Why fans don't like this draft.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

After seeing 30 of these drafts go by, most drafts will disappoint. If you get 2 starters and one really good role player from a draft, it's a good one. 5 years from now, most of the players will be out anyway and very few of them will have the initial optimism and hope of newly drafted players. I get it.

Having said the Steelers went left in a few areas when they should have stayed in their lane. Friermuth over Humphrey and Martinez? Um, no. This of course would change or pick in round three when we bypassed some pretty good DB's. Colbert ignored DB in rounds 3 and 4B, picking a linebacker who looks like a special teams guy? Doesn't Colbert understand that an injury at CB to a starter at CB and we are dead? It will be a cluster you know what domino like effect.

There's a lot of pressure on Friermuth and Green to pan out. And that trade up for the 5th round pick, ( which cost us a 4th ) don't get me started. Sounds like a wasted pick already.

While Colbert did hit the bullseye on Harris and Moore, and may have found a late round gem with Roche will that be enough? While Harris to me has the type of ability to make this draft a good one by himself, these obvious misses and gaffes to me have me playing the what if game before practice #1. Just one DB drafted in round 7, and he's slow.? Yep.

[flippy]

Another big concern with this draft has to be around taking a RB in the 1st.

I love Harris as much as anyone, but I also know it’s likely even elite backs typically have 3-4 great years in them. And we’re going to get to the end of his rookie deal and fairly to him at that point, he’s gonna want his 1st big contract and by that point his best years could have already passed.

Maybe he’s the exception and we get more out of him, but looking at this realistically, our 2-7 picks are going to have to be even better to make this a great draft and that at the core is what makes fans collectively more suspect about all the other picks.

I hope one day we’re looking back and someone is telling us they knew all along Loudermilk was gonna be the best out of this class when he’s having his 10th All Pro season or something like that.

[NorthCoast]

After seeing 30 of these drafts go by, most drafts will disappoint. If you get 2 starters and one really good role player from a draft, it's a good one. 5 years from now, most of the players will be out anyway and very few of them will have the initial optimism and hope of newly drafted players. I get it.

Having said the Steelers went left in a few areas when they should have stayed in their lane. Friermuth over Humphrey and Martinez? Um, no. This of course would change or pick in round three when we bypassed some pretty good DB's. Colbert ignored DB in rounds 3 and 4B, picking a linebacker who looks like a special teams guy? Doesn't Colbert understand that an injury at CB to a starter at CB and we are dead? It will be a cluster you know what domino like effect.

There's a lot of pressure on Friermuth and Green to pan out. And that trade up for the 5th round pick, ( which cost us a 4th ) don't get me started. Sounds like a wasted pick already.

While Colbert did hit the bullseye on Harris and Moore, and may have found a late round gem with Roche will that be enough? While Harris to me has the type of ability to make this draft a good one by himself, these obvious misses and gaffes to me have me playing the what if game before practice #1. Just one DB drafted in round 7, and he's slow.? Yep.

If you are looking at it with one year glasses you might be disappointed. I happen to believe the Steelers draft with a 2 to 3 yr plan. There are some potentially good players that will emerge in Yr 2 or 3 once they get their footing. Some of these guys come across as very coachable. The other thing is many of the star picks have already reached their peak. A developmental guy is an unknown.

Having said all that, I'm already not optimistic on this season because of return of Roethlisberger. But what is intriguing is that Roethlisberger was also at his best with a strong running game and limiting his passing (in his last SB year he threw <400 passes which is the fewest since his second yr in the league). So the formula is there for success.

[pfelix73]

Why fans DO like this draft. We needed another TE, so I'm happy with the Penn State add in the 2nd. Only other lineman I wanted was Dickerson, but he went to the Eagles, so oh well. I trust their scouting dept and the coaching. They put WAY MORE TIME in to this than we do as fans.

One thing is correct in what what said earlier. Let's give it a few years to see how it panned out. Geez- people are never happy. Maybe we need to have a big time fantasy league where people can draft their own teams and then see how those teams work out from season to season. This is what we get in the internet age. People reading/ seeing how others are never satisfied. Whatever- y'all try and have a great day!

[pfelix73]

Yes- you are correct! Ebron won't be here forever. Might be his last year. For example.--- Northcoast

[Northern_Blitz]

If you are looking at it with one year glasses you might be disappointed. I happen to believe the Steelers draft with a 2 to 3 yr plan. There are some potentially good players that will emerge in Yr 2 or 3 once they get their footing. Some of these guys come across as very coachable. The other thing is many of the star picks have already reached their peak. A developmental guy is an unknown.

Having said all that, I'm already not optimistic on this season because of return of Roethlisberger. But what is intriguing is that Roethlisberger was also at his best with a strong running game and limiting his passing (in his last SB year he threw <400 passes which is the fewest since his second yr in the league). So the formula is there for success.

In normal circumstances I 100% agree with this approach.

But the Steelers have kind of forced us to wear 1 year glasses by bringing Ben back on a 1 year dummy contract.

I guess this draft kind of continues the half going for it half for the future mode we're in.

I think I'd like this draft a lot better if we didn't bring Ben back. Because then bringing in a C who's probably some time away from starting would help the tank.

But they've said they intend to compete for the SB this year. And the line is probably worse than last season.

[Joel Buchsbaum]

Another big concern with this draft has to be around taking a RB in the 1st.

I love Harris as much as anyone, but I also know it’s likely even elite backs typically have 3-4 great years in them. And we’re going to get to the end of his rookie deal and fairly to him at that point, he’s gonna want his 1st big contract and by that point his best years could have already passed.

Maybe he’s the exception and we get more out of him, but looking at this realistically, our 2-7 picks are going to have to be even better to make this a great draft and that at the core is what makes fans collectively more suspect about all the other picks.

I hope one day we’re looking back and someone is telling us they knew all along Loudermilk was gonna be the best out of this class when he’s having his 10th All Pro season or something like that.

Yeah, dibs on Loudermilk winning defensive player of the year!

I don't see why anyone would be against picking a RB 1st. We were dead last running the ball last year, and Harris is a true 3 down back who was durable in college. Fans must forgotten what a good back can do for an offense.

[Steel Maniac]

In normal circumstances I 100% agree with this approach.

But the Steelers have kind of forced us to wear 1 year glasses by bringing Ben back on a 2 year dummy contract.

I guess this draft kind of continues the half going for it half for the future mode we're in.

I think I'd like this draft a lot better if we didn't bring Ben back. Because then bringing in a C who's probably some time away from starting would help the tank.

But they've said they intend to compete for the SB this year. And the line is probably worse than last season.

Bingo!!!

Bringing Ben back for one last hurrah forces you to think about this season in a microscope.

Which was my whole point in asking about the TE we took instead of a plug and play center.

[Northern_Blitz]

Bingo!!!

Bringing Ben back for one last hurrah forces you to think about this season in a microscope.

Which was my whole point in asking about the TE we took instead of a plug and play center.

Yep.

Given Ben coming back, I think C was a much bigger priority than TE. And we were talking about the 2nd best guy at either position (and there was probably a bigger drop off between 1 and 2 at TE).

TE was a problem for the future and C was a hair on fire fix it now problem IMO.

If Green fixes that problem, this might end up being a great draft.

If not, I think we'll see the line getting caved in a lot (again)

[Northern_Blitz]

Yeah, dibs on Loudermilk winning defensive player of the year!

I don't see why anyone would be against picking a RB 1st. We were dead last running the ball last year, and Harris is a true 3 down back who was durable in college. Fans must forgotten what a good back can do for an offense.

Should teams want a 3 down back?

I think one of our problems in the Bell era was that we were too reliant on him in the running game. And not having a good 2nd option bit us multiple times in the playoffs. I think that this has generally been an issue throughout Tomlin's tenure.

Having one "bell cow" or "work horse" back means that you typically don't have depth and the running game has a single point of failure...at an oft injured position. At least this was what happened to us when we had a great back in Bell.

I think I'd rather have back by committee. It does mean that you probably have 2 guys that aren't as talented as one single guy. But it prevents you from giving a guy like Toussant almost as many carries in a playoff run (29 carries in 2 games) than the rest of his career with the team (38 carries spread over 3 seasons).

I did want an upgrade at RB, but I think that Snell / McFarland could have been an average duo with good blocking. And average would have been a huge step up from where we were last year.

But the water is under the bridge now and it's time to start hoping for the best with the decisions that have been made. And I don't think that the 1st pick was unreasonable.

[feltdizz]

In normal circumstances I 100% agree with this approach.

But the Steelers have kind of forced us to wear 1 year glasses by bringing Ben back on a 1 year dummy contract.

I guess this draft kind of continues the half going for it half for the future mode we're in.

I think I'd like this draft a lot better if we didn't bring Ben back. Because then bringing in a C who's probably some time away from starting would help the tank.

But they've said they intend to compete for the SB this year. And the line is probably worse than last season.

What makes everyone think this is Ben’s last year? If Najee balls out and Ben is efficient.. why would Ben want to retire?

Also, even if he doesn’t come back after this year, we damn sure shouldn’t do anything drastic for one more year of Ben

[Northern_Blitz]

What makes everyone think this is Ben’s last year? If Najee balls out and Ben is efficient.. why would Ben want to retire?

Also, even if he doesn’t come back after this year, we damn sure shouldn’t do anything drastic for one more year of Ben

Horrible play at the end of last year + the dummy contract that voids all years of his contract after this one just after the SB.

It isn't impossible for him to come back, but retirement seems like the most likely option by far IMO. If he didn't think that was the case, I don't think he signs the dummy extension.

But I also thought we should have let him go this season...

[feltdizz]

Should teams want a 3 down back?

I think one of our problems in the Bell era was that we were too reliant on him in the running game. And not having a good 2nd option bit us multiple times in the playoffs. I think that this has generally been an issue throughout Tomlin's tenure.

Having one "bell cow" or "work horse" back means that you typically don't have depth and the running game has a single point of failure...at an oft injured position. At least this was what happened to us when we had a great back in Bell.

I think I'd rather have back by committee. It does mean that you probably have 2 guys that aren't as talented as one single guy. But it prevents you from giving a guy like Toussant almost as many carries in a playoff run (29 carries in 2 games) than the rest of his career with the team (38 carries spread over 3 seasons).

I did want an upgrade at RB, but I think that Snell / McFarland could have been an average duo with good blocking. And average would have been a huge step up from where we were last year.

But the water is under the bridge now and it's time to start hoping for the best with the decisions that have been made. And I don't think that the 1st pick was unreasonable.

We had RB by committee past year and it didn’t work. When people say they want RB by committee they still want really good RB’s.. not dudes missing wide open holes or struggling to get to the second level because they are slow as dirt.

Our OL wasn’t anything special but watch breakdowns of McFarland and Conner. Those dudes missed some serious opportunities to cash in on yards simply because they lacked vision and that feel that 3 down backs like Najee have.

Also, when Samuels comes in you know its like 3 plays we are going to pick from and all of them took forever to develop.

The biggest issue with this draft and ANY draft is fans actually expect all the players selected to start on day 1.

That ain’t happening.

Half these dudes prolly wont even dress this year for games.

[feltdizz]

Horrible play at the end of last year + the dummy contract that voids all years of his contract after this one just after the SB.

It isn't impossible for him to come back, but retirement seems like the most likely option by far IMO. If he didn't think that was the case, I don't think he signs the dummy extension.

But I also thought we should have let him go this season...

yeah, its smart to give ourselves a chance to break from Ben without losing a ton of cap space.

but its also a “covid cap” year so who knows what we do once the new cap is announced next year.

[Mr.wizard]

Bingo!!!

Bringing Ben back for one last hurrah forces you to think about this season in a microscope.

Which was my whole point in asking about the TE we took instead of a plug and play center.

No it really doesn't, it made financial sense to bring Ben back, we werent drafting in a spot to get a top QB, couldnt get one in free agency because of the dead money if we cut Ben. Ben was going to count against the cap either way, may as well use him, especially since you dont have anyone on the roster who is better.