Good Friday to you Steelers’ fans.
The first round of the NFL Draft is now complete and that means our Pittsburgh Steelers will finally get their turn to choose later on tonight. Overall, the first round was rather blah. There were a handful of trades and a few surprising selections but other than that things were pretty quiet. There were definitely a few moments where I thought teams “reached” in this Draft. The Falcons taking Clemson CB A.J. Terrell was odd. I saw him as a solid second rounder and thought there were others better than Terrell in that spot. Damon Arnette going to the Raiders was a huge reach. Most had a third round grade on the physical CB from Ohio State. And then there’s Jordan Love. I like a lot of the physical tools he has and I like the situation he will have sitting behind Aaron Rodgers but… If I’m Rodgers I’m less than thrilled. If you thought Ben Roethlisberger wasn’t crazy about Mason Rudolph’s selection then get your popcorn ready on this one.
Around the AFC North
The Ravens got an excellent linebacker in LSU’s Patrick Queen. I expect him to be a pain in our neck for the next ten years… The Browns selected offensive tackle Jedrick Wills, Jr of Alabama. It appears they will install him at left tackle opposite free agent signee Jack Conklin… The Bengals of course didn’t screw this up and took Joe Burrow number one overall. I’m excited to see him against the Steelers in 2020.
Tweet of the Day… Let’s see if Chris is right tonight!!
I think Jeremy Chinn could be a surprise pick at 49 tonight.
— Chris Garman (@Steel_By_Design) April 24, 2020
On Tap
If and this is a monstrous “if,” the Steelers were hoping for a safety or running back to be there at 49 then they got very lucky last night. The only running back taken in round one was Clyde Edwards-Helaire at 32. The top-rated Safety is Xavier McKinney who was pegged to be a mid-first rounder. He is still available and therefore so is every other safety. Now if they were targeting offensive tackles? That ship has sailed. Interior OL and DL remain possibilities as well as WR which is always a possibility for Pittsburgh.
The Vrable Household
One of the really fascinating things about the virtual draft was watching the families. Most were very much as expected with lots of celebration and tears of joy. Coaches households were typically filled with Head Coaches irritated with the set up and the fact their children were all over the place. Then there’s Mike Vrable, Head Coach of the Tennessee Titans. Nevermind the fact that Vrabel was caught on camera getting rid of his monstrous dip of tobacco because that was nothing compared to his kids (I assume they were his kids) and their odd wardrobe choices. I think it was a microcosm of how many of us feel during quarantine.
Have a great weekend Steeler Nation!
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