Thumbs up for a bold Steelers draft
After the draft, and after the subsequent press conference, I asked Mike Tomlin whether he蘑菇视频 noticed a new sense of determination in his players during the few gathered workouts the last couple weeks.
鈥淣ot really,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just getting started.鈥�
He didn鈥檛 want to say much, and who could blame him? Not responding to the humiliating chaos these past few months has looked good on him. Why start now?
But his organization蘑菇视频 actions say otherwise. A new determination, or a renewed determination, was apparent in what was a bold draft weekend.
Bold, is the word, and I used it to death the other day in reviewing the Devin Bush pick. But that boldness only continued in ensuing rounds:
* Drafting their sleeper receiving prospect, little-known Diontae Johnson, with his average height, speed and workout numbers, in the third round while big, fast, well-known and popular prospects such as Hakeem Butler and Miles Boykin were still on the board. Bold!
* Drafting a converted wide receiver with raw coverage skills, Justin Layne, with one of the more pure, and again popular, cornerbacks of the draft, Notre Dame蘑菇视频 Julian Love, still on the board. Bold!
* Benny Snell蘑菇视频 too slow, right? The Steelers ignored all of us computer geeks who forgot how much Snell had to do with the turnaround at Kentucky 鈥� with heart the size of Walter Payton 鈥� just because he ran a 4.66 40 with a Costanza-like vertical jump of 29.5 inches. Bold!
* With a gaping hole at tight end following the departure of Jesse James and the eyebrow-raising release of practice-squadder Bucky Hodges, the Steelers ignored playmaker types such as Caleb Wilson and Alize Mack for the less-productive and slower Zach Gentry. The former were guys who had either played for one of the Steelers current coaches or had visited the South Side before the draft. But they couldn鈥檛 block! Gentry, on the other hand, might become Matt Spaeth. Drafting for the next Matt Spaeth is 鈥� Bold!
* Drafting the nation蘑菇视频 leading pass-rusher 鈥� from the MAC? 鈥� even though he, at 6-0, 233, is built like a big safety or a little off-the-ball linebacker, but who really can鈥檛 do anything but rush the passer. That蘑菇视频 bold!
* Allowing new-ish defensive line coach Karl Dunbar to do something long-time and legendary DL coach John Mitchell never could 鈥� draft one of his Alabama guys. And this after Dunbar蘑菇视频 I-know-this-guy pick in the seventh round last year washed out. But the Steelers gave Dunbar another chance this weekend, but this time to pick a guy who had actually started. Bold!
* Drafting not only their second player out of the MAC in the sixth round, but third in their entire draft, a little known run-and-hit guy from Akron who蘑菇视频 destined for special teams, but who ran faster than their new cornerback. Bold!
* And even in the seventh round, the Steelers took a nobody offensive tackle who鈥檒l probably have to move inside for a team stacked with linemen, but not safeties, deep receiving threats or tight ends. Maybe not so bold, but in the Kelvin Beachum School of 7th-round, long-time starting left tackles, Smart!
I look back and consider these moves to have been bold, but at the time, as I missed prediction after prediction because I was soused with four months of research and numbers, I, like many of the draft geeks out there, became frustrated by the Steelers鈥� draft 鈥� at the time.
Of course the Steelers know the analytics. Of course they had the 40 times and workout numbers. Of course they talked to these players. I did the same thing, so naturally I can make the case for Alex Barnes over Benny Snell, right?
But as I looked over the list of players the Steelers had acquired, after coming to terms with my faux-educated attempts at predicting, I gained more respect for what they had just done.
If you know anything about handicapping horses, or even football games, you know that formulas just don鈥檛 work. What works are a modicum of formula laced with a lotta instinct honed by years of experience 鈥� and experience at losing, too. Getting stung has a way of sticking with you, and makes you realize when a statistic is just, well, B.S.
I felt that way looking over the lists of the other teams in the division.
Cincinnati, which needed a linebacker with speed just as badly as the Steelers had, watched the Steelers move a pick ahead of them for Bush, and then drafted a guard 11th. They said they wanted the guard all along. Eleventh. Even the great David DeCastro slipped to 24th. Sure obvious Hall of Famers go 11th. Not Jonah Williams. And then the Bengals drafted a tight end who averaged 6 yards per reception less than the tight end the Steelers drafted three rounds later. They also got a linebacker with tight hips who can鈥檛 cover and a quarterback whose ceiling is Andy Dalton.
Baltimore drafted a 166-pound WR with a Lisfranc foot injury with the 25th pick of the draft, and he, Marquise Brown, I learned from a draft investigator, really isn鈥檛 related to Antonio Brown. It was just a ruse by the Browns of the same Florida city. Not that it matters, but the injury and the 166 pounds might. The Ravens also drafted the pass-rusher with the worst motor I saw on tape, Jaylon Ferguson, a running back who can鈥檛 catch in Justice Hill, a cornerback who鈥檒l have to move to safety because he蘑菇视频 so grabby, a surly nose tackle who finally found a coach he liked, and a Penn State quarterback who蘑菇视频 NOT moving to safety. Apparently they鈥檒l try to run wide on a Steelers team that just drafted a pair of 4.4 linebackers and signed a professional $backer in free agency. Awful draft by the Ravens.
Now, surely Cleveland, with the new genius running the show, would come out of this draft loaded. But they had traded their first-rounder for an elite diva receiver. In the second round, they took a cornerback, Greedy Williams, who lost half his fans when Daniel Jeremiah showed a montage of Greedy not coming close to covering inside slants. The Browns also added a couple of linebackers who can鈥檛 cover and a kicker in the fifth round who missed a 44-yarder in the Senior Bowl and was only 1-for-3 from 50 yards all season.
No, the Steelers, in spite of my knee-jerk, in-game assessment of mediocrity, had the best draft in their division. Here蘑菇视频 why:
1.) Devin Bush, ILB, Michigan 鈥� Yes, he蘑菇视频 the shortest linebacker ever drafted in the first round, but, as Tomlin explained, speed at that position might mean more than speed at any other defensive position. Bush might get blocked by Wisconsin in its power run game, but the NFL doesn鈥檛 try to win with seven linemen, a fullback and a 245-pound tailback on every. single. down. The NFL attacks the flanks with every type of screen pass imaginable. Now the Steelers have someone who can disrupt all of that flow, and surely help disrupt Lamar Jackson, Justice Hill and Trace McSorley.
3-A.) Diontae Johnson, WR, Toledo 鈥� Same size, speed and conference as Antonio Brown, and, wow, these guys are right about his release off the line. I went home and watched tape of Johnson killing the big Miami (Fla.) press corners off the line time and again. He scored one short TD on a slant in front of the corner, and then beat them for a 40-yard touchdown in which he hit the seam running and outraced the two safeties (who were both drafted this weekend). The last thing on my mind was Johnson蘑菇视频 rather pedestrian (for third-rounders anyway) 4.53 40 time. The guy has professional nuance already, and it showed on every play with every press get-off. He just needs to get in the weight room, get sturdy, and he鈥檒l help right away. Very impressive, and, dare I say, quite bold.
3-B.) Justin Layne, CB, Michigan State 鈥� I鈥檇 already watched him match up with N鈥橩eal Harry, the big receiver drafted by the Patriots in the first round, and had already been impressed. That was an epic match-up with each player winning his share, and each competing 鈥� hard! 鈥� every down. Layne, at 6-2, 192, has Ike Taylor蘑菇视频 size, and as a converted receiver (who converted back during an emergency last season) much better ball skills. Layne doesn鈥檛 have Ike蘑菇视频 4.3 speed, and at 4.5 could be a risk over there if he doesn鈥檛 polish his boundary skills. That蘑菇视频 why Layne蘑菇视频 stock was rather tepid, and why a big, competitive corner from an elite defense lasted as long as he did. I had Layne targeted as a second-rounder, so I obviously like this pick.
4.) Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky 鈥� I became quite the Kentucky fan this season, and mainly because of Snell. These were my notes while watching him in-season: 鈥淗ines Ward-size chip,鈥� 鈥淲ildcat QB,鈥� 鈥済ood hands but not used as receiver,鈥� 鈥渄ad was a college running back, in Ravens camp,鈥� 鈥渞elated to Matt Snell,鈥� 鈥渉eart and soul guy.鈥� In my first mock draft, I had Snell going to the Steelers in the fourth round, with the note 鈥淚 say Benny Snell falls this far.鈥� Yes, he was a guy I once hoped would fall to the fourth round. And then he ran a 4.66 40 and we all forgot all about him. The Steelers didn鈥檛. They remember the tape.
5.) Zach Gentry, TE, Michigan 鈥� I initially had Gentry as a Jesse James clone. Jesse was a playmaker at times, but he wasn鈥檛 much of a blocker no matter what the Steeler-atti wrote every, single training camp. Gentry is an inch taller than James at 6-8, with longer 34-inch arms, and just a bit slower 40 at 4.9. But in re-watching Gentry last night, I saw that massive Matt Spaeth frame, which TE coach James Daniel had mentioned after the pick. Gentry, I thought, could even turn into something of an Alejandro Villanueva-type giant at his position if he continues his transformation from former quarterback into blocking tight end. They say tight ends are the smartest guys on the field because they must master both the line of scrimmage and the secondary, and when tight ends were once quarterbacks 鈥� like Ken Whisenhunt and Heath Miller 鈥� they鈥檙e even smarter. Gentry蘑菇视频 a former quarterback, so that was mentioned along with Heath in a question to Daniel. Well, the old assistant had what sources indicate was the best laugh of his career. 鈥淗eath,鈥� Daniel kept saying between laughs. Not that it was a comparison, but Daniel couldn鈥檛 get over anybody mentioning Heath in the same sentence with any tight end, let alone a rookie. Daniel laughed and laughed and then just sat in his chair with a satisfied smile before being told his interview was over. Coach Daniel is happy. No one蘑菇视频 ever seen that, at least since Miller retired. Maybe Gentry and his blocking potential, along with his 16-yard average per catch, has something to do with that. BTW, both James and Spaeth ran 4.83 40s coming out, so, a nano-step faster than the bigger Gentry.
6-A.) Sutton Smith, OLB, Northern Illinois 鈥� I watched a few NIU games and, frankly, was mesmerized by this guy蘑菇视频 ability to get to the quarterback. But I wanted to write him off. I mean, he really does look like a safety lining up on the edge. But during one game I was compelled to tweet that Smith was outplaying Brian Burns. Then I was the guy with the satisfied smile when Smith, in our post-pick conference call, was asked by another reporter 鈥� checking his stats for the first time 鈥� how in the world he racked up 50 tackles-for-loss (actually 58.5 with 30 sacks) in college. I realized that no one else in that room had watched Smith perform his magic. And while I realize it will be difficult for a 6-0, 233-pounder to replicate anything close to those numbers in the league, Sutton Smith will make this team and at least perform that magic on special teams. He蘑菇视频 a special player. Great pick, maybe my favorite after Bush.
6-B.) Isaiah Buggs, DE/DT, Alabama 鈥� Watching Alabama as a reporter who fancies himself a TV scout can be difficult. There are so many players to watch that you try to eliminate guys as soon as possible. Rewinding an Alabama tape six times after every play can add up to a lost weekend. And Buggs, on the initial list I had been provided, was ranked 67th in the entire draft. So I stopped watching him because A.) The Steelers didn鈥檛 need a lineman that early in the draft, B.) He was playing a lot of 4-3 end and the Steelers don鈥檛 need 295-pounders on the edge, and C.) He was wildly overrated. Well, I was right on all three points. The thing was, as I tried to focus on Mack Wilson and Deionte Thompson on that Tide defense, Buggs kept showing up. And he showed up with enthusiasm. For a guy who was too wide to play an NFL edge, and maybe too small to play tackle, he sure made a lot of plays. If moved inside, and with good coaching, he could become a genuine player. I never considered this once-overrated guy would turn into an underrated late-rounder, and that蘑菇视频 where he landed. He蘑菇视频 another player, and his old D-line coach knows it.
6-C.) Ulysees Gilbert, ILB, Akron 鈥� From 鈥楤ama to 鈥楰ron, Gilbert went one round after Mack Wilson, a guy people once thought was a first-round Steelers lock. Gilbert can run. We thought L.J. Fort was fast 鈥� and he was their fastest linebacker last year 鈥� but Fort ran a 4.67 coming out. The Steelers clocked Gilbert at 4.48 at the Akron pro day. He蘑菇视频 considered a coverage backer, but for now he蘑菇视频 just expected to run and hit on special teams. Excellent pick.
7.) Derwin Gray, OT-OG, Maryland 鈥� I have to plead ignorance here but even Mr. Google couldn鈥檛 help me find information on Gray, other than he measured 6-4 1/2, 320 at the Combine with long 34 1/2-inch arms. I also found that he started 25 games at left tackle at Maryland, one of the best running teams in the country the last three seasons. Gray may have to move inside, but that蘑菇视频 what they said once about another seventh-rounder, Beachum. As with Gray, Beachum蘑菇视频 primary asset was the fact he had started multiple years at left tackle and would have to move inside. Thing is, Beachum蘑菇视频 still a starting left tackle. I have no choice but to consider this another solid pick.
The Steelers made several solid picks, with Bush, Johnson, Snell and Gentry certain to make the team and contribute as rookies. Bush and Johnson could even turn into sensational picks, and guys such as Layne and the sixth-rounders all have a shot at that. As just noted, the seventh-rounder is solid, too.
This draft may not have fulfilled fantasies and predictions of Analytics Nation, but it蘑菇视频 at the very least rock solid at the floor. The ceiling has high-arch potential, too, because of the bold steps taken this weekend.
Bold and possibly beautiful. It蘑菇视频 the soap opera they needed.