Calijah Clancey

Do you take this guy in the first if he is there and you are the Steelers? Would he be a good fit on our defense? He is the closest thing to you know who since he came out. He obviously is great at interior pressure and getting to the QB. How good is he against the run, double teams and stopping the run when it is coming right at him?

I would like to see about 15 more lbs on him and some more upper body mass but maybe that is just nit picking.

 

He has great quickness and he makes quite a few plays in the backfield, but he is nowhere near Donald's level. He is probably a better fit for a 4-3 defense, but the Steelers play many of those same principles these days, anyway.

I would consider Kancey at 32, but not 17. It just seems odd to me the way he is suddenly moving up draft lists since the end of his 2022 season.

 

He was Acc defensive player of the year, I expected more from him
This past season but he was constantly double teamed, I see he is listed in the
Late thirty's, I totally missed on Aaron Donald, I am not sure if there is another Aaron Donald out there?

 

https://triblive.com/sports/pitt-star-calijah-kancey-sets-record-at-nfl-combine/

He ran the fastest 40-yard dash by a defensive tackle at the Combine since ESPN started keeping track in 2007, 4.67 seconds. He is small for a DT at 280 pounds, but the guy can play.

By the way, it is Kancey, not Clancey.

 

There you go. You can tell I watch alot of Pitt Football.

 

I am very leery of players that suddenly begin to "climb" in the ratings. I would maybe consider him in the third round. But certainly not one or two

 

I am also hesitant about guys who climb the rankings. That said, Kancey isn't some workout warrior who didn't make plays in college. I think the combine helps because teams get measurements on him that they can trust, which is important when the primary question about a guy is his lack of size. On the other hand, I think there is an element of teams being afraid to miss on someone like Aaron Donald. They should put their minds at ease. I understand the comparison, but Donald was and is a hell of a lot better.

 

I understand. But he's 6 feet and a little bit tall and weighs around 280 I think? Kind of small for a NFL Defensive lineman. My concern is he would get swallowed up the large offensive linemen in the NFL

 

I have the same concerns about Kancey. I certainly wouldn't take him at 17 for that reason.

 

For the love of God, not another Tweener.

Tomlin already has Loudermilk and Leal from the last 2 drafts trying to play DT on a 3-4 Defensive front, do you really want to add another player who is not a true DT to the mix?

 

Well he's a bit different of a tweener. Leal and Loudermilk really only kicked into 3 tech sometimes. They never actually were played as full time DT. If someone needed to play 1 or 0 it was always Alualu or Adams.

Kancey isn't actually a tweener at all. He is a true DT.... just a smaller DT that plays a different style. He isn't the fat guy whose job is to clog up the middle and die in the hole (NT). He is more like Aaron Donald in that he wins with speed, explosion, leverage, and hand usage.

 

i still wouldn't mind us looking into andrew billings. i would like to see mazi smith at some point drafted. we play so much 2 down lineman sets anymore.