Steelers Trying to Upgrade at Free Safety

by cgolden on Mar 7, 2008 12:01 PM EST in News

Hat tip to maryrose for bringing up the Chris Crocker visit in his recent diary. It definitely seems like up grading the safety position/special teams is a priority this offseason.

Nearly two weeks ago we broke down the safety position and there were some conflicting points of view on whether the Steelers should draft a safety. There were a few names tossed out there regarding free agency, but nobody really saw the front office courting multiple safetys this past two weeks. First came, Eugene Wilson and then yesterday Chris Crocker (no not the infamous Chris Crocker of You Tube fame). You've got to love the Steelers' commitment to strengthening a unit that was a weakness last year. Neither of these guys would be stars, but competition brings out the best in good players. Whether that competition is with Clark for the starting job or Smith and Carter for primary backup spot, the competition should make the secondary better as a whole.

The interesting thing would be, if one of these guys is signed, which of the current safeties would be cut. The obvious choices (assuming Ryan Clark returns to health in 2008) would be either Tyrone Carter or Anthony Smith. Considering that Carter is older (31) and will cost more in 2008, you'd have to think that he's the odd man out. I don't think they would keep five on the roster but if a couple of them excel on special teams, I could be wrong.

Here's a quick look at the two safeties that the Steelers have their eye on:

Eugene Wilson - 5'10 195lbs. 27 years old
Drafted in the second round of the 2003 draft out of Illinois
55 starts in his 5 year career, 3 full seasons as a starter
3 year average: 65 tackles, 3 INTs, 4 passes defended

Certainly has the ups to break up some passes.

Chris Crocker - 5'11 193lbs. 27 years old
Drafted in the third round of the 2003 draft out of Marshall
52 starts in 5 year career, 3 full seasons as a starter
3 year average: 62 tackles, 2 INTs, 6 passes defended

His lone TD came at Big Ben's expense.

For what it's worth Wilson's three years as a starter came in his first three years. Injuries and the fact that the Pats drafted a safety pushed him to a backup role. Crocker's three years as a starter all came in the last three years. It doesn't take much to see that both guys are pretty similar though and both seem to have decent cover skills. We've already talked quite a bit about Wilson's ability to cover one-on-one. Crocker also seems to have at least some of the same ability as some scouting reports prior to the '03 draft said that he might actually be a corner at the pro level.

So which guy would you rather have? My initial thought would be Wilson but I would imagine he comes with a higher price tag simply because he played for a winning team. I'm not sure if either of them beat out a healthy Clark but if they're able to play smart, they could be the primary backup at free safety and push Smith over to strong safety (which people are already starting to call for anyways). So who you want?

Tweet Comment 25 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Push

I think that I would be pretty happy with either of them.. I just want to get a smart guy back there who understands the position and does not make mistakes.. They don't have to be all world for me.. we have Troy for that.. I think that moving Smith over to back up Troy would be a great move.. he seems to love jacking people up and playing physical.. maybe not as athletic as troy but I think he could be dangerous moving up to the line sometimes like troy.. plust take a little pressure off troy with the wear and tear to his body..

by smashmouthsteel on Mar 7, 2008 12:11 PM EST reply actions

so has anyone heard

anything on the status of Clark? I am a bit worried that his injury might be career threatening. It just seems a bit strange to me that they consider safety as much as a need as the seem to be considering it.

by steelerark on Mar 7, 2008 12:30 PM EST reply actions

i just read that

his spleen and gall bladder were removed. I think its safe to say that the chance of Clark playing this year is not looking good.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08067/863188-66.stm

by steelerark on Mar 7, 2008 1:39 PM EST reply actions

good point

We do have 4 safetys with significant experience, if you include Clark. Say what you will about Carter and Smith, but we had the #1 pass defense for most of the year and they both cost less than $1 million per. So I agree steelerark, looks like we're going forward without Clark. Damn.

by Michael Bean on Mar 7, 2008 2:17 PM EST up reply actions

We just re-signed Andre Frazier

Don't know any details, or if I like it or not. At this point I want at least special teams upgrades, and if I am mistaken, Frazier was one of the Don Quixotes who were jousting at Josh Cribbs during his three-minute 150-yard return.

by maryrose on Mar 7, 2008 2:39 PM EST reply actions

good catch

I'm sure its for the league minimum or close to it and he probably provides at least a warm body in depth at OLB (which they have very little of). Plus it's only for 1 year, so no harm no foul. I'm sure if he sucks in training camp he'll get cut.

"You know who I want? William Wallace. That's who I'm looking for" - Bengals defensive line coach when asked who he was looking for in the draft

by cgolden on Mar 7, 2008 2:56 PM EST up reply actions

he'll make the team

This is strictly special teams, and i guess some depth at LB. I can't get a feel on the LB position and whether anyone thinks we'll use a pick on getting one in the mid rounds. But if we don't, we'd certainly need Frazier in the mix.

by Michael Bean on Mar 7, 2008 3:23 PM EST up reply actions

Personally

I'd take Wilson. Dude was amazing for New England's system, which uses the FS very similarly to what we use the FS as.

Don't know much about Crocker, though.

by Romain El 82 on Mar 7, 2008 3:29 PM EST reply actions

hmm

Maybe we're overthinking this one: Browns player vs. Pats player? Seems easy to me :)

Jk, but only kinda. I mean he's been playing around better players and with better coaches. I don't think he would have a hard time at all adjusting to our system and contributing right away. If all other variables seem to be equal, then that should count for something.

by Michael Bean on Mar 7, 2008 3:33 PM EST reply actions

E. Wilson is an upgrade

Guys, E. Wilson would be an upgrade to our secondary. I remember him in his first 3 years with the Patriots, and I said to myself then why can't the Steelers get safeties like that. He was great in coverage and was a big hitter also.

I read recently that Crocker has trouble in coverage, which is something that we have enough of here at the moment. The fact that neither has signed means that they'll have to come down off of their price if they want to get resigned some place.

Resigning OLB Andre Frazier was a good move. He's a good special teams player who will be able to back up Harrison and Woodley in a pinch. The special teams coverage units as a whole were a failure this past year, but Frazier played decently. I don't know how to fix that, other than get some more dogs up in there that love to bang heads.

Right now, I think the Starks situation is very interesting. He isn't visiting places and the Steelers, according to Dale Lolley, haven't been negotiating a long-term deal with him because they don't want to give him a contract to take around to other teams to beat. I also think Starks value might not be as high around the league and he thinks it is.

Should the Steelers still try to sign him to a long-term deal, or should they relinquish his tag and sign E. Wilson and C-G Rex Hadnot?

by datruth4life on Mar 7, 2008 3:39 PM EST reply actions

Special Teams

Someone asked on an earlier thread if returners are just getting better, or are our ST's as bad as we think. I don't remember that being answered. Anyone know where we ranked in terms of KR and PR yardage allowed?

datruth just reminded me of that question talking about Andre Frazier.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Mar 7, 2008 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

Absurd

There's been a number of Patriot d-backs that looked good, and I wished the Steelers had a player like them - Hank Poteat, Chad Scott...

I think it is absurd to talk about spending our very limited amount of money on a safety. We have two starters at free safety (although one may or may not be healthy) and a pro bowl starter and adequate backup at strong safety. we have 2 starters on the offensive line? just so yall are sure about the math, that's three starters for two positions in the defensive backfield and two starters for five positions protecting big ben. and we've brought in two safeties to spend our 2 million on?!

I know tackles aren't the best thing to judge a free safety on, but Anthony Smith got more tackles than either of the upgrades in half the season? Smitty is a big hitter and a big player. I thought the Bungles game was the best pass defense I've seen since Rod Woodson played for the Steelers. And though they got some help from the field and the conditions, the Steelers defense shut down almost every passing offense they faced with smitty playing.

cinci 205, 23-31-0, 6.6
ravens 40, 16-31-1, 1.1
brownies 123, 16-35-0, 3.5
jest 151, 15-25-1, 4.7
dolfish 110, 14-24-0, 3.9
bungles 175, 17-44-0, 3.9

jax 197, 17-33-1, 6.0

But then Smitty said something stupid and gave up a touchdown to a guy who scored 23 touchdowns. I agree with the comment that he didn't deal with adversity well, but he is a young player. I think too many people are judging him by something that happened in the locker room on a Tuesday. I wish the Steelers would judge by the players by what happens on Sundays. If they did, David Garrard wouldn't have juked his way into field goal range.

by buddytoledo on Mar 7, 2008 6:42 PM EST reply actions

Some final ST stats

KR Avg on coverage was 22.4 yards, which ranked 15th best. However, combined with our average kickoff length of 62.5 yards, which was one of the lowest in the league, the average LOS for returned kickoffs was the 30.1 yard line. This was tied for 25th. Reid does not have a strong leg for kickoffs and his average took a further hit when he was asked to squib kickoffs in the Jets game and a few other occasions later in the year.

On punts, we gave up an average return of 8.6 yards, which ranked 14th best. Sepulveda's punt avg of 42.4 ranked 18th, while his percentage of punts returned (31 of 68) ranked 14th. My opinion was that as the season went along Sepulveda was more focused on hang time and positioning rather than distance, but there were a few notable lapses.

Conclusion: KO coverage was a bigger problem than punt coverage. Short kickoffs combined with average-poor coverage produced good field position for opponents. Both units improved in the second half of the season as steps were taken to focus on coverage. Early in the season both units were among the worst in the league. My final grade: Punt coverage, C; Kickoff coverage, D.

by steeler lifer on Mar 7, 2008 7:16 PM EST reply actions

Oops, one typo

KR Avg on coverage was 22.6 yards, not 22.4 yards, still ranked 15th and other numbers correct.

by steeler lifer on Mar 7, 2008 7:21 PM EST reply actions

ST Stats

Thanks for those numbers Lifer. I spent a few minutes looking for return stats, but didn't have time for an exhaustive search. It does sound like, though, that our coverage was middle of the road overall last year, instead of the total crap I was thinking it was. So, it may be that return teams (except for ours, I guess) were better last year than in previous years. For Sepulveda, the thing that sticks out to me is those times that we needed him to hit a high boomer, and he hit a line drive 30 yarder. He did above average, even pretty good, most of the time. But in a few pressure situations, he hurt us.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Mar 8, 2008 10:34 AM EST reply actions

Same could be said about the coverage teams

When we needed them most, they failed us. In the playoff game we took it right down the field to take command. Before the fans even stopped going crazy Jones-Drew tied the game. You could sense the impending doom.

When we fought back so hard against the Browns we then allowed Cribbs ANOTHER ridiculous return of 100 yards to relinquish the lead. We could have lost that game right there.

When we punched Arizona back the game became lost on a punt return, and when we regained our senses against the Jets it was another long punt return which doomed us.

Special teams absolutely killed us last year and knocked us right out of the playoffs.

by maryrose on Mar 8, 2008 12:32 PM EST up reply actions

absolutely

I credit sp teams with our record much more than the OL. With as bad as we all think the oline was, remember that we had the second highest rated passer and would have had the rushing title barring one broken leg. That's pretty tough to do with a complete waste of an oline. Sp teams on the other hand was a complete disaster. Maryrose says it best, those plays he mentioned absolutely killed us, especially that Jax KR. I know the oline needs work, but I think sp teams is more of a priority.

by steelerark on Mar 8, 2008 1:16 PM EST reply actions

Amen, Ark

If the line were THAT bad we need to rename Ben: 'Superman' and FWP: 'Batman'. I think that O-line was woefully inconsistent, but much of that can be traced to the fact that Mahan's performance fell way short of the standard set by Hartings (we would have been better off with Okobi). After a while even Faneca started looking bad. Special teams? Beyond awful.

by Ivan Cole (RickVa) on Mar 8, 2008 1:56 PM EST up reply actions

that return

in the playoff game was like a kick in the guy, and I knew it was going to happen. All year I dreaded scoring, because I knew that we would have to kick off, which scared me to death. So when we were about to kick to Jones-Drew after that first TD I said to friends, "now all we have to do is cover this kick". Bleh.

by steelerark on Mar 8, 2008 2:24 PM EST reply actions

lol

meant to say 'like a kick in the gut', but if you want, put an s on the end of that, cuz it was like a kick in the 'guys' too.

by steelerark on Mar 8, 2008 2:25 PM EST up reply actions

That's pathetic

True, but pathetic. I was at the game and the guy next to me actually said we should kick the ball out of bounds and give it to them at the 40. I said (politlely) that was taking things a bit too far. Turns out he was dead on. That return killed us. When you come out in a home playoff game and cut and paste your way all the way into the end zone, only to be tied 30 seconds later, the entire game takes on a different texture. When you lose to the Jets and cardinals on punt returns that changes the texture of the entire season. I don't want to over-dramatize those moments because a football game is much more than single plays, but in the NFL there's very fine line...

by maryrose on Mar 8, 2008 5:49 PM EST up reply actions

By the way

Chidi Iwuoma is still siting out there, relatively young. Isn't he worth the minimum? Didn't that guy make alot of special teams tackles when he was the first man downfield?

by maryrose on Mar 8, 2008 5:58 PM EST up reply actions

Easier to fix STs ...

.. than fix the OL. There's no reason why ST can't be much better right off the bat in 08. Sepulveda will be better, we have a better returner locked up, the back end of the draft should produce 1-2 ST guys, there will be cheap veteran FAs, undrafted FAs and training camp casualties from which to poach a coverage guy or two. I think it's No. 1 on Tomlin's list of priorities because that is something totally within his control to fix. The OL is a different proposition because it's a longer-term project whose success will be mostly determined by the development of guys we draft this year and next. Even first-rounders like Otah (two years Div. 1) and Albert (an early draft junior) are projects who might not play much their rookie seasons.

by steeler lifer on Mar 8, 2008 2:57 PM EST reply actions

His name is Superman

I agree - Ben Ben's heroics made the o-line seem not nearly as bad as they are. He can keep doing that too, but I'm not sure for how long.

by buddytoledo on Mar 8, 2008 5:52 PM EST reply actions

Special Teams again

I read all of the comments about special teams, but the fact remains that we were middle of the road overall with untimely, horrendous breakdowns in STs. That is a coaching issue or a toughness issue. It's why some teams find ways to win even when they are down, while other teams find ways lose when they should be better than their opponents. Trust me, I know. My NC State team lead the nation in total defense in 2004 or 2005, but finished 5-6 because they just found ways to give the games away. Usually, by the QB throwing an interception for a TD.

That said, I believe that Tomlin will fix this issue. Part of that will be replacing the players that need to be replaced. Cutting Colclough last year showed that he's willing to do that, and hopefully that continues until it's corrected.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Mar 8, 2008 10:24 PM EST reply actions