Tell the Truth Monday- 2024 End of Season Edition

All this talk about not having premium picks is BS and annoying.

It's true that we lack top five picks, but for thirty years we had nothing but top five picks. A premium picker is better than having premium picks. Getting picks that fit your scheme and culture is better than getting premium picks. There's a reason the Steelers and Ravens can always reload and be uber-talented while always still being a perennial playoff team.

So, you don't get the guy universally slotted to be one of the five best players in college football. How many second rounders, third rounders, etc. become pro bowlers? Do we really want to trade Terry McLauren to get Dotson back? I mean a third rounder has got to be less premium than a first rounder!
 
method man said:
It absolutely sucked to have to lose this game against the Eagles. Any other team, even the Cowboys, and I don't feel gutted the way I do now. I went to the game and seeing the trashiness of their fans at the stadium and on Broad Street was absolutely disgusting to me.

Not to be Debbie Downer here but we have a long long way to go in terms of catching up to the other teams in our division talentwise sans the QB. Draftwise, we lack the premium picks and three of our 7 picks this year are 7th round picks, which are complete lottery tickets. Furthermore, the $100M in cap room kinda evaporates when you consider all the guys on one year deals you are bringing back next year, whether on one year deals again (ex Wagner and Ertz) or multiyear deals (ex Chinn). Finally, we were so so lucky this year in terms of team health. The depth on this team was bad and we were fortunate guys like Ertz and Cosmi held up for the entire regular season

What we'll have to count on are the following:

- Not only JD continuing to ascend but 1st / 2nd year guys like Sainristil, Newton, Sinnott, Coleman and Quan continuing to make major steps with at least one of these four guys becoming a Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber player next year. Sinnott was a disappointment this year - I get that it takes tight ends a while to elevate but it was disappointing he couldn't pass Bates on the depth chart as TE2 this year

- Draftwise - We shouldn't bother with the PFF BS about only taking premium positions the first couple rounds. Given where we are picking, we need difference makers first and foremost. This means guards, DTs, RBs, etc. I don't think there are any players we have who we'd be willing to trade who could realistically garner meaningful draft compensation. Maybe Allen but guys like him tend to get cut and teams know it. I wonder what we do with these 3 7ths because we are not in a position as a team where 3 7ths should be making our roster

- FA - We may have the room for a big splash or two but we should stick with what has worked and continue to unearth gems like we did this past year. Look at the Eagles FA. Their best FA signing was Baun (who didn't play the position before) and their second best FA signing was Becton (who had only played tackle in the NFL). They got both guys for < $5M a year. For ourselves, I hope we kick the tires on 1 year guys who could potentially break out bigtime like Koonce, Adebo, Wills (as a guard?), Hernandez, etc.
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It's BPA for me in the draft. Every position on the team could be targeted save QB honestly. As I said in other post, we are probably the worst team in the NFL talent-wise without JD. The Giants have much better talent than we do for example. Mara is just an incompetent idiot who allowed his GM to let Barkley go to a division rival (as well as pay a high 2nd and super high contract to a good (but not great) edge player in Burns).
 
I took my 13-year old son to the game yesterday, it was his first NFL game. While it was obviously not the outcome we wanted, it was a great father-son experience. I told him to be bummed about it for about an hour, and then to be excited for the future, because it is going to be a fun ride! I know he was sad, but I think he "gets it", so hopefully I'll get more opportunities to take him to more NFC title games down the road...

So thankful for this season, and so excited for where they can go.
 
burgold said:
All this talk about not having premium picks is BS and annoying.

It's true that we lack top five picks, but for thirty years we had nothing but top five picks. A premium picker is better than having premium picks. Getting picks that fit your scheme and culture is better than getting premium picks. There's a reason the Steelers and Ravens can always reload and be uber-talented while always still being a perennial playoff team.

So, you don't get the guy universally slotted to be one of the five best players in college football. How many second rounders, third rounders, etc. become pro bowlers? Do we really want to trade Terry McLauren to get Dotson back? I mean a third rounder has got to be less premium than a first rounder!
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This take is missing a lot of nuance

Pittsburgh’s last 6 first round picks were Troy Fautanu, Broderick Jones, Najee Harris, Kenny Pickett, Terrell Edmunds and Devin Bush. What has saved them has been getting good players in the 2nd like Zach Frazier, Joey Porter, Keanu Benton, George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth. As a whole, their 2nd round picks have been better than their 1st round picks but they have not drafted a true differencemaker since pre COVID and that is a big reason they haven’t been a real contender in years.

You have a better argument with the Ravens but, even then, the Pro Bowlers they have drafted in the first in recent years like Hamilton, Linderbaum and Flowers were all taken before #29. A primary reason why they have done well is because they always seem to have a ton of picks. Don’t believe me? Look at their 2022 draft

Bottom line is the best players generally come from the top of the draft and we are going to have to somehow work around that
 
method man said:
absolutely sucked to have to lose this game against the Eagles. Any other team, even the Cowboys, and I don't feel gutted the way I do now. I went to the game and seeing the trashiness of their fans at the stadium and on Broad Street was absolutely disgusting to me.
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Agreed 💯.

As fun as it was to beat the Lions, knowing what I know now, I’d rather have lost and forced Philly to play on the road in Detroit.

By far the most disgusting group of fans I’ve ever had the displeasure or coming across and they deserve to lose in 2 weeks. I will troll them to oblivion.
 
method man said:
It absolutely sucked to have to lose this game against the Eagles. Any other team, even the Cowboys, and I don't feel gutted the way I do now. I went to the game and seeing the trashiness of their fans at the stadium and on Broad Street was absolutely disgusting to me.

Not to be Debbie Downer here but we have a long long way to go in terms of catching up to the other teams in our division talentwise sans the QB. Draftwise, we lack the premium picks and three of our 7 picks this year are 7th round picks, which are complete lottery tickets. Furthermore, the $100M in cap room kinda evaporates when you consider all the guys on one year deals you are bringing back next year, whether on one year deals again (ex Wagner and Ertz) or multiyear deals (ex Chinn). Finally, we were so so lucky this year in terms of team health. The depth on this team was bad and we were fortunate guys like Ertz and Cosmi held up for the entire regular season

What we'll have to count on are the following:

- Not only JD continuing to ascend but 1st / 2nd year guys like Sainristil, Newton, Sinnott, Coleman and Quan continuing to make major steps with at least one of these four guys becoming a Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber player next year. Sinnott was a disappointment this year - I get that it takes tight ends a while to elevate but it was disappointing he couldn't pass Bates on the depth chart as TE2 this year

- Draftwise - We shouldn't bother with the PFF BS about only taking premium positions the first couple rounds. Given where we are picking, we need difference makers first and foremost. This means guards, DTs, RBs, etc. I don't think there are any players we have who we'd be willing to trade who could realistically garner meaningful draft compensation. Maybe Allen but guys like him tend to get cut and teams know it. I wonder what we do with these 3 7ths because we are not in a position as a team where 3 7ths should be making our roster

- FA - We may have the room for a big splash or two but we should stick with what has worked and continue to unearth gems like we did this past year. Look at the Eagles FA. Their best FA signing was Baun (who didn't play the position before) and their second best FA signing was Becton (who had only played tackle in the NFL). They got both guys for < $5M a year. For ourselves, I hope we kick the tires on 1 year guys who could potentially break out bigtime like Koonce, Adebo, Wills (as a guard?), Hernandez, etc.
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You're not being a downer at all when you speak the truth......
 
On a more optimistic note, when taking into consideration where we are picking, there is a lot of depth in the draft and/or FA for the positions we need to solve. I think FA is deep this year at receiver, guard and CB. I think the draft is really deep at RB, DT and CB. The positions that are going to be tough for us to solve for are EDGE and tackle and it is not like there aren't options at either. That will really be where the FO will earn its money - can it convince a guy like Khalil Mack to come here?
 
method man said:
This take is missing a lot of nuance

Pittsburgh’s last 6 first round picks were Troy Fautanu, Broderick Jones, Najee Harris, Kenny Pickett, Terrell Edmunds and Devin Bush. What has saved them has been getting good players in the 2nd like Zach Frazier, Joey Porter, Keanu Benton, George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth. As a whole, their 2nd round picks have been better than their 1st round picks but they have not drafted a true differencemaker since pre COVID and that is a big reason they haven’t been a real contender in years.

You have a better argument with the Ravens but, even then, the Pro Bowlers they have drafted in the first in recent years like Hamilton, Linderbaum and Flowers were all taken before #29. A primary reason why they have done well is because they always seem to have a ton of picks. Don’t believe me? Look at their 2022 draft

Bottom line is the best players generally come from the top of the draft and we are going to have to somehow work around that
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No, that is the point I was making. You don't need premium picks to get premium players. You can get them in the second, third, and other rounds. It doesn't start and stop with the first round and the top ten.
 
Single-Bar Facemask said:
I took my 13-year old son to the game yesterday, it was his first NFL game. While it was obviously not the outcome we wanted, it was a great father-son experience. I told him to be bummed about it for about an hour, and then to be excited for the future, because it is going to be a fun ride! I know he was sad, but I think he "gets it", so hopefully I'll get more opportunities to take him to more NFC title games down the road...

So thankful for this season, and so excited for where they can go.
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I remember being so devestated after we lost to the Raiders in the Superbowl. I was around your son's age. Hopefully, he gets to enjoy the ride we are about to go on as much as I did in my teens.
 
If we're being honest with ourselves then I doubt anyone here is surprised that we lost. This year, the Eagles are the better team. We could not stop the run and that is what they do well.

The NFL will be talking about our run for years to come. How did we rise from the ashes so fast? My guess is that losing owners won't be as patient with their FO's and Coaching staffs after we showed everyone that a turnaround can be done in one year.

HTTWTHWCO!
Hail to the whatever the hell we call ourselves.
 
We’re just not that talented across the board. Which was known. What happened yesterday was the odds on favorite to be the result in Detroit as well - Jared Goff does Jared Goff things and Ben Johnson gets cute and the game goes our way.

Defense is not very good. Hasn’t been all season. A few flashes here and there does not fix that big picture it’s lacking. Couldn’t run the ball. Couldn’t stop the run. Couldn’t defend the pass.

All that said - hell of a season. Hell of a first season for a new org with a new mindset. I’m sure the cash injection helps as well. Plus the RFK site stadium appears to be trending in the right direction for the first time.

Lots to like. But still lots to fix.
 
burgold said:
No, that is the point I was making. You don't need premium picks to get premium players. You can get them in the second, third, and other rounds. It doesn't start and stop with the first round and the top ten.
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My point to you is that the Steelers have not selected premium players in years, first round or wherever else. The only premium player the Ravens have found themselves outside of round 1 since 2019 has been Madubuike. We have found the same number of premium players outside of round 1 as them (McLaurin) in that timeframe.
 
method man said:
My point to you is that the Steelers have not selected premium players in years, first round or wherever else. The only premium player the Ravens have found themselves outside of round 1 since 2019 has been Madubuike. We have found the same number of premium players outside of round 1 as them (McLaurin) in that timeframe.
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Well, not us. I mean we cut 75% of our picks over the last four years this offseason. Maybe more than that.
 
My point is simple. Premium players can come from a whole bunch of different places. Every round of the draft, free agency, player improvement, etc. Just because we are picking low in the draft does not mean we are out of luck and a premium player can't be found. I would rather have Mike Sainristil than at least half of the this year's first rounders.

If we have a premium picker and a premium scouting staff, then we are not so dependent on that first pick or convinced that a non-blue chip first rounder will bust.
 
Not sure it’s been talked about and I hate to do it since the kid has almost single handedly restored our franchise to a proud one once again. For all intents and purposes, he does everything right.

But I couldn’t believe it when Jayden danced after the score while we were getting our asses kicked. Seemed so out of character.

All I could think was he was trying to send a signal to the team that it wasn’t over.
 
CuredFromBatteredFanSyndrome said:
Not sure it’s been talked about and I hate to do it since the kid has almost single handedly restored our franchise to a proud one once again. For all intents and purposes, he does everything right.

But I couldn’t believe it when Jayden danced after the score while we were getting our asses kicked. Seemed so out of character.

All I could think was he was trying to send a signal to the team that it wasn’t over.
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Benefit of the doubt. I think he thought that was start of the comeback and that he was trying to pump up his team, but yeah... the showboating felt wrong when down so much.
 
burgold said:
Benefit of the doubt. I think he thought that was start of the comeback and that he was trying to pump up his team, but yeah... the showboating felt wrong when down so much.
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Yeah, that’s all I could think as well.

It just felt very St. Juste after the QB overthrows the recent ever who burnt him to me at that time.
 
A truth unrelated to this team is that I think Jalen Hurts is the real deal, and I think he and Jayden are going to be rivals for best QB in the NFC. I've seen a lot of ragging on Hurts for not being able to throw as well as most star QBs, but if he was injured, he didn't show it. Barkley won't last forever, but as long as they have him, Jalen it's going be an uphill fight dealing with 2 playmakers at once.. I hope that we can find and develop the same sort of support for Jayden in our offense.
 
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