Those would be my two choices of those that are possibilities.
As far as the trading of first round picks, I think that sometimes fans might want a move that the FO does not. Example is that fans were screaming for a trade down in 2007 after Revis came off the board just one pick in front of us. The fan thinking was that players like Beason, Poz, Timmons, Jarvis Moss, Anthony Spencer, Staley - and Timmons - all had around the same value so we should trade down and pick up the one who gets left behind. But maybe the FO was targeting Timmons and was not willing to risk losing out. We do know that the team is not against or afraid of the idea, but they have a different thought process than we do.
Let me get on the record and say that picking Dontari Poe at 24 would be a large mistake on our part. Poe actually reminds me a lot of guys like Ziggy Hood. Ziggy also wowed scouts at the combine (not to the extent Poe did). Adding Poe to our line of Hood and Heyward would, while maybe solid/dependable would be far from dominant.
I actually liken Poe to Big Daddy Wilkinson. Like Big Daddy, his workout numbers are eye-popping. And... he seems to be a solid worker, etc. LIKE Hood and Wilkinson. But in the end, they fail to distinguish themselves other than to be a solid starter (at best).
I think we can do better.
No one that plays on our DL will ever be "dominant" because the system that leBeau employs won't allow them to do the things they could do. They are forced to play a restrained, disciplined role in the defense that does not allow them to go after QBs or make plays in the backfield. As long as we utilize the 3-4 there won't be a dominant defensive lineman on the team no matter what the talent level.
"My team, may they always be right, but right or wrong...MY TEAM!"
The people that are trying to make the world worse never take a day off, why should I?
Light up the darkness.
2024 Draft
1. Kool-Aid McKinstry CB
2. Sedrick Van Pran-Grainger OC
3. Malachi Corley WR
3. Maason Smith DT
4. Matt Goncalves OT
6. Trevin Wallace ILB
7. AJ Barner TE
In the base 3-4, yeah, there aren't as many opportunities for the d-line to make plays as compared to a 4-3 d-line. But as the league continues to morph more-and-more to a passing league, we will be using more-and-more nickle and dime defenses. The responsibilities of our d-line in the nickle and dime defenses are really no different than any other defense. In today's NFL, I'd say that we now spend at least half our time in specialty defenses, so we need d-lineman who will be able to rush the passer on a regular basis, not just eat up blockers all the time.
Steeler teams featuring stat-driven, me-first, fantasy-football-darling diva types such as Antonio Brown & Le'Veon Bell won no championships.
Super Bowl winning Steeler teams were built around a dynamic, in-your-face defense plus blue-collar, hard-hitting, no-nonsense football players on offense such as Hines Ward & Jerome Bettis.
We don't want Juju & Conner to replace what we lost in Brown & Bell.
We are counting on Juju & Conner to return us to the glory we once had with Hines & The Bus.
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