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If Evans and Vander Esch are off the board, who do we take in round one?

Coach said:
His Workout numbers and production are not risks.

The Steelers have taken what were essentially one year wonders before in round one.
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His one year of production is a risk.
His injury past is a risk.
His small school level of play is a risk.

enough for me, and usually enough for the Steelers who prefer bigger schools in 1.
 
In general BPA but BPA at our areas of need moves some up the board. Our biggest area of need, by far, is still ILB. I take either Evans or Van Der Esch at 1. I actually like Van Der Esch a little better even though he has one real year as a starter at the position. He had a phenomenal year and a good combine. I think his upside is higher than Evans and his downside is about the same. Similar to Harrison at S, one knock on Evans is he isn't the brightest and probably won't be able to call the D. If both are gone, I look to S.

I still want to get Gesicki. Not sure I can warrant a No. 1 on him but if you haven't seen his pro day work out, google it. He is a game changer at TE. And, no, I don't care that he is a mediocre blocker. He is a huge weapon. If we don't grab him, I have a bad feeling he and Barkley are going to end up in our division terrorizing us for years.
 
BPA at a position of need, no way in hell should we even consider a QB or Guard.
Safety and LB are still huge needs. They aren't thrilled with Davis, talk of moving Sutton to S, and Burnett is 29. David only has two seasons left, good chance he could be let go next off season if he doesn't step up.
LB, inside and outside. Inside Williams is in his last season under contract. Bostic, while everyone is thrilled, he's still on his 4 or 5th team since 2013. They signed him for two seasons. You have to assume Shazier is done, hope not, then you have dirty red, Fort. No depth at all there.
Outside, Dupree is a huge disappointment, you can never have enough pass rushers.

Sent from my XT1585 using Steeler Nation mobile app
 
Other then the very odd reach they always seem to go BPA + position of need. Fortunately its usually only two or three needs per year. If they coached as good as they've drafted they would have two more SBs.
 
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I dig VDE... would not be upset at all if he is the pick.

Now... Evans? HE is the one that makes me nervous! Yes, I know his production is unmatched... but the guy is not athletic. I am not saying Uncle Jarvis, but I am NOT comfortable with a LB that has a 30" vert? Heck, I can almost do that and I'm 50! Also, has anyone noticed that Evans has not run a 40? At all? Not at the Combine? Not at his Pro-Day? He is hiding. I get it... I see his fierceness... I see his instincts. However, we need a playmaker that is a three down player.

Landry... if he's there? Reid? Carter (waiting on agility numbers)? Hubbard? Gesicki?


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steelpastor said:
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I dig VDE... would not be upset at all if he is the pick.

Now... Evans? HE is the one that makes me nervous! Yes, I know his production is unmatched... but the guy is not athletic. I am not saying Uncle Jarvis, but I am NOT comfortable with a LB that has a 30" vert? Heck, I can almost do that and I'm 50! Also, has anyone noticed that Evans has not run a 40? At all? Not at the Combine? Not at his Pro-Day? He is hiding. I get it... I see his fierceness... I see his instincts. However, we need a playmaker that is a three down player.

Landry... if he's there? Reid? Carter (waiting on agility numbers)? Hubbard? Gesicki?


.
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After Coach mentioned it, i got to looking. It must be because he thinks it will hurt his draft stock. That is not a good sign.
 
how far does Smith have to drop before you seriously consider losing some draft picks to move up?
 
ark steel said:
After Coach mentioned it, i got to looking. It must be because he thinks it will hurt his draft stock. That is not a good sign.
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I know he has some injuries, that groin. I wonder if it cut into his working out for the combine.Which is why I listed him last on my first round want, in the who do you want in one thread.

So yeah he carries a injury risk, as does VDE.


I really could see the Steelers gluing into the tape and taking Evans.

We'll see.........
 
mightyguru said:
And he may turn out to be...I'm just wary of one year wonders.
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from a small bum **** school with a injury past. A three headed monster some peeps want to take in 1.

Those high floor prospects, worrisome.
 
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks did a 3 round mock for the Steelers. They have us taking Guice (RB), then Rudolph (QB) and finally Turay (Rutgers OLB). Are these guys complete idiots? We still have major needs on D and especially a starter at ILB. With these picks, we have no starters to plug in for this year. And they don't address what are still our top 2 needs at ILB and S. What dumb *****!

Now, if they take Guice and pull Bells tag and then are still able to find some good late free agents, then maybe. But, all in all, this draft does not help us at all this year.
 
TDX27 said:
Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks did a 3 round mock for the Steelers. They have us taking Guice (RB), then Rudolph (QB) and finally Turay (Rutgers OLB). Are these guys complete idiots? We still have major needs on D and especially a starter at ILB. With these picks, we have no starters to plug in for this year. And they don't address what are still our top 2 needs at ILB and S. What dumb *****!

Now, if they take Guice and pull Bells tag and then are still able to find some good late free agents, then maybe. But, all in all, this draft does not help us at all this year.
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Unless Guice is far and above anyone that is coming into next year's draft, it makes no sense to take him if we keep the tag on Bell. Since I don't see us pulling the tag on Bell, it makes no sense.
 
Trade out of the 1st round for more picks.
 
slashsteel said:
C won't be BPA top one was hurt , but other than that yes.

Remember if things are created equal you go to need. But a clear BPA yes..

Foster is on his last year I believe and the rest is questionable depth..
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I think Finney is as good as Foster is, perhaps even a little better.2018 Interior OL depth is solid and easy to find in free agency. If the Steelers pick a guard in round one, I'll be pisses unless Nelson somehow falls.
 
I actually wouldn't be upset if we took Guice in rd 1.
As long as we followed up with Leonard in rd 2 and Watts in rd 3.
Or, Bates in rd 2 and Nwosu in rd 3.

This would hinge on us pulling the tag on bell. That would give us 14.5 big ones for a possible trade
or big FA signing before the season starts. AND, you have your RB of the future.
 
SteelerInLebanon said:
I thought he looked awsome. I would love to have him.
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I watched some of his clips today.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...33340E4902687D80167E33340E490268&&FORM=VRDGAR

The good: He's a fluid mover, a safety trapped in a linebacker's body if you will. Very long, with extra range to grab and tackle people. Active hands. Can strip the football, block passes or intercept it. Vander Esch wins with quickness and athletic ability vs. the run. Puts himself in position to make plays.

What I did not like: I wonder if he can shed NFL blockers to makes plays, or needs to be unblocked to make plays. Not a powerful tackler. More of a playmaking finesse type of middle linebacker. Has good speed, but I didn't see top acceleration.
 
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ark steel said:
Unless Guice is far and above anyone that is coming into next year's draft, it makes no sense to take him if we keep the tag on Bell. Since I don't see us pulling the tag on Bell, it makes no sense.
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some of these guys have already declared for this draft, so the list is a bit dated. However, I don't see anyone on the list (not in this draft) that is exciting.
****, if Bo Scarborough had another year of eligibility, he'd be the top RB in next year's draft. As it is, we could draft him late this year.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2019RB.php
 
Coach said:
I watched some of his clips today.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...33340E4902687D80167E33340E490268&&FORM=VRDGAR

The good: He's a fluid mover, a safety trapped in a linebacker's body if you will. Very long, with extra range to grab and tackle people. Active hands. Can strip the football, block passes or intercept it. Vander Esch wins with quickness and athletic ability vs. the run. Puts himself in position to make plays.

What I did not like: I wonder if he can shed NFL blockers to makes plays, or needs to be unblocked to make plays. Not a powerful tackler. More of a playmaking finesse type of middle linebacker. Has good speed, but I didn't see top acceleration.
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You're hilarious.

VDE doesn't hold water to either of the SEC ILB's in the first round. We've gone over this MULTIPLE times - overall production OUTWEIGHS ONE YEAR of great stats from a small school prospect.

It amazes me that VDE is as high as he is - I like Dupree but you hated him during the draft process - VDE is Dupree II. I'd rather we take the proven commodity or drop back to the second and acquire more picks...
 
Superman said:
some of these guys have already declared for this draft, so the list is a bit dated. However, I don't see anyone on the list (not in this draft) that is exciting.
****, if Bo Scarborough had another year of eligibility, he'd be the top RB in next year's draft. As it is, we could draft him late this year.

http://walterfootball.com/draft2019RB.php
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Well, just about anyone can come in and put up 4.5-5+ ypc so, it isn't, really, that big of a deal.
 
bermudasteel said:
It amazes me that VDE is as high as he is - I like Dupree but you hated him during the draft process - VDE is Dupree II. I'd rather we take the proven commodity or drop back to the second and acquire more picks...
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First off, "proven commodity" is non-existent for NFL draft picks. Yes, I get draft candidates played against differing levels of competition, but none has played in the NFL. Jarvis Jones had production in the SEC. Did that make him a better NFL player? No, it did not. Jack Lambert played at Kent State. Did that make him less of an NFL player? No, it did not.

Second, you prefer Evans due to the competition he faced. Okay, and he also had multiple NFL draft-worthy defensive lineman ahead of him, and did not perform well (or at all for the most part) at the combine. 30" vertical, 9'8" broad jump (both pretty bad), and an "ehhh" 6.95 3-cone. Evans' vertical was the 4th worst among LB'ers, and his broad jump tied for 4th worst. Also, he does not run the 40 either at the combine or his pro day. I just think he lacks the fast-twitch that he absolutely needs to have as a 6'2", 232 lb. interior backer.

Third, Vander Esch is bigger, (6'4", 256 lbs.), with extremely long arms (34" basically), ran a 4.65, did 20 reps (Evans did neither test at the combine), 39.5" vertical (2nd best among LB'ers), 10'4" broad jump (5th best), and who rang up 140 tackles, 4 sacks, 2 interceptions and 5 passes defensed his junior year. He had injuries his sophomore year, but was injury-free last year.

Fourth, Evans was injured most of last year, did not run the 40 due to injury, so if injuries are a significant factor in the decision, LVE >>> Evans.

Fifth, the discussion about competition is worth consideration, but is not dispositive. Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Javon Hargrave, Roosevelt Nix and Alejandro Villanueva are all from schools with "lower" competition ... and they seem to be doing pretty well.

Sixth, LVE faced pretty good competition in his last collegiate game, against Oregon. Oregon has several offensive players worthy of a draft selection, including WR Darren Carrington and OT Tyrell Crosby. So what did LVE do against good competition in a bowl game? 12 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and defensive player of the game. He also dominated the Mountain West Championship game with 16 tackles, a sack, and a game-sealing interception. So his last 2 collegiate games ... 28 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception.

I am leery of the fact that Evans is still not healthy enough to run a 40. I am concerned that his 30" vertical and 9'8" broad jump suggest that he lacks elite fast-twitch. So the competition point matters, no doubt, but not as much as you state. I am more interested in what the player did when faced with decent competition, if he has the physical tools to be a dominant NFL player, if he projects as merely an NFL player or a star, and if his recent injury history sounds an alarm. LVE does just fine in all categories.

6'4", 256 lb. guys just don't jump 40" and run a 4.65 40, and cover like he does. But he showed all those skills. He also plays like he wants to dominate. He likes playing football. He will get better, and his physical tools mean that when he works, and gets better, he is going to be a beast. I think Evans is a good LB'er, no doubt, and if he winds up a Steeler, then good. But I just don't think his physical profile fits with a guy who can take over a game.
 
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