Dan mccullers

They did have a meeting with Butler at the combine so they may be liking him as well.

On another note, I think Tupou would be a 7th rnd/UDFA target or thereabouts and maybe more at DE. More of a project like Nick Williams. He seemed to only use the bull rush though, which was surprising due to his athleticism. You think he'd be adept at the spin and some other moves. I just liked his potential but it would take awhile imo.

Derrick Alexander from Tulsa seems very intriguing though. I would prefer him over Tupou, because of his hustle. Same with Rankins. Other players may be more polished right now, but how many times have we seen Tuitt chasing guys 20 yards down the field. Love that.

When Von Bell, S, was criticized about his run defense at the combine interviews, he responded "sometimes you get lazy". Flags would go up for me if a guy said that.

 

Heres a DT that will be available after the 1st round with a lot of potential:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/2006428/austin-johnson

 

There's a lot to like about Johnson. What round do you think he goes? 2nd? I think round 2-3 would be a perfect spot to find our NT/nickel DT. Lots of good DL in this draft

 

They project him as a 2nd rounder but he could possibly be a 3rd round guy, he's a penn state guy so i'm sure he wouldnt mind staying at home as a steeler and of course if our scouting department is on the ball they know about him since he played his college ball in our backyard...

 

I'm not big on measurables as I am on production and according to this he was pretty productive in 2015:

12/06/2015 - 2015 ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM (COACHES)/SECOND TEAM (MEDIA): DL Austin Johnson, Penn State...Johnson has been a force up front for the Nittany Lions with 70 tackles, which is third on the team. He also has 5.5 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss this season. His 70 stops are third among defensive tackles in FBS. Johnson has the most tackles by a Penn State defensive lineman since Cameron Wake had 71 stops in 2003. Johnson has four outings this season with at least nine tackles. Johnson is also second on the team with 13.0 tackles for loss. He registered his first career touchdown with a 71-yard fumble return. The fumble recovery was the fourth of his career and Penn State's first fumble recovery for a touchdown since Mike Hull's 74-yard return vs. Navy in 2012. He tallied a career-high 10 tackles, including eight solo stops, at Northwestern. He also had a sack and two tackles for loss against the Wildcats. - Penn State Football

 

For those saying McLendon wasn't that good as a NT and can be easily upgraded; I believe the Steelers opponents averaged 2.3 YPC when he was on the field and something like 3.6, when he wasn't.

I understand that the numbers don't tell the whole story, but I think he was actually underrated.

 

Here’s a look at defensive tackle Austin Johnson’s Sunday at the NFL Combine.

40-yard dash: 5.32 seconds (53 of 57)
Bench press: 25 reps (20 of 51)
Vertical jump: 26 inches (t49 of 55)
Broad jump: 99 inches (t51 of 53)
3-cone drill: 7.84 seconds (41 of 50)
20-yard shuttle: 4.75 (t43 of 52)

Let’s just put this bluntly: The Combine doesn’t make or break a guy like Austin Johnson. He’s a late-first, early-second round guy. He’s a high-energy guy who plays with great leverage and will be a nasty player to contend with for guards and centers in the trenches, and no drill is going to show otherwise. Sure, comparatively speaking, Johnson’s numbers were at the bottom of the list. But he’s a bigger tackle who is not going to have blazing speed numbers or amazing agility compared to the other, much smaller ends.

But, all in all, his numbers were acceptable overall for what coaches are going to want him to do.

 

Tomlin and Colbert are at the Baylor pro day, so Billings could be a top target.

Other Baylor players
CB Xavien Howard
WR Corey Coleman - supposedly one of Haleys favs 4.37 in the 40 today
DE Shawn Oakman

 

All I see is our enemy (the Ravens) loading up at WR to attack us at our weakest area where we have little to no talent. If we go DT with our first pick, I'll be very disappointed in Colbert and it will be hard for me to envision us in any serious Super Bowl contention with a piss poor secondary.

What we've been doing the last 4 years by just putting "bodies" in the secondary hasn't and won't work. It's time to do it right.

 

That's fine the numbers may favor Mclendon, numbers can not paint the whole picture sometimes. What I see when I watch him is a guy who don't get push, this past season he did show some flashes and I will admit he got better but I would take just about any of the top 5-6 DT in this draft over him and it won't cost us 4 mil a year. JMO

 

For those saying McLendon wasn't that good as a NT and can be easily upgraded; I believe the Steelers opponents averaged 2.3 YPC when he was on the field and something like 3.6, when he wasn't.

I understand that the numbers don't tell the whole story, but I think he was actually underrated.

As I said, the numbers don't tell you all you need to know, but I thought they were worth mentioning.

And I was in no way suggesting the Steelers should have matched the $4 Mil per year, McLendon got from NYJ; that makes no sense for a player on the field for about 30% of the defensive snaps, but I don't think he's as easy to replace as you may think.

 

The Ravens are poor on D even with Weddle. It makes sense to get vertical guys with Flacco's arm and try to outscore teams with receptions and their patented long PI calls.

 

We can't have this type of player if he thinks this way. No NO and Double NO

 

link if you're interested
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2016/02/nfl_combine_2016_vonn_bell_the.html

hopefully he uses that as motivation to work very hard on that aspect because he does show some good coverage ability. I think he would've been a slight reach at 25 and could be available in the second. I just like some other safeties better.

 

First round DT/DE or a free agent is a must now. Heyward/Tuitt just played too many snaps last year. If any of them miss substantial time we would've been in serious trouble.

I hope we draft one and signed a free agent. But we need depth on the dline.

 

I agree that we need to draft and add through free agency when it comes to the DT/DE situation.

 

2.24 yards per carry when McCullers was the NT in our 34.

 

If we're just looking for a pure run-stuffing NT, then yeah, McCullers should be our guy, no need to use a high draft pick on a pure NT because we already have one.

What I like about some of these DT's in the draft is that they appear to be 3-down players. How long into their career that lasts is anybody's guess, but if we feel that a guy can retain his movement well into his 2nd contract and not balloon out like a lot of other NT-types do, then we should strongly consider drafting them at #25.

I'm liking everything I read about Billings and he remains my #1 choice. It's telling to me when Mean Joe mentions that he had some nasty to him, and that trait may be what sets him apart from the other DT's.

 

I'm not for doing NT in the first round.

 

Billings ran a 4.85 forty and weighed 311 lbs at his pro day, I could see the Steelers taking him at #25 when most fans are expecting them to go CB.

 

You shouldn't consider Billings a NT only... I'm interested in Billings because he improves the front 4 in our Nickel. We've been too tweenery on the edge in our Nickel package (due to drafting solely for 34 OLB in past). By adding Billings, we could slide Heyward outside and run more of an
under/over front.

LEO- Dupree
3tech - Tuitt
1Tech - Billings
4Tech - Heyward

You could then move seamlessly to some 4-3 fronts with Jarvis as the Sam.
SLB - Jones
MLB - Timmons
WLB - Shazier

Billings would be a great pick. He'd also be able to split NT reps with McCullers in our less used 34 fronts.

 

Big Dan can make plays but he just doesn't seem to have the conditioning needed. His best fit is short yardage situations.

McLendon, who I liked just wasn't worth the money for the snaps he was getting.

Andrew B. seems to be climbing our Board........... and maybe, he's just what we need .

Cajun