Here's why I think the Steelers should draft Tyler Eiffert or Zack Ertz at 17

Wallace and Mendenhall are no doubt gone..who else are our weapons on offense? We don't know when Heath Miller will come back..that leaves you with Antonio Brown and Sanders..Cothchery and Burress are merely role players..
There are no RBs on this team can dominate a la Ray Rice..that leaves me to think Ben needs another weapon on offense.

your thoughts?

 

i think if we go skill position it has to be rb or wr. I like both of those players but tight end is deep this year i think. eiffert struggles blocking i have heard and not sure about splitting him out. i dont know if he can get separation. he did look good against bama though. i just think we have bigger needs for the 1st pick

 

if we trade down yes... we could land one of them late in the first and add another 2nd or third

 

knowing Haley..he loves using tight ends a lot..so I can see the Steelers getting a TE with their first pick..I just think with the Steelers and Mike Tomlin always talk about making splash plays, and the defense finishing 1st last year...and the league being an offensive minded league now...etc...

 

Yeah because he just set the world on fire with his use of Tight Ends in KC. Moeaki and his 40 catch seasons woohoo!

 

Haley came in here and said he was going to use the tight ends a lot specifically Miller..so why not have another tight end in the mix? and Kansas City didn't have much of a QB, so your statement does not hold much water

 

The point is despite your claim of knowing Haley he's got no track record of using tight ends a lot. Heath is a solid receiver and Haley is using him. In case you forgot Miller had 78 receptions in 2009. Unfortunately our offensive line was decimated by injuries in 2010,2011 and Heath was required to stay in and block quite frequently. I know people love to claim that Arians didn't know how to use a TE, but it's patently false.

 

The value isn't there for either TE of RB at #17. If they can trade down and at least pick up another 3rd or second I guess I can deal with it. But the problems we had this year weren't caused by a lack of a good TE.

 

My point is the Steelers need weapons on offense, and I am okay with either tight end pick at #17..especially since we do not know when Miller can come back from his injury

 

exactly if we taget of one them we should trade down in the late 20

 

No.

 

we don't have any offensive weapons going into the draft...besides Brown and Sanders and Miller whenever he may come back

 

We need a Ray Rice player. But keep in mind they took him towards the end of the 2nd round. There has got to be a decent RB somewhere in this draft in later rounds. Round 1 is way to high if you are not getting an Adrian Peterson.

A dual TE threat would be sweet, but I think they actually like Paulsen even though he seems just ok to me....

 

players get better year to year usually. i expect paulson to get better.

also with our line getting more mobile we will see things haley couldn't do with the offense last year, be used more this year.

brown got paid alot of money , he better be a weapon. do you think plax will be back? he's not signed.

ray rices don't just grow on trees either. we will get a RB and i'm sure we will get a wr. we picked up a TE that was pretty decent in the offseason too.

we won't draft a first round TE to sit behind heath when he comes back. we will use what we have, but we may add a later pick at that spot. we still have mccoy here too. they have kept him around for some reason. will johnson could also be used in different ways in this offense. he was just a rook last year and should improve.

 

We already did that. His name is Rashard Mendenhall.

I agree with your post, though. I wouldn't mind drafting a RB or WR/TE type, but only later in the draft.

 

I would rather get philip lutzenkirkin in the late rounds. he can play fullback and te. this kid just makes plays

 

And just who are we going to put at TE this year?

 

eifert would be great to have. he's something of a wr/te tweener. he got most of his receptions this year split out as a tall reciever. in running plays he was in motion a lot and defenses had to honor his spot on the field, not his blocking ability. he's not in the mold of heath as an all around tight end. notre dame used him very effectively as a third reciever when they had floyd split on one side and kyle rudolph lined up as a traditional tight end on the other. he would be a great piece with a healthy miller and brown as a number one. he does a good job catching the ball high with his hands and using his height/size for extra yards against corners and safeties. i don't think he is a good value at 17. i'm not sure we have the luxury of taking him anywhere in the first.

 

we still can take middle range free agent waiting for miller

 

These are not # 17 picks.

 

bottom line to me is we need a saftey, dline, or lb with 17. unless warmack falls and i dont see that happening. a wr te or any other olineman is a reach to me. not saying we dont need the other things i just think there aint alot separating the top and bottom at those positions. i think saftey and linebacker are top heavy and we need to get one early. saftey is deep this year if you are willing to accept a ryan mundy type in later rounds. there is alot of nfl talent but i think we need 1 of the top 4

 

The Steelers like Paulson and he started to get playing time at the end of the season.