The Proverbial Day 2 "Winner" and "Steal" of the Draft

[NorthCoast]

Pittsburgh Steelers
This is Pittsburgh’s first draft without longtime GM Kevin Colbert, and his successor Omar Khan seems very comfortable in the decision-maker’s chair. The Pittsburgh Steelers had plenty of trade suitors for the No. 32 pick, but they did what most people inside the league figured they’d do by taking franchise legacy Joey Porter Jr. (scouting report), the long-armed Penn State cornerback.

Khan needed to come away from this draft with a starting caliber corner, and Porter Jr. was the storybook fit. No head coach attacks Senior Bowl week like Mike Tomlin, so it was no surprise that he pegged Wisconsin DT Keeanu Benton (scouting report) as a guy he wanted to add to his defensive line. Tomlin routinely gets right up in the middle of one-on-one drills, so he got an up-close look at Benton’s dominant practice week in Mobile, Ala.


The move that pushed the Steelers to the top of this “Winners” list was landing jumbo-sized mismatch nightmare Georgia TE Darnell Washington (scouting report) with pick No. 93 (after trading back to acquire an extra fourth-round pick from the Carolina Panthers). Many teams we spoke with the past few weeks had Washington as their top-graded tight end, and he dispelled medical red flag rumors during his post-draft news conference so that the Steelers might have themselves a steal.________________________

[NJ-STEELER]

I see where they say Washington’s knee was inflamed after a workout.

I think the thing we all want to know is has he had a procedure on it ?

he himself said it was no big deal though

[blacknblue80s]

Washington is my favorite player in the draft. I didn't know anything about the knee but they had him in for a visit so they must've been satisfied with his health.

I'm expecting to see a lot of 12 personel with Johnson, Washington, Najee, Freirmuth, and Pickens. With Washington they have the best blocking TE to come out for a long time who is also a huge target for Kenny. Talk about unpredictable.

[Buzz]

Washington is my favorite player in the draft. I didn't know anything about the knee but they had him in for a visit so they must've been satisfied with his health.

I'm expecting to see a lot of 12 personel with Johnson, Washington, Najee, Freirmuth, and Pickens. With Washington they have the best blocking TE to come out for a long time who is also a huge target for Kenny. Talk about unpredictable.

With the most predictable play caller in the NFL running the offense

I'd be a lot more excited if we had an NFL OC

[Ernie]

With the most predictable play caller in the NFL running the offense

I'd be a lot more excited if we had an NFL OC

Yea.. hed better stretch the middle of the field with those TEs or he may get fired before the end of the season

[NJ-STEELER]

I like Washington too. Especially where we drafted him.

but let’s be honest here with all the “we’re gonna out physical teams” blah blah blah talk.

they were willing to trade down from and possibly lose him until our next pick at 93.

im curious who they had rated there on their board

[Northern_Blitz]

I see where they say Washington’s knee was inflamed after a workout.

I think the thing we all want to know is has he had a procedure on it ?

he himself said it was no big deal though

I heard from a couple of podcasts that pre-draft he said that he had it scoped to "clean it up" or something. But it seems to me like that could mean many things.

I think this draft looks good on paper. Hopefully it looks good on the field too.

[NJ-STEELER]

Looking at the players taken from slots 80 to 120. There weren’t any TEs drafted.

A few ilb’s immediately came off the board after 80. But more of the safety hybrid type.
the edge rushers coming off the board between those picks were more the DE 4-3 type.

I’ll guess they had those ilbs and Washington/herbig near the top of their board at 80 and would have been okay with a bunch of them at 93.
if Washington was gone I think they take herbig there

[papillon]

With the most predictable play caller in the NFL running the offense

I'd be a lot more excited if we had an NFL OC

Unfortunately, we can't draft one of them, we have to live with what we have, for now. :p

Pappy

[papillon]

I like Washington too. Especially where we drafted him.

but let’s be honest here with all the “we’re gonna out physical teams” blah blah blah talk.

they were willing to trade down from and possibly lose him until our next pick at 93.

im curious who they had rated there on their board

I think they wanted the pick back more than they did the Washington, the fact that he was still there was just a bonus.

Pappy

[Eich]

Yea.. hed better stretch the middle of the field with those TEs or he may get fired before the end of the season

On any other team, that might be true. Here, Canada gets to play out his contract, regardless of what happens. We could go 0-17 without a single touchdown scored and they wouldn't fire Canada in mid-season. He probably would lose his duties before the end of the season but they wouldn't fire him.

[Ernie]

On any other team, that might be true. Here, Canada gets to play out his contract, regardless of what happens. We could go 0-17 without a single touchdown scored and they wouldn't fire Canada in mid-season. He probably would lose his duties before the end of the season but they wouldn't fire him.

Id normally agree.. but as weve seen in recent months.. this new regime does things a little differently (and im liking it to be honest)

[NorthCoast]

On any other team, that might be true. Here, Canada gets to play out his contract, regardless of what happens. We could go 0-17 without a single touchdown scored and they wouldn't fire Canada in mid-season. He probably would lose his duties before the end of the season but they wouldn't fire him.

If his offense stinks and he looses his duties I could care less whether he is on the payroll or not.

[blacknblue80s]

With the most predictable play caller in the NFL running the offense

I'd be a lot more excited if we had an NFL OC
Even Canada can't screw this up... I hope.

[blacknblue80s]

I like Washington too. Especially where we drafted him.

but let’s be honest here with all the “we’re gonna out physical teams” blah blah blah talk.

they were willing to trade down from and possibly lose him until our next pick at 93.

im curious who they had rated there on their board
There was a run on ILBs right before that pick so who knows. Henly, Overshown, Simpson and Williams all went between 80-93.