Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

I think the team might think they already have the 5th receiver under contract. I can't remember his name but I'm pretty sure he was #18 last pre-season. He looked pretty good, and the team was high on Eli Rodgers before an injury derailed him...unless there is a stud on the board when they pick, I don't expect a WR picked until the 4th round or later...possibly not at all if they think with Bryant's situation they can keep Wheaton, Brown and Bryant. Prior to the suspension it was looking like Wheaton or Bryant would be the odd man out.

 

On a purely technical stand point and upside, i dont think any of those three are higher.

a pass rushing OLB is arguably the most important position after QB these days and this kid is number two behind jack and i think he could be stellar. i think he goes inside 15 in the real thing.

I had Apple at 2. I do like billings also but to me, i suppose i thought he was far too good to pass up.

I just took Karl Joseph at the end of the second. Love that kid , as i see beach does also.

2k

EDIT- i think BPA wise, he was the right choice (floyd) but i also think there is some nice talent in the back field in the later rounds ( i just grabbed one) and there is a TONNE of talent ( pun intended) on the D line. i do NOT think there is the same upside deeper in the draft as far as pass rushing is concerned

 

Steelers need to take a look at Tony Jefferson. You offer the guy 2 mil a year (hoping the cards do not match) and you let him compete with Golden for the spot instead of just handing it to Golden.

 

Don't worry about it. "Hole" is something I say because a standard NFL roster usually has at least 5 WRs. I was thinking purely in terms of logistics.

 

With the signing of Ryan Harris, the Steelers are back where they need to be roster-wise going into the draft - with just a couple more holes than they can fill strictly through the draft, with all the extras allowing depth free agents or any undrafted hopefuls a shot. They have nine holes (including duplicates) overall according to my analysis, but they could draft at positions such as OLB and CB where they have enough experienced (or high-potential) bodies already if a prospect they love enough lands in their lap. I don't think the Steelers consider those positions as needs, however, so I don't include them.

I separated the needs into tiers - red, yellow, and green - signifying their severity. Red needs are the biggest and demand attention, and green needs are the least worrisome and may not be addressed at all except through 7th-round picks/undrafted free agents or very cheap veteran signings. They're just there.

Red

Quarterback - The Steelers are in great shape as a team, so I consider one of their biggest needs to be backup support for our most important player. Landry Jones will do sometimes and not others, and there is no one else after that anymore. Plus, even though it shouldn't be pressing right now, the Steelers need to think about the future at some point.

Guard - Specifically, anyway. Foster and DeCastro are both models of health lately, but should tragedy strike, I'd like to know the guard position won't fall apart without some exotic shifting. There's Chris Hubbard and no one else at the moment backing them up. That makes me nervous.

Safety - With no Will Allen anymore, the Steelers have a major depth problem at safety. I liked Robert Golden at times last season, but we could do with a player who can tackle back there.

Yellow

Tackle - The signing of Ryan Harris prevents this from being a duplicate need, but one more player who can play the position would completely solidify any depth woes we have there.

Defensive end - The starters are young and fantastic, but there's nothing behind them.

Wide receiver/punt returner - This goes based on what we saw from Sammie Coates last season. We couldn't be more set with our starters, but I'd like to know we'd still be fine if one of them goes down. Bonus points if we get a punt return ace.

Green

Running back/punt returner
Nose tackle
Third defensive lineman (possible hybrid player)

 

Who is going to be the starting NT and backup DL ?
Did I understand this upside down ?

 

I agree rarebreed, DL depth is definately a need losing McLenden hurts big time, I believe Heyward emphasized in a press interview that they needed more depth at DL to give them breathers, Walton can't be the only depth they have along the line.

 

After the draft there will likely still be some veteran D-Line guys out there they can get for cheap for depth.

 

Who are you going to groom as a starting NT ?
McCullers is big but that's it.
He doesn't have the aggressiveness or nastiness needed to be a Starter. IMO!

 

This ^^^^^^^^^^^

I think the Steelers may draft one. This draft is loaded with DL........

 

Does ILB now take a higher priority in this draft? Spence and Garvin both gone. That leaves them a little light in the middle.

 

We've had 5 departures recently and only 2 outside FA signings.

Beachum deal worth around 4yrs 40 mil.
Antwon Blake
Garvin
Sean Spence
McLendon

Only gained
Green
Harris

 

you can add M. Bryant to that list

 

Anyone really consider Antwon Blake a departure? More like a gift from Lebeau to his old team.

 

I'm not considering Bryant here because this is a list of players we lost to FA only, not to suspension.

 

NP thought you posted that to show the holes on the roster not being filled.

 

Just means Coats will need to produce a year early. He was likley brought in to fill the void if Wheaton left after his rookie contract. There is also DHB who can fill in decently enough that the loss of Bryant is not as big. The biggest loss right now IMHO is the depth at an already thin DL. Not very happy at the loss at ILB depth either.

 

Indeed it does. I thought about ILB earlier this year (I did a write-up on Darron Lee, even, when I was intending to make that a regular thing), but I lost it because I didn't think there was any way we'd lose both Spence and Garvin, the latter of which wasn't even going to be unrestricted (or so I thought - I still don't know how we lost him). Now, though, you can put ILB right up there with guard and safety (the three needs are really interchangeable - there isn't a lot of discrepancy between each of the Steelers' needs at all).

Not to worry, I've been watching ILBs from the side too. 2k likes Reggie Ragland. He'd be fine, but if not, Kentrell Brothers is a tackling machine and Scooby Wright III is perhaps the most overlooked linebacker in the country.

 

I'm higher on Scooby Wright than most others here. Look at his 2014 film. He was arguably the best defensive player in the country.

 

Does Ragland's lack of reps on the bench concern anyone? He only put up a DB number there, which is very odd for a guy his size. Will that weakness translate to trouble shedding blocks?