Early 2021 draft talk

Liam or Sam please!!

 

Perhaps.



That said, placing a player in an unwinnable situation is not going to help either. Cameron McGrone for me is the more natural fit due to his familiarity of being a Linebacker his whole time at Michigan. Nevermind that, the familiarity Tomlin will have will be greater as McGrone replaced Devin Bush; a very good job at doing so. McGrone is not nearly versatile like JOK but he does have tremendous athletic abilities.



As for JOK, he was moved around quite a bit this season position wise if I recall. I am less worried about his talent as that is not in question for me; a top 20 player at that. My question is the lack of experience at one position; a carbon copy of Isaiah Simmons. For that matter, Simmons struggled greatly out the gate this season and only caught fire in the final four weeks albeit in limited bursts. I fear a similar growing pain for JOK.



Now, this said, if he tears it up at the combine, many negatives I have of him shall be forgotten.

 

Where does NT fall in the draft needs or have they totally moved to subpackage football

 

Minkah then?!?!


Realistically, Minkah has played Free, Strong and Slot Corner all season long; pre snap and/or post snap.



At any point, fair enough!! I just would like a good Linebacker to pair with Bush. No doubt JOK is the more versatile Defensive Weapon. That said, McGrone is not a bad option.

 

I have no idea what round they go, but if Khyiris Tonga is there in the 4th I would take a look, Massive body, can clog the middle and has shown good athletic ability for his size.

 

Is he polished or like Big Dan a work in progress

 

BYU I believe 3 year starter. During the 2020 season, Tonga recorded a total of 36 tackles, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble, three quarterback hurries and five pass breakups.

Not really pimping him, just like the name lol.

 

You should try doing it as early as you can Blast! Makes it much easier to scope out those gems!!

 

Nothing like testing it out with mocks on fanspeak. Rankings are pretty volatile this early, but its fun to see who you can get in each round... This one I did tonight for 4 rounds was solid:




No chance the Steelers get this lucky, but it is kinda fun to dream

 

That would be a good draft, do not know if Leatherwood or even Harris makes it that far in the 1st. Torn if they have to make a choice, a possible decade or more of solid OL performance, a relatively cheap rookie deal on a unique RB that is a game changer. IDK, either way is safe, but I really like Najee.

 

After this chit show by pouncey once again, I'm all in on Josh Meyers. Center OSU.

 

It been time for a center

 

I have a hard time justifying a high draft pick on a RB when we have seen in the NFL that if you have a good Oline, an average back can do what you need him to do.

 

Maurkice Pouncey just retired. You just might get your wish. I also have been impressed with Josh.


Have to do some more tape study on him though.

 

Guys when it comes to the draft, I think we need to consider where we have holes and where we don't. What positions do we have someone who can play, and where do we have a glaring hole.

DL - If Alualu comes back, and I think he will. All set.
ILB - Williams and Bush are both back
OLB - Dupree may leave, but Watt and Highsmith are then starters.
CB - Haden and Nelson are both back. Depth is a concern, but I think Pierre and one of Hilton and Sutton, maybe all of them are back.
S - Fitz and Edmunds are both back.

So when you look at the D, there aren't any "starting" spots open. Are there guys we are going to sign? Yes as guys like Dupee, Sutton, Hilton, and even Spillane are out there, but I don't see the need in the draft to be taking a bunch on D as your starting positions are basically full. On offense, not so much.

QB - Ben is going to retire. Is Rudolph your starter? Really? Maybe he's a stopgap, I just don't know. Could we move up to the top 10-12 again like we did with Bush to get our next starter? I just don't know.
RB - Conner may be back, but really we need a guy here as well. Snell is a stop gap depth guy. Conner I don't think will be here. MacFarland I don't know enough about yet. He needs an initial hole to get anything, he isn't going to make his own holes, but you never know.
WR - Even if JuJu doesn't come back, the other top 3 are. RayRay I think we will bring back. I think they will try with JuJu I just don't know.
TE - Ebron and Ben never seemed to click. Sadly, this may have had to do with practice, but the never clicked. I am fine with him, Radar, and Gentry for a year. Am I stocked? No, but I can tolerate this for a year as we fix other issues.
C - If Pouncey goes, which I think he is going to, we have no one. I mean no one. It becomes our highest need. Dotson, XXX, and Decastro is a potentially good group. That being said, I don't think we need one in the first. I think we can get one in the 3rd.
RT - I don't think he is great, but we made it with him starting at RT this year. Someone like Feiler or Banner can be brought in for competition. I can live with it.
RG - Decastro has one more year. He is still very good. He is a good starter.
LG - It should be Dotson's job to lose. Going to be a good one.
LT - AV is done and needs to go. I want a guy at that spot who can handle the defensive end or OLB by himself more regularly.

So if I'm running the draft right now, I think I go one of a couple of ways.

QB
OT
RB
C

or

OT
RB
C

I think it depends what we have as options for draft partners, but I think this is going to need to be a HEAVY offensively focused draft. Just way more holes to fill.

 

Bush wasn't great when healthy yet, now he's trying to be on a repaired knee. He may not be fully healthy when next season starts. Vince shouldn't start for any team. I don't agree that we are set at that position at all. In fact it is a position of great need at this point. It makes the rest of the defense weaker.

center
ILB
CB
OT
TE
OG
DT

 

I could see a draft like that, and I agree ILB is very thin. I think whatever they can do in FA (if anything and of course) will guide the draft. C, OT, ILB, could all be at play for 1, but I still think every now and then there is a guy who just may be a difference maker..if Najee is there you have to take a look. A potential 1400 - 1600 all purpose back.

 

There is a good chance Mac Jones is available at 24 when the Steelers pick...how many of you are watching this game tonight?

 

I get what you are saying but unless they find linemen no runner will flourish. We have Smallwood in the wings as well, I know he didn't play this year but had some good carries the prior year for us. If there are holes our rbs can run through them.

 

There are so many holes in this team you could definitely just go BPA.

 

I would take Harris at #24, Etienne and Sermon not interested in them in the first round.