talk about fixing the defense in one draft

i stumbled across this mock when I was just surfing around this afternoon. I have a couple of questions for you guys.

rd 1 William Jackson 111 cb Houston

rd 2 Jeremy cash s duke is this high for him? I have seen him in round 3 and 4 in some mocks

rd 3 cyrus jones cb Alabama I like him and its kinda early maybe but like the cash pick we pick late in each round they probably wouldn't be there in the next round

rd 4 aldolphus Washington dt ohio st I know he has issues. didn't look them up but is he not a round 1 talent?

rd 6 Anthony zettel de pennst

rd 7 trae elston s ole miss I like him a lot and would take him higher. I don't think he last this long but opinions?

rd 7 nate sudfeld qb Indiana only offensive guy and I can honestly say I have never seen him play

 

Yeah I know jackson may be gone. I think this mock was dated March 16th or something. I will find a link.

 

I think Cash and Cyrus that's a round too early for both of them IMO. Adolphus got busted for soliciting a prostitute last season.

 

Really? I still didn't look it up. So he wanted alittle. Lol will that drop him that far?

 

I don't think so. He will likely be drafted prematurely now.

 

Round 1.) Andrew Billings. More than just a nose tackle, Billings creates opportunities for Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt; an nigh unblockable line who can easily demolish any offensive line. In addition, with so much attention to Billings, people like Dupree Shazier, Law Dog, and Jarvis will also be able to penetrate the backfield more often and disrupt running lanes.


Round 2.) Justin Simmons. While most would have Karl Joseph (I agree), I do not think he will be there. While Simmons is not the tempo setter Karl is, he is a consistent player with good range and cover skills. Considering Pittsburgh needs at safety are more apparent than cornerback (at least I believe so), Simmons can easily be a rock solid starter


Round 3.) Pharoh Cooper. Bryant's future is uncertain and Markus is likely to head to free agency next year, a receiver may have to be drafted again early. While I do trust that Eli Rodgers will be better coming into the preseason, it never hurt to add another solid receiving option; exactly what Pharoh is. His explosiveness is good and is quite nimble with his feet. Granted, South Carolina's route tree was not extensive and his focus can go on or off at times, but he does have good hands to be a solid "z" receiver.


Round 4.) Johnathan Jones. I am sure that a corner back who is under six feet is something many of us are willing to stomach, but Pittsburgh has constantly ignored that and looks for cornerbacks who have tremendous starting experience and are fearless when coming in for the tackle. This years "Senquez Golson", Jones is the same athlete that Golson was a year ago; subtract the baseball and add in more speed. Very scrappy and competitive, Jones could be another solid addition for Pittsburgh's secondary.


Round Six: DeAndre Elliott/CB Colorado State: 6’0/7 188

For our last three picks, only one should be a pre-draft visitor, and Elliott is the only one. He also made our cornerback criteria, headlined by his 41 inch vert and 3.94 short shuttle. I think all that passes the “Antonio Brown” test Colbert quipped about. For the height crowd, he crosses the six foot threshold and pairs nicely with Jonathan Jones, like a steak dinner and a fine wine. I don’t have a scouting report posted yet but will before the draft.



Round Seven: Blake Martinez/ILB Stanford: 6’1/5 237

Knowing Elliott is our one visit, we have to include some players that don’t often get mocked here. The Steelers added Steven Johnson but are still minus one after Sean Spence and Terence Garvin left for other cities. Martinez hit our criteria with his athleticism and though I don’t always see it on tape, he’s a thumper and can make an immediate impact on special teams.

Lawrence Timmons and Vince Williams are in the final year of their deals without much behind that. So this makes sense from a Day One and Year Three impact. Martinez could be off the board here, I guess this is a “wishful thinking” pick, but in my full mock, several linebackers dropped.


Round Seven: Matt Skura/C Duke: 6’3/3 329

A tough, big ugly to round things out. Skura is big but has excellent length, 35 inch arms, and as you guessed, hit my criteria for the offensive linemen. He has 40 starts under his belt and a team captain his senior season. More competition for the interior line, an area the team continued to explore with some of their offseason visitors.

One last fun fact to leave you with. Offensive assistant Shaun Sarrett, well respected and basically serving as Mike Munchak’s right hand man, was an offensive line assistant for Duke from 2008-2011. He probably helped recruit Skura, who came to campus in 2011, Sarrett’s final year. Inside info to learn who the man is. That is always a nice connection to make.

 

With Bryant's issues, the probable loss of Wheaton, and an unknown Coates hoping we can come up with another starter in the late rounds is rather foolish in my opinion. We also have to consider the very real possibility of losing Brown to free agency.

 

You can call it speculation, but look at this way. Although he has said all the right things his actions prove his words aren't worth a hill of beans. It's not hard to see ARII saying we can't trust him, it's time to move on. Look at the Holmes situation. We traded Holmes for a bag of peanuts for less than Bryant's transgressions. As for Wheaton we have several free agents coming up next year and they're going to want to get paid. We can't keep them all. Do they try to hang onto Wheaton or Decastro, Bell et al? Coates? We know very little about him and that's a fact. Will he make the jump in year 2 and be a solid #2? Only time will tell. As for Brown you know damn well there are a pile of teams out there with plenty of dollars that would love to have him on their roster. Look at what the Dolphins gave Mike freaking Wallace. It's Rosenhaus's job to get him as much money as possible and the Steelers won't get in a bidding war.

 

Well guys, the reason I went with a receiver in round 3 is the fact that while edge rushing is still in need of a tune up, personally, outside of Kamalei Correa, Yannick Ngakoue, Shilquile Calhoun, and Dadi Nicolas, there may not be another quality edge rusher to go for. Maybe Jordan Jenkins or Joshua Perry, but the former is likely a top end round 3 pick and Joshua is more so a ILB in Pittsburgh's scheme.

 

Houston's Elandon Roberts may be an option if Martinez is off the board.

Anthony Walker out of Northwestern is the guy we should target next year if Timmons and VW98 are not retained. Should be a top round talent

 

Some of your player descriptions are right out of the Steeler Depot mock draft. Just noticed that...Although you changed picks 1-3.

 

there are quite a few good ILB'ers in this draft.

 

True, but outside of those three, the rest where my top picks anyway. It is just that the way they have the description would be better for my reinforcement of choices.


Initally though, Jartavis Brown was my 4th pick.