TPOP: The Meandering Thoughts of an Indecisive Mock Drafter

[teegre]

Here is the mock draft that I submitted to The Point of Pittsburgh. It's a bit long-winded... but, a necessary evil in order to hash out exactly who the picks will be.

The Meandering Thoughts of an Indecisive Mock Drafter
by Tiger Rowan

Most years, when I predict who the Steelers will select with their first pick in the NFL draft, my prediction comes easily for me. Usually I lock in on a player and, right or wrong, I feel 100% confident that is the player who the Steelers will draft. Mind you, I have not gotten a first-round prognosis correct since David DeCastro (2011), but that does not change the fact that going into each of the previous drafts I was completely locked onto a player.

Fast-forward to this current off-season where for several months, Karl Joseph (strong safety, West Virginia) has been the player who I have had my mind set on being Pittsburgh’s first-round pick. I have heard ESPN and NFL Network analysts discuss many names; I have read various rumors about the Steelers being linked to certain other players; but all along, my gut has told me that the pick is going to be Karl Joseph. Even when the NFL re-checked his knee and stated that Joseph would not be able to participate during training camp, I justified the pick by saying that Robert Golden was re-signed specifically to start the first few games of the season (until Joseph is ready).

Yes, that would be known as “rationalizing”.

Then on Tuesday morning, I woke up and my gut told me that Andrew Billings was going to be available for Pittsburgh’s first-round pick.


Read more:
http://www.thepointofpittsburgh.com/...-mock-drafter/

Feel free to rip it apart.

[Mojouw]

I like it.

It would be a big departure for the Steelers in drafting Nassib. Do you see him coming in and simply being deployed as a pass rush specialist or do you think they would try and stand him up?

[BengalGirl5150]

Ha! Great mock "draft" if u can call it that. Joseph in the first round??? How about picking someone who can actually play! But I guess someone from a hillbilly school would fit right in with all the THUGS and drug addicts on ur team. So nevermind, good pick!

No cornerback til round 6 lol, are u kidding me????? u are gonna get SMOKED twice a year by Andy and A.J.! The Stealers should be glad they don't have u as their GM. But I used SMOKED on purpose, b/c at least our best receiver can keep the bong out of his hands for 20 minutes. In case u didn't get it the first time. Puff puff pass! LOL!

[Steelman]

The link won't open, can't tell if it's server overload or a bad URL.

[Born2Steel]

Interesting to me is that you went with smaller players at almost every pick. Joseph is smallest of the top safeties, Hargrave, Young, and Irvin are all smaller too. Hargrave, I believe will be a good player for somebody. Maybe Young too, although I would not want a 5'9" CB since we already have 2 good slot cover guys. Returns may be his spot. I don't know much about Nassib. I will have to check on him. Sounds like a possibility there.

[Texasteel]

Ha! Great mock "draft" if u can call it that. Joseph in the first round??? How about picking someone who can actually play! But I guess someone from a hillbilly school would fit right in with all the THUGS and drug addicts on ur team. So nevermind, good pick!

No cornerback til round 6 lol, are u kidding me????? u are gonna get SMOKED twice a year by Andy and A.J.! The Stealers should be glad they don't have u as their GM. But I used SMOKED on purpose, b/c at least our best receiver can keep the bong out of his hands for 20 minutes. In case u didn't get it the first time. Puff puff pass! LOL!

You are welcome here to express you thoughts, it's good to hear a different point of view. If your here just insult and try to pick a fight with someone please don't.

[hawaiiansteeler]

You are welcome here to express you thoughts, it's good to hear a different point of view. If your here just insult and try to pick a fight with someone please don't.

you really can't blame BengalGirl for being bitter like that.

I would feel the same way if my favorite team hadn't won a playoff game in 25 years...

[teegre]

I like it.

It would be a big departure for the Steelers in drafting Nassib. Do you see him coming in and simply being deployed as a pass rush specialist or do you think they would try and stand him up?

Colbert's comments about selecting players... not sticking to "only one scheme"... that comment came out around the time that they met with Nassib at the Combine. The timing makes me think that they were referring to him.

Now, where to play him. I do not see him being a part of the DE rotation, and I do not see him being an OLB conversion/project. I truly see him as a player who comes in on passing downs, and is told to "Get the QB."

[pczach]

Good article teeg!

We all grind over our mock drafts, and we all fall in love with certain players. That's what makes the draft so special and so personal to all of us that follow it so closely and invest so much time in evaluating players and trying to figure out who may go to our team.

I like a lot of the players you have mocked to the Steelers. I'm not sure that Ochi and Benenoch will be there in the seventh round, but overall it's a solid mock with good players.

Now that the Steelers have put the idea that they may take a WR early in this draft out there, I am hoping that a team that really wants one of the top WR's is willing to move up to trade with the Steelers for their #25 pick. If a truly great player falls to them, or they player they rate very high is still there, I think they'll stay put and take that player. If they believe they can move back and still get a player they really want, it's a no-brainer to acquire additional picks if they can find a dance partner.

Keep up the good work brother!

[teegre]

Interesting to me is that you went with smaller players at almost every pick. Joseph is smallest of the top safeties, Hargrave, Young, and Irvin are all smaller too. Hargrave, I believe will be a good player for somebody. Maybe Young too, although I would not want a 5'9" CB since we already have 2 good slot cover guys. Returns may be his spot. I don't know much about Nassib. I will have to check on him. Sounds like a possibility there.

I had not really noticed that. Interesting.



Joseph is almost the exact same size as Troy Polamalu (give or take 5 lbs).

Hargrave weighs less than most NTs, but for what the Steelers need (20 snaps at NT, 20 snaps at DE), he is the perfect size. McClendon was actually more productive when he was around 300 (as opposed ot when he ballooned up to 330).

Young is teeny-tiny. There is no way around that. But, he plays/hits hard.

Irvin is indeed lighter than optimal, but he runs hard. The few times that I saw him, he was not avoiding contact; he plowed right into defenders. You know... the opposite of Dri Archer.

SUMMATION:
I guess that the theme could be size... but, I prefer to say that I chose guys who hit/run/play hard.

[Born2Steel]

"Opposite of Archer". LOL!!!! What a waste of a jersey number that guy turned out to be. Last time we follow the Al Davis criteria of drafting, I hope. Archer was fast!!! Did you see how fast he got done with his career?

Nassib could get big. On a 6'7" frame, he could become massive if he commits to the weight room. One thing that troubles me is the description of skinny legs. You would expect that on 6'7", so to make that a focus on his eval seems interesting.

I love the Hargrave pick. I believe he will turn out to be a good player for somebody. Maybe us.

I just don't like small corners. Personal preference I guess.

[pczach]

I had not really noticed that. Interesting.



Joseph is almost the exact same size as Troy Polamalu (give or take 5 lbs).

Hargrave weighs less than most NTs, but for what the Steelers need (20 snaps at NT, 20 snaps at DE), he is the perfect size. McClendon was actually more productive when he was around 300 (as opposed ot when he ballooned up to 330).

Young is teeny-tiny. There is no way around that. But, he plays/hits hard.

Irvin is indeed lighter than optimal, but he runs hard. The few times that I saw him, he was not avoiding contact; he plowed right into defenders. You know... the opposite of Dri Archer.

SUMMATION:
I guess that the theme could be size... but, I prefer to say that I chose guys who hit/run/play hard.

Some might say some of your players are undersized but teams are looking for different traits and skillsets than they were just a few years ago. Speed, athleticism, versatility, rushing the passer as a DT, and coverage skills at S and LB are more important than ever before.

You may not have been consciously thinking about it that way, but your player choices reflect the needs of teams looking for the modern prototypical player playing under the new rules of the NFL. I think more teams are willing to give up a little size for speed, athleticism, and explosiveness.

It makes total sense.

[teegre]

Good article teeg!

We all grind over our mock drafts, and we all fall in love with certain players. That's what makes the draft so special and so personal to all of us that follow it so closely and invest so much time in evaluating players and trying to figure out who may go to our team.

I like a lot of the players you have mocked to the Steelers. I'm not sure that Ochi and Benenoch will be there in the seventh round, but overall it's a solid mock with good players.

Now that the Steelers have put the idea that they may take a WR early in this draft out there, I am hoping that a team that really wants one of the top WR's is willing to move up to trade with the Steelers for their #25 pick. If a truly great player falls to them, or they player they rate very high is still there, I think they'll stay put and take that player. If they believe they can move back and still get a player they really want, it's a no-brainer to acquire additional picks if they can find a dance partner.

Keep up the good work brother!

Thanks, brother. I appreciate the kind words.

Fall in love with certain players??? What??? That is crazy talk... and my Matt Elam FatHead is proof of that.

Ochi will probably be gone, but I could not rationalize taking him in R4. If I were to veer from the Ervin pick, it was definitely going to be either Cyrus Jones or Jonathan Jones. As far as Benenoch goes... I honestly just took his name off of the Steelers visits list. I knew/know nothing about him. But, hey, it was a R7 comp pick... and it beats throwing darts at names.

TRADING BACK:
I am hoping that Arizona or Denver wants to trade up (for a QB). Then, the Steelers could take Joseph right before the teams at the top of R2 can get a shot at him (Dal, SD, Balt); Joseph will not make it past pick 40. Joseph plus an extra R3 pick would be very nice.

- - - Updated - - -

Some might say some of your players are undersized but teams are looking for different traits and skillsets than they were just a few years ago. Speed, athleticism, versatility, rushing the passer as a DT, and coverage skills at S and LB are more important than ever before.

You may not have been consciously thinking about it that way, but your player choices reflect the needs of teams looking for the modern prototypical player playing under the new rules of the NFL. I think more teams are willing to give up a little size for speed, athleticism, and explosiveness.

It makes total sense.

So... subconsciously, I am a draft genius. Nice.

Really though, what you wrote is 100% correct. The thumper ILB (Hightower) is being phased our, and replaced by the quicker ILBs (Shazier, David, Kendricks).

[Psycho Ward 86]

thats an awesome draft teegre. however, i would draft victor ochi in the 4th round instead of tyler ervin. And tyler ervin i would hope is still there in the 7th

[hawaiiansteeler]

Then on Tuesday morning, I woke up and my gut told me that Andrew Billings was going to be available for Pittsburgh’s first-round pick.

uh-oh, always follow your gut...

[teegre]

thats an awesome draft teegre. however, i would draft victor ochi in the 4th round instead of tyler ervin. And tyler ervin i would hope is still there in the 7th

I blame my dyscalculia.

[Mojouw]

Some might say some of your players are undersized but teams are looking for different traits and skillsets than they were just a few years ago. Speed, athleticism, versatility, rushing the passer as a DT, and coverage skills at S and LB are more important than ever before.

You may not have been consciously thinking about it that way, but your player choices reflect the needs of teams looking for the modern prototypical player playing under the new rules of the NFL. I think more teams are willing to give up a little size for speed, athleticism, and explosiveness.

It makes total sense.

Just wait. Marsha is going to retire in New England in like 2 years after another deep playoff run. The Evil Emperor will then unveil his latest "genius" plan - the Power I. He'll draft the 2018 or so version of that early 90's all Beef Cowboys line and get some big dirtball running back to put behind it. They will steamroll all these light fronts. Media will declare him an "innovative genius".

In all seriousness though, the pendulum will swing back at some point. It always does. Won't look totally the same, but at some point, someone, somewhere, will come up with an update on "3 yards and a cloud of dust" as a way to put these warp speed defenses off balance.

[Born2Steel]

Question about #25. If Myles Jack does fall, and it continues to the Steelers pick, you now have a choice between Joseph coming off a non-contact, season ending knee injury and questions about when can he play now, AND Jack, who's coming off a knee injury that has GMs wondering how long he will play once he does get back.

What makes this intriguing is something Bill Parcells once said about a player with similar questions. He said all players are short term. With FA a player is only yours thru the current contract and then re-signed. So you can get a perfectly healthy player for 3 years, then lose him to FA. OR, get a player that plays for 3 years but you lose to an injury. For the team, that's the same thing. So why not take a guy with a possible career threatening situation if he's the best player available on the board.

[teegre]

Question about #25. If Myles Jack does fall, and it continues to the Steelers pick, you now have a choice between Joseph coming off a non-contact, season ending knee injury and questions about when can he play now, AND Jack, who's coming off a knee injury that has GMs wondering how long he will play once he does get back.

What makes this intriguing is something Bill Parcells once said about a player with similar questions. He said all players are short term. With FA a player is only yours thru the current contract and then re-signed. So you can get a perfectly healthy player for 3 years, then lose him to FA. OR, get a player that plays for 3 years but you lose to an injury. For the team, that's the same thing. So why not take a guy with a possible career threatening situation if he's the best player available on the board.

Jack

100 times out of 100.

[Mojouw]

Question about #25. If Myles Jack does fall, and it continues to the Steelers pick, you now have a choice between Joseph coming off a non-contact, season ending knee injury and questions about when can he play now, AND Jack, who's coming off a knee injury that has GMs wondering how long he will play once he does get back.

What makes this intriguing is something Bill Parcells once said about a player with similar questions. He said all players are short term. With FA a player is only yours thru the current contract and then re-signed. So you can get a perfectly healthy player for 3 years, then lose him to FA. OR, get a player that plays for 3 years but you lose to an injury. For the team, that's the same thing. So why not take a guy with a possible career threatening situation if he's the best player available on the board.

Jack. I bet on the fact that the same docs who coaxed NFL football out of Spence's knee can do the same with Jack.

[Psycho Ward 86]

I would take Jack only if we were able to ditch Timmons somehow and I just dont see it.

No one would want to trade for him with that contract.

[teegre]

I would take Jack only if we were able to ditch Timmons somehow and I just dont see it.

No one would want to trade for him with that contract.

You're going to have to pay Timmons' contact anyway... whether you draft Jack, Joseph, or Billings.

If Timmons sticks around, they don't have to force Jack to play right away (Jack can fully heal).

[Psycho Ward 86]

You're going to have to pay Timmons' contact anyway... whether you draft Jack, Joseph, or Billings.

If Timmons sticks around, they don't have to force Jack to play right away (Jack can fully heal).

Ive only read that the medical concerns were long term, but he would be able to play this season. That would be a ridiculous waste of cap space, having both Timmons and Myles Jack.

[steelreserve]

I don't think Jack falls past the teens even in that case, but here's the thing. As I understand it, the worry about his injury is not about fully recovering, it's about it being a degenerative thing after that. Like, microfracture surgery a year or two down the road, becoming the Greg Oden of middle linebackers. If it was just the draft pick, then maybe worth rolling the dice; if it's also getting rid of an existing starter, even though not in his prime, then I'd have to think twice.

[st33lersguy]

Very interesting draft. I like Karl Joseph as a player but am concerned about his durability. How will he hold up in the NFL? Hargrave could be a real dynamo. CB in the 6th round is not ideal but the Steelers have waited til day 3 before to get a corner and a healthy Joseph and Hargrave playing like he did at South Carolina State will help the improve the defense as much as a no. 1 CB anyway.

[Psycho Ward 86]

Very interesting draft. I like Karl Joseph as a player but am concerned about his durability. How will he hold up in the NFL? Hargrave could be a real dynamo. CB in the 6th round is not ideal but the Steelers have waited til day 3 before to get a corner and a healthy Joseph and Hargrave playing like he did at South Carolina State will help the improve the defense as much as a no. 1 CB anyway.

Kalan Reed would be a better late round option. Look at his film and read up on him. Dude is going to ball in the NFL and make everyone regret it. He even did well against Amari Cooper last season

[Mojouw]

I don't think Jack falls past the teens even in that case, but here's the thing. As I understand it, the worry about his injury is not about fully recovering, it's about it being a degenerative thing after that. Like, microfracture surgery a year or two down the road, becoming the Greg Oden of middle linebackers. If it was just the draft pick, then maybe worth rolling the dice; if it's also getting rid of an existing starter, even though not in his prime, then I'd have to think twice.

That's a really good point. Latest word is that teams might require Jack to sign some sort of injury waiver. However, this could all be some messed up smokescreen less than 24 hours from the draft.

[teegre]

That would be a ridiculous waste of cap space, having both Timmons and Myles Jack.

I disagree.

By that logic, if Hargreaves were available, we should pass on him... because we are already paying for Cortez Allen.

The money owed to Timmons is already spent; there's no getting it back. Play Jack, Timmons backs him up... either way, money-wise: taking Jack or not taking Jack, the money is the same... but, in one scenario, you don't have an insanely good ILB.

[BlackAndGold]

They won't even look at Jack, unless he feel to rounds 3 or 4.

He already said he'll need Microfracture surgery "down the line"(mostly meaning it's bad now). Pass!!!!

[teegre]

I don't think Jack falls past the teens even in that case, but here's the thing. As I understand it, the worry about his injury is not about fully recovering, it's about it being a degenerative thing after that. Like, microfracture surgery a year or two down the road, becoming the Greg Oden of middle linebackers. If it was just the draft pick, then maybe worth rolling the dice; if it's also getting rid of an existing starter, even though not in his prime, then I'd have to think twice.

I think of Jack as a player who leaves as a free agent in 5 years.

Think of him as Chad Brown.