BuffAlone

cassel did not beat him out. He was acquired to be the starter.EJ was supposed to ride the pine,but was forced into playing before he was ready. Week 17 was his last game day audition,to see if he had progressed enough to warrant a back-up role on a new contract. He failed. That's that. Good Luck to him tho.Always a class act

wasn't EJ forced into action due to injury? Also,I'm not sure our roster was undermined by keeping him,hoping he developed,as he was on his rookie contract

I thought the same thing! Team friendly deal,maybe.but if we draft one,he don't make the cut. Jmo

according to him,he's moved away from LA to keep away from his pot head buddies,and hasn't smoked pot in 8 months.On a side note,pot is non-addictive. There is no drug they give you to ween yourself,ala heroin,etc. It doesn't make you Ill to go without.We all know it's an illegal substance in the eyes of the nfl,but times they are a changing

I think we're overdue for a fair shake from the injury Gods lol

Yes he did,and he averaged more than 10 games a year too...I'd have to assume Shady can continue without any durability issues.He's proven it in his career. Now,being pulled in the fourth,for whatever reason is not an indictment on his health,rather a coaches decision based on situation. I'm not worried about his health.Or his availability /durability to exceed ten games a season.just my opinion of course

I like him alot. Good speed,good hands,good size. However,the year long suspension has to have some people in a tizzy. Regardless,with the Steelers losing Marcus Wheaton probably dictates his need at position for Pitt,so I can't see them trading him.

yeah,they get pretty "punch drunk" after a while. It's a brutal position to play,no doubt. Somehow tho,the great ones manage to persevere by avoiding big hits. Some great backs have played into their 30's while being heavily involved in their respected offenses. I think Shady is on that level

oh,its common practice to pull your Lb's and DBs early in the fourth when we either are way up,or way down on the scoreboard? Id disagree with that. Thats normally reserved for skill players,like QB,RB,Etc.But anyway,whats the point youre trying to make? The discussion arose concerning RB....and particularly Shady's durability past 10 games

Lol,thats desire right there

yeah,but he can't withstand that for a whole season since his left knee is shot,and he can't push off to pass block. That's why he did better at LT

lots of star players leave games early.depends on the game,does it not? Not always due to "injury". Sometimes it's injury protection,when the scoreboard don't reflect that specific player's need

not very many rb's play more than 10 games "completely healthy".in fact, I doubt ANY do. Kind of a heads I win,tails you lose wager

Say what you will,but we did have the best rushing attack in the league. At least we didn't downgrade. And for the money we don't have,and a weak class coming out,we could've done much worse...

thanks for the info. Didnt know they gave out exemptions

I think so,depending on his obligation. I think some see a brief summer stint,like the reserves,and others are a bit more. I could be wrong as I'm not an alum of the services,but I seem to recall different lengths of obligations

Hopefully is right. The second might even be worth it. The kid has great hands

^this

I agree. A very good signing. I think folks are going to be shocked at his abilities

My thoughts are meh...he didn't look very fluent at the combine imo. I'd much rather Godwin in the third. I think Robinette goes fourth or later.

I don't know his plans for this D, but speed should and will be addressed. I see Zo being used in obvious blitzing downs and certain sub-packages. But I'm not sold that he's automatically our starting Sam,or any other lb'er. I think it's either draft a Wlb,and put P Brown in the middle,with Rags at sam,or roll with Brown at Weak,Rags in the middle,and find a Sam in the draft.Zo comes off the bench in certain situations. Just my take on it anyway..

He's a kid who smokes pot. And it cost him,more importantly the team and the fans. That's what he did. He is NOT a cancer

Zach Cunningham or Hassan Reddick would be great

and he still might. But with all this versatility, we can line up alot of folks all over the place. I sure hope we get a good WLB in here.McD needs that skills set in particular. We got big time TE's to cover....

alot of versatility so far. I can't wait to see how the peices fit!