I don’t watch college football, so I want to know if any of you draft gurus had this guy on your radar. NE apparently drafted a stud ILB - Ja’whaun Bentley- in the fifth round that will most likely become a starter.
Did anyone know about this guy, and why the Steelers didn’t take him?
https://www.google.com/amp/s/patriot...acker-job/amp/
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Probably because a 260 pound LB was regarded as a liability in pass coverage - this pre-draft assessmentOriginally Posted by HollywoodSteel
Thick-framed inside linebacker with a taste for contact. Bentley's physical approach and ability to attack and defeat blockers make him an ideal candidate as a run-down thumper along the inside. However, Bentley has athletic limitations that hinder his effectiveness as an NFL finisher and he's ill-suited to handle coverage duties against the pass. Bentley lacks ideal speed and reaction time, but his size and toughness could make him a solid backup inside linebacker who could find reps down the line....
Stiff in his drops and open field coverage on passing downs...
"We look for speed at linebacker so he's probably not going to fit us, but I think he's going to play somewhere. He's got a lot of tape where he is just jacking guys up with his strength. He's big, strong, and tough so he'll stick around." - AFC area scout
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/ja%27w...c-f545ea80baf9
if we where looking to replace VW he would have been a nice choice , but 1 VW starting is all you need in this era of a passing league ..
Kenny Pickett is who I though he was .. Eagles problem now
Meh. He is pushing some league average dude for a job. The Pats linebackers not named Hightower are not very good. The beating they took in the SB proved that.
Maybe this kid does great when the real season starts, but I’m not gonna worry too much about it.
Plus as DWins points out he profiles as VW. Can’t play two of those.
I don’t know if it was in this article or another but they said he was becoming surprisingly good in coverage. Not that we could have known that, but still...
Is Bostic good in coverage? Is Red good in coverage?
With our new secondary and reliance on sub packages anyway, it seems like a one or two down run-stuffer would have been a good fifth round investment.
Again, I don’t scout or know anything about college players, so I’ll trust what you guys. I’m actually not one of those “we should have solved the problem through the draft!” guys. I don’t think rookie inside linebackers are EVER the answer for the Steelers; not Timmons as a rookie, not Shazier as a rookie. I really like the Edmunds pick in round one. I think the kid is a playmaker in the making.
But Right now, our best ILB next to Williams is Bostic. I’m not sure what he does except tackle pretty well.
What I’d really like to see is one of those James Farrior type pickups we do once in a blue moon.
The later rounds of the draft is a crapshoot. Heck, only about 1/3 of R1 prospects amount to much.
There are 775 colleges. Let’s give them one ILB each. Assuming that there is a “draft eligible” player every four years, that’s 193 ILB prospects per draft. After the first ten, it truly is a “blind luck” type of scenario.
We we got lucky with VW, and we thought that we had gotten lucky with Big Red.
The ILB depth in this draft wasn't good. They tried to get Evans in round one but they couldn't find a trade, I can see why they didn't draft one, even though it was indeed a need.
I know Dave from SD seems to be downplaying the ILB issue from the preseason play so far, it's not great but maybe it's not that bad as some(me for sure) think?
1. Graham Barton, C, Duke 2. Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida 3. Maason Smith, DT, LSU 3. Max Melton, CB, Rutgers 4. Blake Fisher, OT, Notre Dame 6. Tommy Eichenberg, ILB, Ohio State 6. MJ Devonshire, CB, Pittsburgh
EXACTLY!
Why don’t we use the later rounds in the draft to get really lucky? Getting lucky seems like an incredibly effective strategy that we don’t utilize nearly enough!
20/20 hindsight is another strategy we rarely take advantage of. Fans like me ALWAYS seem to know who we SHOULD have drafted... usually it takes me about 3 years for really accurate hindsight drafting, but I don’t claim to be a professional.
I agree with everything you said. Like I said earlier, it’s rare for even a first round ILB (like Timmons or Shazier) to make a real impact during their rookie year on the Steelers. But that might just have been a Dick Lebeau thing, but I imagine Butler’s defense isn’t that different (as in, easier for a rookie to master).
I was just wondering if THIS GUY IN PARTICULAR was on anyone’s radar... since I don’t have a ANY radar for potential draft picks.
As someone who follows the draft, I don't remember this guys name.
1. Graham Barton, C, Duke 2. Ricky Pearsall, WR, Florida 3. Maason Smith, DT, LSU 3. Max Melton, CB, Rutgers 4. Blake Fisher, OT, Notre Dame 6. Tommy Eichenberg, ILB, Ohio State 6. MJ Devonshire, CB, Pittsburgh
But for all I know we used the “get really lucky with undrafted free agents” strategy (which, as I noted earlier, I’m a huge proponent of) with the Matthew Thomas (or Thomas Matthews or whatever his name is. You guys know who I mean) pick up.
If that guy has a “just be good already!” switch somewhere on him, I’m also a big proponent of flipping said switch to the “on” position right about now. That might be a controversial stance, but I’m sticking with it.
It’s kind of looking like Big Dan McCullers might actually have one of those switches... actually I’d call it more of dimmer switch that is gradually being turned up. And I can’t really fault the Steelers for taking so long to find it. There is A LOT of surface area to cover on that man. Whoever’s job it is to find that switch really isn’t being paid enough.
Let me clarify. The Steelers could have “tried to get lucky” at ILB, but they chose to “try to get lucky” at SS. And, considering their new DBs coach was Marcus Allen’s coach in college, everyone knew he was going to get drafted by the Steelers.EXACTLY!
Why don’t we use the later rounds in the draft to get really lucky? Getting lucky seems like an incredibly effective strategy that we don’t utilize nearly enough!
20/20 hindsight is another strategy we rarely take advantage of. Fans like me ALWAYS seem to know who we SHOULD have drafted... usually it takes me about 3 years for really accurate hindsight drafting, but I don’t claim to be a professional.
Likewise, the Steelers “tried to get lucky” in R4 with a LT. Since Chris Hubbard had just left via free agency, it’s a move that makes sense. Lastly, they “tried to get lucky” with a pass-catching RB to hopefully (although not likely) replace their current pass-catching RB.
LOL I create my mock drafts three years after the actual draft is completed.
I’m not ACTUALLY suggesting the Steelers should have tried to get lucky in some other way. I’m not being nearly that reasonable. I’m saying they should succeed at getting lucky every time.Let me clarify. The Steelers could have “tried to get lucky” at ILB, but they chose to “try to get lucky” at SS. And, considering their new DBs coach was Marcus Allen’s coach in college, everyone knew he was going to get drafted by the Steelers.
Likewise, the Steelers “tried to get lucky” in R4 with a LT. Since Chris Hubbard had just left via free agency, it’s a move that makes sense. Lastly, they “tried to get lucky” with a pass-catching RB to hopefully (although not likely) replace their current pass-catching RB.
LOL I create my mock drafts three years after the actual draft is completed.
Obviously. Every “Day 3 pick” should he as good as, if not better than, AB. Anything else is simply unacceptable.I’m not ACTUALLY suggesting the Steelers should have tried to get lucky in some other way. I’m not being nearly that reasonable. I’m saying they should succeed at getting lucky every time.
FIRE Colbert!!!
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