View topic - Harrison

[Pommah Profile]

I know lots of people will be excited about bringing back James Harrison. We all have a soft spot for the guy. But he's 36, probably out of shape. He didn't contribute much at all last year in Cincy, it seems to me.

But he knows Dick's Defense!!!!!!!

That's why we can't bring in some promising young guy who's sitting on somebody's practice squad or something like that, which would be a far more practical thing to do. A young buck waiting for his shot. A guy who will play out of his mind for it, to prove himself, to get on a team in the NFL.

No, we get a has been, a guy where we get no return on investment for the long term, because he has knowledge of an arcane and increasingly ineffective system.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

I think I will wait and see on this one. I believe it will work as long as they don't put him in coverage. He's more than likely still a good pass rusher and is strong at the point of attack. Even at his age, one thing you can't question about James is his effort on every play. That's good enough for me to bring him back. We have plenty of other young guys to experiment with. He provides instant knowledge, toughness, and most importantly, depth. I would agree with you if just one LB went down or if any of them besides Timmons could prove they can stay healthy.

One more thing... If Timmons goes down, we are completely fucked. Debo and his knowledge would be the life raft we would need to survive, no question. I would hate to have missed this opportunity given that scenerio.

[JoshBroski Profile]

Harrison keeps himself in awesome shape even in the offseason. He recently did a video on his facebook page with Ike and Timmons spotting his bench for his retirement party. Being acclimated to game speed might be an issue but I don't think he starts off the bat. Expect Moats to get the start against TB and depending how he fares, Harrison will take over. Moats is a very good player. He and his sister went to my high school a good 10+ years ago in Churchland.

[isfry Profile]

When the talk of Harrison started, like in February, I think, I was all for it. Mainly because I thought it would help to have a veteran presence to lead guys like Jones and Worilds, etc. Whether or not he can actually fill a starting spot, I don't know. Regardless, it will be nice to see Deebo and Peezy together again.

[SoCal Stiller Profile]

I think Moats, Harrison, and Spence improve our run D over the lighter young guys. However, I feel our pass D is going to suffer big time with the dropoff in speed in the backfield, especially on the short and intermediate routes. The loss of Ike hurts when Gay now moves over to starting CB. While I believe Gay will hold his own, the domino effect on the rest the DB's is more of concern. We may see more nickel and dime packages from Dickie. They need to get Shamarko on the field somehow to offset the loss of speed our young LB's provided.

[bubbybrister Profile]

I'm a big fan of Harrison and have been hoping for his return since the moment he walked from his contract. He brings a FU attitude and swagger that is sorely missing on this D. The steelers have had a rich tradition of guys that walk that thin line between dominate and dirty play: Jack Lambert, Greg Lloyd, Joey Porter and then JH. They strike fear in other teams because these are the players that will knock an opponent out if they don't have their heads on a swivel. Timmons is an scud missile out there, blowing up the opposition and teammates, but he does it in a quite way.

Sure, Harrison is 36 and his numbers last year seem down, but he was the second highest rated bungel linebacker. This despite the fact that he was little used and playing out of position. I agree, he can't be used in coverage. Hell, Keisel can't either but that doesn't stop diabolical Dick from dropping slow footed lineman into coverage.

Harrison was our only consistent pass rusher in his last year in the burgh. I think he still has got the ability to get to the QB and wouldn't be surprised if he supplants Worilds by midseason.

[sommes Profile]

The irony is that in 2004-05 we found out how good harrison was because of multiple injuries to linebackers porter and haggins. Until then he wasn't considered a great prospect and was cut twice.

We are better off with signing a young guy with more up side and down side.

I appreciate the years james harrison has played but this is a mistake not giving more young guys a chance.

It isn't 2008 and we have a defense with gay, harrison, keisel and taylor.

[LenSherwood Profile]

I don't think there is a lot of choice because the depth chart just went pretty thin with 2 LBs down. The Steelers want to win now. This is not a rebuilding franchise from the standpoint that they have a franchise QB whose window will be closing. Harrison is a beast--he works out harder than 99 percent of the league. He will push the pocket harder than Jarvis Jones does at this point. Jones just does not have Harrison's ability to leverage his power under the pads of those monster left tackles. Nor his motor moving up the field. You have to account for Harrison on every pass play... you don't have to do that with Jones right now.

[chucktownsteeler Profile]

I am not sure if this is a good signing or not. I guess he know's Old man Dick's defense but you still have to be able to execute it.

Did Zummwalt get cut, PS, or IR?

[isfry Profile]

Zumwalt is on injured reserved, designated to return. Don't know when.