Thumbs up for a bold Steelers draft
After the draft, and after the subsequent press conference, I asked Mike Tomlin whether he无毛视频檚 noticed a new sense of determination in his players during the few gathered workouts the last couple weeks.
无毛视频淣ot really,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e just getting started.无毛视频�
He didn无毛视频檛 want to say much, and who could blame him? Not responding to the humiliating chaos these past few months has looked good on him. Why start now?
But his organization无毛视频檚 actions say otherwise. A new determination, or a renewed determination, was apparent in what was a bold draft weekend.
Bold, is the word, and I used it to death the other day in reviewing the Devin Bush pick. But that boldness only continued in ensuing rounds:
n Drafting their sleeper receiving prospect, little-known Diontae Johnson, with his average height, speed and workout numbers, in the third round while big, fast, well-known and popular prospects such as Hakeem Butler and Miles Boykin were still on the board. Bold!
n Drafting a converted wide receiver with raw coverage skills, Justin Layne, with one of the more pure, and again popular, cornerbacks of the draft, Notre Dame无毛视频檚 Julian Love, still on the board. Bold!
n Benny Snell无毛视频檚 too slow, right? The Steelers ignored all of us computer geeks who forgot how much Snell had to do with the turnaround at Kentucky 无毛视频� with heart the size of Walter Payton 无毛视频� just because he ran a 4.66 40 with a Costanza-like vertical jump of 29.5 inches. Bold!
n With a gaping hole at tight end following the departure of Jesse James, the Steelers ignored playmaker types such as Caleb Wilson and Alize Mack for the less-productive and slower Zach Gentry. The former were guys who had either played for one of the Steelers current coaches or had visited the South Side before the draft. But they couldn无毛视频檛 block! Gentry, on the other hand, might become Matt Spaeth. Drafting for the next Matt Spaeth is 无毛视频� Bold!
n Drafting the nation无毛视频檚 leading pass-rusher 无毛视频� from the MAC? 无毛视频� even though he, at 6-0, 233, is built like a big safety or a little off-the-ball linebacker, but who really can无毛视频檛 do anything but rush the passer. That无毛视频檚 bold!
n Allowing new-ish defensive line coach Karl Dunbar to do something long-time and legendary DL coach John Mitchell never could 无毛视频� draft one of his Alabama guys. And this after Dunbar无毛视频檚 I-know-this-guy pick in the seventh round last year washed out. But the Steelers gave Dunbar another chance this weekend, but this time to pick a guy who had actually started. Bold!
n Drafting not only their second player out of the MAC in the sixth round, but third in their entire draft, a little known run-and-hit guy from Akron who无毛视频檚 destined for special teams, but who ran faster than their new cornerback. Bold!
n And even in the seventh round, the Steelers took a nobody offensive tackle who无毛视频檒l probably have to move inside for a team stacked with linemen, but not safeties, deep receiving threats or tight ends. Maybe not so bold, but in the Kelvin Beachum School of 7th-round, long-time starting left tackles, Smart!
I look back and consider these moves to have been bold, but at the time, as I missed prediction after prediction because I was soused with four months of research and numbers, I, like many of the draft geeks out there, became frustrated by the Steelers无毛视频� draft 无毛视频� at the time.
Of course the Steelers know the analytics. Of course they had the 40 times and workout numbers. Of course they talked to these players.
As I looked over the list of players the Steelers had acquired I gained more respect for what they had just done.
If you know anything about handicapping horses, or even football games, you know that formulas just don无毛视频檛 work. What works are a modicum of formula laced with a lotta instinct honed by years of experience 无毛视频� and experience at losing, too. Getting stung has a way of sticking with you, and makes you realize when a statistic is just, well, B.S.
I felt that way looking over the lists of the other teams in the division. No, the Steelers, in spite of my knee-jerk, in-game assessment of mediocrity, had the best draft in their division. Here无毛视频檚 why:
1.) Devin Bush, ILB, Michigan 无毛视频� Yes, he无毛视频檚 the shortest linebacker ever drafted in the first round, but, as Tomlin explained, speed at that position might mean more than speed at any other defensive position. Bush might get blocked by Wisconsin in its power run game, but the NFL doesn无毛视频檛 try to win with seven linemen, a fullback and a 245-pound tailback on every. single. down. The NFL attacks the flanks with every type of screen pass imaginable. Now the Steelers have someone who can disrupt all of that flow, and surely help disrupt Lamar Jackson, Justice Hill and Trace McSorley.
3-A.) Diontae Johnson, WR, Toledo 无毛视频� Same size, speed and conference as Antonio Brown, and, wow, these guys are right about his release off the line. I went home and watched tape of Johnson killing the big Miami (Fla.) press corners off the line time and again. He scored one short TD on a slant in front of the corner, and then beat them for a 40-yard touchdown in which he hit the seam running and outraced the two safeties (who were both drafted this weekend). He just needs to get in the weight room, get sturdy, and he无毛视频檒l help right away.
3-B.) Justin Layne, CB, Michigan State 无毛视频� I无毛视频檇 already watched him match up with N无毛视频橩eal Harry, the big receiver drafted by the Patriots in the first round, and had already been impressed. That was an epic match-up with each player winning his share, and each competing 无毛视频� hard! 无毛视频� every down. Layne, at 6-2, 192, has Ike Taylor无毛视频檚 size, and as a converted receiver (who converted back during an emergency last season) much better ball skills. Layne doesn无毛视频檛 have Ike无毛视频檚 4.3 speed, and at 4.5 could be a risk over there if he doesn无毛视频檛 polish his boundary skills. I had Layne targeted as a second-rounder, so I obviously like this pick.
4.) Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky 无毛视频� I became quite the Kentucky fan this season, and mainly because of Snell. These were my notes while watching him in-season: 无毛视频淗ines Ward-size chip,无毛视频� 无毛视频淲ildcat QB,无毛视频� 无毛视频済ood hands but not used as receiver,无毛视频� 无毛视频渄ad was a college running back, in Ravens camp,无毛视频� 无毛视频渞elated to Matt Snell,无毛视频� 无毛视频渉eart and soul guy.无毛视频� In my first mock draft, I had Snell going to the Steelers in the fourth round, with the note 无毛视频淚 say Benny Snell falls this far.无毛视频� Yes, he was a guy I once hoped would fall to the fourth round. And then he ran a 4.66 40 and we all forgot all about him. The Steelers didn无毛视频檛. They remember the tape.
5.) Zach Gentry, TE, Michigan 无毛视频� I initially had Gentry as a Jesse James clone. Gentry is an inch taller than James at 6-8, with longer 34-inch arms, and just a bit slower 40 at 4.9. But in re-watching Gentry the other night, I saw that massive Matt Spaeth frame, which TE coach James Daniel had mentioned after the pick. Gentry, I thought, could even turn into something of an Alejandro Villanueva-type giant at his position if he continues his transformation from former quarterback into blocking tight end. Coach Daniel is happy. No one无毛视频檚 ever seen that, at least since Heath Miller retired.
6-A.) Sutton Smith, OLB, Northern Illinois 无毛视频� I watched a few NIU games and, frankly, was mesmerized by this guy无毛视频檚 ability to get to the quarterback. But I wanted to write him off. I mean, he really does look like a safety lining up on the edge. But during one game I was compelled to tweet that Smith was outplaying Brian Burns. And while I realize it will be difficult for a 6-0, 233-pounder to replicate anything close to his college numbers in the league, Sutton Smith will make this team and at least perform that magic on special teams. He无毛视频檚 a special player. Great pick, maybe my favorite after Bush.
6-B.) Isaiah Buggs, DE/DT, Alabama 无毛视频� Watching Alabama as a reporter who fancies himself a TV scout can be difficult. The thing was, as I tried to focus on Mack Wilson and Deionte Thompson on that Tide defense, Buggs kept showing up. And he showed up with enthusiasm. For a guy who was too wide to play an NFL edge, and maybe too small to play tackle, he sure made a lot of plays. If moved inside, and with good coaching, he could become a genuine player.
6-C.) Ulysees Gilbert, ILB, Akron 无毛视频� From 无毛视频楤ama to 无毛视频楰ron, Gilbert went one round after Mack Wilson, a guy people once thought was a first-round Steelers lock. Gilbert can run (4.48 at the Akron pro day). He无毛视频檚 considered a coverage backer, but for now he无毛视频檚 just expected to run and hit on special teams. Excellent pick.
7.) Derwin Gray, OT-OG, Maryland 无毛视频� I have to plead ignorance here but even Mr. Google couldn无毛视频檛 help me find information on Gray, other than he measured 6-4 1/2, 320 at the Combine with long 34 1/2-inch arms. I also found that he started 25 games at left tackle at Maryland, one of the best running teams in the country the last three seasons. Another solid pick.
The Steelers made several solid picks, with Bush, Johnson, Snell and Gentry certain to make the team and contribute as rookies. Bush and Johnson could even turn into sensational picks, and guys such as Layne and the sixth-rounders all have a shot at that. As just noted, the seventh-rounder is solid, too.
This draft may not have fulfilled fantasies and predictions of Analytics Nation, but it无毛视频檚 at the very least rock solid at the floor. The ceiling has high-arch potential, too, because of the bold steps taken this weekend.
Bold and possibly beautiful. It无毛视频檚 the soap opera they needed.