Chadman's 2012 Off-season Free Agency & Draft thread

[NJ-STEELER]

not sure about adams, but like the rest of your mock

[Chadman]

Thanks NJ.


What's your issue with Adams?

Would be interested to hear SKY's take on Adams too...

[Chadman]

So we officially start to close in on FA.

Who would you guys like the Steelers to chase? How realistic is the chances of a signing or two?

Here's a link to help you with your "Who is a FA?" questions:
[URL]http://www.kffl.com/static/nfl/features/freeagents/fa.php?y=2012[/URL]

Chadman will start with what he thinks might be realistic targets- NT Pat Sims, ILB Keyaron Fox, TE Leonard Pope, OG Mike McGlynn &...if the money is right...RB Tim Hightower.

Chadman believes they all offer good value for the role they'd be asked to play. Sims could feasably replace Hampton immediately, & then the Steelers could release Hampton & free up his salary. Fox knows LeBeau's system well & could fill the back-up ILB role until a younger player earns that role. McGlynn would have a great shot at unseating Legursky & Foster at OG, and likely not break the bank in the process. Pope is your large, blocking TE that is familiar with Haley's systems. And Hightower is the perfect RB for Todd Haley's offence.

Will the Steelers get all those guys- no. But that is who Chadman would be looking at.

You play GM for a bit...

[Chadman]

If the Steelers were to lose Mike Wallace in FA, Chadman would suggest that the money 'saved' would be WELL spent on charger RB Mike Tolbert.

Losing Wallace would remove the effectiveness of the Steelers ariel attack, which would mean a greater reliance on the run game. Tolbert could carry the load for the Steelers & force the opposition to crowd the line of scrimmage- likely leaving Brown or Sanders in single coverage & giving them greater opportunity to get open, the way Wallace does for them now.

What do you think?

[Chadman]

[URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/forums/gnews.php?id=774578-steelers-have-spoken-with-mike-wallace's-agent"]Steelers | Have spoken with Mike Wallace's agent [/URL]
Mon, 12 Mar 2012 15:56:52 -0700
The [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/team/30/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/URL] have spoken with the agent for restricted free-agent WR [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/20873/nfl/mike-wallace"]Mike Wallace[/URL] about a long-term contract but no deal is close at this point.

[Chadman]

The [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/team/30/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/URL] have tendered offers to restricted free-agent TE [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/20969/nfl/david-johnson"]David Johnson[/URL], OGs [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/20995/nfl/ramon-foster"]Ramon Foster[/URL] and [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/19326/nfl/doug-legursky"]Doug Legursky[/URL], CB [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/20841/nfl/keenan-lewis"]Keenan Lewis[/URL] and FS [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/19577/nfl/ryan-mundy"]Ryan Mundy[/URL]. The levels of the tenders were not disclosed.

The [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/team/23/nfl/minnesota-vikings"]Minnesota Vikings[/URL] could show interest in [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/team/30/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/URL] impending free-agent CB [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/16738/nfl/william-gay"]William Gay[/URL] because he would likely be in the team's price range and could help the team.

[NJ-STEELER]

just things i've heard about him. he does have the measurables of being a franchise LT. and where we're picking at #24 you know there will be some questions with who ever we draft, sometimes you have to take a chance in order to get that type of talent. i wouldnt hate the pick. Glenn or the higher rated OLs would be my choice if they're available

PS. read that martin didnt work out at his pro day cause of a knee injury. if that keeps him from working out before the draft, he may drop

[Slapstick]

Mike Adams would benefit from being placed in a good environment, I think...

If you put him in a locker room with these players and in meeting rooms with coaches like Tomlin and Kugler, and he would be fine...

[Chadman]

Mike Adams would benefit from being placed in a good environment, I think...

If you put him in a locker room with these players and in meeting rooms with coaches like Tomlin and Kugler, and he would be fine...

Tend to agree with that. The Steelers team environment is diffent from that at Ohio St, etc.

And you can't manufacture Adams physical traits- the man is a monster, and talented enough to hold the LT position for years.

[RuthlessBurgher]

just things i've heard about him. he does have the measurables of being a franchise LT. and where we're picking at #24 you know there will be some questions with who ever we draft, sometimes you have to take a chance in order to get that type of talent. i wouldnt hate the pick. Glenn or the higher rated OLs would be my choice if they're available

PS. read that martin didnt work out at his pro day cause of a knee injury. if that keeps him from working out before the draft, he may drop

I'd rather draft Jonathan Martin with a knee injury than a healthy Mike Adams. If Martin falls because he is unable to work out for teams prior to the draft, it could be a Heath-Miller-sports-hernia-like coup.

[Chadman]

The [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/team/30/nfl/pittsburgh-steelers"]Pittsburgh Steelers[/URL] interviewed Pittsburgh CB [URL="http://www.planetsteelers.com/player/26373/nfl/buddy-jackson"]Buddy Jackson[/URL] Tuesday, March 13. Jackson ran a 4.26-second and 4.29 40-second dash at his Pro Day.

[Chadman]

So far, the Steelers have been reported to be in contact with:

Steelers are scheduled to talk to Alabama ILB Dant'a Hightower
Steelers have spoken to Pitt OG Lucas Nix
Steelers have spoken to Cincinnatti RB Isiah Pead
Steelers have interviewed WVU OLB Bruce Irvin
Steelers interviewed Michigan NT Mike Martin at the Combine
Steelers attended Cincinnatti Pro Day- RB Isiah Pead DE Derek Wolfe
Steelers worked out/attended Miami Ohio OG Brandon Brooks
Steelers send 7 FO Personel, including Tomlin, Colbert & Haley to Miami Pro Day
Steelers DL Coach John Mitchell attends Mississippi Pro Day (Fletcher Cox)
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert attends Alabama Pro Day
Steelers HC Mike Tomlin & GM Kevin Colbert attend Ohio St Pro Day
Steelers interview Pitt CB Buddy Jackson
Chadman will update this regularly.

[Chadman]

And now- a little more analysis to ponder..

By position, the Steelers under Tomlin/Colbert have drafted-

QB- 1
RB/FB- 4
WR- 5
TE- 2
OT- 2
OG- 4
OC- 2
DE- 5
DT- 0
LB- 8
CB- 6
S- 1
ST- 1

[Chadman]

Of course, much of this would be dictated by the current roster & often the position the Steelers draft- which might directly effect how often they would draft, say, an OT. Interesting to note how many LB's, CB's, DE's & WR's are in the list.

Broken down by ROUND-
1ST ROUND- 1 LB, 1 RB, 2 DE, 1 OC
2ND ROUND- 2 LB's, 1 WR, 1 OT
3RD ROUND- 1 TE, 1 LB, 1 OG, 2 WR's, 2 CB
4TH ROUND- 1 ST, 1 DE, 1 OT, 1 LB, 1 CB
5TH ROUND- 2 OG's, 3 CB's, 1 QB, 1 FB, 2 LB's
6TH ROUND- 1 LB, 1 S, 1 DE, 1 RB, 1 WR, 1 OG
7TH ROUND- 1 WR, 1 OC, 1 TE, 1 DE, 1 RB

[Chadman]

TEAM NEEDS.

There's 2 words we often debate every off season, yet we all come up with different variations of 'need'. So how do we work out the 'greater need' for the Steelers, and also figure out how they will attempt to fill that need?

Well, obviously you use Chadman's logic, and his 2012 Off Season Analysis thread to help you.

The Steelers under Mike Tomlin/Kevin Colbert have a history of looking for young, athletic players that have shown some level of production against good competition in the first round. They have a history of looking for Juniors. They rarely reach.

They also tend to select players that fill a need- not necessarily an immediate need- but certainly a need for the near future. If we assume that all the RFA players that recieved their tenders do not sign long term contracts (we can ammend this as time goes on), the following players become UFA's at the end of the 2012/13 season (i.e.- next offseason):
WR Mike Wallace
TE David Johnson
OG's Ramon Foster & Doug Legursky
RB's Isaac Redman & Rashard Mendenhall
CB Keenan Lewis
FS Ryan Mundy
OT Jonathon Scott
NT Casey Hampton
SS Will Allen
ILB Larry Foote
TE Heath Miller

The following players become RFA's
WR's Antonio Brown & Emmanual Sanders
RB Jonathon Dwyer
ILB Stevenson Sylvester