Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper sucks thread!!

Here's the low down on Freeny

2015 All-Pac-12 Second Team

2015: Voted a team captain for the season ... made the All-Pac-12 second team ... finished the season ranked No. 3 in the Pac-12 in both sacks (8.0) and tackles for loss (17.5) ... 24th in the nation in TFLs ... tied for second in the Pac-12 with three forced fumbles ... started 12 of 13, all but at Stanford ... started at BUCK linebacker in the UW's season opener at Boise State ... made four tackles, including half a tackle for loss, at Boise ... also started in the win over Sacramento State ... six tackles, including one-and-a-half for a loss, in the win over Utah State ... four tackles (all solo), including one sack, vs. California ... terrific in the win at No. 17 USC, totaling seven tackles, including three-and-a-half for losses and two-and-a-half sacks, all of which came on crucial plays ... named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after the USC win ... five tackles, two TFLs, a sack and a forced fumble vs. Oregon ... one stop in limited action at Stanford ... named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after a strong performance in the UW's 49-3 win over Arizona, when he totaled 11 tackles, including four and a half for loss and two sacks, along with a pass break-up and two forced fumbles ... four and a half tackles for loss were tied for eighth-most in UW single-game history ... three tackles and a fumble recovery in the Utah game ... eight total tackles, including one-and-a-half TFLs and half a sack, at Arizona State ... made a terrific long run to make a touchdown-saving tackle at Oregon State ... three tackles, one for a loss, in the Apple Cup win over Washington State ... three tackles, including two for 20 yards in losses (one of those a sack) in Washington's bowl-game win over Southern Miss ... named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the UW's postseason awards ceremony.

2014: Played in every game, starting nine ... won the UW's Most Outstanding Special Teams Player award at the postseason banquet ... made four tackles off the bench in the win at Hawai'i ... named the team's Special Teams Player of the Game vs. the Rainbow Warriors ... started vs. Eastern Washington, nothcing one stop and a crucial fumble recovery that he returned 19 yards ... three tackles in a start vs. Illinois ... four tackles in start vs. Georgia State ... eight tackles, including half of a TFL, in a start vs. Stanford ... had seven tackles, half of a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in the win at California, when he was named a game captain ... six tackles, including one for a loss, at Oregon ... three tackles, including a 12-yard sack, vs. Arizona State ... scored on a key, 30-yard interception return in the win at Colorado ... also had five tackles and a tackle for loss vs. the Buffaloes ... five tackles, one for a loss, vs. UCLA ... served as a game captain at Arizona, when he was a game captain ... had a 59-yard interception return at a key point in the game in the Huskies' win over Oregon State, when he also notched five tackles ... named the UW defensive player of the game for OSU win ... two stops in the Apple Cup victory at Washington State ... three tackles vs. Oklahoma State in the Cactus Bowl.

2013: Played in 13 games, starting two ... had four tackles, including half of a tackle for loss, in the season-opening win over No. 19 Boise State ... two tackles in the win over Illinois ... team-high six tackles, plus a fumble recovery, in the Idaho State win ... four tackles in the win over Arizona ... made six tackles, including one and a half sacks, in the game at Stanford ... one stop vs. No. 2 Oregon ... five tackles at Arizona State ... five tackles, including one for loss, in the win over California ... made five stops in the win over Colorado ... three stops at UCLA ... six tackles, including one for a loss, in the win at Oregon State ... six tackles, including a five-yard sack, in the Apple Cup win over Washington State ... two tackles in the Fight Hunger Bowl win over BYU.

2012: Earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 as well as honorable mention Academic All-Pac-12 ... moved from safety to linebacker during fall camp ... started nine of 13 games ... started at LB in season opener vs. San Diego State ... had five tackles, two TFLs, a sack and a forced fumble vs. the Aztecs ... also started at LSU, finishing with four tackles ... returned to action vs. Stanford after missing PSU game ... had six tackles vs. the Cardinal ... made a season-high 12 tackles at Oregon ... eight tackles, including a sack, vs. No. 11 USC ... had six tackles and also had an interception at Arizona ... returned interception 47 yards to set up a UW touchdown ... made nine tackles, including one for a loss, in a start vs. Utah ... made a game-high 10 tackles, all solo, in the win at Colorado, where he also had a sack ... five tackles and a 12-yard interception at Washington State ... nine tackles, including one for a loss, vs. Boise State in the bowl game ... served as a game captain for the Colorado game.

 

Liking what I'm hearing about how the Refens got double f'd in the first round by dallas not trusting who they were going to draft (as well as not offering enough) if they had traded up and then not getting the backup plan in the best OT because of a 4 year old tape on him. It's funny that they spin the story in that they really valued stanley higher than tunsil just to save face on it but nobody believes that. I was thinking while watching the draft they were going to get ramsey and was glad they didn't as a blue chip defensive player wouldn't have been good. Good stuff.

 

Hmmm. It was reported that a few teams liked Stanley over Tunsil. The Ravens, who have had a LT who hasn't finished a season in years, say they had Stanley over Tunsil, another LT who hasn't finished a season in years, and they are trying to save face. Meanwhile, the Steelers say they never wanted Maxx Williams and it's the honest to god truth? Funny how that works

 

Travis Feeney and Tyler Matakevich are both ILB prospects. I know very well a 6th and a 7th round pick means next to nothing, but they did double-dip at one position, technically. If you stretch it far enough, you can even say they did that with Artie Burns and Sean Davis.

That doesn't exactly apply to what I said before, however. I wasn't criticizing their payload in any way. They still need depth at various positions.

We should only need one OLB in 2017, if we're even still running a 3-4 by then. I'd count Harrison out, and even if we were to lose Jones, we still have Moats, Dupree, and Chickillo under contract. Considering the bad luck we've had with OLBs since Woodley started suffering injuries, are you absolutely sure you want to trust this front office with that? I think it's been several years now since we've had an OLB reach double-digit sacks.

 

IMO Part of the reason the OLB struggle to get to the QB is Tomlin defense is weak at the NT positon, add that to a very weak secondary.

 

Moats I believe is a free agent after this year...pretty sure it was a 2 year deal he signed? And you would definitely know better than me, but Freeny isn't an OLB prospect?

 

Let me put it this way...I would be very surprised if the Ravens truly valued Stanley over Tunsil prior to the video hitting the web. Very surprised. And I think its fair to say that the majority of Ravens fans and writers would also be very surprised if that was the case.

That said, I would never say with any certainty that they didn't have Stanley rated higher. Its possible, just surprising if true.

As for the Maxx Williams thing, I think its about as overblown as the whole Bengals stole WJIII from them last weekend. Would they have picked him if he was there? Maybe, but I don't think its the slam dunk some think it was.

 

So you also subscribe to the "if my team says it then it's probably true but if a rival does it's probably not" philosophy?

The Ravens are going away from an Injury prone LT and avoiding potential problem players. Tunsil is injury prone and has been suspended as well as other off the field issues. What reason do you have to not believe Baltimore was one of the teams previously mentioned to have Stanley higher? I personally have no clue but you're clearly leaning one direction.

That would be a surprise but you don't believe it's a slam dunk that Pittsburgh would have taken Jackson the better CB over the one that's a project? Seems legit

 

demo...its my understanding from everything that I have read that the Steelers see Feeney as an OLB in their system. They plan to rush him from the edge. Porter, I believe, even said something about his "bend around the corner" being something they liked about him aside from his speed.

He'd likely need to gain about 10-15 lbs to be an effective edge defender, but that shouldn't hinder his speed much, if at all.

 

Not at all. I thought I was clearer. My guess is that in both situations the teams are fibbing a bit. It just seems to me that the target of a top 5 pick is easier to predict than the target of a late first round, or 3rd round, pick.

While there were some rumblings that some teams thought Stanley was the better prospect, it was widely agreed that Tunsil was the higher rated prospect. Saying that "Stanley was the target all along" when it seemed obvious he wasn't seems disingenuous. Just like the Steelers saying that Lawrence Timmons was always the pick right after they missed out on Darrell Revis.

There is nothing wrong with the Ravens saying that Stanley was the guy, I just find it hard to believe. I find it a bit easier to believe that Maxx Williams wasn't the guy just because it happened so much later and things get so mixed up later in the draft.

That's all.

I have no idea if they would have taken Jackson or not. However, I don't think its a slam dunk that Jackson was the better prospect or rated higher on the Steelers board either. At the very least, the speed with which the Steelers made the pick tells me that they didn't blink when Jackson was picked one spot ahead of them. The Steelers have shocked me many times on draft day, so it wouldn't have been a big surprise if they had taken Burns even if Jackson was still there.

The Ravens were reportedly trying to move around with their pick, so at the very least, it makes it seem like Stanley was a consolation prize of sorts. I'm sure they are very happy with him or else they wouldn't have pulled the trigger with such a high pick. The Ravens are too smart to make a bad pick there, they got a good player at a position of need. I wasn't trying to bash the pick in any way.

I thought the Ravens had a great draft, unfortunately.

 

Anything is possible but the Ravens could have put this to bed had they simply said they had Stanley higher on their board PRIOR to the video. Both Harbaugh and Newsome have been very coy about the whole thing and neither would answer the question directly.

Whereas, in the case of the Steelers Colbert flat out came out and said they tried to trade up for Golson and couldn't get a trade partner. Since Maxx was taken one pick before them makes it pretty clear they didn't want him.

 

The smaller OLB and press man CB would further suggest getting away from the 3-4 defense unless they are drafting players for their ability instead of scheme fit.
This didn't work with Ziggy so scheme change is evident.

 

I was watching the NFL Network a couple days before the draft. DJ said some teams had Stanley ranked ahead of Tunsil. I don't know of that is true, if there were concerns about Tunsil even before the video came out, or that GM are leaking misinformation hoping that the player they really want slides to them.

 

Don't get me wrong, I fully agree they wanted Ramsey first, which is why I didn't touch that aspect of Steelrfan's post. I'm just trying to understand the logic behind this disbelief.

Baltimore had a PR nightmare with Ray Rice. Baltimore has had a very injury prone LT who can't finish a season.

Laremy Tunsil - injury prone, suspension, off the field issues
Ronnie Stanley - always healthy, no off the field issues, believed by many, but not all, to be slightly lower than Tunsil

So it's unlikely to believe the team would factor in all this and have Stanley higher on their draft board? The same team that skipped the best pass rusher in the draft (according to everyone) twice because of "potential risk" even though pass rusher was the biggest need? The same team that didn't draft one questionable character guy? If there were 0 reports of anyone having Stanley higher, I'd get it, but there were a few reports about multiple teams having it that why so I just don't get where the "well Baltimore definitely wasn't one of them" logic comes from

Beach, I doubt it makes a difference. If they say he was rated higher before the video, which has been their every implication, it wouldn't really change any minds. They said Tunsil was in their top 15, not that they dropped him to their top 15. I'm more willing to believe the injury status (why replace a decent LT who's injury prone with an injury prone LT you hope will be good on the NFL level) and off the field stuff likely factored imo

 

I suppose that's fair.

I always kind of waved those reports aside as just jockeying for position by teams that were in position. There is so much misinformation leading into the draft. It seemed fairly evident from all accounts that Tunsil was the more talented player.

I can, however, understand the thought process of the Ravens being a bit gun shy on a player with injury history and character red flags, so I suppose that's possible.

 

Ahh, well that's different. If you never believed those articles in the first place then I can understand your point of view. It seemed you were taking the angle of, "yeah some teams might have had Stanley higher but not Baltimore".

Side question for all Steelers fans that want to answer. Who's the draft pick you're most excited about?

 

Hmmm...tough one.

For me, I am excited about a few of them for different reasons.

I would have to say that Sean Davis is the one that I think will contribute the quickest, and I think he could be a very good player for us right away. So, I'm excited about that.

The 6th rounder, Feeney, is the kid I am most excited to see develop. If he can stay healthy, and 4 shoulder surgeries says that's unlikely, I think he could be a heck of a steal in this draft in a year or two!

 

To say that the OT that the Ravens picked won't be good or as good as the other guy wasn't really my point. I just found it interesting that they are playing it up that they really wanted him more is the thing. I was more worried you guys would pick ramsey and was super glad he was off the board. Was it really worth it to grab one of the 4th or 3rd round guys over getting him in offering a trade? They should have ponied up a bit more but failed to do so on draft day a rare miss for the organization. As it is the jaguars are all in on the media power rankings based on just taking the guy and jack in the 2nd.

As to burns vs jackson many fans wanted the jackson more but with ANY player even the tackles mentioned before its all a crapshoot anyway. I'm just glad they addressed the obvious weaknesses in rounds 1 & 2. I'm happy with the draft. If i were to say who I'm most excited about seeing.. its not any drafted player but the new TE and how much difference he'll be over miller.

 

Does anyone remember the "torches and pitchforks" moment when Le'Veon Bell was drafted? I mean AT LEAST Jackson wasn't even available, so we don't have to have the debate of "what if." The reality of that pick was that we were all stupid and wrong and Colbert and Tomlin were right.

 

The Ravens seem like they are drafting more like the Steelers now. When they announce their picks all their fans say WTF?