Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/artie-burns?id=2555344

youtube vids look pretty good too. Really raw but talent out the tailpipe.

 

Looking at tape I don't have the pick, just don't love it..rather had Billings

 

Good story too...

Lost his Mom to a heart attack in October and has custody of his two younger brothers and his own son. Broke a 38 year old record in the 60M hurdle (athletes under 21) in 2014. Three time state champ in the 110M hurdles.

 

I like Arizona's pick.. especially at that point in the draft

 

The last time the Steelers took a world class hurdler at CB, it worked out pretty well.

 

Has anyone read the skinny on Burns ?

He's a good press coverage CB with speed and at 6ft 190 lbs he's and ideal CB.
However, the Steelers play off man most of the time.
Burns is known to be very handy which in Pittsburgh is going to be called.
He would do better in Seattle.
Also, He is said to have very bad back peddle and stiff hips. :/

I like the fact of going CB is was a need but with A'shawn and Billings, Reed still available?

I hope Burns proves me wrong ( REALLY )but I think he might be the first actual 1st round bust in years.

 

Was pretty heated with the pick at first but have simmered down some. More pissed that Cincy took Jackson. But I'm starting to think Pitt might have taken Burns over WJIII anyway which probably would have pissed me off more. The latter is already 23. The former is just about to turn 21. Fits the Steelers "upside" athleticism/tools profile (though in this case w/ age factored in) trend of late in R1 w/ Shazier/Dupree instead of non-NFL athletes like Jarvis.

I just don't trust this regime drafting developmental CBs, but maybe they've failed because they've waited until the middle & later rounds to address the position. Now they have two CBs in the top 2 rounds to really test that theory. It's the same for me with Seattle and developmental O lineman (I despised that Ifedi pick). They could have picked any other position with no surefire OTs on the board and I would have been fine.

I'm not out on the pick because of guys they passed up like Billings/Spence etc. The non-mainstream smart guys I trust didn't have Billings as a R1 pick anyway. I mostly just wanted Jackson because he was one of the two NFL ready CBs, and that is crucial to capitalize on Ben's window. I'd say **** Cincy but they don't win anything anyway. Will just waste a good player getting bounced again on wild card weekend.

I definitely think the pick was a reach per se, and that the Steelers definitely honed in on CB exclusively in R1 (think that's fairly obvious). But Burns wasn't going to be there in R2 when Pitt selected. It would have been nice to trade back with Denver, but who knows if that was available like Beach said and KC traded out later after Burns was selected, and they were in the market for a corner.

I didn't see it with Burns, at least speed wise (maybe I've been watching too much Jackson), but I'm not a CB expert. He does have the "heart and smarts" thing Colbert discussed recently going for him with that story, which I definitely think played a role here. I will say there is one play where he got absolutely destroyed in bump and run that is floating around twitter right now

Obviously a lot of talent still on the board in R2. Should be able to fill a value-based need at S, DL or OLB.

Ravens > Bengals on the likability scale now

 

so pretty much all i've heard is bad news on this guy and i think that's crap. His measurables are excellent and his press coverage is outstanding.

don't really care about Pgh. mostly playing off in coverage ... that's all they could do. we had/have no one to cover elite receivers ... going forward, now we do... let's see if Keith makes some changes on defensive schemes with his new toy. not to mention there's a lot of outstanding talent left for next few rounds... stay tuned !

 

It seems like Burns is a little bit of a project. I have read "boom or bust" about him. It doesn't sound like he will be a starter this year.

 

I have no excited reaction to the Artie Burns pick. I couldn't see all of the draft last night, but I was able to catch the Steelers' pick. This is not something I was expecting, and it looks like it came completely out of left field. People are comparing this situation to Shazier's situation, but it's not. I argued Shazier's merits during the 2013 season (his final collegiate year) and considered him the best linebacker in the country for months before I let him be washed away in my mind for whatever reason. I was blown when the Steelers picked Shazier and was immediately excited for the things he could do for us.

Burns was not on my radar at all. The good things I can say about him are that he fits our defense pretty well and clearly has a mindset that shows determination in spades. I think he's a good player. My hope is that he'll take any criticism of the Steelers selecting him as just more motivation on top of what he's already dealt with in life. I want to feel excited about it, but my initial reaction was just so dreadfully uninspired that I don't know what to make of it.

 

They addressed the biggest need on the team outside of safety with the best corner left. Arguably picking a DL in billings would have resulted in more of a rotation in the DL with Heyward and Tuitt being healthier each down with billings 25-30% snap count. Sometimes you gotta trust the guys in the FO know more about players than us armchair GM's though. Calling any guy a bust without playing a snap at all in the nfl is mindblowingly absurd. Give the guy a chance. He played against better competition than WJIII and is a better tackler which is what Tomlin likes.

 

I like Artie Burns. I think he has a chance to be a very good CB. If we had taken him in the 2nd, I would be ecstatic. My disappointment is that he feels like a reach at 25. So it's not a judgement on the player, just on where he was taken.

That being said, the draft is a crapshoot. Plenty of "first round" talents fail, and plenty of "second round" talents become all-Pro. So I'm willing to see, and of course I will be cheering for him. It will also be interesting over the next few years to compare his career to W-Jax III.

 

Rival fan but add me to the list of people who hate the Bengals for picking Jackson. I was hoping the Ravens would use one of their four 4th rounders to trade up from the second round to grab him. He's going to be great for Hue Jackson.

Side note, has anybody seen Black&Gold lately? He's likely going postal somewhere

 

I don't see Billings in a rotation with Heyward and Tuitt. Billings may be the best pure NT in this draft, but the Steelers only play a true nose on first and second downs, and sometimes not even that much. Billings is NOT a DE, not even in the 3-4. Trying to rotate him at DE would be less successful than Ziggy Hood at DE. As good as Billings is (and he is good), I have trouble seeing him as a scheme fit. Robinson is the guy who physically is in the mold of McLendon who could line up at nose and kick out to a DE rotation. But do you trust his motor or his heart? That's why I don't think either of them was a real option in the first. Maybe the team could take that chance in the 2nd.

 

I'm in a similar position to demo and Beach (he did post that he could see the Steelers taking 27 or 28, so at least Beach had him on the radar). I had Burns pegged as a round 2 target, didn't think he would go so high as a raw player. So I'm not worried about them picking him at 25 since I like him as a player to begin with, but he isn't very exciting. Then again, I wasn't excited about any DB beyond Ramsey and Joseph. Now, on the bright side:

1. The Steelers were absolutely taking CB in round 1 based on the post-pick interview. Colbert said this CB class is as deep as he has ever seen it (speaking of top talent), and they were pretty confident they could get a CB early. So no other position was very likely anyway.
2. They loved Burns to begin with, and he may have been their #3 DB. Just a guess of course, but the way they gushed about him he is certainly a player they loved the chance to pick. Tomlin called him something like "a great piece of clay", meaning he is a great raw material to be molded over time. So I look at him getting snaps toward the end of the season and possibly starting as early as next season. I'm good with that.
3. Watched his combine tape, and one thing stood out - fantastic hands. He is long, has long arms, and what look to be very soft hands. Huge catch radius. Not a lot of spring in his legs, but his length helps overcome that somewhat. I thought his hips looked smooth enough - not great, but good enough. Smooth when he's running, very good body control.
4. His personal story is heartbreaking, but within that story you find a guy who is probably motivated to work hard, stay out of trouble, and take care of his family. Based on the Tomlin/Colbert presser they were very impressed with him on a personal level. That lends itself to stability as a player, always a good thing.
5. As was already mentioned, he's young. The Steelers have a history of picking 3rd year players with a lot of upside in the first round. I remember similar "underwhelming" reactions to Lawrence Timmons, and I'm hoping for similar results.

2nd round will probably go to the DL unless there is still a top prospect available at another position.

 

list of best yet available

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000656617/article/2016-nfl-draft-best-remaining-prospects

some seriously good players in all categories.

 

The guys that are saying Burns fits the scheme I'd like to know how.
I'm being sincere and not sarcastic I've read he plays press man coverage which isn't what the Steelers play so schematically he doesn't fit.
I also read that he is willing to come up and run coverage but is not that good at tackling.

 

Hoping they do or that Darian Thompson is there in the 2nd round. Seeing Neal go at 17 was crazy. They had so many day 2 safeties in for a visit that I would be shocked if they didn't pick one.

 

i certainly do agree this is a surprise pick, but it;\'s a surprise mostly because both of the original picks, Jones and III (probably my fault Bungles screwed us) were already gone. I think it interesting the pick came about so fast. C&T looked at each other and said, simultaneously "Artie" and smiled from ear to ear. Yeah we're forced in to a plan with a player who isn't exactly game day ready, but measureables are all on the upswing. not even 21 yet ? wow, moldeable clay indeed ...

33" vert. at 6"-0. reminiscent of i like Ike for me.

spot on LTS. after some time to consider him, my thoughts went to Timmons also. i think Artie gets pressed in to service asap. who else ? who else better that we know of ? it's going to be interesting watching / comparing our defense in the first of the season to the end of it.

and we still have 6 rounds to go ... who do you guys like next, positionally. another CB S NT DE WR ?

 

Colbert and Tomlin were asked about picking for the scheme in a pre-draft press conference. They used the saying "if you have red paint, paint the barn red." Tomlin explained that to mean you have to have a balance between picking for the scheme and picking good players.

In other words, you modify your scheme to fit the players you have and play to their strengths. If they have CBs who can play bump and run, that means they can play bump and run instead of laying 10 yards off on 3rd and 8.

NFL.com's draft profile says

I don't know how they quantify "usually", but that doesn't make him sound too bad on the tackling side of things.