Steelers Defense No April Fools' Joke

Good morning,

Mike Tomlin said at the NFL meetings last week that the Steelers have the potential to be the best offense in the league.

They better be, because they have the potential to be among the worst on defense.

Tom Donahoe, when he was running the Steelers personnel department, often greeted April concerns from the outside about his team’s personnel with the comment that they don’t kick off for another five months and plenty can happen between now and then.

True, but unless the Steelers shake plenty of good defensive players out of the tree before then or draft several immediate starters, they would seem to be in a heap of trouble over there.

Let’s start with what we know to be their good points on defense. Cameron Heyward, by all indications, can be a star, their next good defensive end and team leader. Lawrence Timmons made his first Pro Bowl last year and has not yet turned 29 after a number of god seasons at inside linebacker. Steve McLendon, a fan target because he is not Casey Hampton, has done a decent job in a different style of play than the Big Snack at nose tackle. James Harrison had a good season once he got warmed up at age 36.

OK, that’s it.

That’s it?

That’s it as far as what we know based on past performance, and we do not know that Harrison can equal even his 2014 performance.

The rest is all conjecture based on projections of young players who either have not done much or veterans asked to do more than what they’ve done.

We will leave the secondary for last, which is where they could finish in the NFL if things don’t improve there. Two rookies in the defensive line have potential to become good players, starting with end Stephon Tuitt. He became a starter in the final five games, including the playoff, at left end and has the looks of their next good player at the position. Nose tackle Daniel McCullers is so big and strong that he can become a wildcard for the defensive line, even allowing them to at times shake things up and throw a 4-3 at an offense. Still, he played only briefly last season.

At linebacker, the Steelers have three first-round draft picks and a former NFL defensive player of the year. Yet, it has the potential to be their weakest group in decades unless all that potential comes to fruition.

What do they have in Jarvis Jones, their starting right outside linebacker, and Ryan Shazier, the first to start at inside linebacker as a rookie since Kendrell Bell? Jones had a good start last season with two sacks and a forced fumble before his wrist was injured in the third game. Surgery was required and he missed the next nine games because of it. Upon his return, he was not the same and he did not start. They still have high hopes for him but he has no pro resume to back it up.

Shazier started three games, got hurt and missed four games, started the next two, got hurt and missed three games, and then finished up as a backup the final five games of the season, including the playoff. He too got off to a strong start with 17 tackles in the first two games before he left the third game with a knee injury.

Shazier, no doubt, will open as the starting Mack linebacker again this season. That is the linebacker more responsible for coverage and roaming, and it takes advantage of his incredible speed and quickness. One problem the Steelers have is that Lawrence Timmons has excelled at playing the Mack for years and Shazier’s presence prompted them to move Timmons to the Buck linebacker, which is more responsible for taking on the run game. With Shazier out, Timmons switched between the Mack and the Buck while Vince Williams and Sean Spence were in and out at the other inside spot.

Joining Jones at outside linebacker is Harrison, 37, and Arthur Moats, the only players with any NFL experience at the position. They signed Shawn Lemon, an undersized defensive end with 13 sacks in the CFL last season, to compete at the position. They also have Howard Jones, an undrafted 2014 rookie who spent the season on their practice squad.

Some depth charts list Jordan Zumwalt at outside linebacker. A sixth-round pick, Zumwalt spent his rookie season on injured reserve and while he is versatile and did practice some at outside linebacker in the spring, he is more suited for the inside.

Now to the secondary. William Gay and Cortez Allen would be their starting cornerbacks today with Antwon Blake No. 3. They are counting on Allen to rebound in a big way. Gay is better suited as a No. 3, but at the moment, they have no choice. They are worse off today than they were at the position last season because they lost Brice McCain, who stuck his finger into a gaping hole in the dike that sprung when Allen proved incapable. McCain started 10 games last season, including the playoff and he tied Gay for the team lead with three interceptions.

B.W. Webb also returns at cornerback after playing in 10 games on special teams last season.

The Steelers likely will add one or two cornerbacks in the draft, one of them high in the draft if not their first pick.

Mike Mitchell returns at one safety after his first season with the Steelers was largely ineffective. He said he played most of it with a groin injury. He is another defender the Steelers will count on having a big bounce-back season.

Shamarko Thomas is ticketed to replace Troy Polamalu at the other safety and he too is a large projection. He played a little as a rookie at safety in 2013 but did not play on defense last season, a year in which he missed five full games and parts of others with a hamstring injury.

The backups at safety today are Robert Golden and Ross Ventrone. The Steelers can be expected to draft one.

So that is your 2015 defense as it stands today, and since this is April 2 it is no April Fools’ joke. But there remains the draft, perhaps a veteran pickup or two or three along the way. Maybe the Steelers could even pull off a trade!

The Steelers are counting on a lot of “ifs” to come through for them all over their defensive depth chart. Usually, that means trouble. There is still the draft, but the greatest draft in NFL history that produced four Hall of Famers did not help the Steelers much their rookie season of 1974. Mike Webster started one game that season. John Stallworth and Lynn Swann combined for 29 receptions and neither was among the top four Steelers leaders. Jack Lambert was the only one who provided material help as a rookie. He started 14 games and was defensive rookie of the year.

At this point, the Steelers would love to have just one rookie contribute in 2015, especially if he is a cornerback or outside linebacker.