Steelers Close Draft With S Gerod Holliman In The 7th

I'm pretty surprised about this pick, personally. I'll hold my tongue on his deficiencies, but for a 7th round pick, the value was there.

 

Agreed.. With Deangelo Williams signed we can wait til next year to draft a RB.. Nice draft overall..

 

I know some on the board were very high on him. My assessment was that his tackling was the worst I've ever seen in a draft prospect. I had read somewhere that he was dead last in all of the FBS in % of missed tackles. However, his ball skills are undeniable. If our coaching staff can figure out a way to get him to embrace the physical aspect of the game of football, he has starter potential. He doesn't need to be a big hitter, but he absolutely needs to develop reliable tackling skills to get players on the ground. You can't be the last line of defense if you can't tackle a ball carrier. I'm glad we got him where we did. He's worth the lottery ticket pick in the 7th IMO.

Now Gerod - go and watch some tape of your position coach from his playing days, and learn how to tackle like he did. Do that and you're an NFL player. Don't do it, and you'll be looking for your next career a lot sooner than you thought.

 

I think he was initially rated high before people had time to dig into the film. At season's end, a combination of his highlights and stats made him look like a world beater. However, dig a little deeper and...

 

I thought Holliman was one of the steals of the draft. At the end of the season I had this guy at a 2nd round value. Now, he didn't test that well, and he has terrible tape in regards to tackling.

But you know what? He had 14 INTs. As Tomlin/Colbert said, that is no accident. There is some great tape out there of his instincts, his ability to hit receivers coming over the field and the ability to fill gaps in the box. He just doesn't seem to be a great open field tackler. But I can live with that.

I think alot of us have always cried for game changers. I think we got 2 in Holliman and Golson. Now, I just hope Holliman can show enough in regards to Special Teams because I'm not sure he can make the team if he doesnt.

 

Can you point me to some of that tape? Every tape that I've been able to find shows a guy who is awful in every single aspect of tackling and in all tackling situations, not just in the open field. Now that he's a Steeler, I really want him to succeed for us. As you said, 14 ints don't happen by accident. He was excellent range and ball skills. If he were simply an average tackling safety he would probably have been the 1st or 2nd safety off the board. However, he didn't fall to the 7th by accident either. I am not OK with our last line of defense being a poor open filed tackler. That's how 5 yard slants and 2nd level runs turn into 80 yard TDs. How many 80 yard TDs can you live with?

Also, you've said that special teams may be the avenue toward him making the team. Well, special teams play is about tackling (usually in the open field) and blocking in space, which do not seem to be things that he's going to do well without a complete about face.

I know it sounds like I'm slamming him, but I really do want him to succeed and be a complete free safety for us. However, it's going to take some tough love from Carnell and company. He's got a big time wake up call coming. Let's hope he can rise to it.

 

OK... i'm not going to get into a debate that makes it sound like I'm slamming one of our draft picks who I'm hoping succeeds. I'll just put it simply - he's free safety with ideal height/weight/speed and 14 ints in an FCS conference, including 2 picks against Jameis Winston, yet he went in the 7th round. He didn't last that long because 32 NFL front offices are filled with idiots. There's a reason, and that reason is that his tackling is a huge deficiency. It's not a matter of just cleaning up a few bad angles and saying "hey when you make that big hit, be sure to wrap up...."

I hope he can do it, but it's going to take a true paradigm shift on how he approaches the physical aspect of the game. That's why a guy who was hands-down the best coverage safety in the draft lasted until the 7th. Good luck Gerod. Bring your lunch pail to camp and learn how it's done from one of the best tackling safeties in the NFL in recent years (Lake).

 

The reason he fell to the 7th round is because he does have more bad tape than good tape. I think that goes without saying.

That being said, he is a potential game changer. His tackling/angle issues should be able to be corrected by a competent coaching staff. I have alot of faith that Lake will be able to get the most out of this guy.

Holliman has the size, range and instincts to be a quality NFL starting FS.

Certainly tackling is his biggest issue, but its not like he isn't a physical player. I thought he showed his physical nature in the Syracuse, Virginia and Georgia games. I believe it was the Wake Forest game when he laid out a TE over the middle. I thought this play showed off Holliman's strength and physicality as he put down a much larger man than himself.

Holliman had a pretty good game vs Florida St. I am not a big Winston fan. I didn't think he was a 1st round talent, let alone the #1 pick, but Holliman had 2 INTs in that game (although he fumbled on one of his returns). I thought Holliman could have easily had 2 more INTs that game. In fact, I had Holliman dropping no less than 6 other INTs throughout the season which means he could have had 20 INTs.

I just hope the Steelers don't view this guy just as another 7th round pick. I hope they look at him and say this guy has legit 1st/2nd round ability. They just need to coach him up.