How important is this offseason?

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 03-02-2008, 12:14 PM

Sometimes you can see a team on the verge of greatness or mediocrity based on how well they've played the previous couple years. You can see where a team that has been stock piling talent and learning to win together is finally able to turn the corner with just another few key additions.

Conversely you can see teams that maybe have just allowed themselves to get old, have drafted poorly, have given out too much money to unproven or older players and are now in cap hell and have to purge the team, or other signs that we all have seen in the past.

So my question is in your realistic opinion, how pivotal an offseason is this for our Steelers? Has drafting poorly on day 2 for the last 5 years or so finally caught up with us to the point that we need to totally rebuild? Perhaps there is just a few key positions that need upgraded as we've all talked about for how long now. The Steelers have gotten by in a largely weak division for quite awhile up until the last couple years but with teams like the Browns getting better, and Cincy having a good offense ( even with their short comings on defense and in the locker room) we are on the verge of more competitive division depending on how well Balt and Cincy rebuild. We still are able to play with these teams and we're certainly not 2nd rate to anybody. I like our chances playing them anytime anywhere but the fact remains we are getting old on the DL and the OL is young and both inexperienced and underachieving. We need another WR, and depth at more places than not.

If we don't draft well this year and pick up some key free agents along with guys we already have like Anthony Smith, Polamalu, Davenport, Washington, Woodley, Timmons, etc. stepping up and being accounted for it could be disastrous for this team. We got bit hard by injuries in 2007 and there's no way to tell if that will happen again so IMHO this offseason is paramount for us. We've got a franchise QB that can't keep getting killed, a running game that suffers from poor blocking, sporatic pass rush...if we don't sure things up it could be a long year. Tomlin has spoken about how old we've allowed ourselves to get in several areas so we know he's heading into this offseason with an open mind but the pressure is on and April is right around the corner. Let's no blow this draft!

**Black@Gold Forever32** · 03-02-2008, 12:33 PM

This upcoming draft is huge.......The OL is a mess.....The DL is still very good but youth is needed big time...In my opinion 3 of the 6 picks should be spent on the OL and DL......

In the first if Williams and Albert are off the board I say trade down to pick up more picks......They really should have down that last year in the first....

**BlitzburghRockCity** · 03-02-2008, 01:34 PM

It's more important than ever for these day 2 picks to make the team and contribute. Sep and Gay both played well last year so that's a step in the right direction but if anything less than every pick through the first 5 rounds atleast doesn't make the team and contribute then we'll be back onto the rocky road again.

**BlacknGold Bleeder** · 03-02-2008, 03:12 PM

We are in for a rocky road no matter what, we are going to have a division winner schedule instead of a 3rd place schedule. Things will be interesting !!

**DIESELMAN** · 03-02-2008, 03:39 PM

Every off season is important but this one here is very important. Like you said Matt, drafting poorly on day 2 the past few drafts have basically screwed us especially with OL and DL. IMO our DL is not in good shape. Aside from Smith, Casey needs to lose weight and get back to his old dominating form, he doesn't draw double teams like he used to. Other then those 2, who do we have that have proven they can do the job? No one!! Smith going down last year proves that, nobody stepped up and filled in, granted it takes a lot to fill Aaron's shoes but damn we went from giving up 71.7 yards a game with a 3.4 yard average per carry with Smith to averaging 129.8 yards per game and a 4.9 carry average without him. Our DL is in as bad a shape as our OL. Day 1 picks need to be starters not projects.

**Troyisabeast_43** · 03-02-2008, 03:56 PM

Every schedule in this division next year is going to be tough because its all virtually the same. The Steelers play the exact same teams as everybody else does in the division with the exception of the Pats on the road and San Diego here. The Cleveland Browns who are the Steelers biggest competition in this division have the exact same schedule as the Steelers both road and home. They much like the Steelers have road games at the Jags,Titans,Philly,Wash, and have to go to Buffalo too instead of New England like the Steelers do which is never an easy task. The Bengals and Ravens have similar schedules as well both of them have games on the road at Indy,Houston,Dallas,and the Giants which will be very tough. So while the schedule looks tough now keep in mind the division faces pretty much the same opponents with a few tweaks with home and road games here and there. Will see how the Browns do with not having any picks at all in the first 3 rounds this coming season. Sure, they did pick up Stallworth to make that offense more potent but they still need to upgrade and improve on that D if they plan to overtake the Steelers in this division. Steelers are still the team to beat in this division until the Browns can figure out a way to knock them off which they havent figured out to do yet in the last 9 meetings or so. The Browns are putting all their eggs in one basket it would appear with signing all of these free agents. So they had better hope these guys work out and dont get hurt or the Browns are going to be in huge trouble next season with hardly any new young draft picks, and a few years down the road when they are in salary cap trouble.

**MDSteel15** · 03-02-2008, 04:07 PM

Originally Posted by DIESELMAN

Every off season is important but this one here is very important. Like you said Matt, drafting poorly on day 2 the past few drafts have basically screwed us especially with OL and DL. IMO our DL is not in good shape. Aside from Smith, Casey needs to lose weight and get back to his old dominating form, he doesn't draw double teams like he used to. Other then those 2, who do we have that have proven they can do the job? No one!! Smith going down last year proves that, nobody stepped up and filled in, granted it takes a lot to fill Aaron's shoes but damn we went from giving up 71.7 yards a game with a 3.4 yard average per carry with Smith to averaging 129.8 yards per game and a 4.9 carry average without him. Our DL is in as bad a shape as our OL. Day 1 picks need to be starters not projects.

Bingo!!!

**yinzer** · 03-02-2008, 05:08 PM

i voted paramount. we haven't done squat in FA so far and I don't expect we will. everybody else is picking up where they left off. we're just sitting around with our fingers up our noses waiting for the draft again. meanwhile, the clowns are picking up weapon after weapon. i guess we'll all be saying "told you so" at the end of next season.

**Stlrs4Life** · 03-02-2008, 05:37 PM

Originally Posted by BlacknGold Bleeder

We are in for a rocky road no matter what, we are going to have a division winner schedule instead of a 3rd place schedule. Things will be interesting !!

I agree. Each new season brings something different. This year we seem weak in the OL, next year it will be somewhere else.

**DBR96A** · 03-03-2008, 11:04 AM

Things have become a lot less foggy this morning, and the Steelers' focus in the off-season appears much clearer now. With Mewelde Moore's contract pending, that alleviates us in the draft. We can focus pretty much exclusively on three things:

- The OL
- DL depth
- LB depth

We may also pick up a CB for shits and giggles. Other than that, though, the Mewelde Moore signing gives us a much tighter focus in the draft. Good news.