RPO Steelers Mock

Round Pick Player Position School
1 30 Takkarist McKinley EDGE UCLA
Alternate A Obi Melifonwu S UCONN
Alternate B Deshone Kizer QB Notre Dame

I've been locked in on McKinley and Melifonwu for awhile now. For me it's simple. The late first round gives us two paths. One is the "play it safe" path, and would produce a starter. That starter could range from the mediocre Ziggy Hood, to the impact Cameron Heyward. The other path is the "go big" path. It's got a larger bust factor element, but has the potential to be a franchise changing pick. I say we go big.

With McKinley the narrative is simple... if Dupree continues his ascension, and McKinley heads down the same path... in a year or 2 we could have the dominant edge pass rush that we've lacked for the better part of the last 10 years.

Obi likewise could drastically change the format of our sub package Nickel and Dime. He would be a weapon in the secondary unlike anything we've had outside of Troy's prime years.

And if those 2 are gone... Deshone Kizer. Sits and develops for a year or 2... and we don't miss a beat when Ben retires.

Obviously, the direction we go in the 1st round will impact where we go in the 2nd. Given we have very big needs at edge and nickel back.


2 62 Jourdan Lewis CB Michigan
Alternate A Marcus Williams S Utah
Alternate B Derek Rivers EDGE Youngstown

IMO Jourdan Lewis may be the most impactful CB in the draft. We rarely draft the "character issue" types, and a domestic violence charge is worse than a drug charge in the NFL. But if we can get past that, he can be a completely dominant slot corner... which is where our greatest need is in the secondary.

Marcus Williams probably doesn't fall this far, but if he did... we'd get a steal. A true Single High ball hawk. He would be ready to replace Mitchell within a year, and his range would allow Sean Davis to play in the box and slot more (where he belongs).

If we don't get Tak in the 1st, we have to get an edge rusher in the 2nd. Rivers isn't the most developed player available here. But his athletics are similar to what we've looked for in Dupree.


3 94 Desmond King S Iowa
Alternate A Rasul Doughlas CB WVU
Alternate B Davis Webb QB Cal

King would be a great fit in a hybrid role, a guy who can come down in the box, cover the slot, but also play Cover 2 as a safety. Really good fit for our system, but possibly too similar to Sean Davis in terms of role.

Douglas hasn't gotten the coverage he deserves. While a boundary corner isn't as critical a need going in to the season, Rasul long term upside as a #1/#2 boundary corner is too good to pass up at this stage of the draft.

Davis Webb is simply underrated. He's got the football IQ to be a pros pro. Maybe not the franchise QB long term, but could definitely bridge the gap at a minimum.


3 105 Josh Reynolds WR Texas A&M
Alternate A Shaquil Griffin CB Central Florida
Alternate B Samaje Perine RB Oklahoma St

I don't see WR as a need in this draft, but Josh Reynolds is so severely underrated that I would not be able to pass up this pick. If we get an Edge Rusher and a DB who can impact the slot in the first 3 picks, then we have the luxury here. Josh Reynolds is a luxury pick

If we did not get a player to impact the slot, then we definitely need to go with Griffin. He's got all the measurables, along with a few warts. He's not a day 1 starter, but with no visible answer in the slot anywhere else, he'd likely be the long term solution.

I'm tired of getting stuffed around the goaline. Perine would change that.

4 135 Josh Dobbs QB Tennessee
Alternate A Jake Butt TE Michigan
Alternate B Carrol Phillips EDGE Indiana

Ok, I'm on board. Dobbs athletics and deep ball skills are enough for me to buy in. Even if we have to go a round earlier to get him. There's a huge drop off in QB talent in this draft. If we have to get a guy in the 3rd, so be it.

Butt would be a good pick here, but I think we can get a comparable TE later (Sprinkle)

Phillips was impressive at the Senior Bowl. He showed versatility, was able to play off the line, stand up, rush the passer, play run. He might never be more than a rotational player, but good depth is good depth. I'd reach for DBs over Phillips if we didn't get the job done with previous picks.

5 173 Elijah Qualls DL Washington
Alternate A Jalen Myrick CB Minnesota
Alternate B Wayne Gallman RB Clemson

This is probably too late for Qualls. If we took him a round or 2 earlier I wouldn't complain. Unique athletics for an interior DL. More of a playmaker than a stuff.

Myrick can run, last chance at slot corner option in this draft.

I'm soooooooooo tired of getting stuffed around the goaline. If we don't land Perine, Gallman is my 2nd choice for a power back role.

6 213 Jeremy Sprinkle TE Arkansas
Alternate A Lorenzo Jerome S SFU
Alternate B Jordan Leggett TE Clemson

Sprinkle is the TE we should draft, he's a ++ blocker who is experienced in both zone and inline blocking. He works as a play action safety blanket, and a red zone threat. He's the ideal #2 TE for our scheme.

7 248 Jahad Thomas RB Temple
Alternate A Patrick Gamble DL Georgia Tech
Alternate B Pita Taumoupeno EDGE Utah

I like Thomas as a #3/4 RB, a returner, and change of pace back. He's a passing game asset who has a bit of explosion.

 

A well-respected local source says he was told at the Combine they wouldn't select an injured player. So, Takk is most likely out. Derek Rivers may be the first selection, with the only drawback being he didn't play at an FCS school.

 

Therefore he won't be our first round pick. I honestly think Takk, Derek, Tim Williams, and Phillips, who all had visits, are looked at as second round targets. Humphrey, J Jones, Obi, and Baker look more like their first round targets. Oh yeah, Mahommes and Kizer.

 

I think Takk is off the board unless Takk's coach's brother, the Steelers' orthopedic surgeon, provides an optimistic view of Takk's health and recovery. I believe Tim Williams was brought in for comparative purposes only. Derek Rivers will not be available at Pick 62, hence his consideration at #30. Carroll Phillips is a 4th rounder all the way. I believe the odds of drafting a QB before the third round are very, very low. Besides, there is going to be an illogical and hysterical run on QBs that will result in up to four of them being selected in the first, all way above where they should be.

 

Red Flags-

Takk- Shoulder
Williams- Pot
Rivers- Small School

All second round material. One will fall to us.

 

All of them need work. There isn't one draft prospect that has demonstrated all three skills the Steelers require of their OLBs. As Kevin Colbert himself said at the Combine, " . . . 85-90 percent of them are the defensive ends that we’re going to have to project up. So again, as we go through this, we’ll probably lose three, four, or five guys who we’ll just say are probably 4-3 defensive ends instead of 3-4 linebackers."

 

Personally I do not see TJ Watt, Kevin King or even Obi Melifonwu being at 30 (if Obi or Kevin still is I will be surprised).


Pass rushing help is needed for sure. TJ Watt gives you that within time in the season. I am also not counting out ILB or CB now but please oh please..



Stay away from Zach Cunningham. 4-3 Will only and he better be untouched.

 

I don't think the Steelers agree, since they met with Derek Rivers at the Senior Bowl, the Combine, at his Pro Day, and brought him in for a visit.

 

Maybe not first round interest, but the point I was making is, many of the top rated Edge rushers do not meet Kevin Colbert's stated criteria for a Steelers OLB.

In addition to the quote from Colbert I posted above, he also had this to say, ""The outside linebacker in our defense is probably the most difficult (to find), because 80-90 percent of them don’t play on their feet in college. And we have to try to project whether a guy can stand up and do the extra things beyond pass rushing that he’s going to be required to do in our defense. So the potential for error at the outside linebacker position is really greater than any other position, because most of the time it is a projection. So you’re looking for someone who can rush the passer, can play on a tight end or a tackle and can drop into coverage on occasion. The drop-in-coverage part, a lot of times we won’t see that until—actually when we get in here for the initial workouts, and then follow it up with some pro day advancements, as well."

I would say the biggest factor against selecting Rivers would be the level of competition he faced in college.

The Steelers' first round pick, if history can be used as a guide, will be a Jr. from a successful program in a Power 5 conference, who has a good SPARQ score. Marlon Humphrey fits the bill, as does Kevin King. Jabrill Peppers ranks 6th among safeties in SPARQ, but he offers the added dimensions that Kevin Colbert reportedly loves.

Back to the original post, I would be shocked if Takk McKinley is selected, because the Steelers have reportedly said they would not select an injured player.

 

If tomlin is going to be stubborn and run the same defense he ran in the afccg.. then we need to draft guys to make his Dream 2 Defense work...

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I don't buy comments to the media. What purpose does it serve to inform other teams on who you won't draft? The only possible purpose I can think of is to prevent someone from trading in front of you for someone you really do want

 

The fact that Tak won't be available until September... really just throws his draft projection in to the wind. On talent, I think he's a top 15 guy, but he's injured and likely won't be a big contributor in his 1st season (missing Rookie camp, OTA, Training camp, pre-season).

I haven't kept up with the tea leaves as much this year... but usually guys fall under that type of scenario. I simply think he's going to be awesome.