Uncertainty Surrounding Picks 1-16 Makes Predicting the Pittsburgh Steelers Selection at 17 DifficultHome → NFL
The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the 2013 season 8-8 and hold the seventeenth pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. Typically a top twenty pick should yield a high quality player and a long-term starter and the Steelers will be looking for just that in April. Since 2000 the Steelers have picked in the top twenty six times. Those picks have brought them Plaxico Burress, Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, Lawrence Timmons and most recently Maurkice Pouncey.
All six of those players became starters for the Steelers and each of them was well worth the pick at which they were drafted. With the seventeenth pick in the 2013 NFL Draft the Steelers will look to find another player that can have an impact on the team for years to come. The Steelers could have their pick of multiple players with that pick, but it all depends on who is drafted with picks one through sixteen.
For the first time in many years the 2013 NFL Draft is very hard to figure out. There aren’t many clear-cut top-tier talents. Instead there are a lot of good players, but very few can’t-miss prospects. Just a few weeks ago Dion Jordan, an outside linebacker out of Oregon, was considered a potential pick for the Steelers in the first round. As things stand now Jordan is considered a top five pick and Jarvis Jones, an outside linebacker form Georgia, who was once considered a top five pick could now be an option for the Steelers.
Other players that are being rumored as potential targets for the Steelers in the draft include the following: safety Kenny Vaccaro of Texas, wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson of Tennessee, wide receiver Tavon Austin of West Virginia, tight end Tyler Eifert of Notre Dame, and multiple corners. One of these players, along with Jones listed above, could be the Steelers pick in April or it could be another player. A few draft analysts have the Steelers taking a corner in the first round; the reason I didn’t list them as options is because corner is not a major need for the team despite losing Keenan Lewis in free agency.
Some analysts don’t see Vaccaro getting past the St. Louis Rams at fifteen, but if they pass on him and he does fall to the Steelers he would make a lot of sense. Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark are getting older and the Steelers need to get replacements ready. Right now Vaccaro is considered the top safety in the draft and if the Steelers pass on him with their pick it is unlikely he will get past the Dallas Cowboys at eighteen as they have an even bigger need at safety than the Steelers.
Arguably the Steelers biggest needs are at outside linebacker, wide receiver, and running back after losing starters at each position in free agency. Outside linebacker is a deep position at the top of the draft, but for the Steelers to fill that need they will need to be lucky enough to have one of those players fall to them at seventeen. For that to happen teams will have to reach for needs, but as we have seen in years past that tends to happen in the draft.
During the 2011 NFL Draft four quarterbacks were drafted in the top twelve picks of the draft despite only two players being considered first round picks. With multiple teams in the top ten of the 2013 NFL Draft in need of quarterbacks there is a chance a few could reach for one and help push talented players closer to the Steelers pick. In that case the Steelers would be more likely to get a player like Vaccaro or Jones.
About one month ago both Jones and Texas A&M outside linebacker Damontre Moore were considered top five picks, but now both players may be available with the Steelers make their first selection. Neither player performed well in their pre-draft workouts, but based on tape the two may be the best outside linebacker available in the draft. With the absence of James Harrison the Steelers may be convinced to draft one of them and hope they can replace Harrison if Jason Worilds stuggles to do so.
However, what happens for the Steelers if teams draft based on best players available and all of these players are gone when the Steelers are put on the clock? Well they could look at a couple players that aren’t getting much mention when it comes to the Steelers first pick. Arthur Brown, an inside linebacker out of Kansas State, is considered by some as the best inside linebacker in the draft. With Larry Foote getting older the Steelers need a long-term replacement alongside Lawrence Timmons and Brown could be just that player.
The Steelers are also not expected to bring back long-time nose tackle Casey Hampton. Steve McLendon, who was Hampton’s back-up in 2012, is expected to become the starter, but if the Steelers are concerned about the position in the long run they could look to add a nose tackle. There are a few good nose tackles in this draft and none should have been taken before the Steelers are put on the clock.
Hopefully the Steelers will have their choice of a couple of good prospects or perhaps another top players will fall to them as happend in last year’s draft when David DeCastro fell to the Steelers at the twenty-fourth overall pick. However, if there top players are off the board and they can’t find a trade partner the Steelers may be forced to fill a hole they hadn’t planned on addressing in the first round of the draft. Luckily for them their drafting history in the top twenty is very good and they should still be able to find a player that can help the team.
Another thing to keep in mind as the Steelers prepare for the draft is that if they are looking for a player that can make an immediate impact they may have to look for a player on the offensive side of the ball. The last time a rookie started on the Steelers defense was in 2001 when Kendrell Bell started at middle linebacker.
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Originally Posted by supersteeler
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