Shamarko Thomas

[Real Deal Steel]

I'm thinking Thomas could bring an upgrade to the intensity in the secondary that we haven't seen in a while.

[Troyisabeast_43]

The young guys the Steelers drafted this year are going to have to play and play immediately this season and help this team win games. This is not a year where Tomlin can afford to have young guys sit on the bench and learn and not play them because they are rookies like he loves to do every freakin season. Guys like Jones,Bell,Wheaton,and Thomas all need to be playing and hopefully making a big impact on this team right from the get go...

[Speeed]

That is correct. The upside is they will playing consistently and will build experience and temper themselves through repetition as opposed to being inserted into any given situation and doing their best just not to screw up. The downside is the veterans from other teams will be looking to exploit some new meat.

It is my opinion the Steelers don't want to trade short term losses for long term gains in this regard. It is imperative they discard that line of thinking and move forward with rookies. Of course they will make initial mistakes and misjudgements. The plus is giving them long term responsibility will weed guys out as opposed to keeping them on the roster for "development purposes."

The young guys the Steelers drafted this year are going to have to play and play immediately this season and help this team win games. This is not a year where Tomlin can afford to have young guys sit on the bench and learn and not play them because they are rookies like he loves to do every freakin season. Guys like Jones,Bell,Wheaton,and Thomas all need to be playing and hopefully making a big impact on this team right from the get go...

[Real Deal Steel]

You would think that opening up against the Titans would give the coaching staff a little comfort in playing some rookies, letting them make the mistakes they do, and still feel good about winning the game.

[SteelCityKid5]

You would think that opening up against the Titans would give the coaching staff a little comfort in playing some rookies, letting them make the mistakes they do, and still feel good about winning the game.

Yeah, because the Steelers can afford to take lesser teams lightly.

[terrible.towel43]

You would think that opening up against the Titans would give the coaching staff a little comfort in playing some rookies, letting them make the mistakes they do, and still feel good about winning the game.

Or they learned from that mistake when they played the Raiders last year

[NeilPatrickBanana]

You would think that opening up against the Titans would give the coaching staff a little comfort in playing some rookies, letting them make the mistakes they do, and still feel good about winning the game.

so you want to lose to Tennessee week 1, to get comfortable playing rookies?

Dumb

[LatrobePA]

TN always plays us hard... Not one game this season is a cake walk!

[K Train]

Or they learned from that mistake when they played the Raiders last year

And the titans

[KoffeeHobson]

I am hoping Thomas can bring some hard hitting back to the team. Ryan Clark brings it, but our defense used to hit like that all the time. Having someone to destroy on special teams will be awesome.