Bye Kaleb Johnson

KJ will get a chance to contribute in Green Bay. Suspect Jacobs gets suspended for a good stretch. Lloyd is unproven. LaFleur runs similar rushing principles as Iowa does. I still suspect KJ will be "meh" but he will get his chance to make an impression.

 

Antonio Brown was a 6th round pick. Just sayin'.

 

Worth noting that it's in 2028, not next draft.

Nice to get something...but this is probably as close to nothing as we'll see in the NFL.

 

It's true. You played, so you know. Occasionally, you come across a player that is just different. They are uber talented. Bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic in every way. They are far better than everyone around them. Then that player goes to the next level, and they can't even see the field or don't make it at all.

I golfed competitively and played against a player that eventually became a pro on the PGA tour.

My cousin was a safety that played for the Steelers briefly. He started for the Oilers for one season, and he started one season for the Chargers and the Bengals before signing with the Steelers. He had a nice career in the NFL.

Most of these guys were dominant players at the high school level. They were great at the college level. Then they become pros and they are just another guy or a serviceable player. They are still just as awesome as they were the first day you saw them, but they are now a little fish in a big pond. It's really humbling being an athlete when you think about how good they were, yet they weren't great players at the NFL level.

The best of the best are just different, and even once you become a pro there are a handful of guys that everyone looks at in awe. They are freakishly great at what they do.

 

Oh, I definitely know. Unfortunately first hand... The amount of good you have to be just to even get a chance is crazy, let alone make it. People only see the outside and think that guys that bounce around or don't make it are just not good... They're great. They just aren't good enough for the league. That is the difference.

 

Maybe, I don't think so, he dosen't have the quickness , needed for the NFL. Never had it and never will.

 

Demarvin Leal
Kendrick green
Anthony macfarland
Chuks okorafor
Dri archer
Bruce davis
Tre essex
Kendrick Clancy
Hank poteat
Etc.....
All 3rd rounders

 

Best 3rd Round Steelers pick of all time: HINES WARD in 1998

 

Distant 2nd ------ Joey Porter sr

 

Does anybody else have this nagging feeling that KJ may end up being good? He got thrown in the doghouse and left there, he had a few chances in a dysfunctional offense, and a poor O-line.

 

Not really.

 

No

 

I definitely think that he is better than what he showed during his time with the Steelers but I have my doubts as to whether he could ever become a starting running back, let alone a quality back up. Aside from his lack of burst, I think his biggest issue was mental. It started back when they had him returning kicks, which is possibly the dumbest move that can be done with a guy who has very little burst, lateral movement, or top end speed. Once he muffed that kick off, coupled with the lack of carries and inability to break any for any significant gains, he had to be completely in his own head. I don't know how much change of scenery helps any individual player but in KJ's case, it definitely couldn't hurt.

 

Since the cap / UFA anyway.

Blount was also a 3rd round pick.

 

I felt this way last year.

I still probably feel this way a little bit. But he looked pretty slow in the preseason.

You never know with RBs though. In the right system, maybe he can contribute.

He's not going to end up being D Henry or anything. But I wouldn't put serviceable backup / short yardage guy out of reach for him.

 

No. Other backs looked more capable than he did in the same circumstances. That isn't to say he can't become an NFL player... but I am not particularly worried about the cut. He wasn't one of our best 4-5 backs.

 

Also there have been guys that were good enough in HS, but not good enough to get in a major college, but got better every year in college, and once they hit the NFL they become great. I guess they are late bloomers. I had a friend like that.

 

What about Steve Conley back in Cowhers days. Maybe I remember him because of Arkansas

 

What about Mel Blount??

 

Didn't know he was 3rd round pick.

 

Always a DB!!!!

.....but I agree!

 

It was the third round, but he was only the 53rd player taken in the draft. With expansion in today's NFL, there are 64 picks in the first two rounds.

 

Him and quite a few others