Will the Steelers draft...

[BigRob]

Te'o in the 1st round?

With the way he's getting dominated by Alabama, we might be able to get him in the 2nd.

With the level of competition he faced last night and his body of work, he will still be a top 20 pick.

However, he IS NOT a top 10 pick. He showed he is mortal against NFL type competition last night. Great player, but not worth a top ten pick. I think Kuechly last year was a better player.

He's going to run a 4.75 to 4.8 in the 40. I will be interested to see what his measurables come out to be. Dee is right in saying his best fit will be as an ILB in the 3-4.

[BigRob]

Manti is having a bad night along with the other 10 ND defenders. He is not only getting blocked, but he's made bad reads and crashed inside and the play went outside, he has struggled to get off blocks and when he has made a good read and shot a gap Lacy has run through his tackles. He is just having one of those games that you want to forget. On the other hand, I don't want the Steelers to draft him, maybe Lacy will declare and drop down to number 17, he would certainly be a good replacement for Mendenhall if the Steelers can't resign him. His legs are thick, he makes a decision and goes with it and he has nimble feet, love to see him in Black and Gold.

Pappy

No thank you on Lacy. Anyone could run with that O-line in front of him. Alabama backs underachieve in the NFL. Look at Richardson. Was there anything there that shouted special this year?

Lacy isn't even as good as Richardson and Ingram.

[BigRob]

And that might be the reason we should take Warmack if he's available. It's definitely not a need, but I'm thinking he just might be BPA when we pick.

Guess we can always try and trade down since we don't need the BPA.

Warmack is going to go higher than Decastro last year. Too many teams need guards this year. Jets and Cowboys come to mind.

If he is BPA at 17, the Steelers might be forced to take him. He is just so dang dominant at everything.

[Oviedo]

With the level of competition he faced last night and his body of work, he will still be a top 20 pick.

However, he IS NOT a top 10 pick. He showed he is mortal against NFL type competition last night. Great player, but not worth a top ten pick. I think Kuechly last year was a better player.

Completely agree that Kuechly was a better player in college. The DL in front of Keuchly was no where near as good as the players in front of T'eo

[BigRob]

Completely agree that Kuechly was a better player in college. The DL in front of Keuchly was no where near as good as the players in front of T'eo

A couple of scouts on Twitter are saying Te'o is very "Demeco Ryans" like. A great player, but no where near a top ten player.

I don't like ILB in the first much period, but Kuechly really turned it on the second half of the year for Carolina.

I'll take Minter in the 2nd/Late 1st over Te'o at this point. Minter proved he can play against this level of competition all season long.

[papillon]

No thank you on Lacy. Anyone could run with that O-line in front of him. Alabama backs underachieve in the NFL. Look at Richardson. Was there anything there that shouted special this year?

Lacy isn't even as good as Richardson and Ingram.

I'd take my chances with him, he runs downhill, has a low center of gravity, does well after contact, and has good balance. I've watched him twice this year and he's looked good on both occasions. Maybe, it's coincidence and maybe he'll suck as an NFL running back, but I'd take my chances with him. I also know the Steelers probably aren't taking a 1st round running back, so he won't be a Steeler. I'd be happy with Jones or Warmack and they're both trending mid to late first round.

Pappy

[BigRob]

I'd take my chances with him, he runs downhill, has a low center of gravity, does well after contact, and has good balance. I've watched him twice this year and he's looked good on both occasions. Maybe, it's coincidence and maybe he'll suck as an NFL running back, but I'd take my chances with him. I also know the Steelers probably aren't taking a 1st round running back, so he won't be a Steeler. I'd be happy with Jones or Warmack and they're both trending mid to late first round.

Pappy

Lacy will be lucky to be a late 1st round pick. That O-line makes every running back look all world. Good Back, not a first rounder. A second rounder he is.

[Dee Dub]

With the level of competition he faced last night and his body of work, he will still be a top 20 pick.

However, he IS NOT a top 10 pick. He showed he is mortal against NFL type competition last night. Great player, but not worth a top ten pick. I think Kuechly last year was a better player.

He's going to run a 4.75 to 4.8 in the 40. I will be interested to see what his measurables come out to be. Dee is right in saying his best fit will be as an ILB in the 3-4.

Question, how do you think he Te'o would have done versus Alabama last night if he was the ILB on the Georgia Bulldogs? With their front 7 instead of Notre Dame's front 7? If we are going to judge someone based on the level of competition they face why not also consider the level of competition he is playing with?

I am not giving Te'o a pass for the missed tackles, but like Troy Polamalu he is going to get to a lot more plays than that of an average LB. Thus he is going to miss his share of tackles. The amount of splash plays he gives in return out weigh that to me.

If I was a team drafting in the top 10 and needed an ILB I'd still take him.

[BigRob]

Question, how do you think he Te'o would have done versus Alabama last night if he was the ILB on the Georgia Bulldogs? With their front 7 instead of Notre Dame's front 7? If we are going to judge someone based on the level of competition they face why also consider the level of competition he is playing with?

I am not giving Te'o a pass for the missed tackles, but like Troy Polamalu he is going to get to a lot more plays than that of an average LB. Thus he is going to miss his share of tackles. The amount of splash plays he gives in return out weigh that to me.

If I was a team drafting in the top 10 and needed an ILB I'd still take him.

I am not spitting him over the fire for his performance last night. I have however not bought into all of the massive hype surrounding him this year.

ILB are just not that valuable in the NFL anymore. He is more "Demeco Ryans" and "AJ Hawk" than Luke Kuechly.

CB,LT,QB, and Pass Rushers are more valuable than ILB any day of the week.

[RuthlessBurgher]

A second rounder he is.

Thank you, Yoda Kiper, Jedi draft master.

[Oviedo]

A couple of scouts on Twitter are saying Te'o is very "Demeco Ryans" like. A great player, but no where near a top ten player.

I don't like ILB in the first much period, but Kuechly really turned it on the second half of the year for Carolina.

I'll take Minter in the 2nd/Late 1st over Te'o at this point. Minter proved he can play against this level of competition all season long.

I'd also look at Jon Bostic, ILB out of Florida in Round 3.

[Oviedo]

Question, how do you think he Te'o would have done versus Alabama last night if he was the ILB on the Georgia Bulldogs? With their front 7 instead of Notre Dame's front 7? If we are going to judge someone based on the level of competition they face why not also consider the level of competition he is playing with?

I am not giving Te'o a pass for the missed tackles, but like Troy Polamalu he is going to get to a lot more plays than that of an average LB. Thus he is going to miss his share of tackles. The amount of splash plays he gives in return out weigh that to me.

If I was a team drafting in the top 10 and needed an ILB I'd still take him.

Dee--you keep wanting to blame ;last night on the ND defensive line so you don't have to acknowledge T'eo's warts. ND has a very good DL and they have been solid all season. They just ran into the big boys last night.

As I said, T'eo reminds me very much of Rey Maleuga coming out of USC. Good but not great. Alec Ogletree was much better against Alabama then T'eo and IMO I would pick him before T'eo from a performance level perspective.

[RuthlessBurgher]

No need to argue if Te'o is a top 5 or top 10 player now. We just need to know if he's worthy of being a top 17 player. I still say yes. If yesterday's performance means he drops out of the top 10 and into our laps at 17, then so be it. Our defense needs a true leader that we lost when Farrior hung up his cleats. I disagree that Te'o is merely a product of the NBC hype machine following a couple of deaths earlier this year...he was on my radar as a possibily for the 24th pick last year before he decided to return to school for his senior year. Judging a player solely by one game is like putting too much stock into the combine performances...as fans, we tend to overreact to these things, but I have faith that our scouting staff sees more of a complete picture when evaluating a player. I suspect Te'o will be placed atop the next RuthlessBurgher mock draft at #17 (after I finally finish the other mock where I suggested we trade down twice).

[Dee Dub]

I am not spitting him over the fire for his performance last night. I have however not bought into all of the massive hype surrounding him this year.

ILB are just not that valuable in the NFL anymore. He is more "Demeco Ryans" and "AJ Hawk" than Luke Kuechly.

CB,LT,QB, and Pass Rushers are more valuable than ILB any day of the week.

I'd be very happy with a Demeco Ryans type. 156 tackles, 126 solo, 9 TFL's, 3.5 sacks, 1 FF, 1 FR, 1 INT, 6 PD's in his rookie year? Too me, that would be so worth a top 10 pick. And be flat out a steal at number 17.

Rob will you please honestly answer my question about how you think Te'o would have faired if he had the Georgia defense around him versus Alabama. Better? Same? or worse?

[steelz09]

Question, how do you think he Te'o would have done versus Alabama last night if he was the ILB on the Georgia Bulldogs? With their front 7 instead of Notre Dame's front 7? If we are going to judge someone based on the level of competition they face why not also consider the level of competition he is playing with?

I am not giving Te'o a pass for the missed tackles, but like Troy Polamalu he is going to get to a lot more plays than that of an average LB. Thus he is going to miss his share of tackles. The amount of splash plays he gives in return out weigh that to me.

If I was a team drafting in the top 10 and needed an ILB I'd still take him.

I was under the impression that Notre Dame had a great d-line?

You do bring up an interesting point though. This is the problem that the Steelers and every other team has faced for the past several years. You may see a player that has had a great year and now you have to ask yourself...

Is he that good? What if he played in the SEC? Does a really good player in <enter conference here> equal an average talent in the SEC? In the SEC, these players are challenged week in and week out against some of the best competition in all of college football. In other conferences, they may only get challenged like that a couple times a year. When the playing field is so out of balance for some teams, it's hard to evaluate these players.

The same goes in reverse. Some have said Eric Reid was exposed this year. Is he not the player we thought he was? What if he played in the Big East? Would we still be questioning his ability? Would the easier competetion hide his "alleged" weakness? Obviously, to some degree, that is a yes.