Covering your team's draft prospects seems to be the theme here at Armchair Linebacker, and as the new guy who am I to rock the boat? Besides, it offers the chance to talk about something besides our quarterback's penis and the wacky hijinx it gets itself into. Who should the Steelers draft? Let's look at a breakdown by position.
Defensive back: Many folks here believe that just getting Troy back solves all the ills in the defensive backfield, when if anything him being gone most of last year showed how the rest of the group is a bunch of substitute teachers who will cost you a playoff spot. All of the "how the fuck did they lose that game" moments in 2009 came from watching mid-to-low level QBs having MVP performances against the Steelers secondary. Sure INTs were dropped, and corners were being toasted like Smores at a campfire. Having said that, the talent is deep enough this year that they can wait until the second round to fill the gaps unless someone like Joe Haden somehow drops to #18.
O-line: This is the position they should be focusing on in the first round. The team - up to and including Dan Rooney - wants to put the focus back on the running game, and to do so they are going to need some help on the line. Even if you believe the starting five are high caliber (Protip: they aren't), there's no depth at all behind the starters. Drafting a guy who can immediately start would be great, but at this point we just need a guy who can come off the bench when needed who won't become a turnstile.
Receivers: Every year Ben makes a request for a tall WR, I think this year he's just going to shut the fuck up and try not to get his dick stuck in the locker room shower drain. The team was already making plans for life after Santonio, there was no way they were resigning him after this season. Getting into another spat just was the last straw and the Steelers cut bait now just to get rid of the guy. The plan seems to be have Mike Wallace as the #2 guy after the standout rookie season he had, and have Randle-El be the #3 possession type receiver. That could work for a little bit, but it's time to look ahead. Hines is going to retire after next year, so I think they are looking to get a WR in the 3rd or 4th round that they can take some time to develop.
QB: No, not for the reason you're thinking. They should spend one of their 1 billion 5th round picks on a QB because Batch is 150 years old, and you never know when your starter is going to end up on Deadspin doing a keg stand at someone's 12 grade end of school party. Dennis Dixon had a respectable showing in an emergency start last year, but they don't seem to have full confidence in him since they still have someone eligible for AARP ahead on the depth chart.
D-line: This would be another area where you're primarily looking for depth. Ziggy Hood looks like he should become another solid if not spectacular Steelers DT, but the wheels came off when Aaron Smith got hurt. I wouldn't expect them to fill any spots here until the later rounds, but the Steelers like drafting defensive linemen in the first round. If someone they are even moderately looking at starts to fall, they're likely to trade all their picks to get him.
The last two rounds will probably be guys that are experiments, or someone's kid that we have to draft because Mike Tomlin lost a bet. Either way, not much usually comes from either round. Then again, because the NFL turned the draft into their version of the Jerry Lewis Telethon, no one will be awake by then for it to matter.
1 comment:
you know, it's sort of hard to believe in only 30 years time we go from "North Dallas Forty is an awesome movie" to "Ben Roethlisberger should be suspended"
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