Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

Sounds reasonable LTS thanks!

I hope they do stop playing so far off and you're right this could be a start.

 

http://www.drafttek.com/2016-NFL-Draft-Prospect-Rankings/Top-College-Cornerbacks-2016-Draft.asp

here's who's left in CB . also, Artie is ranked just behind III. also, what up with mackenzie alexander ?

 

I would like to think the people that do this for a living know more than the message board people. Sometimes I wonder though. ;-)

 

Where do you get he's a better tackler at ?

 

I don't think they'll last until then, but I hope for 9 or 55 in round 2.
Personally I think it will be more like 35, 37, 62 (DL) or 58, 77 (S)

 

There's no doubt in my mind the Steelers recognize the need to play more press CB - specifically they want to play more 2 deep / man under. It's the ideal defense to combat the spread offenses teams attack us with the most and fits in with the Cover-2 that the Steelers taught all last summer.

If this is your philosophy what do you need?

- Speed at the LB position to take away the middle of the field (The Tampa 2 Achilles Heel) SHAZIER
- Corners who can take away the underneath routes and attack the football knowing that they have help over the top. GOLSON, BURNS
- Safeties with discipline to stay on top of the play and have the speed to break on the throw and separate the receiver from the ball. Reliable tackler as last line of defense. MITCHELL, Justin Simmons?
- Linemen that can create pressure in the face of the QB TUITT, HEYWARD
- Edge guys that can beat a TE / OT but also drop into an area of the field and take away the easy underneath route, destroy a receiver on a crossing route DUPREE

The Steelers are building something here and their selections make it obvious to me where they want to go.

 

He usually finishes in tackling.

https://stillcurtain.com/2016/04/29/steelers-draft-grading-first-round-pick-artie-burns/

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

NFL.com rates the 2 CB as equal for the most part.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/william-jackson iii?id=2555179

If they are equal and Burns is younger and played in a tougher conference I'm not going to be down on him without seeing him play.

Just saying give the guy a chance before he's dubbed Dri Archer part 2 in the way of busts.

 

what i like most about this list is it's length ... lots of good players in the hopper. I like the way beach has laid out a pretty interesting plan for our future defense. I see that writing on the wall and bet the next few picks, beach will be able to further show this new Steeler defense game plan, we may be seeing the beginnings of.

exciting having a sort of inside window to possible plans.

 

I liked the pick....

 

I hope you are right Beach. I have been critical of the Steelers soft coverage scheme for years. It doesn't work against the good spread offenses that dominate the NFL.

Charley Casserly mocked Burns to the Steelers. When I saw his mock I thought who the hell is that. Interesting that an Ex NFL GM put the Steelers and Burns together. I wasn't excited about the pick initially but now I'm optimistic.

 

I'm the same. I would of been happier if we could of traded back some, as I think we still would of gotten Burns.

 

Don't be surprised if they jump an a situational pass rusher. The Seahawks have done it for years with great success. Obviously, they would prefer the complete package but if push comes to shove and there's a pure pass-rusher that doesn't necessarily fit the 3-4 scheme I wouldn't be shocked to see them jump on them.

Guys like Shilique Calhoun, Sheldon Day, Maliek Collins, Matt Judon come to mind. Not necessarily scheme fits but can get to the QB.

 

The Steelers are in the process of transitioning their defense into a Cover-2 scheme basis. That REQUIRES press-man corners. The reason they have played so much off-man last year is because the talent they have had in the secondary doesn't allow them to truly go bump-and-run. Sure, they got burned a lot on the short routes, and it seems like teams moved the ball up and down the field (see: 30th rank pass defense), but they were a VERY hard defense to score on in the red zone.

In 2015, the Steelers were the 25th best team when it came to red-zone scoring ATTEMPTS (meaning teams got in the red zone fairly frequently), but were the 6th best when it came to teams actually scoring TD's from the red zone.

Obviously, in drafting Burns, they are trying to improve their ability to play bump-and-run and give the front 7 more time to make plays, thus minimizing the amount of times teams have the OPPORTUNITY to score TD's. Making the QB hold the ball an extra second longer every few plays could account for a few more sacks for the season, giving the offense better field position, etc.

Truthfully, the Steelers don't have a ton of upgrades to make to make this unit into the elite status that many of us know, love, and remember. A stout DT, another linebacker, and a safety, and they are back in business. Another year in the system for the remaining defensive players also won't hurt.

Keep in mind when grading the Burns pick that he is OBSCENELY raw, but could certainly develop into an insanely good player. That isn't exactly any different than many players that have ended up in Pittsburgh over the years. Remember Le'Veon Bell? How he was going to be awful and Lacy was going to set the world on fire? Or Cam Heyward being a huge question mark? Or Pouncey? Or the fact that Limus Sweed was going to fix all of our issues with his frame?

No one is perfect, which is why only 46% of 1st round picks end up starters by year 3. The percentage goes down STARKLY as you get into the later rounds, so the fact that the Steelers have even FOUND players like AB, Foster, Wheaton, Beachum (yes, I know he isn't here anymore, but you understand my point), Gay, JAMES HARRISON...they have a ton of playmakers that beat the odds and ended up as something special because they were given time.

Aside from Ziggy Hood, Rashard Mendenhall, and POTENTIALLY Jarvis Jones, Colbert hasn't exactly whiffed on a first rounder. Those that he DID whiff on also weren't ginormous misses that set the franchise back. From that perspective, we should have a little bit of faith in the front office to know what they are doing. Burns could be an absolute bust, but he could also be a monster. Just because we don't see it in year 1 doesn't mean anything. Bud Dupree last year showed flashes of greatness, but it will still take him another year to understand the complexities of the position. However, everyone fawned over him because he SHOULD HAVE gone early but didn't. We all feel good about the pick because a bunch of people said that he was a top 3 talent. Now, we grab a CB that could VERY WELL have been the top guy on the Steelers board (they did A LOT of homework on corners, so I trust them), and people are upset because the talking heads at ESPN and NFL.com didn't mock him to us?

Long story short, the draft is a crapshoot. Sure, the Steelers have had their share of misses, but they also hit A LOT more than any other franchise in the NFL and that is why they are a Super Bowl contender this year.

 

i really do like where this may be going. lot of if's but if the D-Line can continue it's progress and we add a situational player to further enhance getting to the QB, it'll only make our secondary better with less passes coming their way.

don't want to wish my life away, but i really am looking forward to 1st of year defense and end of year's comparative play.

we get to start the year off with another shot at the last game of the season.

 

i thought this last year too. I agree Indy, we're only a few men away from another shot. hopefully health won't be the issue it was last year.

 

Agree with this and there's several other things people seem to miss.

1. Just because you see 350 passing yards doesn't necessarily mean our secondary failed. At the beginning of the year our LBs were absolutely lost in coverage. Vince Williams saw a lot of time with Shazier out which is not only a drop in talent but also hurt Shazier's development in the Cover 2 scheme.

2. There was also poor communication between our secondary and linebackers. No greater example of that then the regular season game against Denver. Guys were running free in the secondary in the first half. They got in the locker room, got settled down and shut the Broncos out in the second half, created a few turnovers. Our defense didn't get more talented at halftime. They got on the same page. Happens when you install a new defense.

3. They truly improved from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and there is tangible evidence of that. And a lot of it was just tackling. That's less about talent, more about fundamentals that get lost when you're not comfortable in a scheme and you're not confident you're in the right spot.

Talent is obviously important but you can't just look at a poor performance and say, "We need better players." There is so much more that goes into a game than that.

 

last year was nuts ... how many yards between the 20's did we give up and then our defense got stops, all season long ... in the red zone, typically an area of concern for us.

also, someone said it, good rush makes for easier DB work but the same is true in reverse. good DB work gives DL more time to seek and destroy ... we may have more of that in our 2016 team between Golson, Grant and Artie ? too early but doesn't hurt to consider.

if we can, i'd be pleased to get a little closer to receivers and stop the 6-8 yard auto completions. We've got at least one more DB coming our way in this years draft, yeah ?

speaking of which Justin Simmons looks great. did the google thing and he's another possible leader in the group. i thought him a hard hitting, unafraid impressive back.

it would be ok with me if Oakland falls off in to the Pacific ... Karl'll be looking for work !

 

Been on a rampage, trying to settle down before reloading to make a few more rounds of destruction. Cannot believe this team took a corner in the first. Not sure which I'm more frustrated with..............that they actually took the FIFTH CORNER as their #1 pick, or that the Bengals took the last of the three that I considered first round quality (Ramsey, Hargreaves, and W-Jackson III). Hope he proves me wrong, but would have preferred a good DL or another OLB. Unlike some here, I didn't consider our secondary to be THAT BAD, even with the free agent losses of C. Allen, Boykin, & Blake. Blake leaving actually IMPROVES the team IMO.

Hoping rounds 2-3 stack our front-7 or pick up a decent receiver we can groom. We've killed it in round 3 with receivers............Braxton Miller?

 

History would repeat itself. Can you say Hines Ward? Same story different school.

 

Derrick Henry could slide to day 3. If I were a GM he would be a 6th round pick. He is Ron Dayne II. IMHO