Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

Litterally we are that much closer seeing how the draft was delayed 2 weeks.

 

The Steelers added nine draft picks and nine rookie free agents during the three days of the NFL Draft.


As the 2014 NFL Draft came to a close, General Manager Kevin Colbert and Coach Mike Tomlin looked happy, satisfied with what they accomplished over the three days.




?It was really a unique draft when we entered this thing,? said General Manager Kevin Colbert. ?And when we talked about it going into it, we talked about how deep this draft was. We certainly saw that throughout the draft. Usually in a draft the first or second round will usually follow suit because everybody likes the better players. It usually opens up as you go through when teams are grabbing guys, and you usually have more guys available to you that you have a particular feel for. This year it seems like everybody was selected from the same group of players because it was so deep. It was really interesting to see how it broke, but we thought it broke well for us. We are very happy with the results.?

They selected nine players, five defensive players and four offensive players, and Tomlin said he would be open to the possibility of several earning a starting position.

?It?s not something that?s going to be given to them,? said Tomlin. ?They?ll be given an opportunity to earn it. But I do believe that within this group there are some guys that are very capable of doing just that.

?I think they have a chance to start if they earn it every year. That?s just the reality of it. There have been some years where we?ve had an extremely strong unit and that makes it a tough nut to crack; we?ll see what this unit is made of. I?m not going to prejudge and go into it with any preconceived notions. I?ll let those guys sort themselves out on the grass of Latrobe like we always do.?


This is what Tomlin and Colbert had to say after the draft.

 

They believe that some of these rookies have a chance to start. I am assuming that means Shazier and Truitt are 2 of them.

 

I really don't see that happening. Bryant has a history of having issues learning playbooks and is VERY raw. Wheaton was hampered by injury last year and had little production on the field, but was a crisp route runner coming out of college. Bryant will contribute but probably out of the slot and in the red zone.

 

I don't think Bryant will start week 1, but if he shows anything in camp, he'll see the field quite a bit. When he's on the field, it won't be in the slot, he should be the X, or split end. He has great speed and he's big. The truth is, he would be a far better split end than Brown. If they could put Bryant at the X, move Brown back the Z (flanker), and have Wheaton playing the slot, that would be the ideal. The X doesn't have to be the best route runner, but he has to be able to beat the jam and he has to be able to get deep. Those are both things that Bryant is pretty good at.

Brown is an ideal flanker because it gives him the ability to go in motion and get the free release most of the time. The Z has to be a better route runner and has to know the offense far better because he runs more option routes (typically) and the QB will be counting on him to be on the same page and in the right spot at the right time.

I would expect Wheaton to be the starter, but when the Steelers go to 3 WRs, Bryant will split out wide to the X and either Wheaton or Brown will move inside to the slot. My guess is that Brown moves around ALOT this year, playing all 3 spots at various times like they used to do with Ward in his heyday.

We'll see what happens.

 

good battle in Camp at the WR spot... going to be fun to watch - I missed camp last year - but I'm thinking I need to get up there this year and watch a day....

enjoy,

one of the idiots

 

I AGREE! WR BATTLE IN CAMP IS GOING TO BE FUN TO WATCH. DON'T FOR GET LANCE MOORE IN THE MIX TOO. THAT GUY IS SCRAPPY AND ALWAYS FINDS THE FIELD SOMEHOW.

 

it seems there is one spot open at WR. A. Brown, Wheaton, Moore, and Bryant are the locks with DHB, Moye, and J. Brown fighting for the last 1-2 spots.

 

Barring injury, I would like Moye and J. Brown to make the team over DHB. DHB is super fast, but has the hands of Ike Taylor and there is a reason we are his third team in 3 years.

 

DHB is very fast and should be able to open things up for other players including the run game and
heck may be able to catch one or 2. Which is what your looking for, out of a 3rd or 4th WR.

 

Agreed, but if the drafting of Bryant made any of the receivers expendable, it was DHB. They have similar skillsets and Bryant is bigger and hopefully has better hands. Bryant ran a 4.4 at 6'4"...that's pretty darned fast! Plenty fast enough to take the top off the defense.

 

I thought they were going to use Dri to stretch the defense? He is the fastest man in the NFL.

 

He's not a WR in the true sense of the word. He will surely line up out wide sometimes, but they will need to put him in motion when he does to give him a free release because if a CB gets his hands on him on a jam, he's done.

Its far more likely that Archer will be catching swing passes out of the backfield and screens, trying to get him in space with the ball in his hands rather than trying to send him deep on a go route.

For a go route to be successful, the receiver has to be able to beat the jam. Bryant has a better chance of doing that than Archer does.

 

G-sus - I hope Munchuck can get this Oline to run some decent screens - We have been a horrible screen running team for a long time.. - opps - eggs-cept for the bubble screen (roll of eyes)

enjoy,

one of the idiots

 

Even if they only feed him screens of the bubble variety, as long as he has a couple of blockers in front of him to create a crease, he's going to have the opportunity to break a few big ones. One thing his highlight reel shows is that he doesn't need a big hole to get through and once he reaches the second level, defenders have a heck of a time playing the right angle to get to him. He's crazy fast in the open field! Nobody is going to chase him down, so if they don't take good angles, they won't get him.

 

Joe Haden is now the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/05/13/browns-joe-haden-agree-to-new-contract-through-2019/

 

A dude his size better be wiggly or he's an injury waiting to happen, which I know has been mentioned. If he proves to be slippery however he could prove to be useful. If he is the guy on the bubble screens then Brown isn't going to be seeing another season with 16 straight 5-reception games.

 

In my opinion he's one of the top DBs in the NFL. The going rate for a shutdown corner just keeps getting higher and higher. Kennan Lewis isn't as good as Hayden but his signing with the Saints is looking like a bargain now.

Hopefully the Steelers can get a long term deal with Allen before his stock gets to high!

 

Archer is a RB. He may split out in some formations, but he is a RB first and foremost.

 

Hey, I just saw Alan Baxter was released by5 the Colts... wonder if he makes a return?