Ranking the Steelers’ draft needs

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I don't know how RB did not even make the list. Who do we have?

Mendenhall - Injured, no guarantee that he plays and he is a FA after this season.
Redman - UDFA, one career start, 726 career rushing yards
Dwyer - UDFA, 8 career games, 151 career rushing yards, 0 TDs
Clay - UDFA rookie, 41 yards
Batch - 7th round rook, IR all season long

If we could find a guy who we think is a stud early, we have to jump.

[Chadman]

RUNNING BACK- The Steelers have a sidelined 1st round pick, 2 UDFA's, 1 6th round pick & a 7th Round pick to choose from. Mendy is no guarentee to play at the level required as he comes back from injury. Redman has 2 starts to his name. That's our second most experienced RB right there.

AHEM.....


That is all.

[flippy]

I look at need more broadly and would pick BPA who can best fulfill this need.

1. QB Pressure - Could be an OLB, NT, DE, ILB, S, or CB. There's lots of ways to improve our ability to get after the QB on defense. We're either more dominant up front or we play better coverage to make the QB hold the ball longer. We've got 2 Studs on Defense - Troy and Harrison. Others are decent, but give me a defensive superstar that has to be accounted for and in turn allows us to get more pressure on opposing QBs without having to blitz Troy, Timmons, Woodley, Harrison, etc on critical 3rd downs. We desperately need to be able to pressure with 4. Look at what the Giants accomplished on their SuperBowl run again. As much as we want to say the NFL is now all about O, the Giants D made them special down the stretch. And they were dominant up front.

2. QB Protection - Could be an OG, OT, TE, RB, or WR. Ben needs a couple extra seconds to be more effective. He can't get touched before you can count to 1. We're gonna eventually have to help him out in some way. Could be a stud RB that can make chicken salad out of chicken sh!t. Could be a TE that takes a LB/S out of the box. Our a big WR that commands a double team. Or just better linemen. I put this at #2 behind the defensive need because Ben is Ben and he can thrive with what he's got. And hopefully our play calling can overcome some of our short comings.

3. Red Zone Help - I could see #2 and #3 being fixed together. Give Ben some more time. Get some better blocking. Get some better play calling. Run better inside the 20.

I'd lean more toward using our premium picks on defense. At the end of the day Big Ben + Defense = Championships. And I think our D hasn't been holding up their end of the bargain.

And all I really want is the best player on the board when we draft. Get me a stud impact player a la Ben, Troy, or Harrison. I'd really be happy with him at just about any position. I just want a difference maker.

[Sugar]

And all I really want is the best player on the board when we draft. Get me a stud impact player a la Ben, Troy, or Harrison. I'd really be happy with him at just about any position. I just want a difference maker.

That's my thinking as well. I'm not so locked in to getting a specific position, as I don't think our needs warrant it. It would be very cool to get that difference maker though!