Tomlin sets us back another 5 years... Pickett over Willis

A lot of his issues was the poor development track that the old school NFL coaches and constant rotation of OCs he had. Cowher didn't know how to use a QB like him. Forcing him to stay in the pocket is part of the problem. Put him into an RPO offense and he would thrive.

 

So the bottom line view of the original poster is that, regarding Willis, the other 31 teams are really stupid also.

 

All I know is this. The last time we passed on a Pitt QB Nobody was high on Dan Marino and he was the 3rd or 4th Qb taken in the draft. We passed on him too and if we didn't we would have at least three more Lombardi's. Dans college career wasn't better than Picketts college career so we don't know if we have another Marino or not. But im thrilled to death that we didn't pass on this Pitt QB. If he doesn't work out and is no dan Marino I rather him be in our house just in case he is and history doesn't repeat itself. Malik Willis was at auburn. A school perfect for his talents. Did be even make the field as a starter for one season? No and he transferred to no better than a junior college to see the field.

 

By the time Willis would be NFL-ready the Steelers defense would need to be rebuilt with Watt hitting 30+ yrs old. Also factor in that Willis would be half way through his rookie contract before he gets on the field and you end up with having to make a decision on the option year before he has more than a season of playing.
No thanks. The modern way to draft QBs is to take ones that are pro-ready and get them on the field as soon as possible.

 

That would make an interesting thought experiment.

Suppose there was a player (lets call them "Brandy") who has a decent chance of developing into one of the best players from that class, but still has a chance of being a bust.
You also know that no other team will select him in the 1st round.
A tiny chance of being selected in the 2nd, increasing chance of being picked every round after, until you are certain Brandy will be picked in the 6th round.

When do you draft Brandy?

If you select in the 1st, then expect to be roasted for doing a "reach", because no other team would have picked in that round.
You get the player you want, but lose value overall in the draft.
And if you get the bad luck of an injury or something is wrong between Brandy's ears, you've "set back the franchise for 5 years".

If you wait after the 1st round (but before the 6th), you are still likely to be accused of doing a "reach", because analysts have put a 6th round grade on Brandy, and no other teams have picked Brandy before you did. And the longer you wait, the greater the chance that some other team decides to take a gamble.

 

Trusting Canada and the current offensive coaching staff to develop Pickett, is a terrifying thought.

 

I'm not a fan of Brandy. He can go undrafted. I'll take Beer in the first. Much higher upside

 

https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/kornfeld-stewart-playoff-record

 

Who drafted Willis? I fell asleep after the Leal pick.

 

Pickett was the safe pick. What does that get you?
Well, at worst he's equal to Mitch Trubisky and Mitch Trubisky is a capable middle tier QB. Surround a mid tier QB with quality parts in a sound and solid organization, and you can win. Maybe even a Super Bowl. The Ravens did it. Twice.
Worst case scenario, Trubisky leaves in two years, KP starts for the next two years while the Steelers plan their next move, wether that is signing or drafting the next QB. They've got time and less pressure.
Draft Willis instead of Pickett and now worst case scenario Willis doesn't develop and is a total bust. You've now moved the timeline up two years and increased the pressure on finding the next QB.
That's what safe gets you. That's what Pickett provides.

 

Titans

 

I think with Pickett being pretty pro-ready and already 24 years old they need to get him on the field pretty quickly, this team is not winning the SB next year and I want to see what we have before next years draft, yes I would draft another QB next yeasr if I had to, it's a better class. We simply weill not be able to compete in the AFC North without top tier QB play, and especially not in the AFC with the insane levels of QB'ing the league has. I think Pickett was probably the wisest choice but I doesnlt fill anyone with confidence that this looks to be the weakest QB class in years. 1 QB taken in the first 2 rounds...

Mahomes, Hebert, Burrow, Allen, Wilson, Carr, Watson, Jackson....

 

His age is a non-factor.

 

A weak QB class does not mean that the quality of Pickett is bad, sometimes it just means that the number of quality QBs is low. I just listened to 3 former NFL scouts/GMs when asked if Pickett was in last years draft class if he would have gone in round 1 and all 3 said yes.

 

I heard a lot of comments about if Pickett was in last years class, he wouldn't have have been better than or drafted before ALL of the QBs taken in round 1 last year.
The lowest all 5 went last year was 15.
It's not like the Steelers took him top 10. Or worse, wasted draft capital moving up to get him.

 

That wouldn't have fixed his lack of accuracy or his terrible feel for pressure when he was in the pocket. You can't roll the guy out every play. It cuts off too much of the field.

 

He was the better pick. I don't understand how you and others don't get that. Willis fell to the third round. No way in hell should they have taken him in the first. Every team in the league saw that he wasn't a first-rounder. You were suckered in by a big arm and a smokescreen. The Steelers got the guy they wanted all along. I'm certain they would have looked at Wilis in the second or third round if they hadn't gotten Pickett. He was never an option for them in the first, nor should he have been.

If you want to argue they should have taken Hill or Linderbaum in the first and Willis in the third, I would be right there with you. Hell, they would have even had Howell as a fall-back option there. I would have been very happy with a draft of Hill, Pickens, and Willis, though I'd have been happier if it was Moore in place of Pickens.

 

The steelers are not the standard to be considered successful.

He barely played his rookie yr and he was hurt in year 3. He omly.played 4 full seasons and went to playoffs half of them.

I mean burrow had to transfer cause he couldn't beat out haskins. Cam Newton couldn't beat out Tebow. I wouldn't necessarily say that makes you bad.

 

He would have been taken above Mac Jones for sure, and he went 15.

 

You're preaching to the choir. I never thought that they should've taken Willis over Pickett in any round.

 

Blast, in another thread it seems like you were arguing that all of these guys were first round worthy. Now it seems like you’re saying that none of these guys were first round worthy. Am I missing something?

 

Now you are really pulling stuff out of your ass. Find me a mock draft that didn't have Pickett in the first round. Just because you and many others were wrong about Willis doesn't mean Pickett was a third-round grade. You just can't accept that Willis wasn't a first-round pick.

Don't get me wrong. I would have been fine with passing on all the quarterbacks. I wanted Hill or Linderbaum, though I know the latter was never really an option. If the draft had been Hill in the first, Pickens in the second, and Willis or Howell in the third, I would have been very happy with that. I'd be happier with Moore in the second, but that's beside the point. I write it that way because there is no way in hell Pickett would have made it to them at 52.

One thing that is absolutely inarguable among the sane at this point is that the Steelers were right to pass on Willis in the first round. He fell to the third for very good reasons and the Steelers would have been fools to take him that high.