can we stop blaming poor drafting

[squidkid]

for our continuing downward spiral the last 10 years?

almost every recent thread has posters blaming our demise on lack of talent and poor drafting.
this cant possibly be the case.
if you were to go back and read all the threads after our last 10 drafts, you will see an overly alarming number of posters that rate our drafts as A, A-, B+, B with a rare C grade thrown in.
There were tons of, 'steals of the draft', 'plug and play', 'day one starers', 'great depth with future starter', diamond in the rough'. etc etc etc. comments. this cannot be denied.
If our drafts were actually as bad as everyone is saying now, that would mean our posters that made these claims have/had no clue about any players and were just blindly supporting the organization. lemmings , one might say.
so if our posters were right about the selections, then coaching and development must be the issue.............pretty easy to see where the blame lies

[BowCatShot]

for our continuing downward spiral the last 10 years?

almost every recent thread has posters blaming our demise on lack of talent and poor drafting.
this cant possibly be the case.
if you were to go back and read all the threads after our last 10 drafts, you will see an overly alarming number of posters that rate our drafts as A, A-, B+, B with a rare C grade thrown in.
There were tons of, 'steals of the draft', 'plug and play', 'day one starers', 'great depth with future starter', diamond in the rough'. etc etc etc. comments. this cannot be denied.
If our drafts were actually as bad as everyone is saying now, that would mean our posters that made these claims have/had no clue about any players and were just blindly supporting the organization. lemmings , one might say.
so if our posters were right about the selections, then coaching and development must be the issue.............pretty easy to see where the blame lies

Wow, does that ever make sense. QED.

[feltdizz]

Wow, does that ever make sense. QED.

Lol... well, look who posted it.

[Ghost]

It’s really not fair nor accurate to call the fans lemmings or blind sheep supporting the organization. Of course we want to believe we’ve found the guys to take us to the promised land. That’s what fans do. We want the Steelers to have drafted well as that translates to wins. They’ve had some hits, some bad misses, some guys who were great in college but their skills didn’t convert to the NFL, and they’ve had some injuries that no one can predict will occur.

If we’re talking about the draft; let’s look at who was taken. If someone wants to go deeper than Rd 3 or longer than the past 5 years please add to the discussion!


2015
Dupree – hurt but shows signs of being special. Great size & speed
Golson – never played a down in 2 years. May have made a big difference this year. May never know.
Coates – flashes signs of being good to really good. Playing with 2 broken fingers now

2014
Shazier –freakish athlete. Makes some big plays, misses some as well.
Tuitt – solid starter and could get even better
Archer – complete and total bust. Just a wasted 3^rd round pick.

2013
Jones – was a monster in college (in SEC). Everyone (experts, pundits, etc) loved this pick. But clearly it’s not worked out. JH getting the start this week over him - that’s brutal.
Bell – Great (when not smoking dope).
Wheaton – probably on his way out. Easily replaceable.

2012
DeCastro – overall this was a good, solid pick. Struggling this year but I think he’ll be fine long term.
M. Adams – could make an argument for this being the biggest bust pick over the last 5 years. Mediocre at best, drafted way too high.
Spence – horrific injury. Great heart and worked his way back. Playing elsewhere now.

2011
Heyward – best D player (and of course he’s done for the year)
Gilbert – solid pick!
C. Brown – 3 years and out of NFL. Never that good.

[feltdizz]

who the hell calls fans of a team lemmings and blind sheep? lol...

fan is short for fanatic. of course they will hope for the best and support the team's picks and want them to succeed

the "fan" who expects the worst, hates the coach, hates the fans, hates the draft picks and does nothing but criticize the team isn't much of a fan IMO.

kids these days... smh

[RuthlessBurgher]

So, basically, in a 4 year period, we added Cam Heyward, Marcus Gilbert, David DeCastro, Le'Veon Bell, Ryan Shazier, and Stephon Tuitt via the draft.

In a league where you are lucky if you manage to find one "foundation piece" in any given draft, we added a half dozen of them in a 4 year stretch...the following year is still an incomplete because of ongoing injury issues for all 3 players which could not possibly have been predicted, but it's quite possible that we could add to that total going forward, since we have certainly seen flashes from both Dupree and Coates (while Golson remains a complete mystery).

And yet we continue to hear how Colbert sucks. Maybe I'm just a blind, mindless lemming, though.

[Shawn]

It’s really not fair nor accurate to call the fans lemmings or blind sheep supporting the organization. Of course we want to believe we’ve found the guys to take us to the promised land. That’s what fans do. We want the Steelers to have drafted well as that translates to wins. They’ve had some hits, some bad misses, some guys who were great in college but their skills didn’t convert to the NFL, and they’ve had some injuries that no one can predict will occur.

If we’re talking about the draft; let’s look at who was taken. If someone wants to go deeper than Rd 3 or longer than the past 5 years please add to the discussion!


2015
Dupree – hurt but shows signs of being special. Great size & speed
Golson – never played a down in 2 years. May have made a big difference this year. May never know.
Coates – flashes signs of being good to really good. Playing with 2 broken fingers now

2014
Shazier –freakish athlete. Makes some big plays, misses some as well.
Tuitt – solid starter and could get even better
Archer – complete and total bust. Just a wasted 3^rd round pick.

2013
Jones – was a monster in college (in SEC). Everyone (experts, pundits, etc) loved this pick. But clearly it’s not worked out. JH getting the start this week over him - that’s brutal.
Bell – Great (when not smoking dope).
Wheaton – probably on his way out. Easily replaceable.

2012
DeCastro – overall this was a good, solid pick. Struggling this year but I think he’ll be fine long term.
M. Adams – could make an argument for this being the biggest bust pick over the last 5 years. Mediocre at best, drafted way too high.
Spence – horrific injury. Great heart and worked his way back. Playing elsewhere now.

2011
Heyward – best D player (and of course he’s done for the year)
Gilbert – solid pick!
C. Brown – 3 years and out of NFL. Never that good.

I agree with assessment except the sentence about Jones being a monster in college. I watched each and every sack he had his last season. On only one play did he have to actually beat a guy and that was a running back. All others he came off clean. He was an average talent but superstar numbers based on the scheme at Georgia, and some good luck. We swung and whiffed.

[Ghost]

In 2011 (college) Jones started every game. 70 tackles with 19.5 for loss. 2 forced fumbles and 26 QB hurries.

In 2102 (college) he only played in 12 games and had 85 tackles, 24 for loss, 14.5 sacks, an interception and 2 fumble recoveries. He was named 1st team All-American by the AFCA and the Associated Press named him SEC Defensive Player of the year.

You can say it was scheme but the guy was constantly around the ball making plays and the stats back it up. 155 tackles over 2 years with 43.5 for loss is damn impressive. He was not considered an average college talent.

[feltdizz]

I agree with assessment except the sentence about Jones being a monster in college. I watched each and every sack he had his last season. On only one play did he have to actually beat a guy and that was a running back. All others he came off clean. He was an average talent but superstar numbers based on the scheme at Georgia, and some good luck. We swung and whiffed.

he wasn't average in college

[SteelerOfDeVille]

for our continuing downward spiral the last 10 years?

almost every recent thread has posters blaming our demise on lack of talent and poor drafting.
this cant possibly be the case.
if you were to go back and read all the threads after our last 10 drafts, you will see an overly alarming number of posters that rate our drafts as A, A-, B+, B with a rare C grade thrown in.
There were tons of, 'steals of the draft', 'plug and play', 'day one starers', 'great depth with future starter', diamond in the rough'. etc etc etc. comments. this cannot be denied.
If our drafts were actually as bad as everyone is saying now, that would mean our posters that made these claims have/had no clue about any players and were just blindly supporting the organization. lemmings , one might say.
so if our posters were right about the selections, then coaching and development must be the issue.............pretty easy to see where the blame lies

pretty sure Mendenhall and Limas were considered a great draft by most posters here...

When it comes to talent evaluation, nothing personal, but, I put little weight into most of y'alls opinions.

[SteelerOfDeVille]

I agree with assessment except the sentence about Jones being a monster in college. I watched each and every sack he had his last season. On only one play did he have to actually beat a guy and that was a running back. All others he came off clean. He was an average talent but superstar numbers based on the scheme at Georgia, and some good luck. We swung and whiffed.

Actually makes sense... I remember how some who never watched Louisville thought Gerrod Holliman was going to be a star and wanted him EARLY. Most of his INTs were freelancing and he was a bad tackler... if you hadn't watched, you wouldn't have known that (though, scouting eventually picked up on the bad tackling part)

[feltdizz]

pretty sure Mendenhall and Limas were considered a great draft by most posters here...

When it comes to talent evaluation, nothing personal, but, I put little weight into most of y'alls opinions.

we really have no idea how a player will do until they hit the field. Some guys make it, most don't...

mall you can do is hope for the best and fear the worst.

but it why would anyone question why fans of a team want their players to be stars and steals of the draft.

[squidkid]

we really have no idea how a player will do until they hit the field. Some guys make it, most don't...

mall you can do is hope for the best and fear the worst.

but it why would anyone question why fans of a team want their players to be stars and steals of the draft.

lol............nice try but that's not what this is about

[squidkid]

Wow, does that ever make sense. QED.

makes perfect sense
fans proclaim every pick is awesome, now the team sucks and they want to blame the players drafted...........

[RuthlessBurgher]

pretty sure Mendenhall and Limas were considered a great draft by most posters here...

When it comes to talent evaluation, nothing personal, but, I put little weight into most of y'alls opinions.

I don't pretend to know more than the Steelers professional scouts (although I may actually know more than the Browns' professional scouts).

Sometimes I get excited about a player during the pre-draft process (e.g. Ben Roethlisberger, David DeCastro), and we draft the guy and it turns out I was correct to be excited by the pick.

Sometimes I get excited about a player during the pre-draft process (e.g. Rashard Mendenhall, Limas Sweed), and we draft the guy, but it turns out that I would be ultimately disappointed.

Sometimes I question a pick the Steelers make (e.g. Troy Edwards, Ziggy Hood), and the player is as disappointing as I worried he might be.

Sometimes I question a pick the Steelers make (e.g. Maurkice Pouncey, Ryan Shazier), and the player ultimately surprises me in a positive manner.

I realize that I don't have nearly the amount of information available to me as the pros do, so it's not surprising that my draft day opinions are pretty scattershot across the board, but once a guy becomes a Steeler, I root for him regardless of what my earlier opinion of him might have been.