CBs Before Pass Rush

Disagree.

05' Polamalu, Chris Hope, Ike Taylor, Deshea Townsend, Bryant McFadden
08' Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Ike Taylor, William Gay, Bryant McFadden.

To me, this is a prime example of the pass rush helping a mediocre-slightly above avg secondary.
Polamalu is the true superstar of the bunch.

 

This wouldn't be the case for the 4-3 Panthers, but if we are in a 3-4 base set and blitz one OLB to rush 4, does that count as a blitz?

And I disagree with your assumption that 47% is automatically ridiculous. If you get pressure on the qb and it makes your defense better, it's a good thing. If you have to blitz and still can't get there...then it's not a good thing. But don't assume it's one thing or the other, because it will come down to individual results and schemes.

 

Polamalu was a super star player, but not a superstar in coverage. It helped that they used a zone blitz scheme so it's not like they played a ton of man coverage. Zone blitz with a heck of a blitz (still only rushed 4-5 most of the time) gave the opposing qb precious little time to find the weakness in the zone with minimal exposure to the secondary. They were solid but not great and not close to what the Broncos have at CB for instance.

 

No, I wouldn't think that counts as a blitz sending your OLB in a 3-4.

I think there's a reason you're blitzing 47% of the time. You are trying to make up for clear talent deficiencies. You can't get to the QB with your regular 4 (in a 4-3) and you also can't pass cover.. both units aren't helping each other. So you just send the kitchen sink nearly half the time praying it will work because you can't get to the QB or stop the pass in your base defense.

 

I agree with you on secondary in our draft as priority. I can also say that knowing the pass rush wasn't bad this year. I would like to see an ILB if available because of the potential to upgrade coverage skills not necessarily for pass rush ability. A free roaming safety that can cover would be good too, not just CB to fix the secondary.

On ranking the Steelers secondary, it does get tough but @Gut nailed it about success in a specific system. Zone coverage scheme likely help those guys succeed vice having to cover man all the time. I also think Polamolu's abilities opened up a lot of different coverages that very few teams can perform. Each of those guys' longevity at a minimum says they could play, but I don't think we were looking at a secondary full of Pro Bowlers.

 

I think that guys that are the best at rushing the passer are simply more athletic and around the ball more. Von miller is good at everything you would want a football player to be good at. The top corners are smaller guys that aren't around the ball as much. It's just very rare that someone can be have as much impact as a von miller from the cb position. A guy like revis a few years back, took your best wr out of the game, that is every bit as valuable as miller. But, our team is definitely in need of cbs vs pass rushers. I would however be ok with getting Barnett or Garrett over a cb (just because the position is deep). But, if we go there, what do we do with rak, morgan and/or dodd? Rak and morgan are playing pretty well, but i don't see a lot of trade value there.

 

Rak and Morgan are both getting up in years and only have 2 yrs left on their contracts. It is not too early to add another pass rusher. We were lucky that both stayed healthy this yr as well.

We need to draft to beat the Colts. Putting pressure on Luck and shutting down Hilton is what needs to happen. I would love in 3rd and long to be able to send Barnett, Morgan, Casey, and Rak at Luck. This would give us a plethora of guys who could drop out into coverage for zone blitzes as well.

I will not complain if we take a pass rusher in the 1st rnd. Hopefully we won't be picking anywhere near 5 again so we need to take BPA.