A little love for Joe Looney

Looney was solid today. But he really always has been. If we had Smith and Collins, this would still be one of the better o lines in the league. Having young guys getting so many snaps is going to be good for our depth in the years to come.

RonnieT24 said:

3 or 4 weeks off then basically pressed back into action by a fluke warmup injury.. Interior line didn't miss a beat. The Steelers really crowded the line on us but we were still able to do enough in the running game to keep them honest for the most part. I think he is an unrestricted FA at the end of this year .. we could do a lot dumber things than keeping him.

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He also gives the best interviews and he rules big man dance offs.

Dude has always done well no matter where they have lined him up. Very underappreciated by the "everyone who isn't All Pro is a JAG" crowd.

If Tyler hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't mind putting Looney at one of the G spots. So, either Williams or Martin could slide to RT.

Looney's presence just highlighted the weakness at LG. Connor Williams is okay pulling and blocking on the move, but do not ask him to take on a big strong DT coming right at him. He need to move outside. Maybe next year they should consider moving him to RT and moving Collins inside to LG. Or Move Looney to LG, Biadasz to C and McGovern becomes the backup C.

Verdict said:

Heyward took Williams’ lunch money today, most of the day.

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That last play on 4th down Justin Gatlin, could not have gotten a better start out of the block to end the game.

Looney has now made himself irreplaceable. His agent can go to town.

Didn't know he was back. Thats good. only have 2 backups on the oline now.

Creeper said:

Looney's presence just highlighted the weakness at LG. Connor Williams is okay pulling and blocking on the move, but do not ask him to take on a big strong DT coming right at him. He need to move outside. Maybe next year they should consider moving him to RT and moving Collins inside to LG. Or Move Looney to LG, Biadasz to C and McGovern becomes the backup C.

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Not realizing that Williams would not have the strength in his base to hold up after undergoing knee surgery 8 months ago is a major coaching fail IMHO. He was never really strong to begin with and without the benefit of the full offseason rehab and strength and conditioning program there was no way he would come back strong enough to hold up against big strongs in the middle. Up to maybe game 4 or 5 I could give the coaches a pass but for them to keep trotting him out there is just a bad look and is bad for the team. I assume he must bring something to the table that they like.. I just can't figure out what it is.

Pessimist_cowboy said:

Dare I say Terrence Steele played decent vs TJ watt today.

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Yes you can,,, this OL despite all the criticism showed up and out performed.vs the steelers number 1 ranked D... lets admit that at least for one week.

RonnieT24 said:

Not realizing that Williams would not have the strength in his base to hold up after undergoing knee surgery 8 months ago is a major coaching fail IMHO. He was never really strong to begin with and without the benefit of the full offseason rehab and strength and conditioning program there was no way he would come back strong enough to hold up against big strongs in the middle. Up to maybe game 4 or 5 I could give the coaches a pass but for them to keep trotting him out there is just a bad look and is bad for the team. I assume he must bring something to the table that they like.. I just can't figure out what it is.

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Last year I thought he was the best of the 5 offensive linemen blocking on the move. But that's not enough.

quickccc said:

Interior did miss a beat - Conner Williams was no match for Cameron Heyward.

And Hasn't Looney been a cheap UFA the last 2 years - with seemingly no other NFL takers ?
i'd re-sign him again as a cheap vet that could fill in at center in a pinch. Such as today.
But i don't want him starting. He doesn't get to the 2nd level as rookie Biadasz does .....

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really but who is players like Heyward, Donald and others are who they are and need to be doubled but the steeper DL is loaded and cant really double everyone..stuff happens. There are players who just are better then the guy in front of them, happens all around the league..picking on Cwill for getting beat by one of the best DL in the game is ludicrous its about trolling and hating players some simply dont like..

its just part of the game.Cwills not PB player but he solid player and if we had our starting OL playing well then Cwill could get some help..in this case they are all being left on an island a lot of snaps while scheming other players like watt etc

I mean the Steelers do have one of the best front 7s in the entire league the S etc also very good..so Cwill had poor grade against one of the best front in football..

Creeper said:

Last year I thought he was the best of the 5 offensive linemen blocking on the move. But that's not enough.

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That's a good point.. He is probably the most athletic of all the linemen we have.. Or I should say was.. I don't think that has been the case this year coming off the knee surgery. He seems to be mired in quicksand on far too many plays. A guy makes a move on him and he just kinda stands there and watches the guy who blow up the play. A full offseason should fix that but I just don't think he has the build or overall strength to play guard. The best thing to do would be to bench him in favor of Looney or McGovern or swap him with La'el. Though Collins has been pretty good at RT HE is absolutely built for maulin fools.

blueblood70 said:

really but who is players like Heyward, Donald and others are who they are and need to be doubled but the steeper DL is loaded and cant really double everyone..stuff happens. There are players who just are better then the guy in front of them, happens all around the league..picking on Cwill for getting beat by one of the best DL in the game is ludicrous its about trolling and hating players some simply dont like..

its just part of the game.Cwills not PB player but he solid player and if we had our starting OL playing well then Cwill could get some help..in this case they are all being left on an island a lot of snaps while scheming other players like watt etc

I mean the Steelers do have one of the best front 7s in the entire league the S etc also very good..so Cwill had poor grade against one of the best front in football..

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i'm drafting you high in the rounds so you can deal with and compete with the more prominent names. just like you draft CBs high to deal with the better WRs, Draft OTs to deal with the
better DEs, i'm drafting interiors to deal with the better interiors.

- And it's a reason why you draft guys that high as the 2nd round to limit and neutralized the opposition - basically you're drafting him that high to be his own force of nature.
You're drafting him that high to be a pro bowler. and the fact that in his 3rd year in, Williams continues to struggle, ..not only against the more heralded top names but
against even decent-serviceable ones. Its too much of a game in and game out regular basis.

- Just as ex-reserve Sua Filo had a surprisingly good neutralizing game vs Donald and Fletcher Cox, you'd want your 2nd rd pick to do the same (CW actually did so his rookie year in playoffs vs Donald)

- How much is it that Williams is just too limited in skill set as a OG, .. how much is Williams knee recovery still continuing ?
But. contrary to many here, I don't think it's about a lack of pure anchor-power core and him not being strong enough, more than it is a lapse in technique.

- If u watch Williams, it will be times when he tends to dip his head when engaging, doesn't bend his knees and goes to waist-bending instead and he flat loses his man.
He falls off blocks. He's decent-serviceable but I don't invest in high picks for guys to be just decent. I draft them high to be difference makers.