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5 yr drafting status

STEELERS R GR8

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I know there has been a lot of talk the last few weeks or so on how bad our drafting has been. I have read people post things like we need to draft like the packers which made me do some searching as to how bad we really are at drafting. I am by no means saying we are or have been drafting good but what I have found out we have not been drafting as bad as I thought we have been.
Yeah there have been some real head scratchers, some picks that went on to other teams and of course some studs as well. The problem is guys we draft in the 3rd round(ish) and end up cutting....Gibson, Urbik, Ta'amu, Rainey...overshadow the guys we really hit on later in the draft like Lewis, Johnson, AB, Dwyer, Allen, Beachum, and Williams.
The problem is we rely more on draft then most teams so we do need to be better then middle of the road which is where we are the last 5 years. Also we are not finding the Kimo/Farrior type free agents anymore. Anyone who would like to talk about our drafting please read this link and talk about what you think of our drafting the last 5 years. Feel free to post other links with good information about our drafting. I know after reading this I am not as down as I was on our drafting style.

http://sportswire.usatoday.com/2014...-49ers-tennessee-titans-new-england-patriots/

Make sure you click on the link to show the last 5 year drafts, pretty interesting I think. Thoughts...........
 
You nailed it on the head with we rely on the draft so we can't be middle of the road. I don't give anybody credit for drafting no brainers like Ben, Troy. I have a problem with them taking guys that fall to them like decastro. Just because he was ranked high and fell doesn't make him a good pick. He fell for a reason. But yes if your gonna build through the draft you better be good at it.
 
You nailed it on the head with we rely on the draft so we can't be middle of the road. I don't give anybody credit for drafting no brainers like Ben, Troy. I have a problem with them taking guys that fall to them like decastro. Just because he was ranked high and fell doesn't make him a good pick. He fell for a reason. But yes if your gonna build through the draft you better be good at it.

Has he been a bust or something?
 
Would have been nice if Adams would have turned out well also in the DeCastro draft. Hopefully, he will improve this offseason and truly challenge for a starting spot. That would make our O-line even better.
 
But DeCastro has turned into a damn good lineman. Hence a good pick. He didn't fall because he sucked, he fell because the teams picking ahead of us had other glaring needs.
 
Le'Veon Bell loves to run behind DeCastro as well. DDs ability to pull left opens some great lanes for LB and he has gotten big gains picking to run through them. DD=great pick.
 
Decastro is average. Not a first rounder. Jarvis is another one. So many better players were available at the time they were picked. Again if you live by the draft you have to be good at it not average.
 
You nailed it on the head with we rely on the draft so we can't be middle of the road. I don't give anybody credit for drafting no brainers like Ben, Troy. I have a problem with them taking guys that fall to them like decastro. Just because he was ranked high and fell doesn't make him a good pick. He fell for a reason. But yes if your gonna build through the draft you better be good at it.

Serious, your gonna complain about the Decastro pick, the guy was a no brainer for sure and has turned into a very solid pick. You want to complain about the Jones pick I am there with ya but come on not the DD pick.
Here is one of my problems with our drafting, last year was a very super deep draft at several positions. We had a major need at CB and what did we do in a draft class that was super deep there? We draft in the 5th round a guy we all scratched our head on in Richardson who now isn't even on the team not even a year later. He is not the only guy like that and that is my issue with our drafting style.
I know your not going to hit every pick and I think some of us here feel we should because we have that reputation as being a draft 1st kind of team. After doing a little research I am not as down on our front office as I was in the past. JMO
 
DeCastro is a very solid player but I hear what you're saying. Too many misses especially in the middle rounds (Adams) and guys who are out of the game in a year or two.
 
Decastro is average. Not a first rounder. Jarvis is another one. So many better players were available at the time they were picked. Again if you live by the draft you have to be good at it not average.

Can you name one team that doesn't live by the draft but lives by FA that has been good consistently year in and year out?
 
Serious, your gonna complain about the Decastro pick, the guy was a no brainer for sure and has turned into a very solid pick. You want to complain about the Jones pick I am there with ya but come on not the DD pick.
Here is one of my problems with our drafting, last year was a very super deep draft at several positions. We had a major need at CB and what did we do in a draft class that was super deep there? We draft in the 5th round a guy we all scratched our head on in Richardson who now isn't even on the team not even a year later. He is not the only guy like that and that is my issue with our drafting style.
I know your not going to hit every pick and I think some of us here feel we should because we have that reputation as being a draft 1st kind of team. After doing a little research I am not as down on our front office as I was in the past. JMO

Especially the shambles our OL was in at the time...Some would say a gift from ...well above.
 
The pats have gotten a ton of key player through free agency over the years and last years sb team
 
David DeCastro is not a first rounder...... That is an absurd statement.
 
The pats have gotten a ton of key player through free agency over the years and last years sb team

The link above shows they clearly were the best drafting team the last 5 seasons... They added a piece here and there but their roster core was through the draft.
 
If Decastro isn't a 1st rounder, then there are 10 - 15 guys taken in the 1st Round every single year that aren't even 7th Rounders because they all suck compared to him and can't even become starters. Not that Decastro is a world beater but compared to how the other 1st rounders pan out, he's worth more than pick 22.
 
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There was nothing wrong with the DD pick. He fell because he's an OG not an OT. He's a solid RG and I have no problem with the pick.

The main issue with the Steelers is that even their "good" picks are just average players. You have to find a pro-bowler somewhere... especially on defense. Finding Brown late in the draft is a home run. But drafting players like Hood and Jones high is killing the team. Then you add to the fact that they can't find defensive players late (Richardson, Zumwalt, Fredrick, Carter ETC...) and you have a clusterfuck of a draft. And that doesn't even count the "WTF were they thinking picks" like Archer and L. Jones.
 
There was nothing wrong with the DD pick. He fell because he's an OG not an OT. He's a solid RG and I have no problem with the pick.

The main issue with the Steelers is that even their "good" picks are just average players. You have to find a pro-bowler somewhere... especially on defense. Finding Brown late in the draft is a home run. But drafting players like Hood and Jones high is killing the team. Then you add to the fact that they can't find defensive players late (Richardson, Zumwalt, Fredrick, Carter ETC...) and you have a clusterfuck of a draft. And that doesn't even count the "WTF were they thinking picks" like Archer and L. Jones.

It's definitely true that a decent draft and a great draft are separated by finding a star or two in the later rounds, but it isn't all that likely that you are going to find one every draft. You figure from each round after the 2nd there are probably only a couple "stars" that come out of each of the following rounds and another maybe 5 starters...and 32 teams picking.

The Archer pick seems to have ruined last year's draft in some people's opinion but the fact that they seem to have found a "star" with their 4th Round pick more than makes up for it IMO. You are gonna have lots of misses in every draft, but you have to have "hits" to balance out the misses. To me, last year's draft all hinges on Shazier right now. I think Tuitt is going to be a really nice player. Bryant looks great so far. If Shazier becomes a really good player and you get 3 good players with star potential from the 2014 draft, it's a win.

The people who expect the Steelers to get excellent players and starters on 5 out of 7 or 6 out of 7 every year are living in fantasy land. No team does that. But you want to get guys that can at least contribute in some way, whether it is holding a reserve spot or special teams or whatever. But you are always going to have 1 or 2 that wash out immediately and never make the roster. That's the nature of the beast around the league.
 
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