Senior Bowl thread

He stunk, but if I recall was late rd choice?

 

DL is a necessity they will likely lose 3-4 guys from that group, this draft is deep at DL they need to double dip Heyward isn't getting any younger.

 

I get it... I just disagree. I'm not saying we shouldn't draft a DL, we definitely should. But with the roster we currently have, there is no reason to force one in the first two rounds. If we end up loving a particular player, fine. But we can wait until next season to draft one early and roll with a mid round guy this year if we sign a FA DL and focus on other areas of need (WR, RB, CB) early and kick the can one more year before needing to invest that type of capital on the DL. Our guys are old, but they are still a performing unit with solid depth. We want to get younger up front, but I just don't agree that it is a MUST in this offseason. We have other areas that we HAVE to address this offseason (namely our offensive weapons) and could also take a shot on a CB. We only have so many picks and there is still a whole FA period to close other holes in the roster (it will also give us a better idea on what positions we will be prioritizing in the draft).

It's simply my opinion. I know yours is different, and that is okay. I just don't agree.

 

Looks like a nice prospect. Fits the size and athletic profile we like to see with our 3T DL. Didn't know much about him prior.... What is his projection? Seeing him as a R3 or R4 target? Seems like a really good spot for us to be looking to get younger on the DL.

 

From the way Art ll was talking about the DL after getting manhandled by Baltimore twice I think they will address DL early.

 

You might be right. Art II doesn't call the shots on personnel though. Tomlin, Weidl, and Khan do and its anybody's guess what they think about the first round DL at this point in time. There are a few that slot into that mid-late first round type slot, so you might end up getting your wish.

Personally, I think its a tertiary need. We have no weapons on offense outside of Pickens. It doesn't matter if we are the best run stopping team in the whole league if we can't score any points. I'd focus there to start... All of this is a moot point until we spend our FA money anyways. We could end up signing Higgins and Slayton and then shipping Pickens for picks. That would address the WR early situation and free us up to take a DL. We could go sign someone like BJ Hill and take DL off the board completely for the first two rounds.... Lots to happen still before I start to hone in on what I think the FO is thinking.

 

Gordon is also from Oklahoma State like Warren but Gordon is bigger and faster.

 

I don't like Gordon much as a prospect. He looks VERY clunky as an athlete (maybe because he is just big?). Runs high but with power, not particularly explosive, doesn't look like he'd excel in space at the next level. It also scares me that he dropped 50 YPG, 1.5 YPC, and 8 TD's in production from his sophomore to junior year. Not really sure what to make of him.

With his size and ability to catch it relatively well, I think he can be an NFL caliber player... I just don't ever see him being a focal point of an offense. Looks like a firm day 3 prospect to me in this class.

I'd be disappointed if he was the complement to Warren we decide to go with.

 

As a fellow southpaw, I salute this.

 

With the way the Steelers got slaughtered up the middle how is DL not one of the most important positions of need?

My number 1 needs are DL and WR
My number 2 need is CB
My number 3 need is RB....not saying that it isn't a big need, but I feel that this is where you spend your mid/late round picks.

 

Because we were a top 5 unit against the run for the entire season. Yes, we got run all over in the post season, but that was on game plan more than personnel imo. We’re a team that gets massively out coached in big time situations, so that is par for the course over the past 8+ years.

with the age of the DL, it is certainly a place we want to get younger… but I don’t believe it’s our first need. Going from the 5th best run defense to the 1st isn’t going to make our team as much improved as it would going from a bottom 5 weapons unit to an above average one. We could cut Larry, sign BJ Hill and move Benton to Larry’s spot. That would be a net zero in cap space and we’d be in a good spot. We could still draft a guy in the 3rd round anyways.

Our weapons group was so bad last season, that I’m not even looking at DL until WR and RB is figured out. They’re way bigger needs. For as much as we got run on, we also had like 50 yards and 0 points at halftime of that playoff game. I’m not overreacting on the DL to a single game when the unit as a whole was successful on the year. We simply can’t go into next season with a similar weapons group.

 

I'm always of the mindset of BPA in all rounds, never draft for need. I'm not saying reach for DL in round 1, but if there is an impact WR but a bigger impact D-Lineman, I'm taking the D-lineman.

An impactful defensive lineman not only helps stop the run, it helps the edge pass rushers, it helps the guys in coverage.....it has the potential to blow up an entire offense.

As far as the Steelers run D,

the 2nd half of the season, the run defense was not great against better teams.

Ravens Pt 1 - 122
Browns Pt 1 - 85
Bengals - 93
Browns Pt 2 - 120
Eagles - 131
Ravens - 220
Chiefs - 202
Bengals - 74
Ravens pt 3 - 299

 

Well you did get some of those stats flipped. You accidentally switched our number with the opposition number

CLE part 2 -104
Eagles - 131
Ravens - 220
Chiefs - 69
Bengals - 68

The 131 against the eagles doesn’t look as bad when you realize we held them 48 yards below their season average. Ravens part 1 was 65 yards below their season average. Realistically, the run defense fared quite well outside of the two road Ravens games. Now, 220 and 299 are unacceptable… but I think it’s wrong to act like this defense struggled against the run at all during the year outside of Baltimore. Our front 7 was among the best in the league.

conversely Russ averaged 177 yards passing per game to end the year and then in the playoffs had like 50 yards at halftime before putting a bunch of loser yards up in garbage time. Najee wasn’t good, and we saw what the rest of the WR’s looked like during Pickens’ injury…. We desperately need some weapons. I’d just prefer to put a year or so stop gap on the DL and focus on our weapons. I don’t think our offense can afford to not make a big play in FA at WR and wait until day 3 for a RB.

 

Draft buzz has him rated as the nuber three edge in the draft

 

Interesting.


I have him rated sixth. Then again, as far as pure pass rushers are concerned, he is right up there with Pearce Jr and Carter. Only reason I don't have him rated any higher is that Nic Scourton from TAMU offers too much versatility while Mykel Williams is simply far too physically and athletically gifted while possessing superior edge setting properties.