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I'm in the process of writing up my draft review, but as I review my board, ever-changing needs and input from real scouts/real rankings here is probably the way I would have drafted:
1.22
Alvin Dupree, LOLB
Yes, I wanted Gregory. Yes, I said I'd start looking into a trade up at 1.17. But obviously, there was something going on that I didn't know about with his mental health and/or off-field issues. Dupree is a good 2nd choice once all the top-graded cornerbacks came off the board (I did not think Byron Jones was a 1st round talent). As stated, he looks destined to start on the strong side almost immediately and we get another year of Jarvis Jones on the weak side to prove his metal. If Jones stumbles (and Harrison gets a lot of snaps there), then we'll revisit this position possibly again in 2016.
2.56
P. J. Williams, CB
No doubt the run on cornerbacks in the 1st and 2nd rounds put the Steelers in a precarious position here. And a very good Plan B in TE Maxx Williams was taken by the Ravens trade-up. I never liked our position in round 2 heading into this draft, but I did value P.J. Williams as a very highly ranked 1st/2nd round prospect and would have taken him here even with his negatives being awfully similar to Cortez Allen. Maybe I consider him Cortez Allen 2.0 and hope EITHER makes the necessary jump to a solid #1 cornerback to handle the bigger WR tagets we have to face each season.
3.87
Sammie Coates, WR
This is a tough decision to stick with the War Room's recommendations. To me, there were three solid other options: DE Carl Davis, DE Henry Anderson or ROLB Danielle Hunter. I'll be honest and say I didn't think any of those tapes (Davis, Anderson or Hunter's) wowed me enough to go against the Steelers room. This is a tentative endorsement but I agree he was a great value selection here and provides some options down the line when dealing with Wheaton and/or Bryant (and let's face it, we might not be able to afford any money in the #2/#3 WR position the way this team is headed paying it's offensive line and restructuring Brown in the future).
4.121
Adrian Amos, FS
I will admit to listening to reason to draft Grant over Amos here, especially if the plan/evaluation is about his free safety potential. I still had Amos the superior prospect and think he's a bit smarter upstairs with a bit more surety to contribute and be a solid last line of defense. Other options included Grant, Jesse James, Mark Glowinski, Lorenzo Doss).
5.160
Jesse James, TE
No disagreement with this pick. After missing out on Maxx Williams, this is too good of value at a position that could become quite a problem in 1-2 seasons. I just think James can do a lot more than Spaeth in the pass game in a year or two of development.
6.199
Laterius Walton, DE
Again, no strong disagreement from me in the war room to intervene. I might have argued we can wait on this pick until at least 6.212 because I have similar 3-4 DE rankings on Walton, Derrick Lott and Bobby Richardson (both Lott and Richardson ended up undrafted), but if the scouts are telling me there's a gap here, I will endorse the pick.
6.212
Laurence Gibson, OT
I probably would have nixed picking another LOLB in Chickillo after Dupree and having Moats on the roster with a new 3-year deal. Chickillo is too one dimensional a prospect to me and probably no different than what we are grooming/teaching Jordan Zumwaldt. Gibson is a player I had ranked very high as a project LT, which is something I think we really needed to come out of in this draft because I'm not comfortable with only Beachum, Gilbert and Adams on the roster (and both Beachum and Adams not under contract after next year).
7.239
Iko Ekpre-Olomu, CB
After getting my FS in round 4, I don't see a need for Holliman therefore I would probably argue the merits of drafting Ekpre-Olomu even if we would have to IR him this entire season (which appears the case from rumors about his knee health). I'm comfortable with finding roster spots for almost all of my previous 7 draftees so spending a late round pick on a project, especially one I can bury on IR for the year would be acceptable to me.
1.22
Alvin Dupree, LOLB
Yes, I wanted Gregory. Yes, I said I'd start looking into a trade up at 1.17. But obviously, there was something going on that I didn't know about with his mental health and/or off-field issues. Dupree is a good 2nd choice once all the top-graded cornerbacks came off the board (I did not think Byron Jones was a 1st round talent). As stated, he looks destined to start on the strong side almost immediately and we get another year of Jarvis Jones on the weak side to prove his metal. If Jones stumbles (and Harrison gets a lot of snaps there), then we'll revisit this position possibly again in 2016.
2.56
P. J. Williams, CB
No doubt the run on cornerbacks in the 1st and 2nd rounds put the Steelers in a precarious position here. And a very good Plan B in TE Maxx Williams was taken by the Ravens trade-up. I never liked our position in round 2 heading into this draft, but I did value P.J. Williams as a very highly ranked 1st/2nd round prospect and would have taken him here even with his negatives being awfully similar to Cortez Allen. Maybe I consider him Cortez Allen 2.0 and hope EITHER makes the necessary jump to a solid #1 cornerback to handle the bigger WR tagets we have to face each season.
3.87
Sammie Coates, WR
This is a tough decision to stick with the War Room's recommendations. To me, there were three solid other options: DE Carl Davis, DE Henry Anderson or ROLB Danielle Hunter. I'll be honest and say I didn't think any of those tapes (Davis, Anderson or Hunter's) wowed me enough to go against the Steelers room. This is a tentative endorsement but I agree he was a great value selection here and provides some options down the line when dealing with Wheaton and/or Bryant (and let's face it, we might not be able to afford any money in the #2/#3 WR position the way this team is headed paying it's offensive line and restructuring Brown in the future).
4.121
Adrian Amos, FS
I will admit to listening to reason to draft Grant over Amos here, especially if the plan/evaluation is about his free safety potential. I still had Amos the superior prospect and think he's a bit smarter upstairs with a bit more surety to contribute and be a solid last line of defense. Other options included Grant, Jesse James, Mark Glowinski, Lorenzo Doss).
5.160
Jesse James, TE
No disagreement with this pick. After missing out on Maxx Williams, this is too good of value at a position that could become quite a problem in 1-2 seasons. I just think James can do a lot more than Spaeth in the pass game in a year or two of development.
6.199
Laterius Walton, DE
Again, no strong disagreement from me in the war room to intervene. I might have argued we can wait on this pick until at least 6.212 because I have similar 3-4 DE rankings on Walton, Derrick Lott and Bobby Richardson (both Lott and Richardson ended up undrafted), but if the scouts are telling me there's a gap here, I will endorse the pick.
6.212
Laurence Gibson, OT
I probably would have nixed picking another LOLB in Chickillo after Dupree and having Moats on the roster with a new 3-year deal. Chickillo is too one dimensional a prospect to me and probably no different than what we are grooming/teaching Jordan Zumwaldt. Gibson is a player I had ranked very high as a project LT, which is something I think we really needed to come out of in this draft because I'm not comfortable with only Beachum, Gilbert and Adams on the roster (and both Beachum and Adams not under contract after next year).
7.239
Iko Ekpre-Olomu, CB
After getting my FS in round 4, I don't see a need for Holliman therefore I would probably argue the merits of drafting Ekpre-Olomu even if we would have to IR him this entire season (which appears the case from rumors about his knee health). I'm comfortable with finding roster spots for almost all of my previous 7 draftees so spending a late round pick on a project, especially one I can bury on IR for the year would be acceptable to me.
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