my immediate steelers draft grades

Overview:
very solid draft imho.... although, I think we should've took a shot at a rb or some o-line depth in the later rounds, it was still a good haul. Mostly a defensive draft, with one wr and te thrown into the mix.... 2 corners and 1 safety who collectively recorded 28 or 29 int's in 2014... Our entire defense hasn't had that many in the last 4 yrs. combined, so it's pretty obvious where the coaches and f.o.'s collective minds are at.
and now the individual

RD.
1. Bud dupree DE/OLB Kentucky: explosive edge rusher.. just what the doctor ordered. should terrorize opposing qb's for yrs. to come grade: A+
2. senquez golson CB Miss.: I personally wasn't overjoyed by the pick due to his size (or lack thereof), but who can really argue with the production... very good cover man with phenomenal hands and instincts. If he were 6 ft. tall he would've been a top 15 pick. should contribute immediately as a nickle or dime......... grade: B
3. sammy coates WR Auburn: another pick I wasn't high on, but it had nothing to do with his ability.. I just felt that we had greater needs elsewhere, and coates was purely a luxury pick at a position that we are particular strong at.... coates has all world ability, and I wonder exactly where he fits in an already stacked unit.... on the flip side, martavis bryant didn't get a gameday helmet until wk. 7, but that turned out pretty well, and coates comes in with many of the same question marks...... we shouldn't have much trouble scoring grade: B
4. Doran Grant CB Ohio St.: very active corner with some serious ball skills... not shy when it comes to sticking his helmet (or should I say shoulder pad in this day and age) in a crowd and has good hands.. steal at this point ... the competition in camp should be really interesting grade: B+
5. Jesse James TE Penn St.: 2 parts heath, 3 parts spaeth.... won't win any foot races, but can get open and has good hands.. should stick, and will be a big contributor once heath retires.. grade: B
6a. Letarrius Walton: very athletic and explosive... once he's developed, he will probably back up all 3 d-line spots.. upside is worth the pick(especially if it allows us to cut cam thomas) grade: C+
6b. Anthony chickillo DE/OLB Miami: strong and active with nfl bloodlines.... will probably start off on the practice squad.... if he does make the final 53, it will be on special teams initially.. purely developmental pick....... grade: C-
7. Gerod Holliman FS Louisville: int. machine, but awful tackler.... hopefully coach lake can help him out with that............ grade: B-

 

This draft overall gets a C+ from me

 

The Steelers got the worst grade in the division
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...fl-draft-quicksnap-grades-for-afc-north-teams

 

Well ,that's a higher grade than i thought you would give it

 

So that means it's all good.

 

I wasn't particularly impressed with baltimore's draft, except how they swooped in and snatched max williams out from under us... the rest of their draft was ordinary..
all the bengals did was reload at positions they were already strong at..... it's almost as if they're planning on replacing their starters and starting over again... that basically seems like a lateral move, with no forward progress at all
same goes for the browns..... they hit the jack pot with shelton, but their receivers scare no one... they brought in no real competition at qb, and they got the best c in the draft when they already have a top 5 center with a fairly large contract, so they'll be teaching him a new position, which will take time..
I fail to see where they did much better than us when you look at the big picture

 

Being that you're wrong 99.9% of the time the Steelers must have had a great draft.

CBS Sports gave them A's and B's for every pick except Coates(C)

 

Great write up as always, B&G. It looks like I was mistaken yesterday when I thought the Ravens pimped us for Maxx Williams. According to Colbert, Golson was always their target in the 2nd. He said Golson was the guy they were exploring trading up to get. Steelers had him rated in the top 50 players. FWIW, so did Nolan Narwocki (a scout who's usually spot on). He had Golson as his 36 prospect overall. Coincidentally, he had Doran Grant as his 37 prospect overall. This may turn out way better than I thought at this time yesterday.

 

In case anyone wonders, he had Dupree at 23 overall and Coates at 67 overall.

 

I think when it comes to grading what prospects are what number..Narwocki is as good a guesser as anyone. But why I like him is the inside info he gets on players unseen side, and their Character. I remember after over a year ago when Narwocki was the first Draft guy to publically go after Johnny Manziel...and Oh Boy, did ESPN First Take's Skip Bayles rack him over the coals. Here is what Narwocki wrote in his article over 16 months ago on Manziel...





Johnny Manziel

Suspect intangibles -- not a leader by example or known to inspire by his words. Carries a sense of entitlement and prima-donna arrogance seeking out the bright lights of Hollywood. Is known to party too much and is drawn to all the trappings of the game. ... Has defied the odds and proven to be a great college-system quarterback, but still must prove he is willing to work to be great, adjust his hard-partying, Hollywood lifestyle and be able to inspire his teammates by more than his playmaking ability.





I don't know but that sure seems like Naewocki Hit the nail on the head there.

​

 

I give them a B- grade, they did what I expected them to do go heavy on defense.

 

I am cautiously optimistic. B.

 

And Mel Kiper, Jr. raved about the Golson pick saying it was as good a pick as any at that point in the draft.

 

CBS gave the Coates pick a "C"? WTF? Luxury pick for sure and the big issue is playing time.

 

I was surprised by that too. I'd give it a B or B- at worst. Coates has a chance to be a solid offensive contributor and with Ben throwing him the football he should be fun to watch.

 

I think they had a solid draft, it is hard to get excited because it didn't seem the class as a whole on the top end was as exciting as other years.

Really when it comes down to it is we need the rookies from the last 2 years to step up in a big way.

 

I'd give it a B+.

Dupree- A+: A faller in the draft with top-10 talent. Often mocked him in top 10. Speedy player who will become one of the best pass rushers in the league by 2020.

Golson- B: He was first-team All-SEC, and that's pretty impressive. He's got good ball skills, but he's short. But short CBs can succeed.

Coates- C+: Other picks could've been here. The Steelers should've drafted Carl Davis here. Davis could've been a solid two-gap DT, which is pretty important in a 3-4. But Coates was an okay pick. He has 1st round talent, but he has mediocre hands. Then again, Nick Marshall wasn't exactly accurate in college. Great talent, but purely a luxury pick.

Grant- A-: He performed well against #4 pick Amari Cooper in the Sugar Bowl, limiting Cooper to 9 catches for 72 yards, abeit with 2 touchdowns. He could be a real steal here in Round 4.

James- B: He's somewhat like a Miller/Spaeth combination. And he has good hands and can get open.

Walton- B: He has plenty of potential upside, and he could back up any of the 3 DL positions.

Chickillo- B: He's got NFL bloodlines and he's a developmental pick. Could be pretty good, however he'll likely start off on the practice squad.

Holliman- A+: This is purely because he was mocked up there in the 1st/2nd/3rd rounds and was the #2 safety in the draft. He has the production to go with it- he led the FBS with 14 interceptions. He's a horrible tackler, but he could be quite the steal in the 7th.

 

No grading off school stats for me, seen too many bust over the years! Want to see them in our colors and on the field. As to overall Draft C+

 

this draft was poor overall in general .. a lot of the top prosperct came with baggage , and after them everyone is not a final product and need a lot of coachings, now at the end we came away with some good materials , we need to work on .. let alone the round they were taken but dupree golson grant coates james are very good material ..even holliman if they teach him how to tackle .walton need at least 2 years to produce ..this is the problem most of them will take time to produce on the field .. probably the more ready are the cbs , and that's was a must ..overall B+

 

Agree.

We picked the right positions in roughly the right places, and now it's up to the coaches.

The more I see of Dupree, though, the more I'm loving that pick.

 

I get the feeling that the only reason people were somewhat upset by the Dupree pick is because simply because of selecting a LB for three consecutive years. Except that this team uses 4 LBs, and each of the three selected play a different position. A position of need. So yes, I say Dupree was a great pick. Moats is a great depth guy, can start short term when needed, but I expect Dupree to start week 1.

Overall, in order to grade the draft, I like to look pack at previous drafts. Realistically, 4 or 5 of these guys may be on the team next year. If so, then it is a good draft. After Dupree, right now I'm not seeing a Bell, AB, or even a Woodley type player from rounds 2-7. Part of that is because they have to go out and prove themselves. I'm excited about the CB's contributing, James being productive, and Coates being a good depth guy. So, I'll give this class a B-.

 

They did what they were expected to do, go heavy on the Defense. Solid draft filling the positions of need. Grade B-

I am a bit concerned about the motivation to move up to the 1st pick in the second I believe to select Landon Collins. Doesn't speak highly to Shamarko Thomas. The Giants moved up and snagged him.

 

My biggest concern when it was over was that we didn't get any depth for the o-line. Coming away with Dismukes, Diffenbach, and Finney from the UDFAs helped a lot.

Loved the Dupree pick, knew it was coming from the time Peters was picked. Golston was a little early, I thought, but was okay with adding 10 ints. Coates didn't surprise me at all, had seen him mocked to us, but like everyone else I thought wr was a luxury pick at that spot.
Day 3 was a good needs day. A tough corner, a big TE with potential, a d-lineman, a DE/olb tweener, and the guy i started pimping in round 5, Holliman. We needed a FS, and once Amos went before us in the 5th, knew it had to be him. You can argue his tackling, but we needed a ball hawking safety, and the dbacks we added this year had 29 ints last year. Thats one less than the Steelers the last 3 years combined.