Draft Strategy - Changes???

[flippy]

In looking at more mock drafts, I started wondering, do you think we change our approach at all this year.

Seems like we have more holes this year than normal which leads me to believe we have to hit on more of our draft picks.

That said, do we go more conservative and draft guys with a higher floor and lower ceiling? Or do we still take some chances on some hit or miss guys that have no floor but a ceiling that's thru the roof.

I know it's always a trade off. And I personally like to take chances because the draft is already a bit of a crap shoot anyway. Especially as you get past the first pick and definitely past the 2 and 3rd rounds.

[papillon]

Personally, I doubt they change their MO. They'll fill holes with FAs as usual and go into the draft with a board of players listed 1 thru 50 or maybe more and as they come off the board they'll take their highest rated player. I don't see any reason to change that, unless, they decide not to participate that much in FA.

Pappy

[Chucktownsteeler]

I don't foresee them making any radical draft changes this year or any.

[Northern_Blitz]

I hope we don't change how we operate. I just don't know if we'll be able to fill enough holes in UFA.

Here's another question....sorry if I'm hijacking a bit here, but it will be about the Steelers and the draft:

What positions do you think are not high enough on the "need" side of things to take in the 1st round? I'm trying to think about this only from a need perspective, so I'd sill like QB here even though I don't want us to take a QB in the 1st.

Also, because I'm making up rules, I'm not going to consider LG and RG as different positions (just G), but I am going to consider FS and SS different positions (just so I can list more than one position on D).

Offense: RB, TE, WR (only because we know we have 2 starting capable guys...could take WR if someone we thought was elite fell)

Defense: Edge, FS.

I can't remember us having so many needs going into the UFA period. Feels like we need a starter at most positions. Maybe I could put DE on the list above, but I still feel like Tuitt won't be back.

[Chucktownsteeler]

The only positions I am ruling out are RB and TE. We are set there. I am almost ruling out QB, not because we don't need one, but I don't think there is a franchise QB this draft.

[Steel Maniac]

I don't foresee them making any radical draft changes this year or any.

Colbert still running the draft so I don't expect them to change up their MO.

[Oviedo]

In looking at more mock drafts, I started wondering, do you think we change our approach at all this year.

Seems like we have more holes this year than normal which leads me to believe we have to hit on more of our draft picks.

That said, do we go more conservative and draft guys with a higher floor and lower ceiling? Or do we still take some chances on some hit or miss guys that have no floor but a ceiling that's thru the roof.

I know it's always a trade off. And I personally like to take chances because the draft is already a bit of a crap shoot anyway. Especially as you get past the first pick and definitely past the 2 and 3rd rounds.

I think it depends on what they do in free agency. This is a year where we have the resources to shore up key areas in free agency and therefore don't have to reach in the draft

Personally, I would focus on high floor guys versus rolling the dice

[Oviedo]

The only positions I am ruling out are RB and TE. We are set there. I am almost ruling out QB, not because we don't need one, but I don't think there is a franchise QB this draft.

I agree with this

[Iron City Inc.]

Likely to see BAU. However we have not maxed draft capital of late. Perhaps Colbert will not leave us with only 6 picks in next years draft. Today no 5th for 23 in a draft where I would like to go into that draft with a pick in every round and an extra selection would really help get us moving in the right direction.
Small trade backs here or there could do it. Different game now with no Ben so perhaps we'll see a flex in their thinking.

[WindyCitySteel]

You're lucky if you find one or two starters in every draft. Not going to "fill all holes" like everyone tries to do with their mocks. This is why the Steelers' MO of papering over holes in FA with average players is a bad one, those guys all end up leaving in a year or two after disappointing and leaving dead cap space behind.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

I think it depends on what you think their usual strategy is. I think they operate on an off-season strategy more than anything. The first clue will be FA. The Steelers like to bring in lower end FAs who can be lower end starters or backups, so that they aren't forced to reach for a glaring hole in the draft.

As far as the draft, the one major pattern is that they don't draft OL early (has that ever been mentioned on this board? ). Beyond that, I don't think that they purposely ignore any position groups except those that they believe are already stocked (QB since 2004, DL since 2016 etc.). Since 2016, every position group other than QB has been picked in the first two days. I think the team continues their tradition of drafting high character individuals who are at the top of their board when their turn comes along. The one pattern that I'd like to see them break is the sprint to the podium. There seems to be a lot of depth in several positions of need for the Steelers this year (OL, CB, WR) that an extra pick could really benefit a team with so many holes.

[Northern_Blitz]

I think it depends on what you think their usual strategy is. I think they operate on an off-season strategy more than anything. The first clue will be FA. The Steelers like to bring in lower end FAs who can be lower end starters or backups, so that they aren't forced to reach for a glaring hole in the draft.

As far as the draft, the one major pattern is that they don't draft OL early (has that ever been mentioned on this board? ). Beyond that, I don't think that they purposely ignore any position groups except those that they believe are already stocked (QB since 2004, DL since 2016 etc.). Since 2016, every position group other than QB has been picked in the first two days. I think the team continues their tradition of drafting high character individuals who are at the top of their board when their turn comes along. The one pattern that I'd like to see them break is the sprint to the podium. There seems to be a lot of depth in several positions of need for the Steelers this year (OL, CB, WR) that an extra pick could really benefit a team with so many holes.

I think OL at least partially fits in the "don't draft when position stocked" category rather than "don't draft early".

We drafted Pouncey and DeCastro early (a while ago, but still same GM).

Maybe it's something like don't draft tackles early....but maybe that's because we don't usually have a pick early enough to get a marquee tackle. And I think we generally prefer getting someone who's "best guy at their position" vs. "3rd or 4th tackle in the draft".

I think the reason we didn't draft OL early up until about 2 years ago was that it wasn't likely that those guys were going to play because we had entrenched starters. They just all aged out at around the same time.

I also think you should probably always be churning OL in late rounds. You need so many of them on the field and it seems like they are pretty expensive in UFA. Sometimes you get lucky late with guys like Foster. And sometimes you find some money just lying on the sidewalk, which is kind of what happened with AV.

[WindyCitySteel]

I think it depends on what you think their usual strategy is. I think they operate on an off-season strategy more than anything. The first clue will be FA. The Steelers like to bring in lower end FAs who can be lower end starters or backups, so that they aren't forced to reach for a glaring hole in the draft.

If you paper over a hole with a low-end starter or backup-quality player, you still have a glaring hole, IMO. I'd rather they sign one or two legit starters and fill other holes with draft picks or promotions from within, than address all holes with bottom end talent that will be gone in a year.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

If you paper over a hole with a low-end starter or backup-quality player, you still have a glaring hole, IMO. I'd rather they sign one or two legit starters and fill other holes with draft picks or promotions from within, than address all holes with bottom end talent that will be gone in a year.

Yes and no. Every team has holes, no team is complete. While I don't always agree with the moves, it does keep the team from being forced to draft a player based solely on need. It is a way of playing it safe in case you can't fill the hole in the draft without reaching. That is especially important when you have so few premium picks, although this year I can see them going after a higher priced starting quality FA or two if the value is there.

Another thing that I forgot to mention the Steelers. They like to sign guys who they think have hidden value. The two types of players are those coming off of injury or disappointing seasons, and those who were high draft picks who haven't panned out. Some recent examples are:

Haskins, Turner, Justin Hunter, Barron, Moncrief, Alualu, Adams, Williamson, Anthony Miller

More misses than hits recently, which may go a long way in explaining the recent years of playoff disappointment. Doesn't always work out but it is the way they do operate, typically with a tight budget. We will see this year if they go shopping in the full-price aisle in FA instead of the off-price rack.

[Northern_Blitz]

If you paper over a hole with a low-end starter or backup-quality player, you still have a glaring hole, IMO. I'd rather they sign one or two legit starters and fill other holes with draft picks or promotions from within, than address all holes with bottom end talent that will be gone in a year.

What other choice do we have?

We don't have enough cap space + draft picks to get high level starters at all the positions we have open.

And there are several positions where we don't have an "promote from within" option. Like CB and SS.

Some of the guys we have starting next year will be low end guys. Just like every other team in the league.

I do think we'll get 1 or 2 higher impact UFAs. But then it will be mostly the kind of guys we usually get (and maybe a couple of resignings like Edmunds).