Dan Moore.
Sigh.
Hard to fathom a football organization held with such high regard as our beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, thought it was a good idea to protect Kenny Pickett’s blindside with a 4th round flier like Dan freaking Moore.
But
It happened.
Exit Kevin Colbert (thank God)
Enter
The Khan Artist
Being the UGA transplant homer that I am, I loved the aggressive trade up for Broderick Jones.
Why he wasn’t inserted in his natural LT position is an entirely different discussion.
We can only hope his year at RT hasn’t slowed his development.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of the offensive line AND its coach.
Makes the whole offense go or in the case of our Steelers, NOT GO.
Hopefully, Artie Smith has something to offer here because Pat Meyer impresses me not.
So with Chuks sent packing and the Dan Moore experiment an abject failure, Weidl-Khan will once again be in search of offensive tackle talent this offseason.
Most NFL teams don’t let their premium offensive line talent hit the open market, so to say I’m not impressed with the UFA’s this year is an understatement:
• Jonah Williams Bengals- Sure I Roll Tide, but the appeal here is position versatility and poaching from Burrow and the Bengals.
• Jermaine Eluemunor Raiders- Horse manure? Perhaps. I see another versatile player that would seem to fit the Steelers’ hole filling profile.
• Michael Onwenu Pats- Big scUM right here. RT or even interior presence only (told ya this list sucked)
• Donovan Smith Chiefs- Happy Valley fans know him well. Serviceable type when healthy.
• Yosh Nijman Packers- No shame in losing your job to rookie stud Zach Tom.
• Mekhi Becton Jets- BIG Bust. Reclamation project for our new OL coach…oh wait…never mind.
The Steelers (and our guy B2B) aren’t pigeonholed into drafting one position, but most of the mocks I’ve read have the Steelers taking either corner, Oregon JPJ, OR tapping into a deep group of OT prospects.
The intrigue for me will come not so much with the player or the position picked as much as I want to see if the Khan-artist moves up for his target like last year, or trades down and acquires some much needed draft capital.
I really like the idea of trading down and STILL getting a stud OT from this deep group:
• Joe Alt and Ola Fashanu will be long gone. STUDS.
• Taliese Fuaga Oregon St- Probably gone too. Dig him, BUT the Duck ends gave him fits. Saw it with my own eyes I did.
• Amarius Mims Georgia- Back to the Georgia well for a high ceiling RT with only 15 career starts.
• JC Latham Alabama- Combine will be interesting for Latham. Injured his knee on last play of the scUM loss. Been reading he may project to OG.
• Troy Fautanu Washington- Going to insert him in here. I think he can stay at LT.
• Tyler Guyton Oklahoma- Dancing bear showed off his sweet feet down in Mobile.
• Jordan Morgan Arizona- Athletic LT I’ve been reading could convert to OG
• Kingsley Suamataia BYU- Former Duck sliding into rd 2 mocks of late. DEEP OT group.
• Patrick Paul Houston- Mixed reviews down in Mobile but offers LT experience.
• Kiran Amegadgie Yale- You’ve never seen him play either.
• Javon Foster Missouri- Yet another solid showing down in Mobile.
• Blake Fisher Notre Dame- I’m going to stop now because this could go on for a while. Again, DEEP position group.
Thanks as always for reading. Please comment on the players you like and those you don’t. This is just for talking point purposes. I think the Steelers should keep bolstering the trenches. I see the secondary as a barren wasteland of shit and want that area upgraded as well. But until that franchise qb arrives and Tomlin rides off into the sunset I see nothing else to do but hope the Steelers can string together a string of strong drafts in the wake of Colbert being asleep at the wheel.
