Trade Up!!!!

I'm not a fan of trading up unless it fills a big need with a future all-pro/possible HOFer type guy.

If we would have lost our last game we would be drafting 12th. As it is we're #17. This is huge not because of the 1st rd pickings but the picks in all other rds as the talent quickly falls off. We'll get a starter at #17 and even a possible probowler.

Here's my question. Do we need to trade up and for who. Teo is undersized and slow but has a non-stop motor with high football smarts and hits like a ton of bricks. Wait a minute, I think I just wrote down Ray Lewis' scouting report. If Teo can become the next Ray Lewis is he worth trading up for? He'll make it down to the early teens and at 12 we would have snatched him up.

If we want and need him were do we trade up to?


12-16 are the Phins/Bucs/Panthers/Saints/Rams. Of these I can see the Bucs and Panthers going for him. I can also see Dallas @ 18 and Ravens/Bears/skins moving up to snag him out from under us.


Cajun-

 

It has been my experience through the years that the Steelers start to focus on about 3 guys who they think can be difference makers. As the draft begins to unfold, they seem to always have one of those guys fall to us. It just always seems to work. That being said, I think they will do their scouting and determine who they want and where they think he will be and then make that determination as they watch the draft unfold.

I am usually one who would rather fall back and get some extra value in the 2nd and 3rd rounds as these guys can be very valuable to us if we do our due diligence.

 

I think if he makes it past 11 or so, he'll slide. Bucs and Panthers could take him, but they, and the other few teams in that group, have more pressing needs.

 

1) Chiefs - No way is Teo #1 overall
2) Jaguars - have Poz in the middle
3) Raiders - Maybe...they have need..but #3 still seems high
4) Eagles - DeMeco Ryans
5) Lions - Maybe
6) Browns - Dquell Jackson is there Captain and the leader of the D..and one of their best players
7) Cardinals - Maybe but they have a lot of money tied up in Washington in the middle
8) Bills - Maybe
9) Jets - Slight maybe - Bart Scott and David Harris...and a mess on Offense...
10) Titans - MAYBE
11) Chargers - Spikes and Bulter...I say no
12) Dolphins - Karlos Dansby
13) Bucs - Maybe
14) Panthers - Kuechly and Te'o back to back drafts..I don't think so
15) Saints - Maybe...but they have Vilma
16) Rams - No way - Lauranitus

So assuming teams keep Te'o inside...as I don't think he has the speed or first step to man the outside...there are maybe 7 or 8 teams that might take him......I think maybe only the Lions or Titans in the top 10 will be interested.....I think if Te'o gets passed the Lions at 5...he easily makes it to 10....Titans, Bucs, and Saints are the "OBSTACLES"

HACK

 

Plus ANY team below #17 that thinks hes worth trading up for. Not saying I want the team to pick him or anything...just making a point!

 

Plus there will be guys that move way up the draft charts and people move up to take.

For instance last year, Mark Barron went much higher than I ever saw him mocked. I think the highest I saw him mocked was 14, he went 7.

Quinton Couples I saw at 9, he went 12.
DeCastro was mocked at 11, he went to us at 24.
Reiff 13th, went 23
Brockers 19th, went 14
Courtney Upshall 21, didn't go in first round
Dontarie Poe 25, went 11
Bruce Irvin 26 went 15.
Weeden projected round 2...went 22.
Zeitler projected 50....went 27

Guys are going to move all over the place. Usually by the time the draft hits, I have one guy I am usually focused on us hoping he falls, and another who I think we will pick. Last year....Decastro, please fall. Hightower was my pick.

Now all this being said. 46 guys had more sacks than the highest guy on our team. 46!! For a team that used to really play an attacking style, that is sad. Of course 2 teams that tied us are Balt. and NE.. The only AFC playoff team with less sacks than us...Indy.

 

Wasn't Vontaze Burfict going in the mid-20s around this time last year? We won't have a clue until after the combine.

 

and to think about all the flack i took saying hightower wasen't as can't miss and first round worthy. 60 tackles and 4 sacks on the year for him. 47 solo's. foote doubled that in tackles and had that in sacks.

you can't just follow the draftniks picks for alot of guys. i like the whole body of work and you have to take into account the players around them that can make them look better then they actually are on their own.

same as eric hill that went first round when i was told by all, he wasen't first rd. worthy.

bruce irving last year.

i loved DD last year but also said he wasen't as plug and play guaranteed to make the probowl as some said. i said there would be some growing pains with him. it's not all about what they do well as how the things they don't do well will come to the forefront.

the draft is a gamble no doubt, but there are red flags on guys you have to look deep at too. the hoopla is high on teo right now as are most ILB's every year and then they drop come draft day. what he can do in OUR system is what you have to look at for the draft, not what they did in college this year.

i'm not saying he won't be good either, but i think the top safety will do more for our team next year then the top ILB will do for us. that's why i'm a big matt elam backer. we will see when they hit camp and the preseason next year. live fire with good players all around is the true test.

 

i like elam a lot and i agree with you. but with so much safety depth and so many holes i can't see taking a safety in round one.

 

The Steelers have too many needs to fill to try and trade up they can get a safety or OLB at #17.

 

what about a premier pass rusher at 17 and trading back into the first with our say... 2nd and 4th to take elam pick up skov in the third.

 

Hahaha a 2nd and 4th to get back into the first round? Hahaha...while I'd love it if a team did it...but most of the time to get back into the first you have to give up much more than that (usually future 1sts/etc).

 

The top safety in the draft hopefully would not even get on the field in 2013....

and talking about LB stats...Burfict at 127 tackles on the year....led the Bengals...would have led us too.

HACK

 

that safety would have this year. our safety upgrade is a couple of years overdue. another year later and we will be way,way behind. clark has one year left and troy can't stay on the field. it's time.

and burfict wasen't near the first round.

 

Nope...UNDRAFTED in a year where the Steelers had 4 7th round picks!!!!!!!

HACK

 

lb'er is very deep this year in the draft too. elam is by far the best of the safety bunch and we are deeply in need of some depth and possibly more at safety. we need both but in this pass happy league a good safety that can also help out in run support will do more for us then a lb , just because of coverage.

 

Let me just throw out a couple of things about Burfict I think we all need to keep in mind.

1. There is no assurance that had he gotten drafted by us he would have either had success on the same level or even seen the field.

2. He had a great year, but no one disputed his talent level...they were stressed about his brain.

3. They love this pick...this year. 4 years from now let's see where it sits. If he implodes as a player and becomes a locker room cancer, we may be happy he destroys the Bengals and not our locker room.

I wish they would have taken a flyer on the guy, and I will totally support your McClain trumpet, but I think we all knew that this FO wasn't going to take more than 1 gamble in last year's draft. That was Adams. They weren't going to take another.

 

It was a bad unsound choice to pass on Burfict....and history will support it.

Do the Bengals have better coaches than the Steelers? Burfict might have gotten some playing time here...as both the outside backers were hurt...but thats probably it.

They rave about Burfict in the Bengals locker room....Kid just needed some coaches that pointed his ship in the right direction again. He will be a Bengal for the next 8 years and lead them in tackle most of those years.

HACK

 

8 years, eh? Is that how long we're going to have to hear about this from you? Wow...get over it...move on...damn. While I (and many others I'm sure) generally value your opinion and knowledge/etc...LET IT GO ALREADY! They didnt take him...could it have been a mistake? SURE, maybe so! Teams make them each and every year...but its not the end of the world. Do you want a medal or something for telling everyone they should have picked up him and another team did and DUE TO INJURY he was put in the line up and put up decent numbers in his first season. Jeeez! I'm surprised some NFL team hasn't scooped you up yet! Lets move on to something else to harp on...maybe about players they should take this year (a couple of which I'm sure we'll hear you complain they didnt take/etc and should have this time next year, but still, haha)!

/vent

Moving on...

 

This!

 

I think we only trade up if there's a realistic chance that we land an impact player. That puts a short list of:

Taylor Lewan - Handled Clowney nicely (who is probably top-10 DE in the nation, in any league)
Barkevious Mingo - Could provide the same pass rush impact that Bruce Irving did for the Seahawks

And that's about it. The real elite guys will cost way too much to trade up for (J. Jenkins, Werner, Joeckel, Lotulelei) and the guy we're talking about in this thread (Te'o) plays a dying style at a non-critical position. It would make more sense, in light of the direction that the NFL offenses are taking, that we select someone that has the elite athleticism to run with the hybrid WR/TE that are so popular now, someone like Ogeltree, who we could likely get at 17.

In Te'o, I see more Zach Thomas than I do Ray Lewis (who is a once-in-a-generation player). If he's there at 17 I'd be very happy taking him, but I don't think we should trade up for him. Are 120 tackles/season in the box worth trading up for? Couldn't we get that same production from a guy like Minter or Skov?

I think we only trade up for a QB, a guy that directly impacts a QB (LT or pass rusher), or a dynamo at a different position such as Troy Polamalu.

 

We couldn't get 120 tackles a season out of any one on our defense....Larry Foote lead the team with 113.

and you are darn tootin I am going to talk about Burfict any time I want to...You know how many times I was basically called an idiot? "He is not Steeler material" I was told..... .I can't tell you how many "Glad Hack doesn't run the Steelers" replies I got for simply stating my opinion.....well it turns out my opinion was 100% correct so far....so if you want to read it: read it...if you want to skip it..thats fine too....but I will continue to spout off about how I was right...and everyone who is happy Hack doesn't make decisions for the Steelers can suck it!
[video=youtube;C13KWHYcW2c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C13KWHYcW2c[/video]

 

everyone forgets that teo had seven interceptions and how many fumbles(forced and recovered) he was involved in. both things we were lacking. he has a knack for the big play, something we've been lacking, and has a great head on his shoulders, football and otherwise, and could immediately provide the leadership everyone says we are lacking. he is also a decent blitzer. timmons continues to show ability to create sacks up the middle. imagine having two guys in the middle that can rush or cover on passing downs, this added threat is what we had when we were blitzburgh. in the run game i've heard complaints that timmons needs a bulkier, block absorbing, more traditional counterpart. teo would provide this as well.

 

foote had 113 tackles on the year. only 14 different then burfict. foote is old in seasons played.

there are alot of good LB'ers in this draft. i really don't think teo is head and shoulders above any other of the top guys that a move up would be worth doing.

 

I don't want to trade up and sacrifice any picks in what is a deep defensive draft in all the areas of need we have. Just on principle alone I wouldn't want to. We could of traded up just by losing our last game,seems counterproductive now. Before anyone starts with the," they are professional athletes jargon" the Colts turned their whole future around by tankin' last year. Don't tell me we couldn't of reaped some of the same "Luck-y" benefits.