Kawann Short may be our best defensive lineman

[Jeremy Igo]

After rewatching the Pittsburgh game it is becoming quite clear that Short is quickly rising the ranks. With the loss of Hardy could be our best defensive lineman.

 

The coaches have taken notice as well. Short's snaps have increased every week this season. I jumped over to PFF and they also gave Kawann the best defensive grade on the team.

 

This kid is 6'3 310 pounds but has very nimble feet. Reminds me of Warren Sapp sometimes in the way he maneuvers around the offensive linemen.

 

Star is no slouch and is a top notch nose tackle. But right now I think Kawann may be out playing him in the under tackle spot.

[DaCityKats]

by far, he has the most violent hands, and wins with multiple moves. he plays a lot of 1 tech, and i do not understand why he is not starting over cole.

[countryboi]

why does short not start? they must really love Cole

[Fiz]

who starts is really immaterial; number of snaps is the most important indicator.

 

i don't pay for football stats but im willing to bet stars going up and cole's going down.

 

also it's not like cole is a slouch or anything

[therealmjl]

why does short not start? they must really love Cole

It's a scheme/package thing. Cole is a bigger body and better taking on double teams for run defense.

[Jeremy Igo]

by far, he has the most violent hands, and wins with multiple moves. he plays a lot of 1 tech, and i do not understand why he is not starting over cole.

 

I really like Cole. He played 29 snaps, 21 one of which were running plays. They use him early in the game where the offenses try to establish the run. Keeps the pass rushing guys like Kawann and Edwards fresh for later in the game. Pretty ingenious really.

 

I love seeing Star and Cole out there in the interior together. Its a nightmare for larger backs who want to run up the gut.

[imminent rogaine]

video or it didn't happen.

[Darth Biscuit]

I think our DT's are beasts too, I'm curious as to why Pittsburgh had so much success running on us.

 

I'm sure some of it was Bell's wait and slash style, but there seemed to be large holes in our D line a lot.

 

Was it the D line getting pushed around or the LB'ers not filling those holes?  Or both?

[cbully]

hands down!! >all since Kris Jenkins 1.0 and him too imo!! 

[MedellinHeel]

I think our DT's are beasts too, I'm curious as to why Pittsburgh had so much success running on us.

 

I'm sure some of it was Bell's wait and slash style, but there seemed to be large holes in our D line a lot.

 

Was it the D line getting pushed around or the LB'ers not filling those holes?  Or both?

 

Bell is a damn good RB but he still should have not been able to run mad on us. 

 

We had some serious gap control issues. 

 

I did not think it was humanely possible to run the ball down our throat with Star and Luke manning the middle. 

[Darth Biscuit]

I was so pissed Monday morning that I deleted the game off my DVR in disgust or I would re-watch and try to see what was going on.

 

I wonder how much of a role Mitchell played in helping the Steelers figure out our game plan and tendencies?

[Toundra]

KK is by far my favorite big guy and imho our best DT, he can teleport is huge body behind their offensive line,

he can use any part of his big body to disrupe their passing game, he can keep an eye on both the RB and the QB, KK is a super mutant.

 

[beastson]

He needs to start, the only person left to notice is Rivera. Everybody sees it. Just like everybody saw how Nakamura was terrible 

[SteveSmithGaveMeAShiner]

He needs to start, the only person left to notice is Rivera. Everybody sees it. Just like everybody saw how Nakamura was terrible 

 

As mentioned earlier, starting doesn't matter, it's number of snaps. Cole starts and plays on downs that have a higher tendency to be run plays. Short is more of a penetrating interior pass rush type and as such, he is used on more obvious passing downs. He probably could be an every down DT if needed, but I'm 100% on board with his current usage pattern. Keeps everyone fresher.