to fill in and Jeff Locke to provide innings when the others have gone down.  Cumpton has been reliable to provide innings.  Locke started out strong in his recent term as a starter but has not fared well in recent outings.  As the season began, we thought Jameson Taillon would be arriving at a similar schedule as Gerrit Cole last year, but that train was derailed when we found out that he would be having season ending Tommy John  surgery.  So, here’s where we stand with the starters:  Liriano, Morton, Locke, Worley, Volquez, Cumpton, and Cole.  If Cole comes back that gives them two spare parts to choose from.  I’m guessing that the top 5 will be Liriano, Morton, Worley, Volquez and Cole.  Number one option of the fifth and sixth guys would be Locke, and then Cumpton.  Those two guys have options left and can be sent back to AAA without the risk of losing them.  Hopefully Cole will be back soon and return to a high level of performance.  So, now that we’ve passed the trade deadline and the big guys have already moved from team to team, the main team with pieces left to trade is Philadelphia.  Cole Hamels and AJ are still around and could most likely make it through waivers and be available for trade, but do they provide the Pirates with a higher quality of starter than what they have now.  In their prime the answer would have been yes, now I think the answer is no.  That is as long as the Pirates pitchers can stay off the DL. 

As far as relievers, the Pirates have been rumored by many sources to be going after closers on other teams that have been labeled as sellers.  But nothing has been substantiated and again is there someone that is better out there than what the Pirates already have.  I’m sure that they could find someone better than how Ernesto has pitched since being swapped for Grilli, but again who and what be the cost.  Really, I think the Pirates have a very competitive team if many things happen with current players and I would really like to plug in some of the minor leaguers that should arrive by next year into the current roster.  How does this sound.  Cole, Taillon, Glasnow, Liriano, Morton, (Worley),(Cumpton).  Josh Bell at first, Walker at 2^nd, Mercer at short, Pedro/JHay at 3^rd, the 3 headed center fielder in the outfield, and Martin catching.  That sounds like a World Series caliber team to me. 

The bullpen is a question mark, but Melancon has been dependable since Grilli was sent away and Watson definitely appears to be a closer in waiting.  They should be able to find a few quality guys in trades or the minors to fill in the rest.  

I know Pirates fans have been waiting for a winner for a long time and they don’t want to wait til next season.  It is obvious from reading comments that they were unhappy that they didn’t secure an ace for the staff, but this team has the players on the roster and in their minor league system to win this year and I mean win big.  If they go and trade those players away they might have enough to restock, but if they already have those players whether it be this year or next why trade them for a player they will control for a few months for their future staff ace or number 2 or 3 pitcher or for that first baseman they have been waiting for since, um Pops.  I’m not going to even mention SB.  Too many bad memories there.  I want to see this team come together and have a great nucleus for many years. 

Yeah, I would have liked to see them pick up Price or some other ace, but they are not lacking proven starters right now and there is help arriving in Glasnow and Taillon within a year.  Don’t trade Glasnow for a few month rental player and don’t trade your future power hitting first baseman for a rental player.  These guys could lead the Buccos to a title in the next few years.  

Happy Birthday Pittsburgh Steelers

The Greatest Head Coach in NFL History

Growing up in West Virginia almost equally distanced from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Cleveland I could have been a fan of any of teams in any of those cities and the world have known no difference and would have gone on just fine.  But luckily in the 70’s when I was making the crucial decisions as to what teams I would follow, the Black and Gold were becoming powerhouses.  That is the Black and Gold of the Pirates and The Steelers.  The Pirates bookended the 70’s with championships with players like Roberto, Omar Moreno, Dave Parker, Manny, Kent Tekulve, Steve Blass, The Candy Man, and many others.  That was enough for me to be a fan, but something else was going on in Pittsburgh in the 70s that cemented my fanaticism for the Black and Gold.

Around the beginning of the decade the Steeler hired a new coach.  Prior to that time period they had been something of a let’s say “diamond in the rough.”  Putting it kindly, they were not a good team.  They had some memorable players, Bill Dudley, Bobby Layne, Ernie Stautner, John Henry Johnson, but from a team standpoint, not good.  Then in 1969, this guy named Chuck Noll was hired to turn the team into a winner.  Little did Art Rooney know that this man would be a stabilizing force for the Pittsburgh Steelers and would take the team to unimaginable heights that only a select few teams would achieve in the NFL and that no other coach could say they had achieved to this day in the NFL.  Noll had been the defensive coordinator in Baltimore under another legendary coach, Don Shula the season before the Steelers hired him.  It is no coincidence that Pittsburgh’s defense became the Steel Curtain after Coach arrived.  Baltimore’s defense was stingy, giving up only 144 points during his last season. 

Chuck Noll’s will to turn this team into a dynasty did not happen overnight.  The first season could not have been an easy one.  The Steelers went 1-13 to continue their path that had been recorded in the pre-70’s history book, but what no fan of the Steelers could know in that first season was that the building blocks were starting to accumulate.  Not to take anything away from Dan Rooney, who was the GM in 1970 and 1971 until Dick Haley Took over, but the most important piece, Chuck Noll had been put in place and the rest of the building blocks were yet to come.  Like an army marching in a single file line, the players began to arrive.  Joe Greene the number 3 overall pick and L.C. Greenwood in 1969,  Terry Bradshaw the number 1 overall pick and Mel Blount in 1970, Jack Ham, Dwight White, and Mike Wagner in 1971, Franco Harris and Steve Furness in 1972, J.T. Thomas in 1973, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Jack Lambert and Mike Webster in 1974.  There were so many others that Chuck Noll and the Steelers brought in to contribute to the domination of the 70s.  It is just unreal how they were able to put together so much talent. 

There was one man that was in charge of meshing them into a team and that was Chuck Noll.  I’ve listened to Merrill Hoge and Tunch Ilkin and many other players reverently discuss so many times how Chuck Noll was a master at coaching.  He could teach, he could stand back and let his assistants teach and he could coach.  He knew how to pull the right strings and he is the only head coach with four Super Bowls to show for it.  He is a hall of famer and he is the reason that I am a Steelers fan and will always be a Steelers fan.

On Second Thought

The NFL season seems to be lasting longer and longer each year. The day after Mr. Irrelevant is taken, Mel Kiper and Todd McShay come out with mock drafts for the next year. Really? Does Kiper really think that any of the guesses that he formulates right now will have any semblance of reality a year from now? Doubtful, but that's what the NFL is right now. It is such a popular entity that people hang on the edge of their seats with these mock drafts with anticipation that the players that are chosen by these experts will be the ones chosen by the teams. The only problem with this is many teams go a long way to make sure that noone knows who they are picking. They leak misinformation by various means and voila, the experts latch on and boom that's who those teams are drafting. Funny thing is, rarely that's who they draft.

This year the misinformation was flying around. Ben wanted a big receiver to target. The cornerback position was getting older by the day. Ike's getting slower and William Gay is not getting better. Cortez Allen has barely done anything to prove he's worthy of taking over and the rest of the cornerbacks are a bunch of unproven, underwhelming projects. There were secondary reports that maybe Eric Ebron was the target. There weren't many projections of a linebacker being drafted. Safety had already been taken care of in last year's draft and free agency this year. Defensive linemen were a need and there were rumors floating around about that position as well as Louis Nix and the Nose Tackle.

I was very much looking forward to them selecting a shutdown corner.  There were three or four corners that were available that many had decided were high enough quality to be considered first rounders.  There was Justin Gilbert, Kyle Fuller, Darqueze Dennard and probably some others.  Those experts that I talked about earlier seemed to think that Gilbert and Fuller would be gone before number 15.  So, it looked like the Steelers had Dennard in their sights, which was fine by me.  I'd seen Dennard play and despite the fact that he was not the fastest cb available he seemed to fit into the Steelers mold for a corner.  Toughness, check, size, check, sufficient speed, check. Watching him play in college the average person would think that he was the player that fit the top need the Steelers had.  The Steelers apparently didn't think so, because he was there and they didn't take him.  All I could see was Ike slowing down even more, Cortez not being able to take the reins as the second cornerback and Gay being slightly below starting cornerback calibre. Thankfully Josh Gordon helped the Steelers out and himself into a year suspension more than likely. There's still AJ Jenkins though and Torrey Smith. The Steelers need someone to cover those guys. So, the Steelers blew their chances and the 2014-2015 season is over before it started.

Not so fast, says Dick Lebeau and Carnell Lake. Along comes the Steelers number one pick. At number 15 the Pittsburgh Steelers select 4.40. That's not the player, it's Ryan Shazier and he runs a 4.4 40 yard dash. That should get him to the quarterback pretty quick. Quick enough to get to the quarterback before he gets a pass off, or at least fast enough to put a hit on him. It's hard to hit a receiver if you are lying on your back or a linebacker knocks the ball out of your hand.  4.4 let's you make mistakes occassionaly and still be able to get back to make the play. 4.4 let's Troy Polamalu stay in the secondary or get to the backfield instead of playing where 4.4 should be. There's also 4.3 playing safety. Troy may have had near that at one time but probably not now, but there are a couple new kids in town in Shamarko Thomas and Mike Mitchell with blazing speed. They both have their question marks. Shamarko looks like a beast, has 4.3 speed and is a workout maniac. But, he hasn't done anything in the NFL yet. The good news is Troy did little his first year and he's turned out pretty good. Mitchell has taken a few years and a few teams to find his groove with Carolina, but did Carolina just have a system that fit him or did he just grow into his position. I think both of these guys will be welcome additions and should improve the defense dramatically. Then, there's always the chance that the Steelers braintrust knew what they were doing while drafting Shaquille Richardson. I think Carnell Lake has done a decent job with the defensive backfield and he is familiar with Richardson through his time at UCLA, so maybe he'll pan out, but he will most likely be a project. Shazier and 2nd round pick Stephon Tuitt should help a run defense which desperately needed help. If the running game can be stopped that makes the offense predictable. 1 yard run on 1st down = 2nd down pass or 3rd down pass. Sack or Hurry the QB and that leads to a turnover. So, maybe, just maybe the Steelers knew what they were doing when they passed over DD in the first round.  We will definitely find out because the Bengals thought he was a good enough bet to take in the first round and we will probably be seeing him 2 times a year.

Just a not about Dri Archer.  I watched some highlight film on him.  Yes, I know it's called highlight film because it is his best plays, but he is lightning quick.  He has speed to get around the corner in the NFL like fast Willie used to.  In those highlights their was no angle the defense could take because he outran the angle. He's what the Steelers wanted in Chris Rainney a few years ago, but without the baggage that came along with Rainney.  Hopefully he has good hands because he can run past secondaries the way Wallace did also.

Then there's Daniel McCullers.  Supposedly he's not the fastest guy in the NFL, but his size is so intriguing.  6'7" and 352 pounds.  This guy is  massive and if anyone could block more than one person at a time he should be able to.  But size does not always make the best players.  I'd love to see him play nose tackle if he can tie up a few linemen and allow the linebackers to find the holes, but it sounds more like he will be an end. 

This looks like a very positive draft, but the only way to measure the quality of draft is to see how well they have performed and the only way to measure that is to wait a few years and see who works out.  Then again there's those 6 Lombardis that are proof that the Steelers know a little about drafting Super Bowl teams.