LB Dupree having top year of career
Former 1st-rounder will be a free agent after this season
Just because a player is in the final year of his contract doesn’t necessarily mean he will be inspired to play his best for a bigger, fatter deal, as former baseball manager Sparky Anderson once famously suggested.
Sure, it appears to be happening with Steelers outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who is off to the best start of his five-year career and is coming off a game in which he earned his first AFC defensive player of the week award.
And it is occurring in Dallas where Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper — both free agents at the end of the season — are off to the best starts of their respective careers.
But the same cannot be said for other high-profile players in the final year of their contract.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota was benched after six games with the Tennessee Titans and has been replaced by former Miami Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill, who is also a free agent at the end of the season.
Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston is displaying the same upand-down inconsistency that marked his first four years in the league and caused the Buccaneers to let him play out his fifthyear option. He has thrown 16 touchdowns this season but also a league-high 12 interceptions.
Atlanta Falcons outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who had 15½ sacks during a Pro Bowl season in 2016, has just 1½ sacks in eight games this season.
What do they have in common? Like Dupree, they were all former first-round draft picks.
The Steelers talked to Dupree before the season about the importance of doing well in the final year of his contact, hoping it would motivate him to play better. They knew that might lead to a bigger contract with another team in free agency, but they were willing to take the short-term benefit after picking up his option and paying him $9,232,000 this season.
But is that the reason he has already tied his career high for sacks (6), is tied for the team lead in tackles for a loss (6) and is second in quarterback hits (9)?
“I don’t think so,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “He wants to compete and do well and help his teammates more than anything else. This is a team game, a team sport. He’s got a great amount of ability and he’s had chance to use it. Let’s hope he keeps playing better.”
Dupree acknowledged the other day the motivation of a bigger contract “put my hair on fire a little more,” even going so far as to say a game such as he had Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts — two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery — fans the flame even more.
“But I want to keep stacking ’em and keep stacking ’em so at the end of season they won’t say, of the players who Others are merely
‘Part of football’
It’s almost a rare occurrence when David DeCastro pulls from his right-guard position on a goal line counter play and finds nobody to block.
Even more surprising, especially to him, was that no running back was following the Pro Bowl guard into the end zone.
That was the design of the second-down play from the 1 on the second series Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts. Running back Trey Edmunds was supposed to follow DeCastro and fullback Rosie Nix off the left side but instead ran into the middle of the Colts line for a 2-yard loss.
That’s why DeCastro was surprised when he got into the end zone and looked to see if Edmunds had followed him for the
easy touchdown. When he didn’t see him, DeCastro looked around with his palms up as if to say, “What happened.” Same with Nix, who looked backward after he sealed the edge with a block expecting to see Edmunds go behind him.
Instead of a touchdown, the Steelers had to settle for the first of four Chris Boswell field goals and a 3-3 tie.
“You always plan on having to block someone and everyone’s accountable, but sometimes the way things happen someone gets spooked and goes a different way and all the defenders are going the opposite way,” DeCastro said. “It happens. It’s part of football. You want to put the ball in the end zone when you’re that close.”
Line ’em up
The Steelers have allowed just eight sacks after eight games, fewest in the league, which, at their current pace, would mean they would finish the regular season with 16. That would be the fewest in the league since 2010 when the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants each finished with 16. Ironically, but not coincidentally, each of those teams was quarterbacked by a Manning brother — Peyton with the Colts, Eli with the Giants.
Since the 2016 season, the Steelers have allowed 77 sacks in 56 games, fewer than any other team. With half a season to go, that means they would finish with 85 sacks if they continued their current pace.
While that number would be the lowest in the league over the past four seasons, it would be a far cry from the 66 sacks the Colts allowed during a similar four-year period from 2007-2010, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“There’s not a lot of lines that have the same continuity we do,” said Pro Bowl left tackle Al Villanueva. “There’s a lot of technique things we do that not a lot of offensive lines do across the NFL.”