Welcome to the newest Steeler, Artie Burns.

[Mojouw]

which leads to the question, who is the most raw in order: Jackson, Apple, and Burns?

Burns, Apple, Jackson.

Where does that leave things?

[polamalubeast]

[lipps83]

Play Burns in man (Ike used to follow the opposition's best receiver).

Play everyone else in zone.

This is probably along the lines of what they are going to try to do.

I like the potential in Burns. He does need coached up, but that leads me to wonder..... the problems the defensive backfield has had is not all just due to a lack of talent. I think some of the issues also may have been due to insufficient coaching.

What can they do with Burns?

[polamalubeast]

This is probably along the lines of what they are going to try to do.

I like the potential in Burns. He does need coached up, but that leads me to wonder..... the problems the defensive backfield has had is not all just due to a lack of talent. I think some of the issues also may have been due to insufficient coaching.

What can they do with Burns?

I think this is because the lack of talent.I mean, before last year, the Steelers had never drafted a CB in the first 2(maybe 3) rounds since 2005 I think.

[BlackAndGold]

Burns wasn't just the first CB they drafted in round 1 since 1997, he's also the first underclassman corner back they've taken in a long time. (gotta recheck but, since 2000 every CB they've drafted was a senior)

[GBMelBlount]

This is probably along the lines of what they are going to try to do.

I like the potential in Burns. He does need coached up, but that leads me to wonder.....

the problems the defensive backfield has had is not all just due to a lack of talent.

I think some of the issues also may have been due to insufficient coaching.

What can they do with Burns?

This makes sense to me.

Haven't they "missed" on like the last 15 secondary picks?

If it is true that CB is one of the hardest positions to draft then that would lead one to believe that there is a better chance of later round picks panning out at DB than at most other positions.

But it hasn't.

At the same time, I have seen both LLT and Tex pimp a number of late round DB picks that went on to do well in the nfl.

So I personally think it is most likely a combination of late drafting, bad drafting AND bad coaching.

...so in this case the possibility of bad coaching + raw player is admittedly a concern to me.

I hope I am wrong.

[BlackAndGold]

http://www.steelers.com/videos/video...5-af1d5a6297d0

The press conference.

[Steelman]

Gotta say, seeing some stuff from him on social media, the dude is a total Steeler. I just hope we can mold the clay and turn him into a good corner.

[GBMelBlount]

Gotta say, seeing some stuff from him on social media, the dude is a total Steeler. I just hope we can mold the clay and turn him into a good corner.

Yep. I got that from the press conference too...

[Psycho Ward 86]

Play Burns in man (Ike used to follow the opposition's best receiver).

Play everyone else in zone.

id love to see that happen, find a way to get him on the field faster. ive heard he's at his best in the red zone too so thats good to hear. should be a help with big red zone receivers on an already talented red zone defense i suppose

- - - Updated - - -

Burns, Apple, Jackson.

Where does that leave things?

i was just asking out of curiosity because from what ive read, it seems to be that order as well

[Count Steeler]

Love the name. Art Burns. Lots of headline possibilities.

Art Burns Flacco for pick six

Burns shows the Art of Defense

What struck me is how quickly the Steelers had the pick up to the podium. I'm not really a draft guy, but I seem to remember 1 mock or 1 opinion somewhere that the Steelers were targeting Burns out of Miami. It struck me because I had never heard the name discussed before or since. If the take on Jackson is that he doesn't tackle, he would be another Boykin, mysteriously riding the bench. Something tells me that the Steelers got the CB they wanted, considering where they were in the draft order. Next stop, Lake. Time to develop the kid.

[Count Steeler]

“I’m a long corner with speed,” Burns said. “I try to be the most physical I can be, and that’s something I take pride in. For most corners, the stereotype is they’re soft, and I don’t like the word soft. I try to be physical.”

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/s...medium=twitter

Yup, sounds like a Steeler.

[BlackAndGold]

Btw Burns will wear number 25

[Steeldude]

I read he is more suited for man coverage than zone. He does have the size/build with excellent arm length.

This seems to be a Tomlin kind of guy. Splash plays moreso than consistent, sound football. A cocky attitude to go along with inexperience is not a good combo, IMO. I think this was a reach at 25, but like Fansince76 said, the draft is all a crap shoot. All remains to be seen. Hoping for the best

[hawaiiansteeler]

Keith Butler Talks Cornerback Draft Board And Plan To Develop Artie Burns

BY DAVE BRYAN APRIL 30, 2016

The Pittsburgh Steelers landed a cornerback in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft Thursday night and if you’re still curious as to whether or not they would have drafted Houston product William Jackson III had the Cincinnati Bengals not taken him one pick before their 25th overall selection, there’s indeed a good chance they would have.

During a post Thursday night selection interview with Bob Labriola of steelers.com, defensive coordinator Keith Butler talked about how their cornerback board played out during the first round.

“We had about three or four corners there together, Eli Apple and Artie [Burns], and William Jackson and [Vernon] Hargreaves” said Butler. “All those guys we knew they were going to be in the first round, we just didn’t know who was going to fall to us, but we’re happy with the guy who did fall to us.”

The guy that ultimately fell to the Steelers was of course Miami product Artie Burns and Butler talked about some of the things he will need to work on before he’s allowed to play.

“We know he can bump and run and we know he’s going to be able to do that, but he’s going to have to play some off-man too,” said Butler of Burns. “He’s going to have to learn to backpedal a little bit better, he’s going to have to learn when to come out of his backpedal. He’s going to have to learn how to trust his speed and how he’s covering and stuff like that. All that stuff is going to be a process he’s going to go through before he plays the first game.”

As you can tell and probably expected, Burns certainly isn’t likely to crack the Steelers starting defense come the start of the regular season. Instead, he’ll likely be relegated to being a core special teams player for a good portion of his rookie season with the goal being to start getting him on the field later on in the year.

“We’re going to try to bring him along though,” said Butler. “We’re not going to ask him to just jump out there and do what we would ideally do, it’s going to take a while for him.”

http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/04...p-artie-burns/

[teegre]

Btw Burns will wear number 25

How about Davis and Hargrave?

[BlackAndGold]

How about Davis and Hargrave?

Not sure yet. May have to wait on them until rookie camp.

[teegre]

Not sure yet. May have to wait on them until rookie camp.

20 & 28 are available in the 20s.

93 is available.

[BlackAndGold]

20 & 28 are available in the 20s.

93 is available.

Could see Davis getting 20 and of course 90 for Hargraves

[Vis]

20 & 28 are available in the 20s.

93 is available.

41 for Davis?

[Cyphon25]

Not like I know anything about Burns so I am not unhappy with the pick. It isn't a name I had been hearing much about leading up to the draft so it is hard to get excited as well.

The one thing that disappointed me was the fact that the Steelers didn't trade back with the Broncos. We are already short a pick or 2 in the draft so why not trade back?

I understand if they wanted Burns but there is a chance they can still get him a few spots later but even if they couldn't there were still a lot of great options available. It is tough to say where they had guys rated on their board but I can't imagine Burns was the last guy they had rated highly before there was a big drop off.

So all that being said, I won't give the player choice a grade because I know very little about Burns but I will give a grade to how I think the team handled the pick.

C-

[stillers4me]

He's here. He's ours. We need him to be a star.

A star is born! Instead of trying to find anything that may or might be wrong with Burns, I wish him the very best. Because that's what he is going to need to be.

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Artie Burns. Your bar just got raised.

[86WARD]

IMO, the draft is a giant crapshoot anyway.

This.

[stillers4me]

[BigNastyDefense]

Not like I know anything about Burns so I am not unhappy with the pick. It isn't a name I had been hearing much about leading up to the draft so it is hard to get excited as well.

The one thing that disappointed me was the fact that the Steelers didn't trade back with the Broncos. We are already short a pick or 2 in the draft so why not trade back?

I understand if they wanted Burns but there is a chance they can still get him a few spots later but even if they couldn't there were still a lot of great options available. It is tough to say where they had guys rated on their board but I can't imagine Burns was the last guy they had rated highly before there was a big drop off.

So all that being said, I won't give the player choice a grade because I know very little about Burns but I will give a grade to how I think the team handled the pick.

C-

Sometimes if you like a player, you just take that player. I've heard that he was the last CB they had with a first round grade, so then why trade back and maybe not get the player you really want and have to settle for another player?

Here's the thing about everyone roasting the Steelers on this pick - you all were doing the same thing I was when we made the pick, sitting on the couch watching on TV. None of us were working for the Steelers or any other NFL team Thursday night. So we have no clue where the Steelers actually had Burns on their draft board and who else they had first round grades on.

Maybe the Broncos didn't offer the Steelers what they wanted to move up. Maybe the Steelers decided Burns at 25 was better than potentially no Burns and didn't want to risk him not being there at 31. Maybe they felt no other DB was worth a first round pick other than Burns, and wanted to bolster their secondary in the first round if a player with a first round grade was there at their pick, so they stood pat.

[Cyphon25]

Sometimes if you like a player, you just take that player. I've heard that he was the last CB they had with a first round grade, so then why trade back and maybe not get the player you really want and have to settle for another player?

Here's the thing about everyone roasting the Steelers on this pick - you all were doing the same thing I was when we made the pick, sitting on the couch watching on TV. None of us were working for the Steelers or any other NFL team Thursday night. So we have no clue where the Steelers actually had Burns on their draft board and who else they had first round grades on.

Maybe the Broncos didn't offer the Steelers what they wanted to move up. Maybe the Steelers decided Burns at 25 was better than potentially no Burns and didn't want to risk him not being there at 31. Maybe they felt no other DB was worth a first round pick other than Burns, and wanted to bolster their secondary in the first round if a player with a first round grade was there at their pick, so they stood pat.

Yeah I get all of that. I just disagree with it. I think there is more value in another pick (was it 3rd round?) and a 1st round talent as opposed to just a 1st round talent. Unless you think said talent is an absolute game changer that you would be willing to trade up for.

And none of this is a knock on Burns. I just think they dropped the ball on making a better move in the draft.

[stillers4me]

[fansince'76]

MJG is looking really well. Nice to see, since Greenwood, White and Holmes have already passed.

[st33lersguy]

Let's hope the Steelers can turn him into a solid player. The potential is there, and his story makes me want to root for him harder.

[Texasteel]

Let me start with, I've been beating the Burns drum for a long time now, so I am not unbiased.

I thought Burns would go a little closer to the end of the round, but was not disappointed when they took him at 25. The Steelers thought he was well worth the 25 pick, and it sounds like at least one other team had the same opinion. The Steelers though he was the player that had the best shot at fixing a sick defensive backfield, they didn't want to chance loosing him, so they grabbed him when they could. I have no problem with that. We ended with IMO, A good CB, a good S, and a good D-lineman, which is that most of us wanted out of this draft. From this point forward we will see if they were good choices or not.