Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

Thanks for the post (on mobile phone).

 

Newberry...mayb a 5 tech...he made leaps n bounds last yr

 

Real solid draft, RDs 2 & 3 especially. Like Davis' versatile history in coverage. Guy has elite measurables and can run/hit. Hargrave was someone I liked 3 months ago. Definitely adds a pass rush element to the nose/versatility as a rusher in sub-packages to spell Cam and Tuitt.

Rounds 4, 6 & 7 were fine. No developmental tackle is every going to be graded well at that juncture. Like the UW kid to replace Garvin on ST and taking a return specialist in the 7th instead of the damn 3rd.

Still bitter about CIN & WJIII because I loved the fit, but there was no one there really at 25 I'm disappointed Pitt passed on (wasn't huge on Billings & obviously the league wasn't either). You have to reach for 6'0" corners with ball skills who can run unfortunately, because you aren't getting them in FA and if you are it's the tier 3 guys that you have to egregiously overpay (most inefficient market in the NFL). Burns has talent and youth on his side. Excited to see what Tomlin does with 3 R1-2 DBs now. He and Lake have never had this level of talent to work with, and it's paramount that they succeed.

 

Not sure I saw any mention of this, but did any of you catch a glimpse of Artie Burns' girlfriend (I'm assuming she was his girlfriend) when they showed him on camera briefly Thursday night? Yow. I hope we see more of her. Looked like a good draft for you guys overall.

 

To be honest, EVERY draft is boom-or-bust. If 2-3 of these guys end up as capable starters, and a couple end up as quality backups, then we are WAY above average. However, the reason that our drafts always seem to be a lot less "sexy" than other teams is because we pick so much later. The Browns had a ton of picks, but a lot of them were head scratchers. Maybe they know something we don't. But history says not.

 

And to those who think the Steelers should have moved up to get Jackson instead of Burns, I ask this - You only had seven draft picks, it would have cost you one, maybe two picks to move up. Would that have been worth it for the perceived difference between two players?

 

This is really a good point. I don't think Burns is a reach for this reason alone. I think Colbert and Tomlin realized, picking at 25, that they weren't going to get the first or second CB in the draft and that this class was the one where it might be okay to take the 5th one off the board. They needed a player that fit the mould of the traditional press man/cover 2 CB and Artie Burns is right up that alley.

As always, I am more excited about the pick a couple of days later than I was at the time.

The rest of the draft was excellent in my opinion. Getting Hargrave in the 3rd feels like steal. Smith in the 2nd is a kid that could play right away. High character, smart football player. Wouldn't surprise me if he's starting by mid-season. The OT from LSU is a project but has all the measurables and is a good knee bender with a good punch...something for Munchak to work with for sure. After that, who knows whether any of the later round picks will get much of a shot, but the speed of the Feeney is exciting! With some coaching, he could be a real sleeper. I would expect he might make the team as a Special Teamer, but maybe develop into a Sean Spence type of contributor.

The return man I know nothing about, but if he can get a helmet on Sundays just to take the punt return job away from AB, then it was a GREAT pick!

Tyler Matakevich reminds me of a smaller Vince Williams. He just shows up in the right spot and makes tackles. Sideline to sideline speed will be his biggest problem in the NFL, just like Williams, but he could be a good backup ILB in the league.

 

Wow its been great seeing most of the old gang the last couple days.
This has made Draft weekend that much better.

 

Artie Burns - Not a big fan of this player. I trust that the Steelers know what they're doing, but this is a reach to nearly everyone outside the organization. My biggest worry is that this becomes another Mike Adams selection, only in the first round, which would suck even more. This would mean the Steelers picked Burns mostly because of his "heart," not playing ability. Burns gets INTs, but he also got burned at Miami. Knee be damned, I would have jumped at the chance to pick Myles Jack @ 25, especially since we have two great starters at ILB already plus a solid backup. Jack was a top-5 prospect on most boards even with the knee! A truly dynamic playmaker at the linebacker position, and we passed on him for an incomplete athlete at a position pundits in the media were convinced was this team's biggest need. It's unreal how the Jaguars were able to land both Ramsey and Jack.

The only way the Burns pick makes sense to me in a way I can tolerate is that his phenomenal press-man coverage abilities were coveted in a shift to full-blown Tampa-2 coverage schemes, because that doesn't lend itself well to a Dick LeBeau-ran 3-4 zone blitz.

Sean Davis - Pleased with this pick, though I didn't anticipate two picks for the secondary right away. It makes sense, though. There's talk of him being used at SS, but I think it'd make more sense, given his size and play style, that he be used like John Lynch in Tampa during the late 90s/early 2000s. Lynch was a heavy-hitting center-fielder, and that is what Davis fits to a tee in my opinion. Mitchell would make the superior SS given his more compact frame.

Javon Hargrave - This is the type of innovative pick I like. The Steelers of a few years ago would never dream of drafting someone like Hargrave. I always liked how productive he was penetrating the backfield, and he should have success doing that in the NFL. I think he'd be a great player lining up over the nose in our new-look defense.

Jerald Hawkins - A steal. Hawkins was a third-round prospect picked in the fourth round. He has issues with technique, but he'll be tutored by the best offensive line coach in the NFL and won't be called upon to start right away. It's possible they see him as a potential guard prospect, but if that were the case, they could have gone with an actual interior offensive lineman.

Travis Feeney - A player with incredible upside given his athleticism. Ideal position is 4-3 outside linebacker, which is further indication of where our defense is going. Experienced playing all over the field, but I guarantee he was drafted to initially bolster our special teams coverage. Has some issues form-tackling.

DeMarcus Ayers - Unexciting receiver prospect. Was drafted in hopes that he would steal punt return duties away from Antonio Brown.

Tyler Matakevich - Biggest steal of the Steelers' draft. Should have been a fourth-round pick. Not physically impressive, but his intangibles and productivity are fantastic. Was recognized as the leader of the Temple defense by everyone on and off the team who watched them play. Will surprise a lot of people.

 

I guess we have to wait and see but personally I feel we didn't do so well in this draft. Mainly because everywhere you look our first and second round picks are described as raw and will need time to develop. To me we needed defensive guys that can make an impact now and who knows how long the window of opportunity will last with the offense all together.

Several fans were bummed when the Bengalst took William Jackson the III but I think the speed of the Burns pick shows he was the Steelers guy all along and that even had Jackson been there he would not have been picked. I do wish Billings had last 1 more pick in the 4th don't know that we would have taken him but I would like to think had he been there we would have would have been a big boom to the Dline and possible the steal of the draft instead he may be that for a division rival instead.

 

Artie Burns - wasn't on my radar but I thought Billings would go Top 20. Based on that I'm not gonna presume to call anyone a reach. Plus it was tweeted almost immediately that he was the Cards target and Wex was told by a KC beat writer they don't trade down if Burns was there.

Sean Davis - a faster T.J. Ward with experience at CB. Could be an immediate impact player. Anyone calling this guy a project really just doesn't know much about him. Has literally done it all and might be a Day 1 starter.

Javon Hargrave - I love the pick but I'm always hesitant on small school guys. Can he physically compete as a rookie? I'm not so sure. But a year in the weight room should get this guy ready for year two at the absolute least. Just a guess.

Really don't know a whole lot about the rest of the picks other than what everyone else in here has read. Matakevich sounds interesting but there's a reason a guy with that kind of production slides to the 7th round. Hopefully he proves everyone wrong.

 

If you listen to the Colbert/Tomlin presser post-draft, they were asked at the end about whether they had options to trade down in the first round. Colbert said no, but even if they did "we weren't gonna do it because we were gonna take Artie Burns right there. Trading away from Artie Burns was never even an issue."

He may end up as an average player, but the Steelers got the guy they wanted, with no hesitation and no question. I think this is the best overall draft we have seen in several years, maybe because they addressed perceived needs in the DB/DL/LB area.

 

that's for sure, and a huge thanks again to beach for the War board ... it made even me a reasonable prognosticator ... *BYE*

speaking of beach, he's got an interesting take on defense for 2016 and we're in a wait and see mode for need from BPA as we usually do. I think we struck an excellent chord of need vs / player quality. every pick we got is loaded with quality awards, right down to the sevens.

always excited this time of year and breed said it well, glad i got to spend it with you guys.

 

MOS the biggest problem with taking DB's that need coaching to unlock there potential is the Steelers haven't been very good at it.
This is a surprise given it was Tomlin area of experience and Carnell Lake was a quality 2 position DB.

Davis will be fine but Burns is going to drawl a lot of penalties.

Oh and welcome to the 4-3 some of us new was coming.
Sorry but IMO the Tampa2 is inferior to Steelers 3-4 but we'll have to live with it for awhile. :/

 

Apparently the Steelers plan to re-sign Bruce Gradkowski. Good choice to bring him back and give some competition to Landry Jones for top backup, provided he is healthy. Again, the hope is neither one of them see the field unless the Steelers are blowing a team out or resting Ben for the playoffs, but as we saw last season backup quarterback is a very important roster spot.

 

I agree, every pick essentially can go either way, the steelers typically imo go for a safer player in the first round. I may be wrong but I just got the feeling they was taking a corner first round no matter what and burns was the last one they felt comfortable taking and they rushed to the podium to select him. I don't have a problem with the player I actually think he has a lot of potential and upside, he's just turned 21 today and in two years he may be a quality player but a player like him usually goes second round and I just don't think we got great value there.

I love the Sean Davis pick, I expect this guy to start day one and play at a high level, he just makes sence. Tall, fast, tackles well and can cover, really can't wait to see this kid unleashed to see what he can do. I think out of Thompson, bell and Davis we made the right call.

Hargrave can really add something to our interior pass rush and I expect him to excel in the sub package too, however I'm not convinced at this stage he can be effective on first and second downs. I would have loved the steelers to try and jump the bengals in the fourth to take billings because it was obvious what they was gonna do and we would have had a perfect combination of a two down lineman and a penetrator. Let's hope big dan McCullers can be that guy.

 

Rarebreed, you DO realize the Tampa 2 defense was based on what the Steel Curtain used to do right?

Honestly, I do not believe the Steelers are shifting philosophically on their defense. They still will employ a 3-4 "base," but the corners and safeties will utilize cover 3 and Tampa 2 responsibilities. The reason for this is because, as a defense, they have to play so much sub-package football (70% last year) that the whole concept of a pure defense nowadays just doesn't happen. Tomlin has said it multiple times, that it is important to be able to combat what the offense gives you, and how being fluid and adaptable allows for maximum ability to do so.

Last year, they were still in the process of learning the new scheme and this year they should be able to pull it off a little better.

 

I think the issue is more of 1) not having access to top DBs to coach up (or taking other positions instead) , and 2) missing on the later round guys they did select. Now that they have 3 quality DBs to work with we'll find out whether it is a coaching problem or a talent problem.

Tampa 2, 3-4, blah blah blah. If they play nickel on 50% of their snaps who cares what the base defense is? I thought the goal was to win football games?

 

I don't remember if it was Butler or Tomlin but one of them came out and said 3-4 is no longer their base defense.

Yes the idea is to win Football games and defense wins Super bowls , ask the Bronco's.

 

This ^^^^. When Monte Kiffin stopped by last summer to observe the Steelers he said he loved the flexibility of the Steelers defense. Specifically, he liked the rush ends standing up so they could mesh the Fire Zone Blitz with his 4-3.

The Steelers aren't changing their base D. They are trying to be flexible enough to attack different opponents different ways.