Is Tomlin going to stop his pathetic Tampa 2 wannabee defense? If so then yes Dline is a huge need, along with several other positions.
We HAVE to go DL in round 1
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I've been saying this for years. All you keep hearing is the Steelers are only in their base D about 25% of the time and are almost always in their sub-package D. Well, isn't that the freaking problem? Many have noticed we don't blitz anymore. Wanna know why? Because before Tomlin took over the D, we ran more of a true 3-4 and had 3 big uglies and 2 OLB's on the pass rush. Big Snack may not have gotten many sacks but he did command a double team whenever he was on the field. We are now relegated to trying to rush only 4. This has even caused Watt to get chipped or double-teamed a lot. We have two 300-pound guys and two 250-pound guys rushing against five 300+ pound guys, a TE or two, and a chip from a RB. Can anyone else see the freaking problem? This isn't about needing to be in our sub-package all the time, it's about Tomlin and his terrible D schemes that just haven't worked. It all starts with the big uglies on both sides of the ball.
trade up for Grant can't miss NG, has potential to be as good as Vilfork or Hampton.
Cam has always been versatile enough to play both DT and DE, with a guy like Grant or Williams at NG, you can get both the DT Cam and draftee just to blow the A gap cam has made living over between slower C &G
Cam has always been versatile enough to play both DT and DE, with a guy like Grant or Williams at NG, you can get both the DT Cam and draftee just to blow the A gap cam has made living over between slower C &G
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Original Post above.
I fully agree on the need for DL “trench” workers. I have been fully supportive of trench workers on both sides of the ball.
I also know that if a game-changer DL isn’t there at 1.21, then I say best player available and hope for a top notch WR.
I’m also keeping in mind that this is a very deep DL class and would think not to reach in the 1st. So if DL in the first, I’d hope he was BPA or if not we get that proverbial BPA at WR.
Salute the nation
The classes may seem deep but I haven't seen it in my mocks. It seems WR's and DL's are slim pickens by the end of the 2nd round with a few stragglers in the 3rd round. From there, you are looking at guys who may play in the NFL but need a good bit of work to hopefully pan out as a starter. We need immediate impact players at at least WR and DL. And, if Kahn's recent drafts are similar, he will find some steals in the later rounds. My ideal draft is DL or WR in round 1; DL or WR in round 2 (whichever we didn't get in round 1; DL/CB/RB in rounds 3 and 4. If they go QB at any point, it throws off rebuilding the rest of the team.
Exactly, I've been saying this exact same thing, and this has been a problem for awhile. Even a 2nd grader would get that answer lol. The Browns 1st four offensive TD's in that playoff game came with us in a 2 DL set, and that's us going against the best OL and top running game in the NFL.
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Where are you seeing or doing these mocks? I know a few of the sites I frequent have updated rankings since the combine, it actually slid a few DL's down a bit. I think there are plenty of DL available later, depending on what you're looking for. A big space eating NT? Not as many, but they there. A guy that can rotate along the line, ala Benton...Might be a bit harder.
You've got guys like both ND DT's Cross and Mills, JJ Peagues from Ole Miss, Elijah Roberts from SMU, Darius Alexander from Toledo, Aeneas Peebles Virginia Tech, Cam Jackson, Tonka Hemingway. In other years, these guys would be 3-4th round guys guaranteed, in this draft you might see them anywhere from 4-6. But anytime you get past the first 3 rounds, you're taking guys that need work in one area or another. I don't think it's deep with first and second round talent that's getting pushed down by sheer numbers, just that the quality of the guys in the later rounds is a bit more solid than in other years.
In my mocks, I take a DL in the first round in probably 95% of them, there have been a few times where the guy I want was taken or other guys slid so far down it was too good to pass up, and then my original target was there in the second anyway. It's really hard right now tho, because FA hasn't started and we don't know who they've picked up. If they land a guy like Williams from the Eagles, or Jonathan Alan from the Commanders, I'm not worried about taking two DL in the first four rounds, but I still take one in the first, especially if its Grant.
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I agree and said almost the same thing. I believe a healthy Trice can challenge for CB#2 as well as Bishop improving. The FA targets are likely going to be ones that while are not top of their game, will be challengers.
I've seen some slide as well but that is part of the problem. They are sliding because they now realize they aren't as good as expected - or at least that's a top possibility. We need starters. We absolutely need a true 1st round talent with our first pick and maybe steal another 1st round talent with our second pick. We need 2 sure-fire starters or significant contributors right out of the gate. Then hopefully, we get some steals in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. They have 3 picks in the 7th to take some flyers on anyone left standing.
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In most of my drafts, I'm able to grab Grant and TJ Saunders, I believe both of those players can have an impact immediately. There's also the idea that if we grab Grant, Benton can then go to his natural position and be much better. Playing him at the nose is a waste of his skill. You also have Leal, who a lot of people in the building thought took a huge step being able to play both end and OLB. We'll see how he comes back from injury, but both of those players still have potential and are young. We just gotta drop the dead weight and fill those spots with young blood. I'm actually quite surprised we haven't seen Larry O get cut yet.
How much do they believe in Benton? We have some back up guys. I anticipate the front office will sign a vet before they draft a guy to plug in there. Not many D linemen ever start first year. If they believe benton can be the guy at LT, well that helps things.
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If the right guys are there, I agree, one needs to be a Cam type player if possible and the other a run stopper with some other upside.
Not sure they know yet. He took a step or two back this past season.
They should be glued into the film down that 5 game losing streak. That would be a good place to examine the suck.
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A lot of suck to unpack there and they only have til September to unpack it-yikes
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With DK pretty much taking WR off the board in the first round, DL seems to be the logical play (I won't say obvious). But even more so now that we don't have that 2nd rounder, a trade down in round 1 should be in play. I have a hard time NOT doing it in any mock I've done...I'm sure there will be options. Work your magic Khan, trade down and still grab Grant!
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Agree about the trade down, probably similar talent value between 1.20 to 2.20 this draft.
What surprises me a bit is that I was expecting the big money free agent to be a CB (not That Big money but around 15M starter). I'm starting to wonder if CB is in play with our first pick ?
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Considering there has been no movement on Larry O, could be the case. Although the CB's they met with at the combine wasn't a very long list. DL and WR were the two longest. Noon can't get here soon enough, and hopefully the big picture as far as their plan starts to show itself.
DL is the obvious play unless they do the idiot move and bring in Rodgers. Bring in Rodgers, and you pretty much have to take a QB in the 1st round. You can't count on Rodgers to even finish one season with the Steelers. Look at the disaster it was in NY when the brought him in and then caved to his demands of bringing in 2 of his buddies at WR. Fields and Wilson are their best choices by far right now. But, I'd take Darnold or Daniels before I even remotely think about Rodgers. This isn't KISS on their 100th farewell tour.