Steelers 4th Round Pick 2012 - Alameda Ta'amu - DT, Washington

[The Lakelander]

04/05/2012 - 04/05/12 NFL DRAFT SCOUT FALLER: Alameda Ta'amu, DT, Washington: Players with wide, well-built 348-pound frames are rare, especially ones who can move as effortlessly as Alameda Ta'amu. However, many have strong doubts about his ability to anchor and play as strong as he looks at the next level. He is an intriuging athlete with the foot agility that cannot be taught and good weight-room strength (35 reps of 225 pounds), but those traits don't necessarily show on the football field. Ta'amu struggles to hold his ground at the point of attack and doesn't have the base strength his size would suggest, keeping him from manning a nose tackle spot for most teams. It's almost as if he's a pass rushing three-technique stuck in a zero-technique's body, struggling to make much of an impact. Regardless, he has a lot of the tools that cannot be taught and still projects as a top-100 draft choice, but it would be a surprise if he goes in the first round like many are predicting. - Dane Brugler, NFLDraftScout.com

What? ... I'm not allowed to have an opinion contrary to all the draft-day masterbaters around here? ... tburgh68 ought to STFU about calling me out as "stupid" ...

I'm calling Ta'amu a fat-tard because that's what he is ... he's a 3-technique stuck in a zero-technique's body ... in other words, we have another down lineman in our front 7 who will never whiff at an NFL QB ...

My comment about missing the days of the 4-3 defense was about this ... all 4 of those down linemen could pressure and sack a QB ... and therefore our LB's could freelance to read the play and make tackles ... remember Jack Ham? ... remember Andy Russell? ... their job wasn't to sack the QB ... now we have 270 lb Woodley ( a chronic hamstring puller) whose only task is to pressure the QB ... and a fat-tard NT ... and a 6'5" stiff LDE who gets dominated by good RT's ...

I'm tired of Dick LeBeau's defense ... and I call a spade a spade ... our defense doesn't get off the field very often ... and NFL offenses are getting the better of our defense more and more ...

LeBeau's defense was better when the LOLB (Kevin Greene) was able to push his opposing RT into the QB's facemask ... and the ROLB Greg Lloyd could jiu jitsu the opposing LT into missing his block ... now we have one dimensional Woodley on one side and the ever-held, corraled, and otherwise illegally (yet league-sanctioned) overpowered James Harrison on the other side ...

LeBeau's defense was better with a stronger, more athletic, more muscle laden Joel Steed lining up at NT ... Steed had more tackles and more sacks ... I was hoping the Steelers would draft a more Steed-like NT rather than another fat-tard!


But pardon me for having an opinion ... please don't tell me this fansite is filled with zombie-thinkers like all the other Steelers fansites are ... what a shame!

[connecticutsteel]

He's alot of gorgonzola

Dick Lebeau's defense produces that's the bottom line and yes i remember all the players mentioned above but they are gone now so while it is nice to remember the past i chose not to live there

PS LAKELANDER WHY WOULD YOU CALL ME A MASTERBATER OR ANY NAME YOU DON'T KNOW ME SO YOUR NO DIFFERENT WITH YOUR LABELING AND NAMECALLING ABOUT PEOPLE WITH A DIFFERENT OPINION

btw NICE LIFT ON YOUR ANALYISIS 3TECH IN A0TECH BODY THAT WAS ORIGINAL

[The Lakelander]

We're all obligated to live in the present ... I was feeling great about the last Steelers game played ... how about you?

[The Lakelander]

PS LAKELANDER WHY WOULD YOU CALL ME A MASTERBATER

I didn't ... I simply created a category ... if you are including yourself in it then that's your issue ...

I would hope that you're not one of them though ... how humiliating to be in that group ...

[The Lakelander]

connecticutsteel ... I'm like the 3rd line winger who goes to the penalty box for throwing an elbow after the referee misses the blatant slash across my wrists ... I've been on this site for 2 weeks and I've voiced very few strong opinions so far ... but already I've been called "stupid" ...

So I'll gladly go to the box for throwing my elbow in response ...

[JensK]

What? ... I'm not allowed to have an opinion contrary to all the draft-day masterbaters around here? ... tburgh68 ought to STFU about calling me out as "stupid" ...

I'm calling Ta'amu a fat-tard because that's what he is ... he's a 3-technique stuck in a zero-technique's body ... in other words, we have another down lineman in our front 7 who will never whiff at an NFL QB ...

My comment about missing the days of the 4-3 defense was about this ... all 4 of those down linemen could pressure and sack a QB ... and therefore our LB's could freelance to read the play and make tackles ... remember Jack Ham? ... remember Andy Russell? ... their job wasn't to sack the QB ... now we have 270 lb Woodley ( a chronic hamstring puller) whose only task is to pressure the QB ... and a fat-tard NT ... and a 6'5" stiff LDE who gets dominated by good RT's ...

I'm tired of Dick LeBeau's defense ... and I call a spade a spade ... our defense doesn't get off the field very often ... and NFL offenses are getting the better of our defense more and more ...

LeBeau's defense was better when the LOLB (Kevin Greene) was able to push his opposing RT into the QB's facemask ... and the ROLB Greg Lloyd could jiu jitsu the opposing LT into missing his block ... now we have one dimensional Woodley on one side and the ever-held, corraled, and otherwise illegally (yet league-sanctioned) overpowered James Harrison on the other side ...

LeBeau's defense was better with a stronger, more athletic, more muscle laden Joel Steed lining up at NT ... Steed had more tackles and more sacks ... I was hoping the Steelers would draft a more Steed-like NT rather than another fat-tard!


But pardon me for having an opinion ... please don't tell me this fansite is filled with zombie-thinkers like all the other Steelers fansites are ... what a shame!

So, let me get this straight. First of all you call out Ta'Amu for being fat and not being able to rush the QB? You can have your own opinion that the matter alright, but the fact remains that it is exactly what he was drafted to do, just like Hampton is doing now. You don't exactly see Hampton collection a whole lot of sacks either. That is not his job.

Woodley is one-dimensional, but he is so good at being one-dimensional that he, when healthy, sacks the QB enough times to find himself in the top 10 department year in and year out. Same goes with Harrison for that matter. Also, Woodley and Harrison does not rush the QB nearly as much as you make it out to be. They have dropped back into coverage maybe a little too much the last couple of years.

I was not happy with how the defense played last year, but they got off the field, and all statistics says so as well. You don't become the best ranked defense with fewest points allowed against you by not getting off the field. And that was with a very injury plagued front seven.

As for the 3-4 defense, you can say what you want about it, but without looking it up I'm fairly sure that all teams who had been #1 defense in the league have been 3-4 dating back to at least 05. Sure, a 4-3 can be effective but the 3-4 have had more success over the last 10 years. (This is disregarding whoever won the Superbowl. I cannot be arsed to look at it that closely).

I'm not a bandwagon fan at all (go ahead and check my previous posts...), but I honestly don't agree with most of what you wrote there. It just make you sound like one of those bitter Steelers fans who liked the game more when the players could take steroids and destroy the QB even if he never touched the ball. Not that I'm a fan at all in regards to the new QB-protection rules, but thats another matter anyway.

[JensK]

On another note, Ta'Amu have been put on a diet by the Steelers if I understood the coaches right. I'm gueesing they would like to have him around 320 or something like that and probably add a little more muscle compared to fat, which he'll have ample opportunity to do with the OTAs and TC. He honestly reminds me of Terrance Cody in how he came out, although Cody had bigger concerns with his weight and Ta'Amu probably is a more talented prospect (imo).

[The Lakelander]

JensK ... I'm far from a bitter Steelers fan ... sorry to say it but LeBeau's 3-4 defense had better, more dominating moments in the NFL in its past...

Our fans support it because of its legend ... and because statistically it ranks high each year ...

It still has its shining moments ... but more an more NFL teams are exploiting it too ...

Steelers fans have this penchant for wanting to find the next ____________ (fill in any name here) ...

Remember the LenDale White talk after Bettis retired? ... LMAO!

Who's going to be the next Troy? ... I'm curious to know ...

Ta'amu is the next Hampton? ... Hampton was a certifiable 1st Rounder ... Ta'amu fell to the 4th ... why? ... Why fall so far, in a league where dominant 3-4 NT's are a jewel to find for any team playing the scheme?

I'm not sold on the guy frankly ...

[Number99]

Lakelander I understand what your saying but, if you remember back to the early early pre draft mocks that were put out by many Ta'amu was touted as a 1st or 2nd rounder. He was ranked higher then what Poe was. In fact I don't even remember Poe and about 6-7 other players even sniffing some early mocks. So you can have your reservations about Ta'amu. If anyone thinks the coaching staff doesn't have questions about most every draft picks after DeCastro is not practical. But Ta'amu can fill a need for the Steelers. That is a hole clogger at the point of the attack in the base 3-4. I know you call him fat but have you seen Hampton the last 5-6 years? And no I'm not comparing the two in the sense of talent. Hampton was a beast for the majority of his career and very strong, but Ta'amu is not slouch in that dept either. He had 34 reps during the combine which was not the top but close to it.

With Mitchell and the rest of the Def coaches and nutritonists Ta'amu should get better in many phases of his life and his game. Do you remember Joel Steed, Hampton's predecesser? He wasn't quite as big but was a big fat guy too. He wasn't overly fast but was strong and could clog the middle. Thats all you can hope for out of Ta'amu to develop into that and play it for 5-8 years. And if he does the Steelers have/will find tremendous value in that pick.

[The Lakelander]

Ta'amu is a far better value in the 4th round than he would have been in previous rounds ... and yes he might develop into a decent NT in our 3-4 scheme ... that's all there is to hope for out of it ...

I was one of the ones hopeful that the Tomlin era would ring in a new defensive philosophy ... every great defense has its time ... LeBeau's is very tired for me ... I have to root for it because it's the team I love ... but I love what the NY Giants have done up front on their defense ... and aside from the Steelers lately, it's the NY Giants winning Super Bowls ...

We have Ziggy, Heyward, Keisel, and Ta'amu to open the season ... with fat Hamp hopefully healing enough to get some snaps later in the season ... last year this group failed to get pressure on the QB ... I can only wish and hope that Heyward shows up large this season!