Dubs

Steelers Ike Taylor CB 1 star

Steelers Chris Cook CB 1 star

Steelers cuts: Ike Taylor, CB (7 stars) Sean Spence, LB (0.5 stars)

I shoulda tagged Worlids and tried to use him as trade bait or kept him--oh well. Last call on Ike Taylor--lock him up before he is cut!

True story

yay for another round of FA down--really want to get to the draft @ all debating FA style next year --I did not explain my tier idea well last time as I was at work Tier system FA Idea -There would be a bunch of tiers (ex. above 8 stars, between 5-8, between 3-5, between 1-3, under 1) - Every player is available in every tier--This means we are NOT slotting players into tiers but GMs decide which they feel there value is - Idea would be that we would make a thread for Tier 1 FA (above 8 stars) and if anyone believes any player is worth above 8 stars you bid (ex. I could do Golden Tate and someone could do Solai, and if someone felt he was worth it they could do Tebow)--so players are not set in tiers we just set a time for the tier bidding..Tier 1 would have to be bids above 8 stars. - After the first tier is done an highest bidder wins they are no longer available (ex. I got Golden Tate for 10 stars he is no longer available in Tier 2)...so lowest bid to start Tier 2 would be 5...but you could go above 8, should a bidding war occur...and it would repeat all the way down to the cheap guys I think this would resemble what the true FA rush is with high priced players going first and lesser later...plus certain positions dont get unfairly positioned

Steelers Tyson Jackson 4 stars

Steelers Vaughn Martin 0.5 stars

Must say I am happy that I overpaid early at wr with golden Tate. It is only getting worse. We need to fix this next year with either a random order of positions or we do tiers of free agency. For example all free agents are available in every tier but in tier one you only bid on guys above 8 stars. Tier two would be bidding between 8 and 5. Tier three 3 to 5 and so on. Just an idea that may or may not work.

Steelers Alex carrington 2.5 stars

Steelers Al Woods 1.5 stars

Steelers Alex Carrington 1.5 stars

Steelers Tyson Jackson 2.5 stars

Steelers Brett Keisel 1 star

Steelers Al Woods 0.5 stars

Steelers Ziggy Hood 0.5 stars

Steelers Corey Wootton 1.5 stars

Again just throwing it out there Ike Taylor on the trade block--7 stars will be a reasonable compared to what has already happened

Steelers OT Erik Pears 0.5 stars

Steelers OT Breno Giacomini 1 star Steelers OG Shawn Luavo 0.5 stars Steelers OC/G Chris Spencer 0.5 stars

I am happy with peko so I won't draw this out. I did not mean to say confident with my assessment. I purposely attempted to say I have not watched them enough to pinpoint to players. So yes I am making a generalization to a certain degree. And I did say I was guessing that he may have not been great this year. Again I have only seen small portions. I prefer not to say much more as it seems like you push any statement to the extremes so I would rather ask what is if about McClendon that makes you like him more.

I agree that a player can be a consistent, positive contributor despite the downfall of his peers. I was just adding other ideas to that thought. I completely agree there are individuals within teams and teams within individuals--it is too complex for us to ever grasp and pinpoint things without disregarding other aspects either about them or around them In a simple way I would rather Peko over McClendon for these reasons: Peko has several years of starting experience at a high level, McClendon has one year as a starter. In McClendon's one year as a starter he was injured--while I am not saying he is injury prone I am more comfortable with Peko who has consistently played full seasons, season after season. I find it odd that when McClendon went down for several games this year the run D did not decline--again this is not a complete causation idea just that players like Al Woods and Ziggy Hood replaced him and seemingly at the same level. And what I already stated, I think Peko is grittier, is a leader and captain, and more of a versatile/athletic player.

Agreed fully--and the whole argument can be flipped to say that the struggles of one unit or team cannot be pinpointed to one player.. or even with strong units there may have been players who have been weak links and are not identified as weak within the whole..or any other of a number of ideas. I was not trying to make a definitive statement by any means just saying he played a role in some way or another in their defensive struggles last year. He very well could have been the Eugene Monroe of their DL, he could have been the Gino of their DL at times too...as I said I have not watched the Steelers with enough intensity to make that complete of statement, but my guess and from what I saw I think he may have had some struggles at times.

fair statement--I did not mean to discredit McClendon, just was saying that if I were given the option of Peko or McClendon I have no question in my mind it would be Peko. I think we could maintain our backings of each guy throughout this whole thing. The reason I like Peko inside is largely because I feel he plays more gritty and nonstop than McClendon. Now I have not watched every single game of both guys like I would a Ravens player. And maybe it is Pekos hair that makes me see him flash on many plays. And maybe it is that the Bengals have lined up Peko on offense so I have seen his athletic ability a little more. Maybe it is that he is the Bengals captain and he holds the C very well for that team and I think that value is underrated. And maybe I am just biased and stubborn to a guy right now, but I do like him, and I do like McClendon, just I prefer one more. The up and down campaign could likely be applied to any Steeler player on that defense last year with how they played and finished. I did not watch them closely enough to pin point all players--I do know their run defense was not as good as usual and avg. per rush went up and he likely played a role in that. So trying something new may be good. I do think I am taking a chance with him in a 34 as he has not played that position but I think he is more than capable with his gritty/aggressive style of play.

I am almsot positive I did not win Cotchery--you have him with the Steelers (me) and Cardinals--other than that awesome stuff