Originally Posted by
AtlantaDan
I enjoyed reading Kaboly when he was with the Trib-Review but only read his tweets now since he has been behind a paywall since he left the Trib-Review 2 jobs ago
His opinion may be valid but, as he tweeted several days ago, most of those making real $$$ at this are in the business rather than reporting on it (and perhaps better spellers
)
With the caveat that, unlike Kaboly, I have never been paid to follow the Steelers, my main takes on this draft are:
There was no guaranteed savior in the draft who could be expected to step right in as a rookie ILB and take up immediately where Shazier left off. Even assuming the Steelers would have been willing to put in all their chips for this draft and trade up to get Roquan Smith, RB is about the only position where a college player can step right in without taking time to adjust to the pro game. And my recollection is the last time UGA had a LB this highly touted was ... Jarvis Jones. As far as trading up to get other first round ILB prospects, Vander Esch has medical issues along with not being a finished product while Evans would not even run for scouts. So the Steelers not reaching for an ILB is defensible, particularly if you buy into the view the hybrid safety-LB player is one way to address how to defend modern pass first offenses.
Steelers use big safeties to address Ryan Shazier void
http://www.espn.com/blog/pittsburgh-...n-shazier-void
More significantly, the window may be closing for Ben but the Steelers are not planning to disband the franchise when Ben retires. Colbert puts it well
“This is the challenge — 2018, win the Super Bowl,” Colbert said. “But we're never going to lose sight of making sure we can compete each and every year.”
http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/...raft-concludes
This draft and trading Bryant to not focus solely on winning in 2018 reflect that goal.
IMO the Steelers front office has earned the benefit of the doubt regarding whether or not this draft made sense
Well put Dan.
There are so many unknowns at this point that anyone that makes a definitive statement on the big picture about how things went in the draft or how things are going to proceed going forward is a fool.
I don't know everything, but I do know this. There is a plan at work here. It involves position flexibility, versatility, tackling, football IQ, communication skills on and off the field, and starting to weed out certain types of behavior while trying to move on from players that don't want to be here or are inherent risks to the overall success of the team.
How they put all the chess pieces together and what additional talent is acquired or released is to be determined.
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Originally Posted by
pczach
Well put Dan.
There are so many unknowns at this point that anyone that makes a definitive statement on the big picture about how things went in the draft or how things are going to proceed going forward is a fool.
I don't know everything, but I do know this. There is a plan at work here. It involves position flexibility, versatility, tackling, football IQ, communication skills on and off the field, and starting to weed out certain types of behavior while trying to move on from players that don't want to be here or are inherent risks to the overall success of the team.
How they put all the chess pieces together and what additional talent is acquired or released is to be determined.
Sorry, the board keeps putting my response within your quote and won't allow me to correct it. I think it's a problem when tweets are in a quoted post.