The Year for Drafting CB

Well...just My opinion You understand is.....there are 4 that are 1st round worthy, a few 2nd round, and so on. Doesn't mean any will be great, or none will be.....I just look at them as.....
1st round: they should be able to help right away. Lots of upside.
2nd round: can help, but maybe system dependent...also have a few weak points.
3rd round: can help here , and there....got stuff they need to desperately work on, and so forth.
Again this is not an exact science for Me, and apparently not for many a GM.
I honestly think CBs are the hardest position to grade next to the QB.

 

i don't see any sauce gardners in this draft.

 

Witherspoon's QBR rating of 24.6 is just so much better than any other CBs from last year.


In 2022 as a senior Witherspoon had an elite year seeing action in 12 games while playing 738 snaps. He logged 32 tackles, 7 assists, and made 16 stops. In coverage, Witherspoon had 14 pass breakups, 3 interceptions, and surrendered an outstanding QB rating when targeted of just 24.6.
https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Devon-Witherspoon-DB-Illinois

 

I know You know this, but when You judge different CBs.....You must also put into account the Qbs, and Wrs they faced. I'm only saying this because for some reason some people don't.
For example....let's look at how our Cbs have done against Lamar, and then against Burrow.
This should all be looked at when measuring a position.

 

Yeah, I always bump the SEC schools up.

 

that was last year alone. gardners was like 36 in all of his seasons combined.

 

good points. i just like a deeper CB draft, as I am reading. the middle tear - like guys 3 - 8 , are all said to be talented. it's all a crap shoot, but our needs are many for sure, if we can't get the top 2-3, then wait, b/c the gap between #4 and #8 is not much. He will be there w our third pick, is my opine.

 

No.. I don't even do that. There have been plenty of crappy SEC wrs, and Qbs. So I don't go by the conference, but by who the CBs are actually facing.

 

Every evaluation I've seen has Porter ahead of Smith. Many of them don't even have Smith in the first round. Almost all have Porter in the top 20 and all have him in the top 25.

 

That is my concern as well. I don't even want Ringo at 32, much less 17.

 

I agree. I've seen that. So I was thinking that Cam Smith must be troubled off field....Although I can't really find anything So....but let's remember .....those same guys Had Malik Willis way ahead of KFP., Clowney ahead of Mack, and so on, and so forth.

 

I would have loved Ringo in the 2024 draft. He is 20 years old and has only played 2 years in college. What do you think... Kenny Picket goes undrafted if he comes out at 20 and with only 2 years of college experience???

At least 1 more year on the Georgia campus with coaches waiting on him hand and foot feeding football knowledge into him non-stop 24/7. I have absolutely NO confidence in the Steelers coaching staff to develop a young CB like this, because 1) their history, and 2) it is the Pros, and they expect their players to develop outside of their training facilities. In college you get to treat the players like kids and handhold them through everything.

This is Georgia, you would think his NIL deal would have paid him enough to stay in school for 1 more year and come out as a top 5 pick. I don't know if a player can go to his Coach/College/Booster and negotiate for a better NIL deal to stay around for another year?

Watching him play is just rough because of all the mistakes he keeps making. He has the talent to recover on most of these mistakes but his fundamentals on pass coverage are just not there yet. It would be fun to see what a veteran like Peterson could teach him. Do you think Patrick could invite all the DBs down to his place for some training like Mitch did?

 

grady brown is supposed to be a pretty good secondary coach. his unit led the league. including the by some average levi wallace with 4 picks and of course minkah with 6. now a couple of years with peterson's knowledge and whomever they pick should have plenty of coaching given to them. how they absorb that coaching and put it into practice is the question.

 

Ringo staying in college for another year wasn't going to make him a top 5 pick in 2024 , if you're a projected first round pick then you should go pro IMO, there is talk he might get moved to safety because he struggles in coverage playing CB.

 

These are the guys I could see the Steelers taking in the first round, possibly trading up if they really wanted that player:
Witherspoon
Gonzalez
Porter Jr
Banks

 

E

Exactly. He struggles at playing CB because he needs more experience. He has all the talent in the world, he just needs more coaching and experience.

Watch him play and you will see him bite on the fake, turn the wrong way, and play grab hands with the WR. Another year in college can fix this.

 

Clowney was drafted ahead of Mack and the prognosticators were split between Willis and Pickett regarding who would be drafted higher. They are universal in putting Porter ahead of Smith. Also, I haven't heard of any off-field issue with Smith, so it seems they just think Porter is the better prospect.

 

If anything, Ringo regressed this past season, so I don't think more college experience was going to help. Everything I've seen makes me think he belongs at free safety. He is a playmaker, but just not that good in coverage.

 

At least one of those four should fall to them. I'd be pissed if they traded up for any but the first two.

 

That's what I meant about Clowney.
As for the other.....
Well honestly.....I can't figure out why anyone is above Cam Smith....except Gonzalez. I've studied 7 of top CBs, and I just don't understand what they are looking at.

 

I only have Gonzalez higher than Cam Smith.
I had Witherspoon higher before , but I'm not sold on the Guys He covered, and I'm always worried about Guys that seem to get hurt at all the right times.
Don't get Me wrong I like Porter, but He got away with a lot in college He won't in the NFL.
I already know We won't take Cam Smith, but like I said before. I don't know what it is they don't like. I can't figure it out.....especially when I compare Him to all the others.