Steelers host Aaron Williams, 3 prospects

[PSU_dropout43]

4 prospects, including potential No. 1, visit Steelers
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
By Ed Bouchette

Texas cornerback Aaron Williams, considered a strong possibility as the Steelers' first-round draft choice, is among four college prospects visiting them today.

The others are San Diego State wide receiver Vincent Brown, South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders and Virginia Tech safety Davon Morgan.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11110/11 ... z1K5757Eol (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11110/1140625-100.stm#ixzz1K5757Eol)

[steelblood]

Saunders? Wow. We are really bringing in the problem children for a once over. I am surprised. But, it is good that they are keeping an open mind.

[Oviedo]

Saunders? Wow. We are really bringing in the problem children for a once over. I am surprised. But, it is good that they are keeping an open mind.

I guess they want to know if the problems are in the past or whether there is a possibility for repeats. I agree that I do like they are looking at the talent versus totally excluding someone before they get more information.

[steeler_george]

I honestly do think he is going to be the top pick for us, unless there is a top OT or DL still available. I really don't see any other player that will be available that could be rated that high on our draft board that is not a OL, DL , DB, or LB.

[SteelBucks]

I'm pretty much convinced Williams is the pick. Did Brandon Harris visit yet?

[insanesteelersfan]

I'm pretty much convinced Williams is the pick. Did Brandon Harris visit yet?



John Harris wrote a great article today about how the steelers will target VALUE at 31, and CB is not it. And he smartly pointed out that Pittsburgh has not selected a CB in like 18 years ( Chad Scott )...and how since Dick Lebeau's system is so hard for a rookie CB to figure out, that they will not draft a CB this far down in the draft with no value there. More likely they would either deal down into round 2, and then maybe select Williams, or Brown from Texas, or Ras I Dowling. But if they don't deal down, they will likely go best player available.

[Chadman]

Chadman is basically going back-and-forth between Cameron Heyward & Aaron Williams at #31...both would be good.

Williams makes a lot of sense, despite the arguments against- he's a junior (Timmons, Mendenhall, Pouncey), he comes from a good college & played good competition (Timmons, Mendenhall, Hood, Pouncey), he's young, he's got position flexibility, he's the right size for a Steelers CB, Steelers have been to his pro day en masse, and now have him in for a personal workout/visit...

He could be used as the nickle CB in year 1 & give the Steelers the time to decide if he fits best at CB or FS- both are needs, despite the fans reluctance to notice how bad Clark is in coverage..

One thing though- drafting Williams does not discount the possibility of drafting another CB in the Round 4ish region...Cortez Allen or Buster Skrine anybody?

[pfelix73]

Anyone see the special on NFL Network with Prince and Aaron with Mariucci? Aaron was every bit as good as Prince and he excelled at going for the ball. He's a ball hawk-you can't teach that.

If he's there at 31, he should be the pick. He can play in the nickle his 1st year, until he learns LeBeau's Defense..He'll pick it up quick- smart kid.

:tt1

[SteelBucks]

Chadman is basically going back-and-forth between Cameron Heyward & Aaron Williams at #31...both would be good.

Williams makes a lot of sense, despite the arguments against- he's a junior (Timmons, Mendenhall, Pouncey), he comes from a good college & played good competition (Timmons, Mendenhall, Hood, Pouncey), he's young, he's got position flexibility, he's the right size for a Steelers CB, Steelers have been to his pro day en masse, and now have him in for a personal workout/visit...

He could be used as the nickle CB in year 1 & give the Steelers the time to decide if he fits best at CB or FS- both are needs, despite the fans reluctance to notice how bad Clark is in coverage..

One thing though- drafting Williams does not discount the possibility of drafting another CB in the Round 4ish region...Cortez Allen or Buster Skrine anybody?

FWIW, I'd rather have Heyward.

[insanesteelersfan]

Hey guys, I have nothing against Aaron Williams at 31. But make no mistake about it, he very well could be the guy we are facing in the years to come as we see him in a Baltimore Ravens uniform. Don't underestimate the good possibility that Baltimore garbs this kid at 26. So he might not even make it to 31.

[StarSpangledSteeler]

Aaron Williams = SMOKE SCREEN!!!!

[steeler_george]

I'm pretty much convinced Williams is the pick. Did Brandon Harris visit yet?



John Harris wrote a great article today about how the steelers will target VALUE at 31, and CB is not it.
In this years draft, at 31, the value is QB, WR, and RB, unless one the top T or DL slid fall down to us. And I don't see how any of those positions are value to us this year.

And he smartly pointed out that Pittsburgh has not selected a CB in like 18 years ( Chad Scott )...and how since bad word Lebeau's system is so hard for a rookie CB to figure out, that they will not draft a CB this far down in the draft with no value there. More likely they would either deal down into round 2, and then maybe select Williams, or Brown from Texas, or Ras I Dowling. I have saying this for ever and ever. But if they don't deal down, they will likely go best player available. A. Smith could be BPA at 31. So not really agreeing with J. Harris on this article.

[steeler_george]

Hey guys, I have nothing against Aaron Williams at 31. But make no mistake about it, he very well could be the guy we are facing in the years to come as we see him in a Baltimore Ravens uniform. Don't underestimate the good possibility that Baltimore garbs this kid at 26. So he might not even make it to 31.

Good observation, Williams could go off the board that early or even slid to the 40th pick. It all depends if there is a run on OT and DL in the 20s and run on QBs in the early round 2.

[Mister Pittsburgh]

If they are willing to overlook issues of prospects, I wish they would of overlooked LeGarrette Blounts past.

[focosteeler]

If they are willing to overlook issues of prospects, I wish they would of overlooked LeGarrette Blounts past.
If the off season had gone differently last year I'm sure the would have

[RuthlessBurgher]

I'm pretty much convinced Williams is the pick. Did Brandon Harris visit yet?



John Harris wrote a great article today about how the steelers will target VALUE at 31, and CB is not it.
In this years draft, at 31, the value is QB, WR, and RB, unless one the top T or DL slid fall down to us. And I don't see how any of those positions are value to us this year.

And he smartly pointed out that Pittsburgh has not selected a CB in like 18 years ( Chad Scott )...and how since bad word Lebeau's system is so hard for a rookie CB to figure out, that they will not draft a CB this far down in the draft with no value there. More likely they would either deal down into round 2, and then maybe select Williams, or Brown from Texas, or Ras I Dowling. I have saying this for ever and ever. But if they don't deal down, they will likely go best player available. A. Smith could be BPA at 31. So not really agreeing with J. Harris on this article.

A. Smith? The only A. Smith that I am aware of in this draft is DE/OLB Aldon Smith from Missouri, and he should come off the board in the top half of the first round.

[insanesteelersfan]

If they are willing to overlook issues of prospects, I wish they would of overlooked LeGarrette Blounts past.




I don't think they would have drated Blount regardless. His past had nothing to do with it. Blount did have 1000 Yds last season yes. But for us, he would have been more useless. He is more of a everydown RB. We had a RB for that. And he is terrible at catching the ball, so as a 3rd down RB he would be useless. And we already had Redman for that. The Steelers drafted Kemo,,,and he whacked a few people on the field in college right ? And even Redman had a serious Character issue when he was in school, and we brought him in, and eventually signed him. Blount just didn't fit our team for what his strengths were.


Not drafting him, even late last draft was not a mistake. At least in my opinion.

[steeler_george]

A. Smith? The only A. Smith that I am aware of in this draft is DE/OLB Aldon Smith from Missouri, and he should come off the board in the top half of the first round.



I'm pretty much convinced Williams is the pick. Did Brandon Harris visit yet?



John Harris wrote a great article today about how the steelers will target VALUE at 31, and CB is not it.
In this years draft, at 31, the value is QB, WR, and RB, unless one the top T or DL slid fall down to us. And I don't see how any of those positions are value to us this year.

And he smartly pointed out that Pittsburgh has not selected a CB in like 18 years ( Chad Scott )...and how since bad word Lebeau's system is so hard for a rookie CB to figure out, that they will not draft a CB this far down in the draft with no value there. More likely they would either deal down into round 2, and then maybe select Williams, or Brown from Texas, or Ras I Dowling. I have saying this for ever and ever. But if they don't deal down, they will likely go best player available. A. Smith could be BPA at 31. So not really agreeing with J. Harris on this article.

A. Smith? The only A. Smith that I am aware of in this draft is DE/OLB Aldon Smith from Missouri, and he should come off the board in the top half of the first round.


Thanks for the correction, I was refering to A. Williams, damn I almost wrote Smith again!

[insanesteelersfan]

This from kffl.




Steelers | Met with Corbin Bryant
Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:48:11 -0700

The Pittsburgh Steelers have met with Northwestern DL Corbin Bryant, a source told Aaron Wilson, of NarionalFootballPost.com.





Anyone know about him ?

[Shawn]

Chadman is basically going back-and-forth between Cameron Heyward & Aaron Williams at #31...both would be good.

Williams makes a lot of sense, despite the arguments against- he's a junior (Timmons, Mendenhall, Pouncey), he comes from a good college & played good competition (Timmons, Mendenhall, Hood, Pouncey), he's young, he's got position flexibility, he's the right size for a Steelers CB, Steelers have been to his pro day en masse, and now have him in for a personal workout/visit...

He could be used as the nickle CB in year 1 & give the Steelers the time to decide if he fits best at CB or FS- both are needs, despite the fans reluctance to notice how bad Clark is in coverage..

One thing though- drafting Williams does not discount the possibility of drafting another CB in the Round 4ish region...Cortez Allen or Buster Skrine anybody?

I'm sold on Chekwa in the third.

Williams and Chekwa would be nice...not that I am completely sold on Williams

[hawaiiansteel]

Draft Talk: Corner Please

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/000/332/099/93294655_display_image.jpg?1281068792

All this talk about drafting an offensive lineman in the first round has my stomach churning. I realize that the offensive line has been a big issue for the Steelers for a while now, but let’s be real. We have Ben Roethlisberger behind center. If the Steelers had gotten rid of Ben after his antics last season, this would probably be a different article, but they didn’t. If Byron Leftwhich were out only hope, and his statue-like way of standing in the pocket were our only option at passing, then I would probably say that drafting an offensive lineman in the first or second round would be paramount.

That’s just not the case.

Ben is able to squeak by tackles, and pick up big gains by throwing on the run or even scrambling after the blocking on the O-line breaks down. We’ve won Super Bowls with a bad offensive line. We just lost one because of a poor secondary.

I think the idea of the Pouncey brothers being on the same team is cute, too, but come on. I know I’m not the only one who watched the Super Bowl. And the Patriots game? Yeah, I was at that one. Painful. We have to play against Brady and Manning this year, guys. Assuming we make the playoffs (which I realize is a big assumption knowing the history of teams who lose in the Super Bowl) because of an easy(ish) schedule, we’ll likely have to face one of those dudes in the playoffs, too. Not to mention other high-flying QBs we could potentially face in the Super Bowl.

Yes, I’m thinking Super Bowl. I admit, I’m one-track minded.

We need a shutdown Corner. At the very least, we need a player who does their best impression of a shut-down Corner. We need a spark in the secondary.

The Warrior

I’ll be the one to say it. Troy is getting old. The frequency with which he gets injured is increasing, and frankly, he’s worthless when he is hurt. Don’t get me wrong, I love Troy. I was Troy for Halloween, so…I’m kind of a big fan. If he can stay healthy, he will destroy people. That just hasn’t been the case. He was a non-factor in the playoffs. In the SB especially, when we needed him to perform the most. When he is healthy, Troy makes up for the lack of skill at Corner, when he is not, our weakness in the secondary is exposed.

“Big Play”

Willy Gay is terrible. I’m sorry. I saw some comment on one of the posts on NPC about how Willy Gay is good at Nickle or something…I don’t care. He’s terrible. “Big Play” Willy Gay let’s more big plays by him than he creates. That’s just not worth it. A sack here and a sack there does not make up for letting a TD pass go here and a TD pass go there. Those two things do not cancel each other out.

Bryant McFadden is slow and aging. He’s really not worth talking about. When he’s healthy, we’re better than when he is not healthy, but that’s not really saying that much.

Swaggin’

Ike Taylor is our only real Corner. He’s the only guy who calls out for the opponents’ #1 receivers, and he’s the only guy who can actually defend them. He’s not one of the best Corners in the league, however. He might be one of the better Corners in the league, but even that is stretching. ESPN just did a Cornerback power ranking and out of the 20 or so Corners who got votes, guess who didn’t get one? Yep. Ike.

http://www.warmevenings.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/scaled.williams_aaron_h9003ou.jpg

Prospect

So that brings me to Aaron Williams of Texas. He’s the guy we need to go after if he doesn’t get nabbed first. He’s tall, 6’1?, and skinny at 192lbs. NFL coaches would like to see him weigh in at a little more, around 205, but he’s young and has time to put on some muscle. Big Ben came in looking like a rail, too.

Williams is a solid corner with good technique and good hands (good hands being something all of the Steelers CBs lack), and has a fondness for stopping the run. I’ve watched some film on this guy, and he’s got great instincts. He knows just when to leave his man to help with the run and he loves to lay big hits on his opponents.

Sounds like a Steeler to me.

Other than Williams there are a few other options out there at Corner. I am not as enthusiastic about the others, so let’s just hope the Steelers can land Williams in the first round. If a good O-line prospect can hang on, maybe we can nab one in the second round.

My point is, the real need is at Corner. Whether or not that is where the value is, is another question. The Steelers have been known to pick where the value is and not where the need is, but I just hope they see value and need in Williams if he is available when it’s the Steelers’ time to pick.

http://nicepickcowher.com/2011/04/22/dr ... #more-7095 (http://nicepickcowher.com/2011/04/22/draft-talk-corner-please/#more-7095)

[RuthlessBurgher]

So that brings me to Aaron Williams of Texas. He’s the guy we need to go after if he doesn’t get nabbed first. He’s tall, 6’1?, and skinny at 192lbs. NFL coaches would like to see him weigh in at a little more, around 205, but he’s young and has time to put on some muscle. Big Ben came in looking like a rail, too.

Did this guy see Williams at the combine? Dude wasn't anything close to skinny as a rail. To me, it looked like he was ripped like a linebacker. Just looking at his physique, before watching him on tape or performing in the drills, I could see at first glance where these suggestions that he might be a better FS than a CB might have been coming from, simply because he looked more like your average NFL safety than your average NFL corner in his upper body.

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/photo_images/2052157/82755_NFL_Combine_Football.jpg

http://thumbnails.truveo.com/0022/E5/D2/E5D2F7D7DDADD3F4A9F4CA_Large.jpg

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/sp/getty/c5/fullj.7970d7c6f72e2f24034ded9189e6b6c6/7970d7c6f72e2f24034ded9189e6b6c6-getty-109185162jr008_nfl_combine.jpg

According to nfl.com and nfldraftscout, he is already listed at 204 lbs.

http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/aaron-williams?id=2495510

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=84950&draftyear=2011&genpos=CB