Random musings, specifically WR and S.

[TheSpecialJuan]

Good stuff 

[RumHam]

Shaq has been perfect for where we drafted him, as a late first rounder. Yeah we wanted him to be Davis' replacement but can you actually replace Thomas Davis? He's damn good. 

I seriously have never heard of either player listed at free safety. Steelers fans agree Mike Mitchell is done. We don't bring back Tre Boston for some reason. Maybe this is just the best option. But then again, Eric Reid, but noooooooooooooo.

[kungfoodude]

10 hours ago, UpstatePanther said:

You don't think he can beat out CAP? I truly think he can.

I don't think it is very likely, TBH. I don't think much of CAP but I also don't believe Hood is an NFL caliber player. If they are even at the end of camp and the preseason, I would expect Rivera to keep the guy that has been around for 3 seasons rather than a camp body signing. That seems to be his MO.

[kungfoodude]

59 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Shaq has been perfect for where we drafted him, as a late first rounder. Yeah we wanted him to be Davis' replacement but can you actually replace Thomas Davis? He's damn good. 

I seriously have never heard of either player listed at free safety. Steelers fans agree Mike Mitchell is done. We don't bring back Tre Boston for some reason. Maybe this is just the best option. But then again, Eric Reid, but noooooooooooooo.

Supposedly we aren't willing to spend what either of them want. It may well be that we don't make a move there because we have to go out and sign a legit back up QB. There is not a lot of cap space remaining, so I am not hopeful that we will get a good option at the safety spot this year.

[steven8989]

Last I heard Hurney said the answer was already on the roster? I sure hope so or we will be giving up passing yards in bunches. Probably a couple of those 300 yd games by wrs.

[hepcat]

16 hours ago, PhillyB said:

samuel is a classic Z if he stays healthy and he'll take torrey smith's role if he develops at a reasonable pace and ron rivera isn't too cementheaded to give him snaps

Samuel is just so damn young. He turns 22 during training camp. DJ Moore also just turned 21 in April. I'm just skeptical guys this young are going to take on heavy roles in the offense this season. It's rare guys at 21-22 are starters, especially at skill positions on offense. McCaffrey being a big exception, but he did have a father that was a solid NFL player which no doubt helped his progression.

[s1lent_kn1ght]

17 hours ago, UpstatePanther said:

Hey everyone! I got to thinking about our safety situation and ended up having some general thoughts and questions on the roster as it currently stands. Tell me what you think!

First question that came to my mind is how much cap space the team has to work with still. I got a couple wildly varied answers in a quick search:

Cap Space:

     OTC: $7.11M (Team Salary Cap - Active Spending - Dead Money)

     Spotrac: -$15.27M (projection including all contracts)

Next I wondered where our true weaknesses are at:

You'll noticed I grouped the wide receivers as best I could by their function in our offense. I used speed and size to draw some conclusions here, so let me explain. People talk about feature wide receivers, speed receivers, and possession receivers. But those categorizations didn't seem fully accurate to wide receiver function for me. The "feature" receiver differs between offenses and often can fill in at most, if not all, WR positions. Ditto for speed receivers and possession receivers. After alittle more research, I found a different way to think about WR's:

• "Split End" receivers:
  • do their best work on the line of scrimmage, split out wide (hence the name). Seems to either require a bad attitude (a la Steve Smith) or a large frame to leverage against a jamming defender, preferably both.
  • I put DJ Moore and Torrey Smith here because they are taller and both seem to play more aggressive than most receivers.
• "Flanker" receivers:
  • also split out wide, but play off the LOS better than on it. Playing off the line helps them avoid the defender's jam rather than confront and win against it.
  • I put Funchess here because, despite his size, he plays less aggressively. When Funchess does show flashes of aggression fending off a jam, he fits more in the Split End category. Jairus Wright fits here because of his size. On the shorter end for a receiver, he would need the extra space to try to avoid the jam rather than fight it off.
• "Slot receivers":
  • Obviously line up in the slot. can be on or off the LOS depending on the play design and player's strengths/weaknesses.
  • Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd seem the best fit here based on their size and speed. Both these guys would do well to play off the LOS on most occasions due to their size. The fact that they are both fast as hell gives them added advantage off the LOS.

I'm no expert so it wouldn't surprise me if I misunderstood the WR roles and grouped the guys wrong. feel free to add your own thoughts! I had a hard time grouping Jairus Wright because his size and speed put him in a category of his own. Funchess was the same way, but at least he has his size to his advantage. Wright is neither the tallest nor fastest on our roster. I think his value is going to come as a veteran presence. Just to illustrate his measureables compared to the other guys, take a look below (the third value is how many years each player has left on their current contract):

Funchess:      4.47,      6'4",      1 yr

Moore:            4.42,      6'0",      4yrs w/ 5th option

Smith:             4.43,      6'1",      2yrs

Wright:            4.42,      5'10",    2yrs w/ 3rd option

Samuel:          4.31,      5'11",    3yrs

Byrd:                4.27,      5'9",      1yr -> RFA

Wright isn't as big as the "split end" guys, and isn't as fast as the slot guys. Don't let this fool you, Wright is still faster than the average NFL receiver by almost a tenth of a second. He's just hard to place in our offense. I think he's here to bring along Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd.

WR is not a weakness though. I suppose interior OL could be considered a weakness but there's a lot of promising guys there, especially after UDFA signings. CB is the same way. I think Jackson will bring much needed attitude to our secondary. Bradberry wont be left out to dry this year by constant blitzing, and Cockrell is a promising addition. We'll also finally get to see what Corn can do in the slot. Everywhere else is adequately set or STACKED this year, except safety...

Available Free Safeties:

So, the thing that even got me thinking about our depth chart is the safety position. It is going to be our weak spot if we go into the season with the current roster. Its disappointing that the team ignored this spot for yet another season, but all I can say is that old saw "there's always next year". This year though, there are some stop gaps. I included alittle bit of info for the names that popped out to me on Spotrac:

• Tre Boston:
  • Upsides:
    • tied for youngest available.
    • familiar with team.
  • Downsides:
    • there's a reason we let him walk
• Isaiah Johnson:
  • similar to Kurt Coleman, Devin McCourty, Earl Thomas
  • ranked 32nd best safety last season
  • cheap option for camp competition
• Antone Exum:
  • similar to Colin Jones (do we really want another Colin Jones?)
  • I seem to remember some Huddlers wanting him in the draft though, so idk...
• Mike Mitchell:
  • also familiar with the team
  • probably has a few more adequate seasons in him at 30y.o.
  • was not a liability here, did his job
  • brings a bit of nastiness back to defense

Can anyone think of potential veteran camp cuts we'd do well to look at? discuss...

mike mitchell is worse than kurt. do not sign him. he was poo in pittsburgh, according to every steelers fan ever. at least coleman could sort of cover, mitchell is a MUCH shittier version of mike adams (but slightly faster). also who the hell is isaiah johnson? anyway, im all for tre boston.

[s1lent_kn1ght]

14 hours ago, Snake said:

Our whole defense looked average because of a poor scheme last year. Hopefully Washington will be solid or our offense might have to out score people. 

more like top 3 early in the year and then literally dead fuging last in like the second half iirc or the last few weeks at least.

[UpstatePanther]

3 minutes ago, s1lent_kn1ght said:

mike mitchell is worse than kurt. do not sign him. he was poo in pittsburgh, according to every steelers fan ever. at least coleman could sort of cover, mitchell is a MUCH shittier version of mike adams (but slightly faster). also who the hell is isaiah johnson? anyway, im all for tre boston.

he wasn't trash here though... perhaps could rekindle?

[s1lent_kn1ght]

50 minutes ago, UpstatePanther said:

he wasn't trash here though... perhaps could rekindle?

why take a risk when you can get tre who should be able to come in and perform with no risk? mitchell is getting a lot older man, he left in 2013 or 14, he is 30 now and before you say money, tre isn't a position to ask for that much right now. he'd get less than CJ.