Day after draft 5 thoughts

[steeler_george]

I love this draft, I think you need to step back and see what we really accomplished. ( besides the obvious we just got physical)

1) the Run game- Harris (period)

2) restocked the OL, our OL got picked apart over the past three years through FA, and just getting old. Do you guys remember how deep it was when we had the likes of Hubbard, Feiler and Finney as our back ups.
BEST case scenerio: Moore-Dotson-Green-Decastro-Banner bench: Finney & Coward IOL, Chucks and Haig at T
Worst case scenerio: Chucks-Dotson-Finney-Decastro-Banner bench: Green & Coward IOL, Haig and Moore at T

3) We can get rid of the dead weight, bye, bye Gentry, Haussner, Sammuels/Snell, and perhaps Ebron ( maybe I am getting ahead of myself!)

4) I think we added legit depth to the ILB & OLB core... Roche is going to show flashes and the same with Buddy.

5) if this is a rebuild year, it reset the foundation, with out us being a horrid team, I still think we can compete in the AFC.

We might of been saying WTF, we did nothing for our DBS. I think they saw how deep the FA market is at CB and pre determined to go that route. They had to wait on the comp formula to expire. ( Even Butler hinted at that, mentioned during his interview, still need a CB)

[Oviedo]

I agree it was a good draft...won't say "love" but they did a good job getting good players

1. Harris is a no brainer. best RB in the draft and will automatically make the running game better. Where Conner was a 6...Harris is a 10.

2. I love what the Freiermuth pick. We have nothing past Ebron at TE and the same people on this board who constantly complain about Ebron are now the same who complain about Freiermuth. Freiermuth is good and will be a solid 10 year player for us at a position of need. Second best TE in the draft.

3. Solid job adding talent on the OL. The team was clear they believe in Banner and Chuks. Replacing Feiler with Dotson is an automatic upgrade. Dotson was better than Felier (and Decastro) last season and I don't know why he didn't play ahead of Feiler. Green will be good. Klemm said he watched 2 year of every play Green made. Great mobility, ferocious attitude. Perhaps Decastro goes to Center and Green steps in at Right Guard. Lots for Klemm to work with

4. Good defensive depth added. They weren't looking for starters but for guys to come in compete and earn jobs...they did that

I'd rate the draft a solid "B" which when drafting in the mid-20s is a good job.

[SteelerMaine83]

I have to admit I hated this draft as it went pick by pick, but in the end I like it better. Despite how I may feel about any of the picks, who else we could have got at that point, etc, I can’t say that we aren’t significantly improved from where we were before the draft.

Not taking Humphrey at 55 burned me. In retrospect, however, Green is a much more physical player and may represent the type of toughness this OL has lacked. Throw in Moore and last years Dotson, the future of this line looks very physical, which I like.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that by ‘22 (if not this year) we’ll have 4 starters from this draft in Harris, Freiermuth, Green and Moore.

The Roche pick was “a steal”, and although I’m not big on picking punters, turns out the guys I would have considered picking there (CBs) that we’re available we ended up with anyway in S. Brown and Gilbert.

Go get a vet CB from the FA pile and maybe another OLB type and/or a S and we’ll be a good solid contender again this year.

[NorthCoast]

I have to admit I hated this draft as it went pick by pick, but in the end I like it better. Despite how I may feel about any of the picks, who else we could have got at that point, etc, I can’t say that we aren’t significantly improved from where we were before the draft. agreed, although many will argue about the degree of improvement and whether we kept pace with the rest of the AFCN.

Not taking Humphrey at 55 burned me. In retrospect, however, Green is a much more physical player and may represent the type of toughness this OL has lacked. Throw in Moore and last years Dotson, the future of this line looks very physical, which I like. Clearly the team had other priorities than just what is on a stat sheet. The guy they picked plays with anger and Klemm is looking for a few angry men. Enough playing patty-cake with the DL, which is what it looked like last season.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that by ‘22 (if not this year) we’ll have 4 starters from this draft in Harris, Freiermuth, Green and Moore. The OL needed at least two new starters. They have legitimate candidates.

The Roche pick was “a steal”, and although I’m not big on picking punters, turns out the guys I would have considered picking there (CBs) that we’re available we ended up with anyway in S. Brown and Gilbert. Prefer the Steelers stick with the FA route for CBs. They simply can't draft them.

Go get a vet CB from the FA pile and maybe another OLB type and/or a S and we’ll be a good solid contender again this year. yes to this..

_____good stuff.....my thoughts.....

[Steel Maniac]

I have to admit I hated this draft as it went pick by pick, but in the end I like it better. Despite how I may feel about any of the picks, who else we could have got at that point, etc, I can’t say that we aren’t significantly improved from where we were before the draft.

Not taking Humphrey at 55 burned me. In retrospect, however, Green is a much more physical player and may represent the type of toughness this OL has lacked. Throw in Moore and last years Dotson, the future of this line looks very physical, which I like.

I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that by ‘22 (if not this year) we’ll have 4 starters from this draft in Harris, Freiermuth, Green and Moore.

The Roche pick was “a steal”, and although I’m not big on picking punters, turns out the guys I would have considered picking there (CBs) that we’re available we ended up with anyway in S. Brown and Gilbert.

Go get a vet CB from the FA pile and maybe another OLB type and/or a S and we’ll be a good solid contender again this year.

This is how I feel .....

We set the stage nicely for a smooth transition of personnel one O-line.

We got the second highest rated TE in the draft. And he can block which is going to help our run game.

I expect a couple of guys to stick from our UDFA’s and hopefully it’s a linebacker and CB.

[Steelhere10]

I don't follow college players, but I think it's smart how this draft was attacked. Get the limited skills position first and attack the deep position last.

[Terrapin]

I absolutely love this draft because anything Tomlin does gives me a boner. I thought going in that we had major holes everywhere (C,OL,LB,RB,DB,etc,etc), but i was obviously wrong. Instead of drafting for need, we were able to draft luxury picks, projects, etc.

As an example, I thought we had a glaring hole at center. I was wrong. We're so strong there, we were able to pick a guy that's played 4 games at center in his career!

I'm glad you guys love this draft. Aside from Harris, this is the 2016 draft all over again

[Steel Maniac]

I absolutely love this draft because anything Tomlin does gives me a boner. I thought going in that we had major holes everywhere (C,OL,LB,RB,DB,etc,etc), but i was obviously wrong. Instead of drafting for need, we were able to draft luxury picks, projects, etc.

As an example, I thought we had a glaring hole at center. I was wrong. We're so strong there, we were able to pick a guy that's played 4 games at center in his career!

I'm glad you guys love this draft. Aside from Harris, this is the 2016 draft all over again

I can see why you feel that way. But we’ve got to let this now play out in the second wave of free agency.

[Steel Maniac]

I absolutely love this draft because anything Tomlin does gives me a boner. I thought going in that we had major holes everywhere (C,OL,LB,RB,DB,etc,etc), but i was obviously wrong. Instead of drafting for need, we were able to draft luxury picks, projects, etc.

As an example, I thought we had a glaring hole at center. I was wrong. We're so strong there, we were able to pick a guy that's played 4 games at center in his career!

I'm glad you guys love this draft. Aside from Harris, this is the 2016 draft all over again

2016 draft was terrible ; and we’ve still got ball washers trying to defend that draft class! Lol

[Terrapin]

2016 draft was terrible ; and we’ve still got ball washers trying to defend that draft class! Lol

Actually this reminds me of the 2015 draft. Good 1st rounder, then they reach for a bunch of projects and guys with 'position flexibility'. Maybe a novel idea would be to just draft a guy that can play one position really well.

[whatever]

I basically like this draft. It addressed our needs.
I wanted rb, t, c in the first 4 rounds. The te was a nice surprise.
All we heard about is how deep the draft was at oline. How in other years players would be up a round or two.
So there is no excuse for our first four rounds not to be starters day one.

[hawaiiansteel]

2016 draft was terrible ; and we’ve still got ball washers trying to defend that draft class! Lol

stop your lying, what's wrong with you?

nobody here defends the 2016 draft class, stop just making stuff up to fit your false narratives and agendas.

[flippy]

I think we did a nice job in addressing a lot on the O, but may have overlooked the D.

How are we going to replace Nelly, Hilton, and Dupree?

Hopefully running the ball keeps the D off the field and fresher than last season. And we’ll have Bush back which should be a net positive.

I guess the question is will the O progress forward enough to make up for a potential drop off on D?

I do like that we have a punter with a big leg. Maybe that helps.

[Steel Maniac]

I think we did a nice job in addressing a lot on the O, but may have overlooked the D.

How are we going to replace Nelly, Hilton, and Dupree?

Hopefully running the ball keeps the D off the field and fresher than last season. And we’ll have Bush back which should be a net positive.

I guess the question is will the O progress forward enough to make up for a potential drop off on D?

I do like that we have a punter with a big leg. Maybe that helps.

Flippy, in your best guestimation, why would they not just take the proven Center available and be done with it in round two? I’m not knocking the TE but I’m saying that if the mandate from the owner is to fix the run game then wouldn’t going about that in a more direct way be the best?

[hawaiiansteel]

I think we did a nice job in addressing a lot on the O, but may have overlooked the D.

How are we going to replace Nelly, Hilton, and Dupree?

we're replacing Dupree with Highsmith, Roche was drafted to provide depth.

we haven't replaced Nelly and Hilton yet, I was surprised to see us wait until the 7th round to address the CB position. we will most likely have to sign a veteran FA CB now, fortunately there are a lot of them out there.