Offense or Defense

I mean...


If it comes down to Breese vs Ringo.. that would be one hell of a call there. Cannot go wrong with either imo. That said, I would not count out Cam Smith from the University of South Carolina. Absolute competitor and definitely worth a Top 20 selection.

 

Smith is My Guy right now.

 

Same.


Like JP Jr. though, I don't believe he falls to 18 anymore barring a trade up. His ball skills, tenacity and aggression scream Steelers Football. Never mind Steelers Football... he just may be the most instinctive Defensive Player not named Will Anderson Jr. That said, Christian Gonzalez from Oregon is not too far behind. Only reason I did not include him is the Steelers have not selected a PAC 12 Defensive Player in Round One since the man in my avatar. Unless Andy Weidl has a change of heart and likes heading out to the Pacific West... I would not bank on it.

 

Time for Me to really get into this now. Hope You will post more on it all.

 

*Phew....


Sadly to say, my life has taken quite the uptick in terms of work! I will do all I can and still in the process of writing the End of NFL Season Big Board and Top 32. All that remains is some tweaking and formatting. Mock drafts?!.... not too sure about that one haha!


I will see what can I do!

 

@AskQuestionsLater

What's your thoughts on Christian Gonzalez from Oregon? He has nice height and length, and apparently can play as well in zone as he does man. I really didn't pay attention to him the few Oregon games I watched so I honestly don't know much bout him outside of scouting reports.

I personally trade down to 22-25ish, if I can and pick up O'Cyrus.

 

He is one of the Big Three among corners for me; JP Jr and Cam Smith being the other two. For that matter, among the three, he has the best chance to fall to the team at pick 20. That said, I seriously doubt he will be in play.


Pittsburgh has not selected a PAC 12 Defensive Player in the First Round since the man in my avatar. For that matter, I do not think Pittsburgh has selected a PAC 12 Defensive Player not named Troy within the first Two Rounds since 1993 when Deon Figures and Chad Brown were selected. There is hope though... though how much remains to be seen.


Kevin Colbert was not one to travel much out West. Andy Weidl had some part in drafting three players from the PAC 12 for the Eagles from 2020 to 2022. Now while Weidl was not there in 2022, Howie Roseman has been on record in stating that Weidl basically ran the entire draft process... much akin to how Colbert did for his final season.



Overall though, I would love to have Christian Gonzalez. That said and, as I stated to @S.T.D .... suppose Brian Bresee is available?!?!... what is the call then?!

 

If Bresee is still on the board, I find it hard to pass him up. I guess it would ultimate be about who else would be on the board at the same time. I almost think the trenches will be addressed in the 2nd round and they'll go BPA in the first round. I just won't be surprised if the Steelers take a WR in the first. Not saying that's who I wish we grab.

Speaking of Oregon guys... What's up with Noah Sewel, some boards I see him as a top 15 guy and others he's as low as the 3rd round. The range of some of these guys is wild.

 

I'm interested in who the steelers are looking at in free agency. That will tell us more about who they select in the draft

 

Did you see the high school highlights of Bresee? It is ridiculous, literally a man amongst boys. That never quite translated over to college though. My fear with him is he had a hard time staying healthy at Clemson and his production was spotty. With Ringo I really hope we stay far away from him. He got toasted in the playoff game against Ohio State. He doesn’t seem twitchy or instinctual to me. He had the benefit of the best front seven in all of College Football. I would stay far away from him. My preference is Gonzalez, Smith, Porter Jr. and Witherspoon. One of those guys should be available at 17 for us. Then go after Drew Anderson in rd. 2 and Vorhees at Guard with the second pick in rd 2 or a LT prospect and move Dan Moore Jr. over to left guard. I would love Torrence at guard but I don’t think he will be their with our first pick in the second rd, plus I don’t want to risk missing out on Drew Anderson at ILB. He is a more athletic version of Spillane which is exactly what we need. I would not sign resign Mack or Bush as the production was average to below average, especially what we were paying those guys.

If we can resign Sutton, Edmonds, Kazee and Ogunjobi or a comparable replacement I think our defense will be lights out when you add those draft picks to the equation. Finally draft JL Spinner Box Safety from Boise and watch out. I would play him in the box on passing downs instead of one of the Linebackers to cover the tight ends and rb. They key for them to get better this year is how they manage free agency. We have a lot of guys who aren’t worth bringing back but we do have some key components if we manage the salary cap correctly that we need to bring back. We can not lose Sutton and we need to solidfy the DT position and the SS position.With our needs at CB, OL and MLB we have to fill some of these other positions like DL and SS in free agency. I really believe if we solidfy the back end of our defense this defense could be elite.

 

If they sign Sutton they will not select a corner in the 1st.

Personally I feel they won't select a corner but a left tackle in the 1st.

Defensive Line or possibly a corner with their first 2nd rounder.

 

I agree with everything your saying. However, I don’t think this draft is very deep at DL. If we are truly to fulfill the CB, OL, DL and ILB in this offseason we have to look to free agency in addition to the draft to build this team. I would focus on drafting CB, OL, ILB in the draft with the first three picks and look to free agency to fulfill the DL position. I like Oginjobi but if we could some how retain Sutton and Edmunds and upgrade Ogunjobi with Derron Payne or Javhon Hargraves that would be a windfall. I think in the draft you either draft an elite Guard to replace Dotson or move Moore over to guard and draft a LT. The issue is there really are no elite LT’s in this draft. There are elite CB’s however and in my mind we need to get one of them in this draft. The only ILB that excites me in this draft is Drew sanders from Arkansas. He seems to have all the intangibles along with the twitchy athletic ability.

 

Yep thats my biggest fear. This defensive backfield was an enigma this year. They produced a lot of turnovers but they also gave up a lot of chunk plays. If they signed Sutton and drafted an elite CB in the first this would set up the defense for years. It would help Minkah, it would help the front seven. I really feel like the CB position is a bigger need than the OL position. This is not a great draft for OL so why reach for one when the draft is loaded with CB’s. I watched the supposedly best LT prospect in the playoffs from Ohio State and he looked about the same as what we are all ready getting from Dan Moore Jr.

 

Not Ringo

 

Rd1 Broderick Jones LT
Rd2 O'cyrus Torrence LG
Rd2. Emmanuel Forbes. CB
Rd3. Best LB or slot corner.

By the way, I have a 1st Rd grade on all top 3 players.

Jones Torrence and Forbes.

Think Jones is the 2nd best Tackle. But the best Run blocking tackle. I think O'cyrus is the best Olineman period. And a massive run blocker. And Emmanuel Forbes is my #1 corner. Don't get why he is so lowly rated. I like Devon Witherspoon and Clark Phillips too.

The top 4 corners don't strike me as better than those ranked 5-8. Joey Porter will be hard to pass up for obvious reasons. But I don't think neither he, Gonzalez, or Cam Smith are clearly superior. And Ringo looks like an athletic safety misdiagnosed as a corner.


DL can be fixed in FA. Get a corner and 2 O-line men. Fix that line to run on anyone and play action pass with Kenny.

Then get a ball skills corner.

Everything else is gravy. Maybe the best LB I'm the 3rd

 

Don't believe they will spend two of thier top picks on offensive linemen. The O line didn't play all that badly in the last few games. I think it more likely that they'll go with one O line pick in the second and go defensive backfiel or inside linebacker with their top 2 picks. But again it all depends on who they sign in free agency

 

True. It went from bad to above average. But we can go from above average to close to elite.


Perhaps trade back and get another 2nd and take O'cyrus. I'll be fine with that.

I just need smash mouth to be the standard next season.
O'cyrus and Forbes 1-2 might work.

I think both are easily middle of the 1st talent wise.

 

best SS in the draft should help what we have at CB once we sign sutton. helps the pass, helps the run.

i want them to actually use mark gilbert.

https://www.steelers.com/team/players-roster/

see what we have in some of these signings as well.

 

I like Ringo better! Either one would be a great pick!

 

Hmm
It would be hard to say no, but You know where I'd like to go.

 

Speaking of which. You excited for tonight???

 

Is Ringo everyone's #1 corner? I have him 7th in my rankings

1. Emmanuel Forbes
2. Cam Smith
3. Devon Witherspoon
4.. Christian Gonzalez
5.. Clark Phillips
6. Joey Porter
7. Kelee Ringo

 

You know it. Hopefully that TCU qb doesn’t have a career game against our pass defense

 

No