No Planes, No Trains, Just Automobiles

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Steeldrama
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No Planes, No Trains, Just Automobiles

Post by Steeldrama » Tue Feb 11, 2020 6:47 pm

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2) Adam Trautman 6’5 251 TE Dayton – Last year, Tombert drafted 3 players from the MAC: Dionte Johnson (Toledo), Sutton Smith (Northern Illinois), and UGIII (Akron). Two of those schools are a short drive to the state directly to their left. How is Dayton not in the MAC? Still, Good chance this kid is the first TE taken by the Steelers on day 2 since Matt Freakin’ Spaeth.

3C) Van Jefferson 6’2 197 WR Florida- Despite my angst over the close proximity of schools to Steelers headquarters for last year’s draft class, a flight down to Gainesville can't be completely ruled out. The Steelers did presumably travel to Title Town to look at at last year’s 6th round pick Isaiah Buggs. However, the possibility exists Tombert just went down the hall instead of down to Alabama to ask Coach Dunbar if he liked the kid or not. Same sort of laziness could be in play here. Since ‘ol Van here meets the Tomlin NFL pedigree criteria, Tombert could just skip the plane ride down to the swamp and simply call NY Jets WR coach one Vanchi Lashawn Jefferson to get the cliff notes on his son. Cheap bastards.

4T) Ben Bredeson 6’5 316 OG Michigan- Tombert cost me not one, but two TVs after selecting two scUM players in last years’ draft. A drive across the Ohio Turnpike and up 75 toward Ann Arbor is highly likely again this year (I’ll have Best Buy on speed dial). Caesar Ruiz is probably the apple of Tombert’s eye this year, but I don’t think he makes it to pick 49. Tough guy, team captain Ben Bredeson here though could get a dinner invite to Wolverine Brew Co or some other local Big House establishment.

4) Davon Hamilton 6’4 327 DT Ohio St- Back in the car heading left again. This time to Columbus as opposed to Dayton. The Steelers' "Farm Team" won’t be ignored again this year. Several prospects from their little squad I like, but I just can’t stop typing this kid’s name. Just blew shit up in the playoff matchup against Clemson. Dig him

6) Jeremy Chinn 6’3 220 S Southern Illinois – Northern Illinois was the target of last year’s 6th round pick so what's another tank of gas to head to the Southern part of the Prairie state and pick up this Chinn character. Sure to be a fast riser after the combine, he could be a day 3 grand larceny pick for your travel thrifty Steelers.

7) Joe Bachie 6’2 231 LB Michigan St- Last year, 3…THAT’S 3…draft picks came from that drive across the Ohio Turnpike into “Pure” Michigan. Justin Layne being the selection from East Lansing. This year’s token Spartan is a tackling machine and one of 5 players ever twice named team captain by the now departed coach and Tomlin buddy, Mark Dantonio.

Thanks as always for reading. Please comment on the players you like and those you don’t. Just taking a few minutes to poke fun at the Steelers’ thrifty scouting trips from a year ago. Hopefully, this year they’re not afraid to venture WEST of the Mississippi. Last time I checked they play football out there too.


Nick Markakis on Astros: "Every guy over there needs a beating."

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bradshaw2ben
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Post by bradshaw2ben » Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:30 pm

Does this assume re-signing Finney or are you thinking Bredeson backs up OC? AFAIK, he's never played there and there hasn't been much talk of a position switch, but considering his build (very tall but with very short arms for his size–– 31 1/2"), OC might be a good destination for him. I worry that he is a technician and has advanced coaching but is near his ceiling. He's really good right now, though.

This IOL class is really an interesting one. People have been talking about the historically deep WR class but IOL depth is pretty high. I have ~ 12 guys who are capable of making the Steelers 53, dressing on gameday, backing up at C & G. That doesn't even include the guys who are good centers but not good guard prospects or vice versa.

Hamilton will be thrilled to go to the team who drafted Bredeson, because that was the one guy he struggled with. So, IOW, if Bredeson goes to an AFCN foe, think twice about drafting him!

ILB is a sneaky need-- even if you're like me and think Gilbert can be the future 3rd in the rotation, the depth behind that is pretty scary.

As for WR, it's a 'matter of taste' draft class. You could make an argument for, no kidding, 20 guys to be the top available at 49/102. They each have something unique, and I think wherever you pick one on last two days of draft or in UDFA, it'll be about fit, off-the-field stuff like preparation and work ethic, blocking, intangibles that we're not going to know a lot about before the draft. NFL bloodlines tend to address many of those intangible checkboxes, so he could very well be the guy. He doesn't add any speed but I think he shows flashes of solid #1WR and very good #2WR skill level.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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Post by Steeldrama » Wed Feb 12, 2020 9:46 pm

I don't know if BJ Finney returns or not.
I don't know if Bredeson can play center.
I know Caesar Ruiz can play center.
Do we like him?
Is there a C/G combo y'all prefer?

I feel fairly certain Javon Hargrave will not be returning
I don't know if Davon Hamilton can play a traditional NT
Do we like him?
Is there a NT that y'all prefer?
Do the Steelers depart from that traditional NT altogether?

B2B, I agree with your sentiments about the WR position.
Van Jefferson one of several I like. Tough competitor.
Sooooo many WRS to choose from.
That's a good thing.

B2B, I also agree with your concern over ILB.
Are we assuming Barron, Williams or even both are cap casualties?
I too would like to see UGIII get some playing time. Depth dictates he will
I like a few of the top inside LBs in this draft but I'm not sure there's great depth.
Could the Steelers surprise and tab one on day 2?

The TE position to me is the real train wreck on this roster.
What they do at that spot holds a lot of the intrigue for this off season.
Nick Markakis on Astros: "Every guy over there needs a beating."

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bradshaw2ben
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Post by bradshaw2ben » Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:11 am

I don't know if BJ Finney returns or not.
I don't know if Bredeson can play center.
I know Caesar Ruiz can play center.
Do we like him?
Is there a C/G combo y'all prefer?
I mean, obviously what they do with FAs will dictate the draft strategy when the time comes. Here are the FAs:

Bud Dupree 34OLB UFA 90.6% snaps 27 age
]B.J. Finney C UFA 33% 29
Artie Burns CB UFA 6% 25
Sean Davis S UFA 5% 27
Leterrius Walton 34DE UFA 0% 28
Javon Hargrave 34DT UFA 62.9% 27
Nick Vannett TE UFA 46.7% 27
Kameron Canaday LS RFA 32% 27
Jordan Dangerfield S RFA 0.5% 30
Matt Feiler RT RFA 100% 28
Mike Hilton CB RFA 62.5% 26
Zach Banner RT RFA 21.8% 27
Tyler Matakevich ILB UFA 1.5% 28
Lavon Hooks 34DE ERFA 0% 28
Vance Macdonald (club option) 29

In addition, here are the expiring contracts after 2020:

Cameron Heyward 34DE UFA 80.5% 32
Mark Barron ILB UFA 69.6% 32
Alejandro Villanueva LT UFA 100% 33
Ramon Foster LG UFA 82.7% 35
Anthony Chickillo 34OLB UFA 13.2% 29
Ryan Shazier ILB UFA 0% 29
Tyson Alualu 34DE UFA 40% 34
T.J. Watt 34OLB UFA 86.5% 27
Jordan Berry P UFA 33% 30
Daniel McCullers 34DT UFA 12% 29
JuJu Smith-Schuster WR UFA 57.2% 25
Cameron Sutton CB UFA 24.5% 26
James Conner RB UFA 32.9% 26
Ryan Switzer WR UFA 8% 27
Johnny Holton WR UFA 26.7% 31
Trey Edmunds TE RFA 7.7% 27
Paxton Lynch QB UFA 0% 27
Amara Darboh WR UFA 0% 27
Marcus Allen S ERFA 0% 25
Quadree Henderson WR ERFA 0%
Olasunkanmi Adeniyi 34OLB RFA 5.8%
J.C. Hassenauer C ERFA 0% 26
Kerrith Whyte RB ERFA 3.3% 25
Robert Spillane ILB ERFA 0.1% 26
Deon Cain WR UFA 28.7% 25 $540,000
Devlin Hodges QB ERFA 37.8% 25
Tray Matthews S ERFA 0% 27
Kevin Rader TE ERFA 0% 26
J.T. Barrett QB ERFA 0% 26
Henry Mondeaux 43DT ERFA 0% 26
Christian Dilauro LT ERFA 0% 27
Christian Scotland-Williamson TE ERFA 0% 28
Derwin Gray RG ERFA 0% 26
Ralph Webb RB ERFA 0% 27
Darrin Hall RB ERFA 0% 25
Jamal Custis WR ERFA 0% 26
John Battle S ERFA 0% 26
Anthony Johnson WR ERFA 0% 26
Alexander Myres CB ERFA 0% 25

I look at those 2020 expiring contracts and I think: the guys who are on the wrong side of 30 or wrong side of performance vs cost... these are guys who are going to see their replacements brought in this year. LT, LG, TE, 5 tech, ILB, RB. This year's holes (prior to FA and cuts) are easily DT, TE, C2, & S3. Put that all in a heap, and it sure doesn't encourage adding a WR, unless JuJu is in danger of not seeing C$2 or unless there's just some super value BPA WR. I think this draft is going to be heavy OL/DL + TE & ILB.
I feel fairly certain Javon Hargrave will not be returning
I don't know if Davon Hamilton can play a traditional NT
Do we like him?
Is there a NT that y'all prefer?
Do the Steelers depart from that traditional NT altogether?
I do think they'll draft a base NT but that guy had better be able to give some pass rush juice or else why bother drafting one, when run=stoppers can be had later or off the street?
B2B, I agree with your sentiments about the WR position.
Van Jefferson one of several I like. Tough competitor.
Sooooo many WRS to choose from.
That's a good thing.
You and I think WR is a big need, but I'm not at all sure they feel that way. Add that to a historically deep WR class and don't be surprised if they bring in a couple of hotshot UDFA WRs.
B2B, I also agree with your concern over ILB.
Are we assuming Barron, Williams or even both are cap casualties?
I too would like to see UGIII get some playing time. Depth dictates he will
I like a few of the top inside LBs in this draft but I'm not sure there's great depth.
Could the Steelers surprise and tab one on day 2?
I think it's definitely in play. It could be a safety/ILB combo guy, because there's no depth at safety, either, and because they need a passing package guy more than a base starter who comes off the field on 3rd downs.
The TE position to me is the real train wreck on this roster.
What they do at that spot holds a lot of the intrigue for this off season.
It's the first domino. If they cut Macdonald for cap room to tag/sign Dupree, it dictates a lot of other moves. I'm, starting to think they will decline Macdonald's option but make him an offer at a much lower price. He then becomes the placeholder/insurance for a draft pick. Or they could go all 2004 and sign Vannett at league minimum money and hope that their TE pick or year 2 Gentry will be the starter at some point during the season and that it'll be good enough to win with Ben back.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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bradshaw2ben
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Post by bradshaw2ben » Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:16 am

Just don't draft a CB, QB, long-snapper, K, or right-side only OL, and it'll all be good.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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jebrick
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Post by jebrick » Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:07 am

I think their best option is to retain McDonald ( at a lower cost) and Dupree. That makes the draft a lot easier when you do not have to consider this crap class of TEs and have to try to get an EDGE in the 2nd round to replace 90% of the snaps.
“If you see the handwriting on the wall, you’re in the toilet.”

- Fred Sanford

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Post by bradshaw2ben » Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:42 am

jebrick wrote:
Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:07 am
I think their best option is to retain McDonald ( at a lower cost) and Dupree. That makes the draft a lot easier when you do not have to consider this crap class of TEs and have to try to get an EDGE in the 2nd round to replace 90% of the snaps.
Oh, I think they have to draft TE even if they retain Macdonald somehow. And retaining Dupree and Macdonald surely means cutting Barron, Foster, and Chickillo, so they'll be just as interested in an ILB in a class that doesn't have a whole lot of pizzaz after the top 50 picks. They really have some work to do, just to mitigate some of the roster issues before the draft, but I don't expect they'll get every hole plugged.
1 20 Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia
2 51 TRADE: Brandon Aiyuk, WR
3 84 Hunter Nourzad, C, Penn State
3× 98 Jarvis Brownlee, Jr., CB, Florida State
4 128 Qwan'tez Stiggers, DB, Toronto Argonauts

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jebrick
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Post by jebrick » Thu Mar 12, 2020 11:44 am

https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2 ... ews-update

This mock may get closer to the scouting truth.
“If you see the handwriting on the wall, you’re in the toilet.”

- Fred Sanford

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Ice
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Post by Ice » Mon Mar 16, 2020 9:37 pm

bradshaw2ben wrote:
Thu Feb 13, 2020 12:16 am
Just don't draft a CB, QB, long-snapper, K, or right-side only OL, and it'll all be good.
That having been said, they'll go ahead and draft all of these positions.
Nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile...

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