The O-Line

[alwaysaskin]

I think that the biggest mistake made, one that we can blame the FO for, is overrating our Offensive Line. We weren't alone, ESPN experts thought that this line was great as well. Now when healthy I'd favorably compare our five starters with any line in football, but the Line has feet of clay.

1. Chris Samuels: While he is still one of the better Left Tackles in the NFL, there are games where he just seems to be living off his reputation. He is 30 now and while not technically past his prime (Ray Brown was still going strong at 43) his ACL issue this pre-season showed that he is becoming a little more injury prone. I think in the next few years we will seriously need to look at a replacement. He should still be our anchor for now.

2. Pete Kendall: He has been a decent suprise but we only have him for two years, the Dockery situation left us in an improbable place. He is also 34 years old which means that we should look at a replacement for him sooner rather than later. What disturbs me about the Dockery Situation is that we got older at a position where we should have gotten younger. Either we sign Kendall or find a stud LG in the draft

3. Casey Rabach: One of the best moves from Gibbs II but is injury prone, I hope that he can make through '08 healthy, but we might need to get younger at Center. Definitley an upgrade from Raymer. Plus he has been injured two years in a row now.

4. Randy Thomas: The best of the 2003 Jetskins, but has been injured in 2005 and 2007. He has had issues this season with knee surgury that kept him out of minicamp and a torn Triceps. We can still put together a stretch run if he comes back healthy, he is key. He is also 31 so questions remain there.

5. Jon Jansen: No one has been the face of this team more than Jansen, he was consistently underrated, and he is unquestioned leader. I think we miss his leadership the most. Yet I wonder if he doesn't shut it down after this season. He has only been healthy once since Gibbs II began. He has only played two seasons for us under Gibbs (2004 Achilles and this year with the broken Tibia) Those injuries will afect his footwork. As he becomes more injury prone, Right Tackle becomes a more Glaring need for the team to address. I hope he comes back healthy but those are two major injuries.

The Back-ups

Stephon Heyer: A diamond in the UDFA rough, Heyer is what this team needs, big, young and nasty. He has shown flashes of talent filling in for Jansen and could be counted on big time next year if Jansen shuts it down or goes down again. Hope for the future there.

Todd Wade: The Wade experiment is over, he should be cut after the season, if the cap hit isn't too big. He was an unmitigated failure as the starting LG and has been awful in spot duty this season.

Jason Fabini: We all saw him miss that block on Sunday he has been another disaster, worse yet he and Wade have a combined 18 years, we can draft young O-Linemen for depth who will eventually take over as starters we don't need Journeymen

The one constant is that our starting five O-Linemen are all injury prone and will be past there prime sooner rather than later. We overestimated the line at the start of the season, and we haven't used a 1st or 2nd round pick since Samuels in 2000. We need to get younger and healthier on the O-Line ASAP. :2cents:

[Skins110]

Yup, we need to draft at least two Olineman in the draft this year, and maybe sign a FA guard.

[corrupt3d]

ANDREW CRUMMEY! ANDREW CRUMMEY! ANDREW CRUMMEY!

He played next to Heyer at UMD and is a great OG.

That said, I think our Line is great when healthy. That's the catch though, when healthy

[theTruthTeller]

It was crazy to go into this season with the idea that Wade could start at guard with Pucillo (journeyman 7th (?) round pick), Fabini (no starts at Dallas) and Heyer (UDFA) as backups. What this team would be without the Kendell pickup, which was just plain lucky, is beyond belief. Its also unbelievable that Heyer is the only backup for the OL that could possibly be a starter in the future. I normally run interference for JG, but it was reckless to start the season with the personel he had.

[#98QBKiller]

I don't think you're giving Chris Samuels enough credit, he's been outstanding in pass-protection this season. And how do you get that he's injury prone? He's started every game this season. A preseason knee injury doesn't mean he's "injury prone."

Also, how is Rabach "injury prone?"

Other than missing one start this year, he's started every game since 2004.

Other than those two things, your assessment is very good. To me we need to draft FS and DE in rounds 1&2 and draft OL the rest of the way for DEPTH. we have no depth at OL. We can possible find potential starters in rounds 3-4 and the rest would be the depth we need.

Also, Alan Faneca is available in FA this year and there's no way he's staying in Pittsburgh. He's a little older but he hasn't shown it on the field at all.

Should we make a move for him?

[alwaysaskin]

I don't think you're giving Chris Samuels enough credit, he's been outstanding in pass-protection this season. And how do you get that he's injury prone? He's started every game this season. A preseason knee injury doesn't mean he's "injury prone."

Also, how is Rabach "injury prone?"

Other than missing one start this year, he's started every game since 2004.

Other than those two things, your assessment is very good. To me we need to draft FS and DE in rounds 1&2 and draft OL the rest of the way for DEPTH. we have no depth at OL. We can possible find potential starters in rounds 3-4 and the rest would be the depth we need.

Also, Alan Faneca is available in FA this year and there's no way he's staying in Pittsburgh. He's a little older but he hasn't shown it on the field at all.

Should we make a move for him?

I might have been a little bit tough on Samuels, but the possibility of a major injury to Samuels is scary. I think Rabach missed some time last season too with the NO game. I might be wrong. As far as Faneca he has been a big part of a good Pittsburgh line and if the cap implications are good we should sign him. I'd like to see us draft potential starters who we can use as back ups next year and then as our starters start shutting it down we can rotate them in.

[RDSKNfaithfull]

just my opinion but Jansen is done.

[alwaysaskin]

just my opinion but Jansen is done.

That's what I am starting to think as well, you just don't come back from two season ending injuries

[#98QBKiller]

As far as Faneca he has been a big part of a good Pittsburgh line and if the cap implications are good we should sign him. I'd like to see us draft potential starters who we can use as back ups next year and then as our starters start shutting it down we can rotate them in.

I agree with all of this 100 percent.

[onnie007]

ANDREW CRUMMEY! ANDREW CRUMMEY! ANDREW CRUMMEY!

He played next to Heyer at UMD and is a great OG.

That said, I think our Line is great when healthy. That's the catch though, when healthy

NO! Crummey has great technique but is a bit undersized I think. Randy Thomas is our but I wouldn't mind drafting Andrew to learn from Pete and Randy.

[corrupt3d]

I agree with all of this 100 percent.

eeeh, the line is about cohesion, but we do definately need some youngin's on the line

(saying youngin's makes me feel old, even though im only 19)

as for Jansen...I dunno, he hasn't shown anything in his ability to show that he's done. His injury was very VERY unlucky. it'd be interesting to see how he rebounds, but the guy played a season with two broken thumbs so I wont ever question his dedication

[onnie007]

You're not giving the proven guys enough credit. Chris Samuels, Randy Thomas, & Casey Rabach are legit starters. Jon Jansen is still the man but we have Stephon Heyer learning behind him. I agree that Fabini and Wade must go. Oh, and Chris had an MCL and not an ACL.

[fdarugar]

The OL is fine for another season. I believe the depth is also fine once we get Thomas and Jansen back next year. I think the only question mark along our OL is Jansen he is injury prone, old and has been getting beat.

I think we will key on WR, DL, and secondary in the offseason...

[dwbiggs]

just my opinion but Jansen is done.

I believe this as well...he hasn't been the same since his achilles blowout.

[corrupt3d]

yeah we got a season or two at most left out of this line. we need to get Kendall's backup this offseason though, and preferably a project C to learn from Rabach (would not mind paying a guy for three years to sit on the bench as long as he learns everything Rabach knows)

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

jansen sucks anyways. dude was downright dreadful in the preseason, and he needs to go, plus hes owed way too much money.

we need youth on the oline, a group that we can keep together for years to come, not a bunch of patchwork free agents that come and go.

[RDSKNfaithfull]

as for Jansen...I dunno, he hasn't shown anything in his ability to show that he's done. His injury was very VERY unlucky. it'd be interesting to see how he rebounds, but the guy played a season with two broken thumbs so I wont ever question his dedication

He most certainly has shown that his ability has declined greatly. I give him a lot of credit for playing with two broken thumbs but he has lost his blue collar toughness and gets pushed around. He got worked in training camp the past two years by guys like Golston. He made Phillip daniels look like Reggie White day after day the past two summers. Your more likely going to catch him trying to get face time talking on ESPN than you are of him making a great block. I would agree that injurys have a lot to do with it but you can not magically give him back the strength he had 4 years ago. Heck of a guy but he not worth near half the Cap hit he will be costing us. I think we are stuck with him though.

[RDSKNfaithfull]

yeah we got a season or two at most left out of this line. we need to get Kendall's backup this offseason though, and preferably a project C to learn from Rabach (would not mind paying a guy for three years to sit on the bench as long as he learns everything Rabach knows)

We need to make Kendall a backup this offseason. The guy is old and at best plugging a hole he is not helping the run game at all and never has been a very good run blocking guy. He is smart and could help in a Ray Brown role. I think Jansen is done but unfortunatly we are stuck with him do to his cap number and maybe just maybe he will return to being at the very least a respectable RT again.

[Mooka]

The OL is fine for another season. I believe the depth is also fine once we get Thomas and Jansen back next year. I think the only question mark along our OL is Jansen he is injury prone, old and has been getting beat.

I think we will key on WR, DL, and secondary in the offseason...

The line isn't fine man. Jon is a rock, but this is the second season ending injury he's suffered, you can't just keep playing through injury after injury. Hopefully Randy can come back at full strength but we'll see. Entering the season with Kendall, Randy, and Jon/Wade/Heyer is a serious gamble and results in a guy like Fabini getting 10 starts. I don't think Wade can handle a full season anymore after his knee injury in 2005.

We need a new RT. Jordan Gross from Carolina is a FA this year and Pittsburgh is gonna have a tough time signing Faneca and keeping Starks as a backup.

[seanyt]

Actually not impressed with either line. First pick needs to go D line though, it's been neglected long enough...

[alwaysaskin]

You're not giving the proven guys enough credit. Chris Samuels, Randy Thomas, & Casey Rabach are legit starters. Jon Jansen is still the man but we have Stephon Heyer learning behind him. I agree that Fabini and Wade must go. Oh, and Chris had an MCL and not an ACL.

I think when healthy the starters are great but Jansen and Randy Thomas have health concerns. I thought it was an ACL with Chris from the reports. These guys are on the wrong side of 30 and I don't think we can afford to keep getting older on our O-Line.

[z0eboy]

Yup, we need to draft at least two Olineman in the draft this year, and maybe sign a FA guard.

i agree, remember how the skins found Heyer, they MUST continue that undfrafted rookie camp, they look at like 100 players and we owe this to Gibbs for starting this rookie camp before training camp thing. Our start five lineman if healthy is the best in the NFL, we just need quality young talent as backups, the guys we have no for their age and experience aren't worth risking another season. pucillo, wade, tucker all need to be cut keeping heyer drafting 2 OL early (2 - 4 rounds) and a 3rd OL in later rounds maybe trading up for quality player, they MUST host the rookie camp to add more depth

[ashsra]

We definitely need to draft at least 1 guard this year in the draft, since Kendall will be gone after next year and Randy can be injury prone. Heyer can be the swing tackle or starter if Jansen isn't the same guy when he comes back. Samuels and Rabach are still good players.

[RenegadeTK]

i dont know how much i agree. the oline we went into this season with was STOUT. no one could have foreseen the crazy injuries that we suffered early in the season. while i agree we need to start ushering in young guys to take over. i cant place blame on the front office

i have absolutely no problem placing blame on wade and fabini though

[No_Pressure]

O-Linemen hit their prime later than other players for the most part...usually between ages 29-36 if they stay healthy. I think Samuels, Thomas, and Rabach will be alright for a couple more years. Jansen can't seem to stay healthy every year, Kendall is 34 and is average anyways...I think our offensive line next season will probably be Samuels, Kendall, Rabach, Thomas, Jansen. I would like to see Heyer instead of Jansen but this organization won't part with him I'm sure. We need to pick up a guard in the draft between rounds 3-5 that has legitimate potential that can step in for Kendall 2 years from now. Enough of these late round or UDFA's that never really amount to anything. We got lucky with Heyer but there is a much longer list of failures and career scout team members.

I don't think we should make an o-lineman a 1st or 2nd round priority. IMO the 1st rounder should be used on (if available) Kenny Phillips, S- Miami, Calais Campbell, DE- Miami, Chris Long, DE- Virginia or one of the other top defensive ends. I really think we need another good safety and I know we need a defensive end which is probably the route we will go.

In the 2nd round if we got a DE the 1st we need to get a good safety which can be found in the 2nd. If we got a safety, we need a decent DE. I would honestly support trading with another team in exchange for a 2nd rounder if the team decided to do it. I really think we need to have more than 2 first day picks this season. We need to pick up a starting FS, a starting DE. We want to pick up at least 1 future starter at G, CB, and WR...

Should be a hectic off season...on top of these things we are like 20 million over the cap which we will fix of course but really...kinda hard to improve this team to the extent it requires when you are that much over the cap...oh well. Should be fun picking at least twice on the first day.