Making Sense of the Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker Situation

I think steelerbuddha was making this point in some comments on Footeʻs return, but you have clarified and elaborated those thoughts very nicely here.
I am very excited for Foote to be bashing some heads this season.

I also think there is a chance they let Woodley go after this year. The draft is loaded with 3-4 OLB types. Also, I think we’re not going to be able to resign Woodley, Holmes and Colon. Unfortunately I think Colon and Holmes might be harder to replace than Woodley.

  It cleared up some LB misconceptions for me and I am sure any others who take the time to read it carefully. Thank You.

By the 3rd game or so (if not earlier) it will be obvious that Farrior continues to loose it. Farrior was a great ILB who did not get his due because he did not make the highlight hits. But he was beat on passing plays and run over on running plays.

Your article was very informative. I think the right move is to move Timmons to Mack and start Foote at Buck and draft an eventual replacement for the Buck in the 3rd or 4th round.

They still need an eventual replacement for Harrison. He is playing well, but age will catch up at some point. But for now Harrison – Will, Timmons – Mack, Foote – Buck and Woodely – Sam is a great LB quartet.

In this age of short pass happy offenses, you need middle linebackers with the speed to cover backs or at least make a tackle before they catch and run to convert a fourth down. Yes, you need to stop the run and Foote is a nice addition for that purpose. With fourth quarter leads and passing situations, Foote and Farrior should not be on the field. Steelers need Timmons and another player to run around making hits and plays on those underneath routes. Rolando McClain is a likely 3 down LB the Steelers need or a safety/LB guy like Taylor Mays running around underneath making plays would be fun to watch. I’m not a big fan of using a #1 on a guy like Mays who’s proven he’s a bad safety and won’t play on all downs, but the Steelers desperately need someone big and fast to stop those short passes…that might be a perfect role.

Great article Blitz.

Holmes (if its not CRAZY money) and Woodley. If Colon can be signed, great…if not I would think he would be the easier of the 3 to replace. I am looking forward to seeing our D this year. With a healthy Troy and Smith back and Foote back in the mix, we should be back to being dominant again. The front 7 should help the secondary a lot, and I am looking forward to seeing more of our young corners.

I just recently watched a video of a few coaches breaking down the ILB’s duties in a 3-4, and if I can find it, I’ll post a link. Very informative, it goes into even more depth about the responsibilites of each. Say it with me now, flex-a-bility.

Out of the Steelers inside linebackers this past year, K. Fox was definitely the most violent on the field to me. He was a thumper in the games that he started (go back and watch the Tennessee game) and he generally played well. I might be of the minority, but I don’t think Farrior can play at a level that he previously did and is now a liability in pass coverage, so resigning Foote was a great move.

I know Guapo said he thinks the Steelers will let Woodley walk and try to go with some cheaper replacements in this draft. Hogwash, BABY! Woodley is the only player in NFL history to have multiple sack games in all his playoff starts and he hasn’t even entered his prime yet. The Steelers will resign him and Santonio Holmes. Both are Pro Bowl players and the Steelers don’t let the players that they really want to keep leave.

As far as Colon, I still don’t think he is anything special. He’s replaceable. I’m not sure the front office feels the same way, but we’ll soon find out.

Is anyone out there as stoked as I am about the 10 draft picks this year in such a deep draft? Not only that, but the Steelers are in a GREAT position to trade down a couple of slots, pick up an extra 3rd round and 6th round draft pick, and still get a good player in the first round (Iupati, Earl Thomas, K. Wilson, J. Odrick, M. Pouncey, B. Graham) and have the ammo to trade up in the 2nd round and get the player they want there as well (maybe NT Cam Thomas, CB Jerome Murphy, or OLB Jerry Hughes). I think Houston at 20 and New England at no. 22 are teams to watch who might want to move up.

Unless things change, I wouldn’t mind seeing the Steelers first two picks be:

1) CB/S Earl Thomas of Texas
2) NT Cam Thomas of UNC

Their best is still ahead. I’d like to add a few more playmakers to this group, especially in the back 7, like E. Thomas or K. Wilson. This is also a good draft to groom a couple of baby Deebos in waiting, like OLB Eric Norwood from South Carolina.

By the way, anyone think Roger Goodell can convince Ben to not hold on to the ball so long and take less sacks during their conversation in New York? It’s worth a shot. He apparently ain’t listening to anyone else, so why not?

I always thought that way. Farrior was at 220lb and couldnt handle the buck, and Timmons is fast in space, so, shedding the blockers isnt his specialty. I think we will see a lot of Foote and Timmons this year. Farrior will be the leader, but he wont be all the time on the field.

First off I’d like to say I’m new to the blog but it is really good. Been looking for something comparable to the Pensblog level for Steelers info and this looks to be the site.
I’d like to say this article was a great read and I’d really look forward to hearing your thoughts on the return of antawn randle el and how he will fit in with our offense who seems to be set at the top 3 receiver positions. Think he’ll just play special teams and return to that “x-factor” role or will he acutally be able to beat out Mr 60 minutes? Great read keep up the good work.

It has the Steelers taking C M. Pouncey at 18 and passing on CB Joe Haden, NT D. Williams, CB-S Earl Thomas and CB Joe Wilson.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/2010/03/15/sooners-could-make-history

If they passed on those four for a center, I’d be sick.

The thing that confuses me, though, is why no one seemed to think of this last year. Last year, everyone was talking like Timmons was an athletic young guy who was basically a faster replacement for Foote. It’s only now that I’m hearing constantly about his “natural” position being OLB, and him having a significantly different skill set than Foote as an ILB.

Minor nitpick: IIRC, Timmons started against Minnesota, and then was injured in the fourth quarter. I remember the people around me at the game being concerned, and then we got to see Fox step in and be in the right place to win the game for us…

1) Starter at corner THIS year opposite Ike Taylor
2) Will actually make plays on the ball and not fall down like “lack of a play” Willie Gay
3) Possible no. 1 corner next year when you let Ike “stone hands” Taylor leave as a free agent
4) no. 1 punt returner this year (saves a roster spot, sorry Stefan Logan) if you feel comfortable with Mike Wallace returning kickoffs
5) You’d keep him from going to the Ravens, where you’d have to face him twice a year for the next decade.

And yes, that is one helluva large stone, LOL. You can even trade back a couple of slots, pick up a 3rd & 6th and still get Wilson. Just makes too much sense so it’ll never happen. Thoughts?

Here is an idea, why don’t we let Farrior walk at the end of this season to free up a little extra cash to pay Woodley and Holmes? Extend Woodley now, like right after the draft and before the season!

Great article! Glad someone explained this to all those bashing Timmons. It wouldn’t have made sense to release Farrior last year as he was still good (prior to season) and was a coach on the field. The plan was for Timmons to move into his spot all along. Remember how they described him coming out of Fla.St. (Everything spelled MACK Playmaker). The “hope” was for him to be to the LB unit what Polamalu is to the DB’s.
Foote is a decent Buck lb. Hopefully LT can assume the starting Mack role w/Farrior as a backup. To get Spikes in either the 2nd or 3rd rd would be great. I really like Jason Worilds in the 2nd or 3rd as well at OLB (groom behind Harrison). To sum it up…wait till you see LT wreaking havoc from the Mack role…i just hope he has the instincts of Farrior, i believe he is a better athlete than Farrior’s younger days.

i kinda wonder how well farrior would be suited for the buck role & timmons in the mack? i dont know enough about linebackers to make an educated guess on that…besides the fact that farrior can no longer play the mack role every play.

there is no way they are not resigning woodley or holmes….both of them love pitssburgh way too much

I thought the article was full of contradictions and inaccuracies as well as alot of the comments.

First off the “Buck” position plays to the stongside of the offensive formation and is the position that James Farrior has been playing for years now. The most important difference between the Buck and Mack is the Buck makes the defensive calls and adjustments for the front 7. That’s by far the biggest dfference and requires leadership which is somthing Timmons hasn’t dispalyed so far. The “Mack” is the weakside ILB position and is the position manned by Timmons.

The aritcle states the Buck must be a thumper, but only because playing to the strongside means the defense will be seeing at least as many blockers to that side of the field. Ideally both the Buck and Mack will be covered and left unblocked so they can flow to the ball and make the tackle. It’s the only way a guy like Farrior, who played at 218lb can play in our scheme.

How this happens is due primarily to what is happening up front with the DL as not all 34s are created equal. The Steelers 34 as currently constructed is largely a 1-gap defense now and plays a 50 front as a base D. The NT and DE’s job are to keep the Center and guards off the ILB’s. If OL are getting to our ILB’s its because our guys are doing the job up front.

The article also talks about the Mack not having gap control. That’s not really true either because they normally have one gap responsibiility but do have to be able to read and react to a play as it develops. Ever hear Tomlin talk about the D not maintaining gap integrity or not maintaining their run fits?

We’ve discussed the positions schematically, but the real issue with Timmons is more of his inabiltiy to grasp the mental aspects of the game such as knowning his assignment and working through the trash to make the tackle. Timmons has no problems filling the hole as some of mentioned but it’s more of being able to read and diagnose the correct hole to fill

My theory is that Timmons was drafted to eventually replace Harrison who was a cheap and overachieving back up to Porter. Then the silver back went all defensive mvp, 100 yd td return in the superbowl, etc. and they had to pay him despite his age. He was even better than they anticipated, which is a good problem to have. So Timmons , by default and as a 1st rounder, became the replacement to the most convenient to replace lb, which happened to be Foote Farrior was signed to a team friendly deal and foote was due to be paid, he was odd man out. What i think will happen is , given the dominance and age of Woodley, the team will have to keep him even if it means cutting deebo and sliding Timmons outside where he would be Great. The inside will be manned by the trio of Foote , farrior , and fox and whoever the next young gun turns out to be. .

will absolutely be resigned … they’ve been talking about Holmes taking over Hines’ place in the slot for 2 years, Ward will become the #3 and Wallace will move outside.

Besides Troy, Woodley is our best D player (no offense to Deebo, but Woodley’s ascending and Deebo peaked in ’08)

They both get resigned, LONG TERM.

Timmons is better suited to be the play maker not the banger. Or not an inside linebacker at all! let him drop into coverage and rush the end. That is what he would be better at! Playing outside backer would probably be a better fit for his athleticism.

We all saw last year what not having the best ever DE for a 3-4 defense resulted in ,sack totals were way down,Pressure on the QB sometimes non existent, without the defense line the backers look like pop warner players getting pushed 10 yards down the fid!

and then move on to Round 2? Another month until the draft? DAMN!!!!!!