Home Steelers Draft The Defensive Draft You Wanted is Here Steelers’ Fans

The Defensive Draft You Wanted is Here Steelers’ Fans

by Steeldad

You can’t say the front office and the fan base aren’t on the same page right now.

After the first three rounds of the NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers have addressed the three vital areas they most needed to by selecting a cornerback, a safety and a defensive lineman. Following the round one selection of Miami cornerback Artie Burns, the Steelers scored big in my opinion with Maryland safety Sean Davis in the second and South Carolina State defensive lineman Javon Hargrave.

The first things fans have to get past with both of these players is the lack of name recognition. Neither of these young men come from football factories or high-profile programs. Might I remind you that neither did Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger or Antonio Brown.

When you evaluate players, overall team success isn’t exactly at the top of a scout’s list. You’re looking for what the individual player can do for your team and whether or not you think he can fit.

Davis is incredibly versatile. He has played significant time at both safety and cornerback and I believe the Steelers will use him at the safety position. A lot of fan have taken notice of his number of missed tackles but here’s what you have to consider; he had 293 tackles over three seasons as a starter. What that means is that he gets to the ball, A LOT!

When he does, he brings the wood. He’s a big-time hitter who led the nation in forced fumbles last year and does exactly what the Steelers love from a safety; he comes downhill right now. Davis is a bright young man as well as he is fluent in three different languages.

Hargrave comes from the same school that produced Steelers’ great Donnie Shell. While we must consider of course the level of competition, Hargrave not only dominated it but he also dominated fellow draft prospects at the East-West Shrine Game during that week of competition.

His selection moves the Steelers that much closer to being a 4-3 defense. While he does possess the ability to play the nose in the 3-4, he is much better suited to play over the guard in a 4-3 or in specialty defenses which the Steelers send a lot of time in anyhow.

While both of these picks will have work to do, I like both of the selections. They could each be Steelers for quite some time and I think the fan base will really love Hargrave especially.

Photo courtesy news.yahoo.com

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2 comments

Vittorio April 30, 2016 - 7:41 pm

You know by Colbert taking Hargrave. in the 3rd it makes the Jarvis Jones pick look like gold. I supposed to believe he was the best DL on the board at the time of the Steelers pick that cannot be possible. Mark this down Hargrave will be gone in 3 years while guys like Billings, Ridgeway and Tapper go on to have probowl careers and then everyone who liked the Hargrave pick will end up saying “What a lousy pick Hargrave was”.

JollyRob68 May 1, 2016 - 7:44 am

Other than trading back in rd 1 ( Joseph,Neal,Jackson off board) taking Burns over Alexander? but at 31. I got the players I wanted in Rds 2-3, rd 4 was a pre-draft visitor and the other picks seem like good depth/special teams help.
Solid B draft B-/C+ if you want to dock them for not trading back in rd 1.

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