OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: The Long and Boring Wait

[sniugneP]

I still think it sucks we have to wait until May for the draft now.

Yeah, it really sucks.

I'm not really concerned about PSU receivers that didn't produce well in NFL. Robinson was playing in offense coached by O'Brien instead of conservative Paterno offense so that might change.

Calvin Pryor, a safety from Louisville, visited the Steelers. It may be a smokescreen since we don't need a safety. We already locked up Troy and Mitchell for few years.

Brock Vereen (S from Minnesota) and Bruce Ellington (WR from S Carolina) also visited Steelers. Vereen is projected as 6th-7th round pick. Ellington is likely taken on second draft day (2nd-3rd round).

Tomlin said he expected Wheaton takes a significant step in his second year. He didn't play much in last season because of his broken finger. He took a surgery to repair his finger after last season. I didn't know he was injured, I thought he was struggling to adjust in his first pro year.

 

[JTG]

He was injured very early on too, if I remember correctly.

 

[sniugneP]

Odell Beckham dines with Steelers after LSU pro day. Kiper had Steelers pick Beckham at 15th pick.

 

[Captain Hook]

McShay has the Steelers selecting Darqueze Dennard in his latest mock. He has both Justin Gilbert and Dennard still on the board when the Steelers pick but says he thinks Dennard is more physical and a better fit for the Steelers defense.

He has the Steelers taking Texas Tech TE Jace Amaro in the 2nd round. Says the Steelers have bigger needs but Amaro had a higher grade than anyone at other positions of need for the Steelers at that point in his mock.

 

[sniugneP]

From ESPN....

Ohio State’s Ryan Shazier and UCLA’s Jordan Zumwalt are meeting with the Steelers at their practice facility as well Washington State safety Deone Bucannon.

Shazier has been widely projected as a first-round pick and the Steelers would be looking at the former Buckeyes star as an inside linebacker.

Shazier recorded 101 tackles in 2013, the third-highest single-season total in Ohio State history, and the 6-foot-1, 237-pounder has excellent speed.

The Steelers will almost certainly get only one crack at Shazier, as he shouldn’t get drafted any later than the early part of the second round.

Zumwalt also projects as an inside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme, and the former UCLA star is expected to get drafted in the third or fourth round. The 6-4, 235-pound Zumwalt recorded 91 tackles last season and intercepted a pair of passes.

Bucannon is one of the top safeties in the draft and is in the tier of players at the position after Alabama’s Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Louisville’s Calvin Pryor.

 

[Bennett Brauer]

Interesting stuff, no matter what though, if he's still there, Dennard is the pick to make.

About another Steelers draft target, he might drop to the 2nd round because of this.

FSU WR Kelvin Benjamin blows off NFL team workout

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...da-state-wr-kelvin-benjamin-blows-off-workout

In an interview last August, five months before he would catch the game-winner in the National Championship Game for Florida State, Kelvin Benjamin labeled himself "lazy," admitting he "didn't have a good attitude" and took "plays off."

According to NFL Media analyst Gil Brandt, when an NFL coach recently went to work Benjamin out, the wideout told the coach "he was too tired" and blew off the workout.

 

[sniugneP]

Never mind.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Interesting stuff, no matter what though, if he's still there, Dennard is the pick to make.

About another Steelers draft target, he might drop to the 2nd round because of this.

FSU WR Kelvin Benjamin blows off NFL team workout

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...da-state-wr-kelvin-benjamin-blows-off-workout

I've seen a number of draft pundits dropping Denard to the second. The last comment I read was that he had "rusty hips".

I'll try to post some of the articles when I get a bit of time to dig them up.

 

[OnMyOwn]

One mock I saw Dennard going 30th. He must be slipping. It's a deep draft so I'll be happy with plenty of options. I think BPA is the way to go

 

[Pick87your71Poison]

Def feels like Dennard is slipping and giving the position need and no clear other great option at a big position of need, esp in those that are toughest to fill, it'd be hard to see us passing on him there

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Who did Dennard murder? He went from top 12 lock to fringe 1st/2nd rounder overnight.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Who did Dennard murder? He went from top 12 lock to fringe 1st/2nd rounder overnight.

Seems like this happens every year with a player or two. Last year ( before combine and pro days) every analyst had Damontre Moore DE Texas A&M going in top ten. He was talked about a lot. Then suddenly his stock dropped. Didn't get picked til 3rd round.

 

[JTG]

I think this is the draft to back up.

 

[Dick Sledge]

I think this is the draft to back up.

Unless 1 of about 4 players aren't available this would be ideal.

The only problem is that other teams might be trying to do the same thing. Maybe Bridgewater falls and the Browns want to trade up or something along those lines.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Trade down into the 20s , pickup a 2nd and 3rd. Trade that pick ( whatever it is in 20s) to a bad team who is jumping back into the first round and get their first round next year( which would likely be top ten) and another 2nd and 3rd.

Giving us no first round pick this year but three 2nd round picks, three 3rd rounders and two first round picks next year.

POW!

Retool this team.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I've been a Dennard guy all along but perhaps Steelers prefer a guy like Roby or Fuller who project as zone CBs and could be had in a trade-down situation? I really feel like Dennard is the class of the position and a future top corner in the league (of course I'm wrong about this stuff all the time), but I suppose it depends on scheme and value.

 

[JTG]

Trade down into the 20s , pickup a 2nd and 3rd. Trade that pick ( whatever it is in 20s) to a bad team who is jumping back into the first round and get their first round next year( which would likely be top ten) and another 2nd and 3rd.

Giving us no first round pick this year but three 2nd round picks, three 3rd rounders and two first round picks next year.

POW!

Retool this team.

Ideal scenario

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I heard on the radio about some small school corner that dominated the competition, and he was thought to be more talented than Ike coming out. He used to be a soccer playing and that's why he has great feet. He would be a top pick if he played division 1.

I didn't catch his name though. Does anyone know who he might be by chance? Going off my crap memory I think his name was Desir?

Any thoughts on him as a mid rounder?

 

[Captain Hook]

Yeah, Pierre Desir is his name. He played college ball at Lindenwood. I've seen a few people mock him to us with our comp pick at the end of round 3.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

I was planning on taking him then in the NFL Board mock, but he was gone by that point. I want him on this team, but I think yinz all know my fondness for small school projects. Desir appears to have all the talent and measurables you can want in a corner, he just needs to be refined a great deal. Lindenwood is DII, so you can't draft him expecting to get anything more than special teams out of him in year one.

I wound up taking a guy who I'd consider closer to Ike Taylor circa 2003 in Phillip Gaines, though Gaines had a far more productive college career.

 

[JTG]

+

=

 

[sniugneP]

I wouldn't be opposed to drafting 2 CBs in first 4 rounds.

 

[Dick Sledge]

I wouldn't be opposed to drafting 2 CBs in first 4 rounds.

Or 2 pass catchers. WR x2 or WR + TE.

 

[JTG]

I don't think wideout is as pressing as corner. Wideout, with Heath back healthy, Brown, Wheaton a year more experienced, and Bey...we should be OK. Not the best.

CB is just beyond weak for us.

 

[sniugneP]

Agreed. Ike will be gone after 2014. I'm not sure Allen will be ready for full time starter yet. Gay is decent nickel back. After that, it's not much. They added McCain but I'm not expecting much from him.

We have much better depth in receiving corps. We added Moore and DHB. Let's not forget Justin Brown and Moye. They're decent receivers and more experienced.