OK, can you outdraft them?

So, I see the usual "endlessly defend their draft" folk out and about.

No matter how obvious some of this is, they will just parrot "We can't know if this is a good draft for 2-3 years, blah, blah, blah."

Well, I'm here to say we can, at least partially. (When a guy is taken 2 rounds before anyone else would have picked him, that is a bad pick regardless.)

So, here are the rules: No taking anyone who was picked before your picks and no use of trades as they are impossible to predict. That's it. I am saying here and now the draft I pick will outperform the crap they did and we will know in 2 years as a fact.

Round 1. Their pick - Edmunds. My pick - Harold Landry, OLB Boston. Problem? Don't we already have 2 starting OLBs? I'd say we have closer to 1. Dupree is weak sauce. I'd try BD inside and worst case scenario, BD is starter for 1 more year and we ease Landry into playing time. Landry certainly has a bigger upside to helping this team than does Edmunds, who some had as a 5th round prospect.

Round 2. Their pick - Washington. My pick - Justin Reid, S, Stf. No brainer. A much better player than Edmunds taken a round later. He would instantly become the best DB on the roster. He is so good in coverage, he can even play CB. Edmunds will prove a liability - watch and learn.

Round 3. Their pick Mason Rudolf, QB. My pick Orlando Brown, OT. We don't need Ben's replacement yet oand Masin isn't that special. Never can have enough OTs and Brown is a high value here.

Round 3b. Their pick - Chukwuma Okorafor, OT. My pick -
Keke Coutee WR Texas Tech. Fills the Bryant hole. Has sizzling speed and will fill slot role well.

Round 5. Marcus Allen, S. My pick - Genard Avery, ILB. There is our plugger and depth at ILB.

Round 5b. Jaylen Samuels, RB. Doesn't really matter, stay put.

Round 7. No one cares.

 

I rated the Steelers draft a C. I would have been okay with your draft if that's how it went down. I would still rate your draft a C. I'm not sold on Landry ending up any better than Dupree. I didn't want Rudolph, but I would rather have Rudolph than a backup tackle. Neither would help this year.

If I could go back and redraft in hindsight, I would have sold the farm to move up and get Evans. I would have given up a 2nd and our 3b picks, and maybe a 3rd next year. We still could have gotten Reid or even Ronnie Harrison in the 3rd. If we would have gotten Evans and Reid, Edmunds, or Harrison I would have graded the draft and A no matter who our other selections were.

 

Round 2. Their pick - Washington. My pick - Justin Reid, S, Stf. No brainer. A much better player than Edmunds taken a round later. He would instantly become the best DB on the roster. He is so good in coverage, he can even play CB. Edmunds will prove a liability - watch and learn.

Am i the only one that did not want Justin Reid? I watched a ton of this kid and i was just not impressed.
You got to understand that the Steeler's will be using Edmunds in a way that Reid is not able to be used.
Edmunds is not gonna be a traditional safety. They got Morgan Burnett for that, and that is why there was no need for Justin Reid. I've seen quite a bit of Burnett and i think a lot of the people on here are really underestimating him. He will be a very solid starter for us which then allows Edmunds to play a more hybrid role. There was no other safety in this draft other than Derwin James and Minkah able to play a variety of positions like Edmunds will be able to play.
Also, i don't believe teams are going to be honest with anybody on who they had and where on their board because eventually that kid will be a free agent and why would teams tip their hat on who they like? So teams might have had him on their board and we will never know. Who knows maybe he wouldn't have been available in the 2nd round to us.
Next I like Harold Landry, but they Steeler's drafted Watt last year and just gave Dupree the 5th year option which means they believe he will make the next step, only time will tell. But if we picked Landry in the 1st he definately would not have been starting over Watt or Dupree who will be having a contract hit of 9.2 million this year. So i believe Harold Landry would not have played more snaps then what Edmunds will be playing in sub packages this year.
Next Last year was the first year in how long where Ben didn't miss a game. If Ben Retires in 3 years then Rudolf is a great pick this year. Rodgers sat for 3 years remember. It will help Rudolf to sit this long especially since he came from the air raid offense. Orlando Brown is going to be out of the league in 5 years book it! I watched a couple games and his combine and he just does not have that fire needed to be a good Lineman. At least that's my thought. Id rather have a Raw Chukwuma who isn't expected to start that is Athletic and Strong than Brown. Especially if it means no Mason Rudolf.
Next James Washington will be our 3rd Receiver this year. It will be like Ju Ju all over again. I hated the Ju Ju pick last year i admit it but by game 3 i loved it. I will never question the Steelers when it comes to receivers as long as Colbert is there. I believe they have earned at least that much!

Lastly, i believe Jaylen Samuels is gonna be a huge component of this years team. I don't know if you have ever seen him play but he is also very versatile. He will never be an every down back but he will be used as full back if needed, pass blocking, short yardage situations (dude is a rock) and he has good hands for passing downs. if you have not seen game tape on him i suggest you do. You will be pleased.

I get why people are upset, no big splash moves other than Rudolf, with the Steeler's in win now mode these are the players that will see the field the most i believe because of the Versatility they offer (other than Rudolf who is Strictly Future unless injury).

I loved this Draft!

 

your rd 7 pick of who cares, will end up being the steal of the draft at rd 7. you cant know when Edmunds would have been picked. you are listening to way to many so called experts. they can even get the top 5 right

 

You are using some hindsight in your after the draft mock. Now you know that S Justin Reid would be available in the 2nd, at the time no one knew for sure and many had a 1st round grade on him.

So, I'll play along using your rules:

1st OLB Harold Landry

2nd WR DJ Chark

3rd QB Mason Rudolph, I don't trade up so he might not be available here

3rd S Troy Apke

5th ILB Genard Avery

5th DT Tim Settle

7th DE Zach Seiler

7th DE Hercules Mata'afa



I know, too many DL guys. Landry would be an OLB. Settle is a nose tackle, backup to Hargraves. Seiler is a DE backup. And Mata'afa is a backup OLB.

 

Sorry the idea that you're picking an OLB in the first round already puts you off to a bad start. To suggest not taking Rudolph when available at the 3rd is also foolish, considering Ben can't make up his mind on what he wants to do contemplating retirement whenever he feels like publicly.

I won't even to bother mentioning the value the Steelers got with Marcus Allen in the 5th round or how that will help the defense in situational sub-package defenses.

Glad you're not in charge of drafting players. Would be very interesting to see how your players rate 3 years out. My thinking is you won't want this post to be found.

 

I don’t necessarily think people are “endlessly defend their draft” types. They just know that knocking someone we haven’t even seen play yet is absurd. I think being upset about a draft is absolutely fine if you wanted them to go a different way, but saying we had a bad draft before any of these guys have even put on a jersey is wrong.

You’re parrot phrase is true though... it’s impossible to look at a draft on paper and project who will be good and who won’t be in the future. We don’t know how each player will be used in our scheme or how our scheme is evolving. We don’t know the work ethic and desire of each player, etc. I know it’s annoying and cliche, but it’s true.

We don’t know for sure that nobody else would’ve picked Edmunds (who you are most certainly referencing with this quote) for another 2 rounds. Maybe Mel Kiper wouldn’t have, but who cares what he thinks? How salty would you have been if we took LeVeon Bell in the first round? Would’ve been a big reach (some even thought he was a reach in the second), but he’s a stud and would’ve been worth it. Same with AB. Had he gone in the first round everyone would’ve been up in arms about picking a “mid/late round no-name”. He also happens to be the best receiver in the game... Would’ve been a home run pick. We as fans put too much stock in the pre draft values of players and trying to slot them where they “should” go. No one gets “over drafted”. They go where they go and their career decides whether or not they were worth the investment.

I wish I could participate in this game, seems fun. I don’t know enough about the other players to do a redraft though. My passion for college football is almost completely gone minus the Buckeye games. I would’ve thrown a Buckeye in there somewhere I guess for the sake of homerism.

 

Watt, you have lost your mind. Reid is not great in coverage. He dropped for a reason. Needs, you never read my posts. I'm so disappointed.

The rules have changed this year for the league. They are going to and will be calling pass interference early and often as of the league meeting. Reid is known as a grab first defender. I'll rest my case.

 

This alone is why this draft would yield devastating consequences. I will even look past the aspect the Steelers did not bring in one pass rusher during the Pre Draft Visit period.


How is selecting a pass rusher in round one going to resolve any of the following issues we had going into the 2018 season? They are as follows;



1.) Find a "multi role" player improve a secondary that gave up the most touchdown passes of 50 yards?


2.) Find a "multi role" player with the range necessary to assist a secondary that allowed 13 pass plays of over 40 yards or more from a season ago?


Most importantly..


3.) Find a "multi role" player to incorporate more Nickel and Dime defensive concepts to "replace" the previous "multi role" player.


"Why is 'multi role"' being used so much?" you ask? Pittsburgh's defense requires every player to perform multiple roles wearing different hats; Outside Linebacker notwithstanding.


Here in lies the issue, Harold Landry has not ever performed and does not achieve this in any capacity. He is a throwback, pin the ears pass rusher who sole purpose is to "seek and destroy"; exact opposite of the "multi role" player we need and much less at outside linebacker.



With all due respect to mcam, I did not quote his entire post simply due to the fact his first sentence highlights 58 years of what the Steelers have never in the draft; panic and place all hopes on the present based on "hot takes" and ignore the future. The Rooney's, as I have stated multiple times, have had their "days in the dumps" but not their "years in purgatory" since the merger. Every team has a bad draft class.



Once again though, do their successes far outweigh their failures?

 

Coutee is a 5'9 slot guy, Bryant is a 6'4 outside WR Coutee's role wouldn't be to replace Bryant .

 

And a squeak squeak here and a squeak squeak there.....

 

I think the Edmunds pick was a reach and not happy about that. That said, with the LBers available I can understand why they didn't take any but I think the Rudolph pick was a good one. The reason is he won't be thrust into having to start right away, it will give him time to develop. I also think he fits the way the Steelers play and that is very important.

If you put Ben on another team he may not have been very good, he just fit the team. I said the same thing about Brady, he doesn't do well when pressured and had he played on the Steelers he would have looked mediocre since the majority or Ben's career was playing with a horrendous o-line. Mason Rudolph I think was a gift that will pay off and we will be happy for that pick when Ben retires.

Joshua Dobbs missed open receivers downfield consistently, he has accuracy issues that can't be fixed, the same think with Lamar Jackson, if forced to throw Jackson won't do much in the NFL, and I was worried we were going to get him when he was still there at 28. I don't know who Okorafor is so I can't say how I feel about that pick but with Munchak working with him it may turn out well.

Marcus Allen is another box type safety, good tackling but another safety with no coverage ability, I'm a Penn State Fan, I watched him get beat in coverage too many times to know what he is about. He is a sure tackler that would only be able to really contribute in run situations, he will struggle trying to cover a slot receiver or even a TE or RB out of the backfield.

The Steelers were thinking outside the box for sure and I think Reid fell in the draft thanks to his brother. I still would rather have him than Edmunds just because he has more coverage ability, and by the looks of the picks I'm going out on a limb by saying that the team appears not to have faith in Sean Davis or they aren't going to have Artie Burns line up in man coverage anymore.

 

Okay here is my captain hindsight redraft.

Round 1: Terrell Edmunds
That's right I would still pick Edmunds. Evans and LVE were gone and you said no trades. Two biggest needs were saftey and ILb. Linebackers were gone so I will take the same saftey the Steelers chose.

Round 2: Malik Jefferson
We needed to get a solid linebacker prospect in the draft. This was their last chance to get one. Bostic as a stopgap is okay. I think by mid season Malik would have won the job.

Round 3: Michael Gallup, WR, Colorado St.
Washington may have better numbers in college, but Gallup can run a complete route tree.

Round 3B: Josh Sweat, Edge, Florida St.
Competition for Bud

Round 5A: Marcus Allen, S, PSU

Round 5B: Jaclyn Samuels, RB, NCST

Round 7: Josh Frazier, DT, Bama

There you go. Steelers get 2 of the better linebacker prospects, 1 inside, 1 outside. They still get the safteys they coveted. And we still get an excellent reciever to boot. I like this draft much better than I do the real one.