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Report – Steelers met with Malik Hooker

Drink IRON City

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PS NELSON would have to lower his demand for the $$$paso$$$ he wanted.



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slashsteel

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That sounds like the PROPER thing to do.


Getting back to topic at hand......


Hooker hasn't been retained yet that I know of. He met with STEELERS but nothing signed as of yet.





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Health might have a hand in it. If he isn't 100 percent teams are just kicking the tires perhaps until that Hooker is back on er feet again.
 

slashsteel

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Say the deal gets signed and upon dropping his first INT what would Hooker say? Slippery little suckers.
 

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Nelson thinks he's the best or one of the best CB'S in the NFL and wants paid that way. He is nowhere near as good as he thinks. He's above average and wasn't even better than an aging Haden on the team he just played for.
 

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Nelson thinks he's the best or one of the best CB'S in the NFL and wants paid that way. He is nowhere near as good as he thinks. He's above average and wasn't even better than an aging Haden on the team he just played for.

AGREED, he would have to play for less than his demand. He came out year one on F-I-R-E but then dropped back to his normal. His normal while playing in KC wasn't all that impressive but here in PITTSBURGH he plays at a higher level, could be the scheme and team chemestry.

I'd still welcome him back but NOT at his perceived rate of $$$ching$$$ .



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I don't think he'd come back but for something similar to what he was making, I would think about it if it were cap-friendly this year. I think that was in the 7-8 million per range. He definitely isn't worth more than that by any stretch. They offered him a restructure similar to other players and he probably would have gotten an extension out of it (if they didn't already offer him one) and he basically said "**** you". That's why I seriously doubt he will even be considered for coming back. He calls himself Nelson Island. LOL. It should be more like "Nelson Island as long as I have a safety over the top".
 

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I don't think he'd come back but for something similar to what he was making, I would think about it if it were cap-friendly this year. I think that was in the 7-8 million per range. He definitely isn't worth more than that by any stretch. They offered him a restructure similar to other players and he probably would have gotten an extension out of it (if they didn't already offer him one) and he basically said "**** you". That's why I seriously doubt he will even be considered for coming back. He calls himself Nelson Island. LOL. It should be more like "Nelson Island as long as I have a safety over the top".
So more like Nelson Peninsula
 

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Colbert could have come in the meeting all drunk and burped out "Yah a hooker!!" Some of you might be to young for that reference.
 

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Its not getting a lot to talk, but our DBs are razor thin. Free agency picked us dry. We cut Nelson and lost Hilton in free agency and added a 6th round pick in the draft.

Watt and Fitz are going to need big years and the coaches are going to come up with some smoke and mirrors because if our DB's are spread out with just an average amount of QB Rush pressures, sacks, and turnovers, they are going to be MEAT.

If we suffer an injury to a front line player at DB, same thing. I'd roll the dice with Hooker. Tomlin loves him anyway and he's a Pittsburgh sports guy. If healthy he's take Edmunds's job 1-2-3.
 

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We have talked about corners good and plenty. Hooker would not take Edmunds job. Unless they moved Edmunds somewhere else within their schemes. But I know the agenda must be talked about.
 

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Its not getting a lot to talk, but our DBs are razor thin. Free agency picked us dry. We cut Nelson and lost Hilton in free agency and added a 6th round pick in the draft.

Watt and Fitz are going to need big years and the coaches are going to come up with some smoke and mirrors because if our DB's are spread out with just an average amount of QB Rush pressures, sacks, and turnovers, they are going to be MEAT.

If we suffer an injury to a front line player at DB, same thing. I'd roll the dice with Hooker. Tomlin loves him anyway and he's a Pittsburgh sports guy. If healthy he's take Edmunds's job 1-2-3.


Edmunds isn't going anywhere and if they sign, they would be signing a CB more than likely. VERY doubtful they sign a safety to replace a quality starter such as Edmunds. He (Edmunds) is above average and our need at CB is highest. Do the math.



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I was genuinely stumped why they didn’t seriously check out Poole.... he is the Hilton replacement they needed in the slot... they must really like one of their adds there....
 

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Its not getting a lot to talk, but our DBs are razor thin. Free agency picked us dry. We cut Nelson and lost Hilton in free agency and added a 6th round pick in the draft.

Watt and Fitz are going to need big years and the coaches are going to come up with some smoke and mirrors because if our DB's are spread out with just an average amount of QB Rush pressures, sacks, and turnovers, they are going to be MEAT.

If we suffer an injury to a front line player at DB, same thing. I'd roll the dice with Hooker. Tomlin loves him anyway and he's a Pittsburgh sports guy. If healthy he's take Edmunds's job 1-2-3.
DB’s razor thin? FA picked us dry? Watt/Minkah need big years? Hooker a FA takes Edmunds job 1-2-3? Edmunds has started 44 of 48 games started.

We are so thin in the secondary that we have 16 DBs signed currently. 4 with starting experience on the outside. 2 with slot starts. Depth provided by the draft, one a projected 4th rounder who slipped to Priority UDFA. There are a couple more that may turn out like Pierre has.

FA picked us dry? Dumb ***, we lost one, (1) FA DB, and he was our worst cover DB. The best blitzer no doubt, but his coverage spot easily replaced by Sutton and or Bush in the alignment. Blitzes in this defense comes from everywhere now, not just the nickel back.

TJ/Minkah will be cornerstones of this defense and has had big years ever since joining. Hooker would be a depth piece for either spot.

Take your passive/aggressive agenda narrative and complain to your mirror. That is they only person who listens to anything you say.
 

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DB’s razor thin? FA picked us dry? Watt/Minkah need big years? Hooker a FA takes Edmunds job 1-2-3? Edmunds has started 44 of 48 games started.

We are so thin in the secondary that we have 16 DBs signed currently. 4 with starting experience on the outside. 2 with slot starts. Depth provided by the draft, one a projected 4th rounder who slipped to Priority UDFA. There are a couple more that may turn out like Pierre has.

FA picked us dry? Dumb ***, we lost one, (1) FA DB, and he was our worst cover DB. The best blitzer no doubt, but his coverage spot easily replaced by Sutton and or Bush in the alignment. Blitzes in this defense comes from everywhere now, not just the nickel back.

TJ/Minkah will be cornerstones of this defense and has had big years ever since joining. Hooker would be a depth piece for either spot.

Take your passive/aggressive agenda narrative and complain to your mirror. That is they only person who listens to anything you say.
We are thin at DB. Don't equate numbers to talent. We lost an outside corner and our starting slot corner. You are counting on Sutton playing the outside and maybe shifting to the slot in certain situations. Maybe James Pierre is a hidden gem, but he's unproven. Justin Layne has the experience, but hasn't been good. Either way, they have a huge question mark at the No. 3 CB position where they had four quality players last year.

There is zero depth at safety so if either Edmunds or Fitzpatrick goes down the Steelers have absolutely nothing behind them.

Coach is right about the star defenders. The pass rush is what is going to help the defensive backfield. Watt doesn't have a proven threat on the opposite side. Highsmith flashed potential and could have a Dupree-like impact next year, but he'll have to prove himself and teams can focus all of their attention on Watt. Thankfully the Steelers have some pretty good pass rushers along the DL. Fitzpatrick will need to be even better this year, particularly communicating in the defensive backfield as there will be some new pieces back there.
 

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We are thin at DB. Don't equate numbers to talent. We lost an outside corner and our starting slot corner. You are counting on Sutton playing the outside and maybe shifting to the slot in certain situations. Maybe James Pierre is a hidden gem, but he's unproven. Justin Layne has the experience, but hasn't been good. Either way, they have a huge question mark at the No. 3 CB position where they had four quality players last year.

There is zero depth at safety so if either Edmunds or Fitzpatrick goes down the Steelers have absolutely nothing behind them.

Coach is right about the star defenders. The pass rush is what is going to help the defensive backfield. Watt doesn't have a proven threat on the opposite side. Highsmith flashed potential and could have a Dupree-like impact next year, but he'll have to prove himself and teams can focus all of their attention on Watt. Thankfully the Steelers have some pretty good pass rushers along the DL. Fitzpatrick will need to be even better this year, particularly communicating in the defensive backfield as there will be some new pieces back there.

I‘m not equating numbers to talent. Nelson wasn’t a FA loss. He did not play as well as he did in 2019 and I’d say he is still below Haden overall. Not to say he wasn’t a good player for the scheme, but he bought out when his head grew from the early DB contracts being thrown around by teams who could do so. All that is required is consistency opposite Joe and in the slot. Sutton can do one, there are plenty of others who could step up. They added a vet safety in Maulet and Brooks and Allen have experience and will need to step up or move on. There still could be other DBs available after camp and preseason. But the player to replace Hilton could be Bush, easily. The sum of the parts are better than the individuals. Add in the fact there are 3 maybe 4 playmakers on the starting 11.

As for Coach being right about the star defenders. Hardly. Here are some numbers from last year courtesy of DKSports.

https://www.dkpittsburghsports.com/...r-three-coverage-update-analysis-steelers-fdl

”There seems to be a belief that Watt's production fell off without Dupree opposite him, but that wasn't really the case. The NFL sack leader with 15 last season had four sacks in four regular season games after Dupree was lost. And he also had eight of his 41 quarterback hits in those games, sitting out the meaningless regular season finale for the Steelers, who had already wrapped up the division title.

And Highsmith was effective, as well, down the stretch, recording a sack and five quarterback hits in those five games.

They were all part of a defensive front that had a 12.4 percent pressure rate on passing downs last season. That was the highest percentage in the league since 2010 and helped the Steelers lead the league in sacks with 56 for the fourth consecutive season, something that had never been done before.

The Steelers feel Highsmith will adequately replace Dupree, and they feel they have the guys to replace Nelson and Hilton, as well. But the biggest addition to the defense might be the return of inside linebacker Devin Bush.

Bush was lost five games into the 2020 season to a torn ACL suffered late in a 38-7 rout of the Browns at Heinz Field in Week 6. To that point, he had played every defensive snap for the team. The Steelers wanted to use more dime defensive looks last season trusting their front four of Watt, Dupree, Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt to generate a pass rush, but without Bush were unable to do so as much as they would have liked.

They still ran a dime defense 12 percent of the time, which was higher than league average. But the majority of their time in a true dime came when they still had Bush available. After that, they were forced to use unproven commodities such as Marcus Allen, Robert Spillane, Ulysees Gilbert or midseason pickup Avery Williamson as a dime linebacker.

That led to the Steelers playing more nickel than dime last season. They were in the nickel defense 36 percent of the time, making it their primary defensive package -- the base 3-4 defense accounted for 31 percent of their defensive snaps.

Bush has been back and practicing with the team at OTAs, which continue this week, and is on pace for a healthy return to the lineup this year.

He allowed 14 completions on 22 pass attempts and one touchdown in his coverage last season, a completion percentage of 63.6 percent. Opponents were 16 of 21 when targeting Williamson, 8 of 10 targeting Allen, 16 of 30 targeting Spillane and 22 of 35 when throwing at Williams….

…And while young linebackers often struggle in coverage, his speed gives him a big leg up to get better in coverage. Bush's coverage early last season was slightly better overall than what he did as a rookie in 2019, when he allowed 46 completions on 68 pass attempts in his coverage to go along with five touchdown passes. If Bush can return and continue his improvement in that area, which is expected, a massive improvement could come in Year 3.

For example, the 49ers' Fred Warner, who many regard as one of the top inside linebackers in the league after a breakout season, saw the passer rating against him fall from 86.2 in his second season to 69.7 in 2020, his third year in the NFL.

Chicago's Roquan Smith, another top young linebacker, has seen his completion percentage allowed fall from 73.2 percent as a rookie in 2018 to 63.3 percent last season. More importantly, his yards per completion has gone from 9.8 in his first season to 5.8 last year.

And while many laud the Buccaneers' Devin White as being a big playmaker for Tampa Bay's defense, he allowed an 83.3 percent completion percentage and 109.6 passer rating in his coverage last season. It's actually veteran Lavonte David, who allowed 6.0 yards per completion in coverage, who is the more polished and better player and allows White to roam a little more freely.

The return and potential improvement of Bush that could make a big difference for the Steelers. His healthy return would allow the Steelers to do what they prefer, which is to rush the quarterback with their front four and have seven players dropping into coverage.

If that happens and his coverage continues to improve, the defense could be as dangerous as it was in 2020. After all, the Steelers allowed an average of 285.2 yards per game last season with Bush in the lineup and 315.2 without him.”

So the key isn’t replacing Nelson or Hilton, it’s replacing consistent coverage on the outside and in the slot. Hilton was a superb blitzer but a liability in coverage. Sutton can play boundary or slot, so as long as consistency remains it shouldn’t matter. Bush will make up for coverage and blitzing as well. The front 4 will be the drivers of this defense. More importantly, having a running game too will only emphasize keeping the defense fresh as well.
 

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Good debate here.... I am somewhat in between. I think the D has potential, but I also think they are a CB short. It is worrisome for the plays that have Sutton in the slot. Biggest defensive weakness will be in that alignment IMO. Just have no confidence anyone on the roster would be solid for that spot outside of keeping Sutton on the outside.
 

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GREAT post(s) both IKE and slash. Very good insight as to current affairs with this team. Myself I have a tendacy to agree that CBis a weakness. I've called for bringing back NELSON but that is not going to happen, he burned that bridge with his short-sigtedness.

Time will tell and I think Tombert brings in a scrap-heap player who will make a small splash.




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Ike Kelly

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Good debate here.... I am somewhat in between. I think the D has potential, but I also think they are a CB short. It is worrisome for the plays that have Sutton in the slot. Biggest defensive weakness will be in that alignment IMO. Just have no confidence anyone on the roster would be solid for that spot outside of keeping Sutton on the outside.

GREAT post(s) both IKE and slash. Very good insight as to current affairs with this team. Myself I have a tendacy to agree that CBis a weakness. I've called for bringing back NELSON but that is not going to happen, he burned that bridge with his short-sigtedness.

Time will tell and I think Tombert brings in a scrap-heap player who will make a small splash.




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Thanks gentlemen, appreciate the dialogue. I think Colbert brought in just the surprise player to fill that DB need and he will want to prove it being a UDFA. Shakur Brown
 

slashsteel

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Thanks gentlemen, appreciate the dialogue. I think Colbert brought in just the surprise player to fill that DB need and he will want to prove it being a UDFA. Shakur Brown
I hope so. I do think they have some very interesting UDFA options. It isn't a position the Steelers usually hit on in regards to that but none the less some attractive possibles. Injury prone Gilbert is another one. He has some NFL roots as well. We know a player who couldn't stay on the field is a long shot but he has some talent.
 
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