2021 NFL Free Agency thread

Except the Steelers are dumb and are too loyal to star players. They will offer him an extension after year 4 which he will take because none of the 3 are as dumb as Bell and it will be instant regret LOL

 

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports...ryan-switzer-gerry-dulac/stories/202104160021

Gerry Dulac thinks we are going to find out. He is predicting the Steelers will try to draft a featured running back with one of their first two picks this year.

"But they want a more dynamic feature back, a player who can put back in the offense a dimension that has been missing since the departure of Le’Veon Bell. They will do that in the draft, most likely in the first round, no later than the second."

 

My feelings are that this will be one of those drafts where 50% of the fan base will be upset no matter what they do. Most of the mocks I have seen don't have any running backs going until the late first, some with Harris going to Pittsburgh at 24, some with them drafting the lower ranked QB's that are left. I think if there is a top prospect at edge or OL and they pass on them for a RB in either round the other half of the Fan base will lose their collective stuff. Either way the board will be a fun place for several months

 

My feelings are usually 75 to even 95% of the fan base will be displeased for the initial reasons you stated but for some often overlooked yet critical reasons. The fact of the matter though is that those who do not conduct their research and gather the precise information are often the ones who are too indiscreet and/or oblivious to how the Steelers conduct their draft strategy since 2010. For that matter, this was placed on an even higher emphasis from 2017 onward.



Why people generally do not grasp the concept of who the Steelers select still intriguies me to no end. Care to have an example?! Darius Leonard is the latest yet ultimate example of the majority of the fan base in using aspects such as negligence, speculation and emotion rather than information gathering, fact checking and the pattern of historical trends. Again, here is the Virigna Tech Pro Day vs the South Carolina State One:


2018 Virginia Tech Pro Day:


Mike Tomlin


Kevin Colbert


Keith Butler


Teryl Austin




2018 South Carolina State Pro Day:


Personnel Member Unknown





*** All information courtesy of Steelers Depot ***





Case in point. Follow the Pro Day Circuit and check to see if both Kevin and Mike are there. If not, said "(insert player name who people believe and/or want)" is not on the list. I wish there were another way of saying this but sadly there is not. Now, how does this have anything to do with what @thorn058 just stated?!?!



Travis Etienne and Najee Harris are the top two Running Backs. Both have had Mike and Kevin at their Pro Days. One will be selected. One will not.



...... Now, let us try a bonus challenge. Throw JOKer into the equation as well. That would be interesting.

 

You keep making this argument, yet it is as poor as the first time you posted it. The argument isn't that Leonard was high on the Steelers' list that year. The argument is that he should have been, that pretty much everyone had him rated higher than Edmunds for good reason. Leonard is an All-Pro and Edmunds is a mediocre starter. It was clearly the wrong decision that day, and the years since then have proven that it was the wrong decision.

 

We have been over this. Leonard was the more highly-regarded prospect ahead of the draft. That's not hindsight.

AQL's argument basically comes down to this: The Steelers didn't like Leonard that much, so he wasn't an option. By that logic, no choice the Steelers ever make is wrong. Sadly, that is not the case.

Just because the Steelers didn't like a player doesn't mean they were right to pass on him. In the case of Leonard, based on the information available then and what we have seen since, they clearly made a huge mistake in taking Edmunds instead.

 

I started reading an article the other day about Leonard and didn't get to go back and finish it(kicking myself that I didn't) but it sorta tied into current events and how he lost his brother who was really his best friend when he was in high school and the effects of that trauma. So I'm curious if he was dealing with some of these mental health issues while in college and if it was causing some negative behavior that was causing teams to shy away from him.

 

Interesting. That said, one thing was also working against Darius even then; not being from a Power Five School. Had that been the case, I personally have no doubt that the Steelers would have had him in consideration.

 

Well... almost no one apparently.

 

Villenueva visiting with the Ravens this week.

 

Silly me. I like when the Steelers take All-Pros.

 

Might even cause Watt Wack to climb out of the swamp to make 37 posts again on why we could have drafted “insert name here” in the third round.

 

I used the fact that he was rated more highly than Edmunds to demonstrate that the Steelers should have known he was the better player. I'm using what he has done as a pro to illustrate that their poor decision ended up hurting the team.

 

Not the part about the ranking. The point is the information was available then, and that pointed to Leonard being the better player.

If I hadn't slammed the Edmunds pick as being a terrible reach at the time, then you could claim this was hindsight, but I did absolutely that.

 

I wanted them to take the next available inside linebacker, which was Leonard, though I didn't mention him by name. Inside linebacker was that team's biggest need. It was a disaster in 2017 once they lost Shazier. That first part you want to leave be is why we don't need hindsight to say Leonard would have been the better choice.

The overall point is the Steelers passed on better options to reach for Edmunds.

 

I’m not one who wants to sign every FA, but Bryce Love just got cut by WFT. I was hoping the Steelers drafted him. I’d rather take a chance on him than Ballage

 

I'd like to see the substance showing 'pretty much everyone' ranking Leonard over Edmunds pre-draft. I just went back and referenced three; two had Edmunds higher, the third Leonard.

I agree with @Blast Furnace - both were reaches at the time, but neither was being projected significantly higher that the other at the time;they both averaged mid-second to third round grades.

 

They cut him because he never fully recovered from that knee injury, Ballage is the better option.

 

Nobody said he was an obvious choice, but it was clear even at the time that he would have been a better one.

I'd love to see the article declaring Leonard the worst pick in the draft after that selection. Whoever wrote that may need another line of work. I do remember analysts on NFL Network ripping the Edmunds pick immediately.

 

I presented this evidence a long time ago. Find a ranking that actually had Edmunds ahead of Leonard. There may have been one, but I've never seen it.