Stingley - Teams will have their own views on that, but I’d have no hesitation
in taking him in the top ten. And he’s a better tackler than Gardner. He played
through the injuries some last year which impacted him, I think a clean bill of
health and he’ll be alright. The big concern I’ve been told about with him is
he’s spent all his life in Baton Rouge and needs to get out and become his own
man. I‘m all in on him.
Wyatt - there was a single allegation against him in 2020 and the charges were
dropped. He’s been clean ever since, he dominated in the toughest conference in
football, I would be happy with him as a Steeler.
Depends how far I would have to go in a trade up to get Hamilton but I wouldn’t
break the bank to do so and I’d be very conscious of what else was out there if
I stood pat at 20. True, teams are looking to trade back for value, but the
converse of that is that to trade up, the price might not be as steep as in
previous years.
On 27 Apr 2022, at 15:20, <dave.bartolini@xxxxxxxxx>
<dave.bartolini@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks for the writeups Dave, as always. It makes the draft more enjoyable to
watch for someone who doesn’t pay attention to college football (me).
I have a couple of questions/comments:
Don’t you think the injury history for Stingley is a red flag for him to be
that high? Plus, I read that he comes from the Deion Sanders school of
tackling, which doesn’t fit the mold of Steeler corners. (Regardless, he’ll
probably go off the board before the Steelers pick.
Would you trade up a few spots to draft Hamilton?
With multiple allegations of domestic violence, I hope that the Steelers
don’t pick Wyatt.
Like you, I would love to see them trade down, but I think that a number of
teams are looking to do that, so it’s going to be a buyer’s market.
Dave in MD
From: steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <steelers_pb-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of David Reid ("davidreidb46")
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2022 6:45 AM
To: Steelers List <steelers_pb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [steelers_pb] 2022 Draft: The Steelers
For a draft with very few sure fire superstars, there is a lot of intrigue
around it and as I already said, there will be a number of surprises ahead in
the coming days. Again, the strength of this draft is in rounds two to four
where positions of depth can be filled abundantly. I think that more teams
will look to trade down for extra picks in the middle of the draft or let the
draft come to them instead of being aggressive and moving up in round one.
The Steelers, picking 20th thanks to that late season playoff surge, are in a
position to take the best player available at a position of need in that spot
and should have plenty of options to choose from. Let’s talk trades, thanks
to previous trades and to the fact that they won’t get any compensatory picks
next season thanks to their free agency spree this year, picks are at a
premium for them and unless they seriously wanted to mortgage their future,
they should not trade up. Besides, unless something unforeseen happens, I
don’t think there is a player that is worth trading up for, again, value and
ratings are such that you can get a similar player at pick 20 that you can
get at pick 10. The intrigue comes from the possibility of trading down
again, for the same reason - you will get similar players at pick 30 than you
would at pick 20 and possibly you can get extra picks in the round two to
four sweet spot of the draft. When looking at the draft order, one team I
would explore trading back with is Detroit. The Lions pick at 32 and 34 and
pick 20 for Detroit should assure them of a QB, should they want to pick one.
If you can slide down 12 picks, send pick 20 in round one and the second
round pick at 52 for 32 and 34, then that’s a trade I would make (and the
Steelers may have to throw in some loose change, such as a late pick next
year to balance it out, but I’m spitballing here). 32 and 34 still keep you
in prime real estate for DB’s, OL’s DL’s and WR’s if you have a similar grade
on bunches of players at those spots.
So let’s look at positions and players. In every draft, I look at certain
players who have no right to be on the board when the Steelers pick at 20 who
the Steelers would jump at and bypass more critical needs to get them. There
is no way that these players should be there at 20, but if they do then Kyle
Hamilton, Jameson Williams or Derek Stingley will be a Steeler, they are just
too good to pass up. It won’t happen, but players sometimes fall for no
reason.
Then there are players who, reading between the lines, I think the Steelers
love, again not necessarily at a position of need, that I think would make
great Steelers and could / should be around at pick 20. Nakobe Dean, Tyler
Linderbaum, Jermaine Johnson come to mind here. These are players like Ryan
Shazier of DeCastro were when they picked him, exceptional football players
in their own right who you suspect Tomlin and Colbert are salivating over,
but not necessarily at a position of critical need. These are more pie in the
sky type selections than anything else, but if they love them as I suspect
they might, they might be a part of the conversation at pick 20 if they are
there. (Seriously, Nakobe Dean a Steeler… I would sign up for that in a
heartbeat)
Then we get real. Every mock draft in America has linked them in round one to
the position that maybe isn’t even a top three need for them at this moment,
and that is QB. I think they will pick one up, but whether that is in round
one or elsewhere is the question. Of the players that might be there, I’m
most comfortable with Pickett being that high floor / moderate ceiling
prospect that many people have labelled him as. I have doubts about Willis in
terms of his accuracy, his play from the pocket and his ability to develop in
an NFL system, he has an incredible arm, good mobility and I think that he’s
going to be a very exciting player, but can you really say that he is that
guy who can put a team on his back and take them all the way to a Super Bowl?
More importantly, can Matt Canada and Mike Sullivan be trusted to turn this
incredibly raw talent into a superstar? I think, if the Steelers pass on both
of these guys in round one, I won’t be disappointed, but if they pick one,
they have to commit to them 100% and their development, play to their
strengths, surround them with talent, protect them and nurture them. Willis
will not succeed if he is thrown into the pros early in his career. Also,
imagine this scenario, following the disaster that was last season under Ben,
say Canada fails to spark this offense with a newer, more mobile QB and gets
fired. Then what do you do? You could have a QB in Willis or Pickett or
Trubisky who once again will be facing a new co-ordinator and a new scheme to
work in which might not suit their abilities. I think they will pick a QB at
some point, but again, there are bigger, more pressing needs here. And, I say
this with one eye on next year, which should be a better, deeper QB crop than
this year.
Defensive depth is poor on this team and the age along the DL has been
another one of those ticking time bombs. Heyward is magnificent, but like
Alualu he’s getting up in years and can’t do it all by himself, Montravious
Adams was solid though. Then there’s the whole Tuitt question as well as to
what his future is and, if he does come back, how committed he will be. You
only have to remember what Dalvin Cook did to that front seven in the first
half of that game in Minnesota to see this as a major need - they were the
worst team in the league last year at yards allowed per rushing attempt. And
as poor as the Steelers were at ILB last year, I think that so much of those
problems stem from what was going on up front. If you want to salvage Devin
Bush, give him an opportunity to flow to the ball and make plays again. The
two names out there are Jordan Davis and Devonte Wyatt from Georgia. Davis is
very interesting to me, everyone is blown away by the workout numbers, but he
is a very limited player at this point, all he can do is stuff the run and
destroy a double team. Useful traits to have and he is brilliant at it, but
is that worthy of a top 15 pick? Are there enough teams out there who see the
limitations and will pass on him, or will someone fall in love with the
athleticism and potential and pick him? I think it could genuinely go either
way and I think if he falls to 20, he should be the pick because he is that
perfect fit that the Steelers crave, he can play in the rotation behind
Alualu initially and maintain that two down profile he’s got at the moment,
but they can also work on some other things and make him a three down player
if need be. Wyatt is similar, but I wonder if off the field concerns make him
fall? The third name to watch is Travis Jones, who could sneak into round one
and who could make sense if they trade back a few spots as well, I like Jones
at the end of round one. Later names to watch in rounds two to four are
Phidarian Mathis, Perrion Winfrey and Matthew Butler, all of whom they can
work with. Again, they need help here, they can’t go into the season one play
away from Mondeaux and Loudermilk being starters on this team, because they
are not NFL calibre starters.
You can never have enough DB’s, with all the different packages the team has
now there are so many roles to fill, if not as starters but also for depth.
At safety, the recent signing of Terrell Edmunds does not and should not
preclude them from looking at a safety in round one, safety seems to be
another one of those positions where the traditional strong safety / free
safety model is becoming even more blurred, with players regularly playing
both, along with slot corner and in some cases box safeties who double as
inside linebackers. Whichever way you cut it, the Steelers can pick a player
who can help them out in multiple ways at the position. As I’ve already said,
I love this group of safeties, I’m really high on Lewis Cine and Dax Hill and
they would be perfect for this team, their versatility is such a great asset
and Jalen Pitre and Jaquan Brisker in round two would be excellent pickups
too - these are all really disruptive, versatile players and playmakers.
Bryan Cook, Nick Cross and JT Woods would also be solid pickups too later on
in day two or early on day three when they would represent great value.
Corner is a lower priority, but there are players who measure up to what they
look for at pick 20 and they would be solid value, too. Trent McDuffie would
be very hard to pass up if he gets that far, Andrew Booth or Kaiir Elam if
they trade back in round one should get consideration too. I think we are
more likely to see one from round three onwards Coby Bryant, Zyon McCollum (a
really intriguing player from Sam Houston State) would be on their radar.
Then we come to receiver, another position that will be addressed early. I
expect a run on receivers before the Steelers pick in round one, to a degree
it depends on what they are looking for in terms of size, speed and role as
to who and when they choose to pick, but anyone from those top 6 names
(Wilson, Williams, London, Olave, Burks, Dotson) would fit and do well with
Burks and Dotson being the most likely to be there at pick 20. The Steelers
have had success in the early to middle rounds, but don’t forget, they also
pulled the trigger on Claypool with their first pick and you can go back to
Santonio Holmes as well for a first round pick, so it’s not out of the
question, especially if they are enamoured with one. Dotson especially fits
their mould of a great, precise route runner with good hands. The fun begins
if they slide back and pick earlier in round two as that’s when you get into
George Pickens territory, a roll of the dice, but a player who really could
wind up being the best receiver in this draft, Skyy Moore, Christian Watson
also come into play. The smart money says they will look towards round 2/3 at
a receiver, putting them in range for Alec Pierce, Wan’Dale Robinson, Khalil
Shakir, Bo Melton and Justyn Ross (assuming the medicals on Ross are clear)
again, depending on the size / speed and position they are looking to fill.
It’s hard to see them straying from these three areas early - offensive line
will be addressed, even though Zion Johnson would be a terrific pickup in
round one for them I think the need for that is lessened before round 3/4,
guys like Daniel Faalele, Abraham Lucas, Nicholas Petit-Frere, Rasheed Walker
at tackle, Ed Ingram at guard would be names to watch in that range.
Other positions that I would look at towards the end of the draft include
more depth at TE and RB. The only thing they don’t need is help for special
teams, but depth across the board continues to be a concern.
So, here’s my board for the Steelers at 20 based on my own scouting, how I
value these players based on need for the Steelers, how they fit what the
Steelers do, value and realistically who might be there.
If a player isn’t listed here, it’s because I believe that either a) there is
zero chance they will be around at pick 20 and of the top 3 names on my board
I would put the chances of them lasting to pick 20 at no more 10% and that’s
assuming lots of wild things go down and they just somehow slip through the
net or b) they would be a reach of varying degrees at pick 20 and although
they might be a good fit, they should be more suited to a selection after a
trade down.
As usual, to play along, cross the names off as they are drafted and the
highest remaining player would be my first round pick.
Kyle Hamilton
Derek Stingley Jr
Jameson Williams
Jordan Davis
Chris Olave
Dax Hill
Trent McDuffie
Lewis Cine
Devonte Wyatt
Jahan Dotson
Drake London
Kenny Pickett
Treylon Burks
Zion Johnson
Nakobe Dean
Malik Willis
Travis Jones
Andrew Booth
Devin Lloyd
Tyler Linderbaum
Like I said, buckle up, because this will be a wild, wild ride. If it is QB
in round one, I’ll reserve judgement to see just what they do in the rest of
the draft to fill the more pressing needs, but to have this draft class and
not come out of it by filling these critical needs along the DL, WR and DB
corps with quality players would be very questionable and lead itself to more
issues when the paper thin depth in those areas is pressed into action. They
enter a new era, the post-Ben era and they need to put together a team on
both sides of the ball which encourages competition for playing time, players
that fit a scheme, a system and a culture, where players are pushing each
other instead of being handed roles due to lack of alternatives. That, to me,
would make for a successful draft for the Steelers.
I’ll be here all weekend and will update things if I hear anything, let’s go!
