Yeah or nay on the draft class

It's one meaning less game, but this can be updated as the pre-season rolls on. They may not all make the team but I don't see any flat out busts yet.

• Round 1, Pick 21: Max Iheanachor, OT, Absolutely!
• Round 2, Pick 47: Germie Bernard, WR, Absolutely!
• Round 3, Pick 76: Drew Allar, QB, Absolutely!
• Round 3, Pick 85: Daylen Everette, CB, Absolutely!
• Round 3, Pick 96: Gennings Dunker, OG, Absolutely!
• Round 4, Pick 121: Kaden Wetjen, WR/RET, Absolutely! Special teams looked rough last night be he has that talent.
• Round 5, Pick 169: Riley Nowakowski, FB/TE, Absolutely! He moves very well for a fullback!
• Round 6, Pick 210: Gabriel Rubio, DL, Certainly looks good at this point.
• Round 7, Pick 224: Robert Spears-Jennings, S, Certainly looks good at this point and we need all the help and depth we can get.
• Round 7, Pick 230: Eli Heidenreich, RB/WR, Gotta love the kid, he has everything you want upstairs and character-wise.

So far, a pretty good draft class

 

A lot of people online didn't like the Wetjen pick. But in some ways, he's the guy I'm most excited to see (and didn't disappoint last night despite not really having an opportunity to return).

I think picking a guy who was almost guaranteed to make the roster with our 6th pick in the draft was a great move. The 3x 3rds gave us the luxury to be able to take someone who looks to be a very good returner earlier than usual.

 

It’s too early to project who will and won’t become a good pro. For rookies, I mainly want them to show something. I don’t dwell on their mistakes. People say it takes three years to truly judge a player, and I mostly agree. Having said that, here’s what I think of these players after 10+ practices and one preseason game as pros. It is insanely early. Color code

• Green = Among the top 20 in the NFL at his position in three years. A great pick.
• Purple = Solid NFL starter (top 25–45) in three years at his position.
• Blue = Fringe-level starter at some point in the first three years. A decent role player (very good #3 at his position.
• Orange = Backup / special-teams guy only.
• Red = Likely to be cut; may make the practice squad.
• Grey = Bust of a draft pick.

Allar – Yes, I think so. He has the tools, the confidence to throw over the middle ( QBs with big arms tend to throw there; average-to-weaker arms tend not to), and the size.



Everett - He’s trending as such. Looks like a great 3rd round find.

Iheanachor – The sample size is the smallest, but he did impress in his first two padded practices.



Spears – I’m very intrigued by this man’s ability and play so far at safety.

Bernard – He can play, but his upside is more limited than the players listed above him.

Rubio – Can be a usable two-down run-stuffer.

Dunker – Needs to transition from tackle to guard. Of all the players, he is the hardest to judge because of his college background as a tackle and his NFL position being guard.



Wetjen – Looks like a good kick-return man.



Nowakowski – A part-time FB/TE.

Heidenreich – Just a standard 7th-round pick. Has Rudy appeal.





A

 

According to many fans, won't mention any names. Rated
Draft poorly. You know who you are.. Now granted 1 non important
preseason game doesn't make a season but liked what little you can take away from
A preseason game.

 

So far so good.


Final verdict?! Get back to me in 2029.

 

Exactly, In my opinion you don't know the real story until three years. But, I guess my point was, I honestly don't remember a recent draft where there was a case for every single draft pick making the team? Of course I am old and don't remember if I ate dinner last night.

 

most did well. we have some players and will see as time goes on how high they climb. so far so good. as the thread says that i created, are we on the upswing? they did nothing to discourage that so far.

 

A bit premature

 

I think the argument from most people was that he was just a return man and that he hadn't developed any real wide receiver skills at Iowa. They also thought he was taken too high and was too small.

I love his short area quickness and his running ability. I said at the time that he was nowhere near a finished product, and that he would have to learn a more sophisticated offensive system and learn a lot about route running, but that he had WR abilities. They have him doing basic stuff to take advantage of his natural gifts and his more limited route tree at the moment. He is only going to get better with more work and experience. He wasn't playing against high-level talent, so we have to temper expectations a bit. But I do think he is showing that he can play WR a little bit and deserves more of a look in that regard.

Any player that has great returner skills that can also show good positional performance is a valuable piece on the roster. I believe he helped himself immensely in that first preseason game.

 

They have medication for that.

 

Go back to the Draft thread. Worst draft in Steelers' history, according to some. Fun reading.

 

There are people who actually believe the World is Flat

 

My original post wasn't about the results of Thursday's game, it was about the entire body of work thus far by the rookie draft class. So far, there are no Duds

 

I agree.

I think the fact that we had 3x 3rd round picks let us take a gamble on him earlier than he would have been rated on other boards.

Some might argue (not unreasonably) that you should just take who you think is BPA. This is usually my preferred method. But we had 12 picks (eventually reduced to 10). And it's just hard to get 10 rookies to make the roster.

We've been bad at returns for a while. Using our 6th selection (4th round) pick to make a good bet to turn the return game into a strength was a great call in this case.

I agree with you that he hasn't had a lot of great experience. But he has great open field ability. If all he ends up being is a good returner, that's not terrible here IMO. But if we can use him creatively on offense (something I think we have a better chance of doing now than before), then this pick could become really good value.

Again...I'm biased here because he's probably the pick I am most excited to see play. Glad to see a big positive play in game 1. But I don't want to over-react since it's just preseason.

 

I like the kid too. He opened some eyes with his performance.

I hope he continues to develop and improves his route running and receiving skills in general. If he sticks as a return man, he will get the time to work on his game.

I want him to do well.

 

I only had one complaint during the draft. I thought like the exact same thing I thought when we took Broderick Jones, that taking Max was too high, and there were other guys still on the board that would have been better to take that high.
Other than that I Loved the Draft, and tried telling people that Bernard would be very good if the Qb wants to throw him the ball.

 

Yeah I thought we should have taken the safety from Washington State that went to the Bears but time will tell whether Max was a good or bad pick.

 

I have a feeling it won't be very long before that is proven to be an exceptionally good draft pick. I hope!

 

• Round 1, Pick 21: Max Iheanachor, Y
• Round 2, Pick 47: Germie Bernard, N
• Round 3, Pick 76: Drew Allar, QB, N
• Round 3, Pick 85: Daylen Everette, Y
• Round 3, Pick 96: Gennings Dunker, N
• Round 4, Pick 121: Kaden Wetjen, N
• Round 5, Pick 169: Riley Nowakowski, N
• Round 6, Pick 210: Gabriel Rubio, Y
• Round 7, Pick 224: Robert Spears-Jennings, Y
• Round 7, Pick 230: Eli Heidenreich, RB/WR, N

 

Steelers always get receivers that are good in the middle rounds.

Drew Allar is the only player that can alter the Steelers franchise if he ends up being a franchise QB. Getting a Franchise QB without having to suck bad to get one in the top of the draft can advance you to title contention quickly because you can pay the other positions for a few years and stack depth.

 

Not sure what this means?

 

I wouldn’t have taken Max Iheanachor as high as the Steelers did. He was a late riser who completely lit up Senior Bowl practices. Based on that one week alone ( Senior Bowl ) high-quality, all-out reps against the best players in the draft the Steelers took a chance on him in round one. I put a lot of value in Senior Bowl week because it matches the top talent against each other. But I'm a football junkie.

Going into the draft I saw so-so run blocking and a high rate of flags per game. Those were real concerns for me. But early in camp he’s starting out with elite footwork and shutting down our edge rushers in practice. It’s been impressive. Shame he got hurt so soon. The Steelers training staff better be careful with that shoulder.

 

Some posts are better left alone

 

I hope too

 

Im not sure either