If it takes three years to grade a draft, what do you give the Steelers 2012 effort?

[Coach]

1 ) OG De Castro - A good, but not great guard. Overpowered at times, but very good on the move.

2 ) OT Adams - A 3rd tackle who played better than expected in 2014, but only sees the field as an extra TE when everyone is healthy

3 ) ILB Spence - An undersized ILB who has been injured. Not starting material. I like Vince Williams better. A back up type

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - Had off the field issues and was cut

5 ) RB Rainey - Had off the field issues as was cut

7 ) WR Clemons - A non factor

7 ) TE Paulson - 3rd TE. Okay as a pass catcher. Awful as a run blocker

7 ) CB Frederick - Too small. He didn't last long

7 ) OT Beachum - A true find! Very shaky as a rookie, but very solid as our Left Tackle. Our best pick in the draft.


Coach's grade. B- We have two starters ( LT and G ), and a few role players. Adams has been a disappointment.

 

[Vader]

I'd give it a C+. DeCastro is good but like Pouncey can be blown up by bigger DL. He was destroyed several times in the rats game. Beachum is a good LT and the very best you can ask for from a 7th round pick. Adams, Ta'Amu, Rainey, Clemons, Paulson, Frederick are all nobodies. Spence is a good pick but I'm not sure he can stay healthy long term. If DeCastro gets better I'd upgrade it to a B-

 

[TDX27]

Right now, I'd give it a C. The grade could go up or down based on the next year or two.

 

[Troglodyte]

I think your expectations are high. If that draft is a C, show me the dozen or so teams that get an A or B for their 2012 draft.

B+ At some points in the season 3 of those guys were starting on our OL and this was Spencer's rookie year as far as I'm concerned.

 

[F83]

1 G Decastro B 77, won't be as good as Faneca but maybe might come close to Hutchinson, not a great pass protector and needs to get a bit bigger for the north @ South run game as well as hold better vs big NG's.
2 OT Adams looks like a career back up was rushed into starting last year by stupid ex OL coach after being stabbed 8 times and losing about 10 LBS when, looks like only a Rt good at times in pass protection, main run plays like where he is leading the run play he struggles, Had character concerns but Tombert still elected to draft him rather than a DB C- 67
3 ILB Spence would of been perfect if he had not gotton hurt, has made a decent recovery where he is a good sub LB vs the run, can't cover. C+ 68
4 Got in the coaches bad book early but after a solid 3rd pre season game vs Washington I tought he should of been kept or put on the PS C 63
5 RB Rainey A great returner but off firld issues in a year after Ward Smith @ Farrior left Tomlin could not control the amount of Diva's inside (Wallace, Woodley, Lewis) so had to cut him C ( a D+ because everyobne he touched the ball he had the ability or often gave Ben the ball at his own 40, but the OL just sucked) 64
7 WR Clemons was worth a shot tall Wr but made no significant impression in camp D 58
7 TE Paulsen good reciever but could not block at all, at most A SLIGHTLY better receiver than Speath, could of been kept to line up in the slot C 66
7 CB Fredrick wrong scheme amounted to nothing in the 7 odds are slim so a D- 54
7 OT/OG Beachum was drafted to play LG but duye to injuries stepped for a bit at RT then he went on IR to then after Adams started 2013 like *** he got a shot to play his college spot LT and has been solid A+ 88

605/900

67% C+ had we taken NT Mike Martin instead would of helped and Bobby Massie OT instead of Ta'amu could of helped in having a few more bodies from this draft class, I think Mike Martin would of learned well from the left over Dl vets.
Moving up from the 7 to the 6 for a better prospect wouldn't have helped we needed size and the only;y guy I saw in the 6th worth was Marvin Mcnutt but like Clemons he has bounced around and amounted to nothing.

so our draft would of looked like this
1 OG Decastro
2 trade down a few spots get a 6th NT Mike Martin
3 LB Spence
4 OT Massie
5 RB Rainey
6 extra OLB Sam Acho
7 TE Paulsen
7 CB Fredrick
7 OG/OT Beachum

 

[Ron Burgundy]

C. DeCastro is good, Spence may turn out to be good after that knee injury, everyone else sucks.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

C. DeCastro is good, Spence may turn out to be good after that knee injury, everyone else sucks.

Beachum sucks? c'mon now.

4 valuable players out of 2012:
1 above average, another slightly above average, and 2 back ups

That is a solid year. That is batting above average.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Beachum sucks? c'mon now.

4 valuable players out of 2012:
1 above average, another slightly above average, and 2 back ups

That is a solid year. That is batting above average.

Your're right, I missed Beachum. Considering where he was drafted he may be the best pick.

 

[Punxsutawney]

It produced two decent OL, who are not quite good enough to completely offset blowing the second round pick.

I give it a C.

 

[Troglodyte]

Again, if that draft is a C, I bet you can't show me 12-15 teams that did better.

 

[steelerscotty]

1) OG De Castro - A-4.0 He's gonna be an all-pro.

2 ) OT Adams - F-0.0 Pretty much a bust, is ok run-blocking. I expect much more out of the 1st 2 rounds.

3 ) ILB Spence - B-3.0 Not his fault though but coulda been an A. He would be a starter and we probably wouldnt have drafted Shazier except for the injury. Great heart, great recovery solid contributor.

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - D-1.0 Liked the pick, had potenital but had character issues. Dont mind taking a chance on those kinds of players on day 3.

5 ) RB Rainey - D-1.0 See above . . .

7 ) WR Clemons - N.A. I wont give a negative grade to any drafted after round 5. 6th and 7th rounders usually are long term projects.

7 ) TE Paulson - C-2.0 Contributes.

7 ) CB Frederick - N.A.

7 ) OT Beachum - A-4.0 a late round gem. Could start anywhere on the line including blocking TE.

Final grade: 6th and 7th rounders who grade out positive (3.0 or above) i count thier points total but not their spot in the average. Total points=15 divided by # of picks rounds 1-5=5 Final grade=3.0 a solid B.

 

[jitter77]

1) OG De Castro - A-4.0 He's gonna be an all-pro.

2 ) OT Adams - F-0.0 Pretty much a bust, is ok run-blocking. I expect much more out of the 1st 2 rounds.

3 ) ILB Spence - B-3.0 Not his fault though but coulda been an A. He would be a starter and we probably wouldnt have drafted Shazier except for the injury. Great heart, great recovery solid contributor.

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - D-1.0 Liked the pick, had potenital but had character issues. Dont mind taking a chance on those kinds of players on day 3.

5 ) RB Rainey - D-1.0 See above . . .

7 ) WR Clemons - N.A. I wont give a negative grade to any drafted after round 5. 6th and 7th rounders usually are long term projects.

7 ) TE Paulson - C-2.0 Contributes.

7 ) CB Frederick - N.A.

7 ) OT Beachum - A-4.0 a late round gem. Could start anywhere on the line including blocking TE.

Final grade: 6th and 7th rounders who grade out positive (3.0 or above) i count thier points total but not their spot in the average. Total points=15 divided by # of picks rounds 1-5=5 Final grade=3.0 a solid B.

I do not understand your points system. Sure Beachum is an A for the 7th round but that is not as valuable as a 1,2,3 round pick. In other words missing on a 1,2,3 pick is more significant than not getting a player in 6-7. I dont know how you can count his points and not factor it into the spot? Getting a starting player in 5,6,7 is pretty much dumb luck I think. I will go rnd 1 7x more valuable than round 7, followed by 6x, 5x etc etc...... If rounds 1-3 are 3x more valuable than 4-7 then we get a 71 or low C..

Decastro is good and I would say on the cusp of being very good. (B+ ) 85*7
Still not sure what we have in Adams as he is up and down so much (C-) 70*6
Who knows with spence. Right now he is special teams and back up (C) 75*5
Ta'Amu - cut (D) 65*4
Rainey -Sucked, problems, and cut (F) 0*3
Clemons- some potential, but did not pan out (C) 75*1
Paulson - good value at this spot (B) 85*1
Frederick - didnt work out worth a shot (C) 75*1
Beachum - solid all around a steal for this spot (A+) 100*1

This comes out to a 65 or a D....based on the iffy 2nd and 3rd rounds and whiffs in 4-5

 

[Vader]

1) OG De Castro - A-4.0 He's gonna be an all-pro.

2 ) OT Adams - F-0.0 Pretty much a bust, is ok run-blocking. I expect much more out of the 1st 2 rounds.

3 ) ILB Spence - B-3.0 Not his fault though but coulda been an A. He would be a starter and we probably wouldnt have drafted Shazier except for the injury. Great heart, great recovery solid contributor.

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - D-1.0 Liked the pick, had potenital but had character issues. Dont mind taking a chance on those kinds of players on day 3.

5 ) RB Rainey - D-1.0 See above . . .

7 ) WR Clemons - N.A. I wont give a negative grade to any drafted after round 5. 6th and 7th rounders usually are long term projects.

7 ) TE Paulson - C-2.0 Contributes.

7 ) CB Frederick - N.A.

7 ) OT Beachum - A-4.0 a late round gem. Could start anywhere on the line including blocking TE.

Final grade: 6th and 7th rounders who grade out positive (3.0 or above) i count thier points total but not their spot in the average. Total points=15 divided by # of picks rounds 1-5=5 Final grade=3.0 a solid B.

Your system makes no sense to me. You won't give a negative grade after the 4th round but give only positive grades? So why grade them at all? Just grade the first 4 rounds since 5th+ are obviously just luck in your system. If you can't fault a team for drafting them you sure can't give them credit for the same dumb luck.

 

[bermudasteel]

I like Ark's maths betta...

 

[Chicoman]

well for the 2012 draft I'll say this....

DeCastro, & Beachum have really proven their worth to this team the past 3 seasons.

Ta'Amu & Rainey we're both disappointments......and I really was excited when we drafted Ta'Amu but he never amounted to anything.

Spence & Adams although they haven't been star they have both played very good at times. I for was excited to see Spence play a full season after two brutal years rehabbing that knee injury. Adams I'll give another year too but he's a descent backup and pretty good run blocker and has improved in pass protection too.

I'd give our 2012 Draft Grade a B- based on the fact that we have 4 guys who contribute but Ta'Amu & Rainey were both disappointing picks.

 

[Xc944]

Again, if that draft is a C, I bet you can't show me 12-15 teams that did better.

you might not want to go look at other teams drafts because you will have to erase your post. that draft was recently regraded these teams all graded higher then the steelers bengals, bills, broncos, bus, chargers, rams, saints , texans, chefs, colts, eagles, pats, ravens, seahawks and viking. then there were several teams with the same grade

 

[USDA#1]

1) OG De Castro - nailed it

2 ) OT Adams - might be an ok RT some day, but not what you want out of a #2

3 ) ILB Spence - not as fast as he was....gets run over....covers a little bit...still makes splash plays, good ST guy...but it took 2 years

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - looked good then, didn't it?

5 ) RB Rainey - clownshow

7 ) WR Clemons - last seen on Dolphins PS....a long time ago

7 ) TE Paulson - hasn't done ****
7 ) CB Frederick - oh well

7 ) OT Beachum - one of the best late picks EVER...circumstances helped, but dude has worked on it....Starting LT with a 7th...who knew?

it was an average draft....

B-

 

[Troglodyte]

I do not understand your points system. Sure Beachum is an A for the 7th round but that is not as valuable as a 1,2,3 round pick. In other words missing on a 1,2,3 pick is more significant than not getting a player in 6-7. I dont know how you can count his points and not factor it into the spot? Getting a starting player in 5,6,7 is pretty much dumb luck I think. 5

So if you get a solid starter in round 1, it's better than drafting Antonio Brown in round 6?

I say nonsense. There's dumb luck in every round, draft picks are draft picks.

 

[Stryker]

So if you get a solid starter in round 1, it's better than drafting Antonio Brown in round 6?

I say nonsense. There's dumb luck in every round, draft picks are draft picks.

If Brown's draft was redone, he'd be a top 5 pick.

 

[steelerscotty]

Your system makes no sense to me. You won't give a negative grade after the 4th round but give only positive grades? So why grade them at all? Just grade the first 4 rounds since 5th+ are obviously just luck in your system. If you can't fault a team for drafting them you sure can't give them credit for the same dumb luck.

i gave both round 4 and 5 negative grades. 6th and 7th i wont, cause they are not supposed to make the team anyways. I consider finding good players in rounds 6 or 7 as extra credit. I also grade harder in first 3 rounds. I gave Adams and F as a 2nd round pick. if he were a 5th rounder id probably given him a C. anyways while i appriciate the input, its just my system, so take it or leave it as you will.

 

[TAS]

Solid c+ but how could it be any higher without star in the bunch?

 

[deljzc]

It's an A- or B+ draft grade.

DeCastro and Adams were good, logical choices at the time. Adams is still in the league. Only 8 out of the next 30 picks have more AV than him according to Pro Football Reference. We want to bash Adams, but is Amini Silatolu or Jon Martin or Jeff Allen or Peter Kontz that much better (the four O-linemen drafted ahead of Adams)? It was a good logical choice for his talent level and it hasn't panned out. I can live with that.

DeCastro is a future pro bowler. The guy can move and play and is going to get a huge 2nd contract in this league. GM's know he's good and the Steelers will never let him get to free agency to prove that.

The middle rounds were again frivolous. Spence was undersized. A runner-hitter. Not a 3-4 type that Tomlin continues to force down Lebeau/Butler in the system. Te'amu was a good value selection that they released too soon. He's still in the league. Rainey is the lesson this regime should have learned before taking Archer but didn't (which is why the Archer selection is/was maddening). I gave this regime the benefit of the doubt with Rainey to see what would happen (considering it's only a 5th round pick). It failed. For this regime to try again on the same type of player with a top-100 pick in a DEEP draft class not only shows hubris but stupidity and stubbornness (thank goodness we still got Bryant in round 4).

Lastly, we can't understate the value of Beachum. That is a top-notch draft selection. Beachem will have the most AV than any player drafted AFTER pick 92 (T.Y. Hilton). He's arguable the best and most productive player after that taken in the entire draft. How can you rate that anything other than an A+? I'm even not a big fan of Beachum's game and I admit it.

When you look back there are two mistakes in this draft class: Spence and Rainey: undrersized, didn't fit system or frivalous
and one HUGE win: Beachum.

Honestly, this is an A- or B+ draft.

 

[POP]

1 ) OG De Castro - A good, but not great guard. Overpowered at times, but very good on the move.

2 ) OT Adams - A 3rd tackle who played better than expected in 2014, but only sees the field as an extra TE when everyone is healthy

3 ) ILB Spence - An undersized ILB who has been injured. Not starting material. I like Vince Williams better. A back up type

4 ) NT Ta'Amu - Had off the field issues and was cut

5 ) RB Rainey - Had off the field issues as was cut

7 ) WR Clemons - A non factor

7 ) TE Paulson - 3rd TE. Okay as a pass catcher. Awful as a run blocker

7 ) CB Frederick - Too small. He didn't last long

7 ) OT Beachum - A true find! Very shaky as a rookie, but very solid as our Left Tackle. Our best pick in the draft.


Coach's grade. B- We have two starters ( LT and G ), and a few role players. Adams has been a disappointment.

If they didn't land Beachum I'd give them a D....with him it saves it to a C. If Spence ends up being a solid starter, I'd go as high as B-. Other than those 2 and DD, they got no one, nothing, in 6 out of 9 picks.

 

[deljzc]

You guys are way too tough. This was NOT a bad draft by Tombert.

DeCastro was a great pick. He fell and we nabbed him and he's pretty much lived up to everything we hoped for in a first round OL pick. He's a stud.

Adams fell and we took him. Worth the risk/reward. You can't rate this pick on production because it's about the proper analysis of risk/reward at the time of the pick. It's not like Alonzo Jackson who didn't even make it through 2nd year camp. Adams isn't a "failure" like some make him out to be. What's Brian Quick or Stephan Hill or Isaiah Pead or Jerel Worthy doing these days? Those are failure picks. Adams is not.

Even I admit that maybe Spence isn't as bad a pick/fit as I thought because when finally healthy he PLAYED for us this year (both on defense and special teams). I hated the pick at the time because of size/fit, but he has some NFL talent. Most 3rd rounders produce better than Spence however and that's the critique.

Certainly not a D or C in this class, that's for sure.

 

[jitter77]

So if you get a solid starter in round 1, it's better than drafting Antonio Brown in round 6?

I say nonsense. There's dumb luck in every round, draft picks are draft picks.

I am saying that missing on a guy in the first couple rounds is more costly than missing on a late rounder. You have more money tied up, plus roster space. Hardly anyone cuts a 1,2,3 rounder before at least a year. Late rounders can be cut in camp... There is a reason Brown received a late round grade. For every brown out there are 500 misses. Your first few picks are supposed to be your "locks."