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My post-draft observations

Tibs

Tibs

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Really enjoyed tracking the draft these past few days, sat through basically every single pick rounds 1-7. My wife ain't happy, my kids think I'm a zombie nerd...such is life. ;)

A few random observations, looking at our roster in the areas we added pieces.

WR

Initially, Sammie Coates slides in nicely at the #4 spot, will be locked into a camp battle with DBH for playing time. This can go one of two ways. He shows inconsistency (ie drops) in camp, but proves to be a real prospect, makes the roster as a #5 WR and possible ST role. Or, he shows that he is more ready than many think, locks down the #4 spot and perhaps even pushes Wheaton for #3 and gets playing time as the season goes on. Coates has everything you want as far as adding a speed/strength/size guy - think Sammy Watkins - and provides a nice buffer at the position down the road, depending on what happens with Wheaton.

TE

By all indications the Steelers view James as a prospect for the future, who has all the tools but may need some seasoning to get on the field. So he'll probably be slotted in behind Miller and Spaeth, will need to beat out Branchflower for the #3 spot. Maybe he shows up in camp and convinces Haley & Tomlin he's more of a weapon at #2 than Spaeth, and those two flip roles, with Spaeth coming in on short yardage/goal line and James having a role in the red zone. He simply may not be ready this year, and ends up being stashed away as a heir to Miller. The upside is here, he may very well be our starting TE for years to come, something that can't be said for Branchflower.

Interior OL

Just a quick note on some the UDFA guys, it looks like both Finney and Dismukes were brought in to push Ramon Foster at LG. I don't know if that's the case for sure, but read a blurb last night that's what they promised Finney, and Dismukes also comes in with pedigree, namely the Rimington award from last year. I see this as a real positive, seeing how they didn't grab an OG in the draft, maybe there is a real opportunity here to add some talent / depth to the line for Munchak to work with.

DL

Letterius Walton is the newest DL project for John Mitchell, he seems to get one every draft. The best case scenario is that he pushes Cam Thomas - and his relatively hefty contract - right off the roster. They're going to start him outside at DE, but could easily be that swing guy a la Al Woods. I see the depth chart as:

NT McLendon
NT McCullers
DE Heyward
DE Tuitt
DE Walton
DE Geathers

OLB

I love the addition of Bud Dupree and Chickillo here. Listening to Joey Porter last night, it seems they're going to let everyone scratch and claw and see who comes out on top, as far as the depth chart and playing time. I think Dupree has a fighter's chance to emerge as the starting LOLB, presuming there aren't any significant hiccups during camp. Moats is an ideal back-up, swing guy, who can play both LOLB and ROLB. We've learned that Deebo will have an auxillary role - around 20 snaps per game - at least that's the plan going in. Chickillo will have to really show-up to get a roster spot, the practice squad may be in his future. Depth chart seems to be something like this:

ROLB Jones
ROLB Deebo

LOLB Dupree
LOLB Moats
LOLB Chickillo

We have a ton of additional players vying for a spot that Chickillo will have to beat out in camp, including Howard Jones and Shawn Lemon. Let the best man/prospect win.

CB/S

Here too, I see Carnell Lake letting everyone fend for themselves in camp and let the cream rise to the top. I was shocked to hear Colbert say they wanted to trade UP for Golson in the 2nd round. We all assumed it was someone like Eric Rowe they were after, I read from TMC last night that Golson may have been their 3rd ranked CB overall! If they're correct in their evaluation, Golson may end up a steal for us. Adding Doran Grant is extra insurance . Antwon Blake is serviceable, Gay proved to be a playmaker. Corez Allen is the darkhorse, can he regain his confidence, and come in fully healthy? Overall, there's a pretty good chance that we've significantly upgraded our secondary.

Adding Holliman to the mix at safety creates nice competition for Golden/Allen, and gives us another ballhawk on the back end. Not too shabby for a 7th round pick. He's got to really show up at camp and prove he's not too soft to play for us, and show a willingness to stick his nose in on tackles, play ST's et al. At the end of the day he has excellent ball skills, something we've been sorely missing, so I think the Steelers will let him come along at his own pace.

So no grades or overall summary from my end, but I love what we did in this draft, adding pieces at all three levels of the D as well as Coates/James who should both stick on offense and give Big Ben two more tools in the tool shed.
 
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Nice write up Tibs. I really like the idea that they were targeting ball hawks in this draft. They might say this and that best player on the board etc. I am not sure that is the case. In looking at what they picked this year it was pass rush, who also intercepted a pass and can cover pretty well and several guys that want to play corner who are ball hawks. I think all three defensive backs each had more interceptions by a big margin than all the defensive backs the steelers had.

It would be nice if one these guys can crack the line up and be better than what we have, thinking Goulson.
 
I think Coates playing time might hinge on Bryant. If he emerges as a number two pushing Wheaton down to 3, we could very well see Wheaton get pushed down to 4. At the very least a competitive set of 4.

I wouldn't guess James would have trouble beating out Blanchflower, but I have guessed wrong before.

I know they might have told Finney competition to start. But you are luring depth in why wouldn't you tell them they could compete for a start (outside of perhaps Ben, Brown, and Bell, Heyward, and Timmons). But more than likely it is more of the possibility of upgrading depth if he can lock into a number 2 spot. That won't be a easy task within itself.

I would love to see Walton push Cam right off the roster. He would have to shine enough early, not that Cam is great but the team does like having experienced vets around. But then again Geathers was asked back so they might be inclined to go with one rookie one vet depth wise.

With the OLBers its the best man playing right now approach or should be. I could see Bud getting early playing time. Hell being the kind of workout warrior he strives to be, and his diverse skill set. I could very well see him starting early. Moats is adequate but we aren't talking star. So if Bud gets those assignments down, we could be talking game 1 start.

Golson has solid change of direction and instincts. No doubt he was rated higher on their board. Adding another corner might be less about Golson and more about Allen's mindset or should I say the FOs confidence level in him at this point. I think they should put Allen back in the slot and let the other three corners (Blake included with the three rookies) compete for the outside start.

Holliman will be drilled and drilled and drilled on his tackling. all I can say with the competition coming from this draft on the D that desperately needed upgrades.... this camp even more-so for me at least is going to be fun to watch.
 
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I keep looking at the front 7 and thinking it will be hard to tell whether it is a 3-4 or 4-3 pre-snap.

I like Timmons and Shazier in the middle and the rush coming from anywhere. I think it will be hard to predict the Steelers D calls because of DC change, and this might benefit for the first few games as any tendencies from last year seem less likely. I get the sense this will seem more like the D from 5 years ago than the past couple.
 
Two observations from Chiba

A change in philosophy - going for need and planning on which round to target which position. They decided they were going to take a CB in round 2 unless someone fell they couldn't pass up. Going for ball skill players on D. Figuring that OG starters can be found in the latter rounds UDFA rather that spending high draft picks on them.

And - Tibs predictiions are spot on for each prospect and then when you consider the possibility of injuries... What happens if any one of Gay, AB or Bryant, Miller, Moats, Heyward, Allen get a season ending injury in Pre season? Their respective draft pick (rounds 2-7) are not only going to make the team, but get a lot of playing time to book because the back end depth of last year's team was poor.
 
Outside of Ben and Bell and Gilbert.....I think the team will be in a better position to recover from injury. I like the depth added to the roster...
 
One thing I am thinking is that there is speculation that Grant could maybe play safety. If so, you could conceivably move him there and draft a top tier Corner next year in rd 1,then let Golson play in his normal nickel spot. Gay and Cortez wil start this year. Blake is very replaceable. The two interior lineman that went undrafted are actually pretty solid players. I think they could def push Foster for his spot.
 
I think Munchack is going to have fun teaching Finney and Dismukes. These guys , learning from a former all pro and head coach....they are in a very good position to suceed. I like this situation for our team.

Looks like the real camp competition will be for backup TE. Blanchflower has a year with the team, Spaeth was never anything remarkable. So James and BLanchflower look to have a real nice opportunity here.

I can't wait till camp starts!
 
The next Aaron Smith!

achick.jpg
 
slashsteel said:
thats some pretty big shoes to fill especially when he will be playing OLBer..

:towel:
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he's white, that's close enough for me - ha ha

Joey said he'll be using him to rush the passer - that's good enough for me too
 
Steelers are selecting players who are among the best in the draft in terms of SPARQ scores. For example, edge rushers include (obviously) Dupree and Chickillo.

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The WR group has Coates rated very highly:

wr_sparq_aboveaverage.png


Meanwhile, James much more highly in the SPARQ score for TE prospects than did Maxx Williams, who was one of the lowest-rated:

N8pkoDO.jpg
 
A guy to keep an eye on is Jordan Zumwalt. Hurt last year but coaches like him
 
Skott said:
A guy to keep an eye on is Jordan Zumwalt. Hurt last year but coaches like him
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with a log jam at the position I would think he is on the outside looking in, unless his training camp play changes that
 
This is an excellent year to have the 5th preseason game. Extra evaluation.
 
I still have concerns about being.so high on a midget CB since everyone is looking for tall WR's. I think he'll be exposed because of his size. This is the NFL now, not the SEC. Time will tell.
 
hook said:
I still have concerns about being.so high on a midget CB since everyone is looking for tall WR's. I think he'll be exposed because of his size. This is the NFL now, not the SEC. Time will tell.
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I think I would have more concerns if barely any 5'9 corners succeeded. I think enough of them have done well, and this in particular one appears to have good vision solid instincts.
 
ZACKB said:
Golson was a big reach people.
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Zack that was my initial reaction as well but I have changed my mind. These tall wide outs come from college and the good ones actually come in and start rather early. The kid has intercepted the ball from tall guys in the past. The steelers were after him early as he was the highest rated in the second round and third overall in their mind. I suspect that number one and two were gone before they picked Bud Dupree.

I also doubt that this kid would have lasted till round three in a draft that had seven corners taken before the steelers pick in the second. There were also 5 corners taken before the Steelers 3rd round pick and no reason to think that this kid was likely to drop that far. It would appear that the position of corner back has moved up a great deal in importance to teams and the draftnicks might have under valued the importance of the players.

:logo2:
 
steelerscotty said:
Id have taken tyler lockett, i think golson or someone else would have been good in the third.
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I don't knock them for taking a CB in the 2nd. And if Golson was their guy, there was no guarantee that he would have been there in the third. As a matter of fact, only one other CB was taken after our pick in the third (Steven Nelson, Oregon). Taken in the 3rd round prior to our pick were D'Joun Smith, PJ Williams, Alex Carter and Craig Mager. Taken in the 2nd round after our pick was Quinten Rollins. To me, it appears that they guessed their would be a run on CBs prior to their 3rd round pick and they felt that pretty much had to take him where they did.

That said, I would have liked to have seen someone like Williams or Carter taken with the second round pick. We'll see if they were correct in their evaluations. If they were, Golson should develop into a pretty nice CB and provide play making ability that this defense needs desperately.
 
Coates could see more playing time than we think. He played in Auburn's run heavy option spread. That means he can block. There is a reason why the Steelers were forcing Justin Brown on the field and it wasn't his skill as a WR.

They have been looking for a physical WR who can block since Hines retired. WR blocks are the key to big run plays, and on WR screens.
 
tapeANaspirin2it said:
Coates could see more playing time than we think. He played in Auburn's run heavy option spread. That means he can block. There is a reason why the Steelers were forcing Justin Brown on the field and it wasn't his skill as a WR.

They have been looking for a physical WR who can block since Hines retired. WR blocks are the key to big run plays, and on WR screens.
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True Coates is a lot closer to a Bolden/Ward type receiver than Lockett.

I think Steeler fans will learn to love the pick.............
 
ZACKB said:
One thing I am thinking is that there is speculation that Grant could maybe play safety. If so, you could conceivably move him there and draft a top tier Corner next year in rd 1,then let Golson play in his normal nickel spot. Gay and Cortez wil start this year. Blake is very replaceable. The two interior lineman that went undrafted are actually pretty solid players. I think they could def push Foster for his spot.
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Hope we don't move him until we find he can't play corner. He looked pretty good there for OSU-especially against Oregon.
 
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