Steelers GM Kevin Colbert on the draft

Not exactly what the fans want to hear he said he doesn't expect any of the Steelers draft picks in the first 3 rounds to make a impact next season. He views them as projected starters at some point, but none of these players have to come in and play immediately. He wants them to progress at their own pace the exceptions were Pouncey and Hampton who started as rookies. This team was 8-8 last season they do need some young talent to make plays.

 

Thats nothing shocking or unusual.

 

Yup.

 

I think Lebeau had a gun pointed to his head and made him say that

 

What would you expect him to say? LOL

 

"We have this certain player targeted for this round, and this player for round 2 and, finally, this guy for round 3. We are really expecting these guys to come and make immediate contributions, matter of fact, we are building the entire season around these guys and will be hopeless without them! I hope this doesn't help any other team as they form their own draft boards". ~ Kevin Colbert on the Steelers draft plans

 

I think he should say "there are only 7 Hall of Famers in this draft and we are taking all of them". Then he should go on to name each one.

 

I think sometimes we coddle these rookies too much and we seem to want to put restraints on them. That's why some of our young players have been slower to develop than we'd like. Hood and Heyward have made virtually no impact up to this point in their careers. Steve McClendon, arguably our best playmaker on the line, only got limited playing time last year. Why? Because we didn't want to rush him along? Let's start drafting these guys with the expectation that they come in and contribute and then give them an opportunity to do so.

 

Actually if you listen to our defensive line coach he didn't know his assignments. The same thing happened with Hines and Antonio Brown. Brown was clearly the more explosive player, but he was a backup until he learned the playbook.

 

I think the whole first 3 picks not playing was just a blanket statement of the way they do business in general. Colbert always tries to sign cheap guys before the draft so there is no technical need where a rookie must step in right away.

He also said he expects the first 3 picks to eventually be starters.

I have no doubt they could draft a RB somewhere in the draft and he becomes our starting back during next season. If we draft Cooper or Warmack they easily could be starters day one....

 

I read something recently, I don't remember where that said that McClendon had "admitted he didn't hold gaps and play the run the way he needed to, to start at NT."

 

I'll try to dig in up again.

 

Yeah, I read that qoute from Colbert also and the first thing I thought of is, great to hear from our GM! If that's the case, then maybe it's time to part ways with Colbert. Yeah I know, look at his history of success, etc...but I saw several teams get significant contributions from players that they drafted in the first two or three picks, WHY can't expect the same thing? If our marginal or average drafts keep continuing, then count on third or even fourth place in the division coming soon!

 

This

 

Me neither, I think it is more of the same people drinking the Kool-Aid

 

Why are our expectations so low all the time? Is this why Lamaar Woodley does not come into camp in shape?
Is this why Dwyer taps out after 2 running plays. Is this why Gilbert gets manhandled by Jabbar Sheard?
If your a true Steeler fan, you must ask yourself these questions. Somebody needs to light a fire under these guys
and I am not so sure we have that here. Why are our expectations so low, that some of these guys(that will be drafted)
can't make an impact right away? Are we not an 8 and 8 team? Is our current roster so great, that we cannot replace some of
these 8 and 8 starters? These are some of the questions I would like answered, but know one seems to present these to
the Steelers. The Steelers own the media in this town, they are afraid to ask the tough questions, that need to be answered,
especially by guys making millions of dollars Colbert/Tomlin. They laugh at us fans.

 

This thread should have been over after the very first response to the OP. Blast Furnace nailed it perfectly and said everything that needed to be said. Even if it did continue on, it should have definitely been over with IowaJim's perfectly written tounge in cheek sarcastic response. The fact that it has continued on with some of the absurd asinine responses is mind boggling.

 

Didn't Mike Wallace have an impact as a rookie? Didn't AB have an impact as a rookie? Didn't BEN have an impact as a rookie? Didn't Heath have an impact as a rookie? If we draft an offensive guy early I really think we will see an impact this season.