Captain Lemmings stimulated a question....

[RuthlessBurgher]

How would an OL pick in the first round be more impactful than a TE or a CB?

At tackle, we have Villanueva on the left and Feiler and Chuks battling it out on the right. The winner of that battle starts, and the other guy will be the top backup swing tackle on gameday. Plus, we have Hawkins and Banner to battle in Latrobe for additional depth.

Inside, we have Foster, Pouncey, and DeCastro starting with Finney there as our utility backup interior o-lineman.

We will likely add another versatile G/C type in the draft at some point, but not in round one. The top first round OL in the draft this year all seem to be tackles anyway, and we seemingly have a glut of tackles right now, even after trading away Marcus Gilbert. The center and guard prospects we'll be looking at will all be coming off the board after the first round.

[Oh wow]

DL LB or DB is my preference for the first pick.

[NorthCoast]

Antonio Brown and Jesse James are no longer with the team.

Last year, AB had 104 catches for 1297 yards and 15 TD and Jesse added 30 catches for 423 yards and 2 TD.

So, between them, that's 134 catches for 1720 yards and 17 TD that walked out the door.

No one player is going to replace that level of production, so we need to add multiple options in free agency and the draft.

So far, the only addition from the outside to address this is the FA signing of WR Donte Moncrief.

Last year, Moncrief had 48 catches for 668 yards and 3 TD. We obviously need for than just him.

We will add both a WR and a TE during this draft. And we aren't going to wait until late while using all prime picks on D.

In this particular draft, I'm not very impressed with the top level round 1 talent at WR, but there appears to be very solid depth at WR in rounds 2-4, which just so happens to be our sweet spot for taking wideouts in the draft anyway.

However, this draft appears to be particularly strong in terms of top TE prospects compared to other years. And if we can get a second well-rounded TE prospect to pair with Vance who would be beneficial in both the pass game as well as the run game, then we could transfer away from the 11 personnel of recent years (1 RB, 1 TE, 3 WR formations) and move toward 12 personnel (1 RB, 2 TE, 2 WR formations) which would allow us to run and pass the ball with equal effectiveness.

My ideal scenario for the draft would be able to obtain a well-rounded LB prospect who can play just as well vs. the pass as vs. the run, because that would improve our overall defense.

But my second best scenario would be to obtain a well-rounded TE prospect who can contribute to our passing game as well as our running game, because that would improve our overall offense.

Two points;
With a better defense it might not be necessary to replace all those yards and TDs trying to outscore the opponents. So I agree, defense in Rd 1.
Second, if you use NE as a model, not a single receiver had over a 1000 yds last season. In fact the top guy didn't even crack 900 yds receiving. Spreading the ball around is something Roethlisberger is going to have to relearn with his crutch now gone.

[Iron City Inc.]

I’m high on a player not mentioned much in this thread...Noah Fant. Everyone is in love with Hock as the complete TE. I am too but I feel that while he can be the reliable Heath 2.0, Fant could be the more impactful player. Fant can be the match up nightmare that teams won’t have an answer for and with 100 catches now sitting in Oakland we may need that.

Thoughts?

Fant is a special talent. Hey he may not even get to 20. Not used in the Y like Hok was. More receiver then TE but a heck of a offensive weapon. Also doesn't mean he can't block well in time but really hasn't done it much prior. He's going to be a good football player. I would agree that we likely pick up a TE on draft day. Not sure exactly what round but we are bringing in Josh Oliver of San Jose St 6 5' 250 ran 4.63 with serious hands. He is more of a mid rounder but he may be a guy to fill the JJ role. Doubt we go away from D early on in this draft. First two rounds are loaded with defense in this draft and that fits our needs perfectly so I would imagine first 2 selections are D after that anything goes including TE.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Getting back to the original question: Moving up to get a blue chip prospect, or moving back and collecting players...

Using Cleveland as an example, drafting a the top of the round every year, often multiple times, does not ensure success. I know, I know "it's the Browns" but there are many teams who consistently draft high yet it seems to be the same low draft pick teams who continue to excel every year.

The opposite side of the coin is New England. They are never drafting high and always seem to be collecting extra draft picks every year. They seem to be near the top every year in compensatory picks as well, but I'd have to look that up. Again, they always seem to be sniffing around the Lombardi with very few "generational talents" on their team.

Last year everyone screamed for the Steelers to move up to draft an ILB. Roquan Smith was the guy but went 7th and out of range. Evans did not have a good year, Edmunds was pretty good but still a way to go, and LVE had a good season. However, one guy who nobody was talking about was Darius Leonard and he was the DROY. I think that the draft is such a crap shoot that you have to be careful when making the move. Those second and early third day picks you give away could turn in to quality players.

[RuthlessBurgher]

Using Cleveland as an example, drafting a the top of the round every year, often multiple times, does not ensure success. I know, I know "it's the Browns" but there are many teams who consistently draft high yet it seems to be the same low draft pick teams who continue to excel every year.

Cleveland actually has been the bad side of a couple of trade-downs in recent seasons.

In 2016, the Browns badly needed a QB and could have just stayed put at #2 and taken Carson Wentz. Instead, they traded down to #8, then traded down again to #15, and ended up with uber-bust WR Corey Coleman.

In 2017, the Browns still badly needed a QB and could have used their #1 pick to select their choice of Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, or Deshaun Watson. Instead, they took pass rusher Myles Garrett, who is certainly a solid player in his own right, but that's not more important than obtaining a franchise QB like reigning NFL MVP Pat Mahomes. Luckily for them, they had another first round pick at #12 and Deshaun Watson was still on the board. Hooray! But what do they do then? Trade down from #12 to #25, where they would select safety/return man Jabrill Peppers instead, who was recently traded to the Giants.

In 2018, they finally resisted the urge to trade down in the first round and took a couple of elite level prospects, including their franchise QB, at #1 and #4 overall (QB Baker Mayfield and CB Denzel Ward).

[Oh wow]

Always felt like the Browns were afraid of taking a QB and got too cute.

[hawaiiansteel]

Always felt like the Browns were afraid of taking a QB and got too cute.

[Oh wow]

Thats an ugly list. We’re any of those first picks after Couch?

[hawaiiansteel]

Thats an ugly list. We’re any of those first picks after Couch?

Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel.

looks like they may have finally gotten one right with Baker Mayfield.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Cleveland actually has been the bad side of a couple of trade-downs in recent seasons.

Yes they have been, but they traded down to picks that we would pay a king's ransom just to trade up to. They were still in a position to draft elite talent. Cleveland still has had more and higher first round picks than any team in the league, and is just beginning to dig itself out of mediocrity.

[Oh wow]

Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden and Johnny Manziel.

looks like they may have finally gotten one right with Baker Mayfield.

They were all the second picks in the first for the Browns.

Always felt like they were scared to pull the trigger with the higher pick.