It's been a month since the Steelers last took the field, and as you're no doubt aware, they were beaten by the Denver Broncos, thus ending their 2011 campaign. With the grieving period behind us we can now look objectively at the season that was, and, accept the ultimate conclusion: This team simply wasn't good enough and improvements need to be made.
That's that.
NOTHING was more important to me this offseason than the replacing of Bruce Arians, I've felt for years that he's not the right man for the job. Now that he has been shown the door we can close the book on that part of team history. This, my Steeler loving friends, is called addition by subtraction. Arians may be a heck of a nice guy, and he might even be a heck of a coach, but a heck of a coordinator he surely is not. His staple is and has always been mediocrity, and he's taken that to Indianapolis.
Good riddance.
Any time a coordinator is replaced there are bound to be some growing pains. With a new coordinator will likely come a new system, new playbook and new verbiage... so no matter who the Steelers hire there is sure to be a transition period. In the early stages of the season we'll probably see some miscommunication, wrong routes run, missed blocking assignments, etc. This is normal, I just hope Steeler Nation doesn't blow their collective lid at the first sign of struggle.
This offseason will tell us a great deal about where Ben Roethlisberger is with regard to maturity, not just as a player but as a man. We need him to be a 100% pro, to embrace his next coordinator and study tirelessly learning the new system inside and out. He's on the other side of his career now, we don't have 3 or 4 years for him to learn the system. He needs to be a pro and lead by example. I believe he will. I'd also like to see him get in shape, he was looking awfully portly out there this past year.
Moving on...
The NFL Draft is quickly approaching and it will very interesting to see which direction the Steelers go with the 24th pick. The opinions of many suggest the option will probably be either O-line or Nose Tackle, and a great case can be made for both of those positions.
Long time backup nose tackle Chris Hoke has retired and Hampton may not be ready for the season after having knee surgery, at age 35. I believe this is his third major knee injury and that doesn't bode well for his future. He could potentially show up to camp on the PUP list and weighing close to 400 lbs after sitting around the entire offseason healing up. It's hard to imagine the knee responds favorably or quickly at his age and current weight either.
The offensive line continues to struggle and remain in a perennial state of mediocrity. No doubt the overall health of this unit has been an issue, but even when at full health this team needs help. If Willie "Glass Man" Colon can play more than a quarter of football next year we'll be alright at tackle, I expect to see a great deal of growth from Marcus Gilbert in year two. We need Pouncey's ankles to heal up as well, and if that happens we just need some guard help and I think we'll be fine.
Either way the team decides to go with the first pick will be fine as long as they don't reach. Ultimately both need to be addressed anyway, along with safety and linebacker in my opinion... Troy, Clark, Farrior, these guys aren't getting any younger.
In the end, the 2012 Steelers are going to look different, just how different remains to be seen but I'm looking forward to the combine and the circus that is the NFL draft.
