James Harrison gets held on EVERY SINGLE PLAY!
And Ben played heroically with a 104 degree fever, a broken toe and NO ONE EVEN KNEW
Right now, bottom AFC north. Wow.
That’s what Roethlisberger is known for, stoically enduring injuries without letting anyone know about it.
Except that’s not my definition of market value…Bell is only getting offers from a single team, with not even a chance of hearing other options. 2/3 of his potential earning career is being dictated by a single team. That’s obscene for an elite player.
Bell is easily a top 3 RB. Saying he’s “head and shoulders” better than Gurley, Elliot, and Johnson, however, is just like the “fraction of his peers” hyperbole. Especially with how Conner is playing this year as Bell sits. I should expect that kind of homerism in a Steeler thread though.
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If you’re only looking at rushing statistics, that might make sense, but Bell is the equivalent of a solid slot receiver AS WELL. He’s 15% more rushing and 50% more receiving than Gurley, 10% less rushing but 100% more receiving than Elliot, and 40% more rushing and 100% more receiving than Johnson. He’s Todd Gurley + Randall Cobb, all in one position.
Conner has had one phenomenal game and one disappointing one so far. I’d be careful to crown him the heir apparent. Claims of homerism while I blast the Steelers FO? You might want to try reading the post again.
Why “elite” players? It sounds like the problem you have shouldn’t apply to only elite players, but to everyone. Why should only Bell be able to get market value, while poor James Conner or BJ Finney are stuck in the same situation? Do you propose ending the CBA, the draft, and salary cap, but only for only elite players?
And he gets held on every single play while fighting off a 104 degree fever and a broken toe!!
You know how many yards Bell had receiving last year? 133 yards less than Gurley. You know how many yards receiving Bell had in 2016? 263 yards less than Johnson. You know how many times Bell has led running backs in yards from scrimmage? Never.
Tell me again about “head and shoulders” better than anyone else.
To be fair, he keeps finding himself suspended or injured which limits his stats. If his game average is extended over an entire year I suspect it would be much higher, but I don’t currently have time to find out.
Of course, that’s part of the problem, and one of the reasons Pittsburgh is reluctant to pay him the kind of money he wants. If some other team wants to do so, that’s their risk. Pittsburgh gave him a great offer based not only on his production but his availability.
11 ypg less than Gurley last year. 4 ypg less than Johnson in 2016.
I’m unsure who to trust when it comes to reporting exact terms of contract negotiations, so it’s really hard for me to say if Pittsburgh gave him a “great” offer. What is clear, though, is that the Steelers are concerned about his availability, as they very well should be. It also seems clear that Bell is concerned about his career earning potential, as he very well should be. So it’s a tough call to decide who is right and who is wrong. Which happens when the Steelers are doing what they think is best for the Steelers and Bell is doing what he thinks is best for Bell.
But he’s still not “head and shoulders” better than any other back in the NFL. Even though he wants to be paid like it. Just offer him Gurley’s deal+ $1 and move on.
As I said in the OP, I don’t think either of them are wrong. I understand both positions. As far as “head and shoulders” above, you did the numbers and they don’t bear that out. That said, Conner is making those contracts and Bell’s contract offer look like bad deals. We’ll see if that continues.
The thing that’s striking to me is how poorly the Steelers have played on defense. In terms of sheer stats, the offense is holding up it’s side of the bargain.
Because they’re on rookie contracts with slotted pay? They’re not playing under repeated franchise tags.
Good job nitpicking single seasons instead of looking at career averages. TOTALLY makes your point, because there’s no way I’d point out Bell out-rushed Johnson by 1250 yards last year, or out-rushed Gurley by 400 yards in 2016, in year he only played 12 games (which you must have missed in your own comparison).
Taking out Bell’s blown knee 2015 and rookie 2013, he’s finished 2nd, 3rd, and 2nd in yards from scrimmage. Gurley? Minus rookie year - 20th and 1st. Johnson finished 1st in his ONLY non-rookie, non-injured season. Elliot finished 2nd in his rookie season, but 15th last year (suspension-shortened). Bell is top 3 EVERY year, not just once here or there.
Gurley has already made twice what Bell has, despite playing half as long. Johnson has made as much, with another ~$16 million guaranteed. Elliot made more the day he signed his contract than Bell has in his entire career. Tell me again how 1/2, 1/2, and 2/3 aren’t fractions.
Wtf is up with Boswell?
So the pick wasn’t good and it cost Pittsburgh points (though it was a really good interception), but that McDonald posterization of Conte, the fumble recovery, and now Brown’s great touchdown has Pittsburgh looking pretty damn good.
Hopefully it lasts.
So you’re fine with players being paid under “market value” as long as they’re rookies? Seriously, I don’t get your point at all.
I gotta give you this: You Steeler fans have balls. The sheer audacity it takes to harp against “cherry picking” in the SAME FUCKING SENTENCE that you pick a season where Johnson was injured the entire year. That’s some serious cognitive dissonance.
Then, to follow that up you do … more cherry picking. That is fucking amazing.
Sure, when you exclude the years he’s not, he sure is. Impressive.
Because Johnson signed his contract this offseason, while Bell held out. Johnson had made about 1.3 million in his 3 years before he got paid this September, while Bell had made 3 times as much.
I won’t argue that Bell clearly outperformed what he was paid on his rookie contract. He clearly did. But reading is your friend. And the comment I was countering was this one: “Would you keep working if your employer offered to pay you a fraction of what your peers make?”. Notice how it wasn’t about how much he was paid in the past, but rather what he was offered and could be making currently. Maybe that’s where you get confused.
Could there be more roughing the passer calls?
They need to fix this. I get that they want to protect the quarterbacks, but come on, this is silly.
Yes. Because they’re unproven commodities. Would you rather go back to the time when teams wasted tens of millions on the likes of JaMarcus Russell and Aaron Curry?
Wait, so you cherry pick years, then throw away context of pointing out the utter to accuse someone else of cherry picking? Why do you get to pick certain years to argue your point, but someone else pointing out your absurdity is cherry picking? Like I stated at the beginning, use their career averages. I still find it funny you think I’m a Steelers fan. Reading is your friend.
It’s almost like I removed EVERYBODY’S really shitty years - ya know, to account for years they were injured or weren’t starters. But please continue showing an incredible lack of understanding of anything approaching rational debate.
I really wish they would stop doing this to me. This game was over at halftime and they let the Bucs get back in it.
It’s a win, though. I’ll take it.
Steelers squeaked one out. The mind boggles at what might be possible if the defense showed up both halves. Or if we had a kicker.
Lot of fixing still to do.
I wonder what Boswell is thinking. I hope it’s fixable and not full-blown Steve Blass Disease, because if it is they’re dead and buried.
As for the defense, it’s pretty obvious how much Shazier mattered. They played adequately, but it wasn’t a game they should remember fondly. Having Haden back helped, and the pass rush was pretty good, but they left too much open in the middle and got burned deep far too much.
I think Hilton having to leave mid-game had an outsized effect. That needs addressing, because him getting injured is unfortunately not going to be all that rare.