The Draft Winner, so far...
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The Steelers.
I like the CB, the OT and I think they've got the steal of the draft so far with their TE.
Washington is a huge TE, built more like an offensive lineman. But...he's adequately fast, he can block like a lineman and here's one not well know...LSU recruited him. For basketball. Kid was a good high school basketball player, which tells me he has decent hands and reflexes.
The CB is a little handsy, but he's aggressive and fast. I think he can be coached up.
I think both of these guys will have productive NFL careers.
The kid they drafted at OT is going to get bigger and stronger. I think he has the most potential of any offensive lineman in this class.
Lastly, I don't know much about the kid they drafted at DT, but it looks like he fits what the Steelers like to do on defense.
I think the Steelers have had a very good draft. So far.
Draft starts again in about an hour.
@Jolly said in The Draft Winner, so far...:
The Steelers.
I like the CB, the OT and I think they've got the steal of the draft so far with their TE.
Washington is a huge TE, built more like an offensive lineman. But...he's adequately fast, he can block like a lineman and here's one not well know...LSU recruited him. For basketball. Kid was a good high school basketball player, which tells me he has decent hands and reflexes.
The CB is a little handsy, but he's aggressive and fast. I think he can be coached up.
I think both of these guys will have productive NFL careers.
The kid they drafted at OT is going to get bigger and stronger. I think he has the most potential of any offensive lineman in this class.
Lastly, I don't know much about the kid they drafted at DT, but it looks like he fits what the Steelers like to do on defense.
I think the Steelers have had a very good draft. So far.
Draft starts again in about an hour.
They brought in the personnel guy from the Eagles as assistant GM. He’s a trenches guy… Taking the big people mover at OT is his MO. The fact that they traded up to get him says A LOT . The last player Pittsburgh moved up for to draft in the 1st round was Troy Polamalu.
Getting Joey Porter JR at 32 was incredible value. Most mock drafts had them getting him at at 17. Pittsburgh is big on legacy. Drafting TJ Watt based on the pedigree of his brother, Cam Heyward based on his father, Connor Heyward based on his brother and father, and Derek Watt because of his brothers… Being able to get one of the top DBs who is also the son of an all time Steeler great is right up their alley. The interesting thing is that Porter will be lining up across from Patrick Peterson, who was drafted by the Cardinals in 2011. Joey Sr. retired from the Cardinals in 2011. Patrick Peterson nearly played with the father and the son…
The DT was important and a high value pick. I think they are hoping to put some weight on him and make him a NT.
The tight end was a surprise. I figure it must be a BPA pick. They already have an all pro level TE, and 2 other very solid options.
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LOL, Pittsburgh just drafted Nick Herbig, brother of Nate Herbig, who was the Eagles Offensive Lineman that Pittsburgh signed this offseason. That is 4 sets of brothers on 1 team.
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I'm happy with the Saints draft. They took a few gambles...The first rounder did not play as well last year, their running back is rehabbing an injury right now. The Fresno QB will be a NFL back-up, not a starter. But I thought they got very good value with the OT and with the wide receiver. All of their guys have good RAS scores and most were team captains.
Something interesting...The Saints need a TE, yet traded Trautman to Denver during the draft. Trautman is a former third round TE, that just hasn't lived up to potential. This all tells me the Saints are still very interested in Foster Moreau, the former Raider TE, who was discovered to have lymphoma during his Saints physical.
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Interesting story about how the draft can really work or fail so easily…
When Colbert retired as GM, Pittsburgh went through the obligatory search for a new GM, but they knew their guy was already in house, Omar Khan, who was brilliant with working the cap and players values vs. the cap. However, during the search they interviewed Andy Weidl from Philadelphia and were extremely impressed by his scouting ability and his team building philosophy… So they hired both. Khan got the title, but they are running it as a co-GM type of situation…
Pittsburgh really wanted Broderick Jones but we’re not planning on getting him because they figured he would be in the top 7 picks. When he was still on the board at 13 he was close enough that they were able to exchange picks with New England and gave them Pittsburgh’s 4th round pick to go get him. The interesting thing is that the Jets wanted Jones too, and would have gotten him, except the Rodgers trade involved them swapping first round picks, and it moved NY back two spots. That difference cost them the OT.
Now Pittsburgh planned on getting a 4th round pick back because they were expecting to trade pick 32. Except when they got to pick 32, Joey Porter was still on the board. They weren’t expecting that. They gave up on Porter to get Jones… So they cancelled their trade.
They could have traded their other 2nd round pick, but there was not really a market and a DL they had a first round grade was still on the board
When they got to the 3rd round, there was about 6 players on the board that they liked. They were asked to trade back 6 spots in exchange for a 4th round pick, so they figured one of the 6 guys would still be on the board and made the trade. As it turns out, the number one guy on their board (and s guy they almost took in the 2nd!) was still on the board.
And the 4th round pick they wanted was used in Nick Herbig, the guy they wanted the pick for, anyway…
There’s no way of knowing whether any of these players are going to work out, but there’s an excellent chance this will be Pittsburgh’s best draft in 10-14 years… It depends on how good Weidl really is at talent evaluation, but there’s no question that Omar Khan was hugely successful in his negotiations.
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The 2017 Saints draft class is already noted as one of the best in NFL history and all of those guys are still playing. The entire draft class became NFL starters and last year those seven players (none of which is a QB) had a combined salary that was more than any entire NFL team. Depending upon the rest of their careers, there may be from one to three HOF players in that class.
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Jeff Ireland.
Jeff is the guy who runs the scouts and player personnel for the Saints. Remember his name. Mickey Loomis may have the longest tenure at GM in the NFL. He is also the GM of the NO Pelicans in the NBA. Lots of talk about Mickey going to Denver or throttling back to just the Pelicans. Either way, Ireland will be a GM in the next few years.
