Home 2014 NFL Draft Steelers Continue to Check Out Late First Rounders

Steelers Continue to Check Out Late First Rounders

by Steelbydesign

hi-res-179990052-odell-beckham-jr-3-of-the-lsu-tigers-reacts-to-a_crop_exactThe Steelers were in full force at LSU’s pro day on Wednesday with Mike Tomlin, Todd Haley, and Kevin Colbert all in attendance.

Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. made it known in a radio interview that he had dinner with that group on Tuesday night.

OBJ fits the Todd Haley mold of receivers to a tee.

A smaller receiver that works very well in space and makes his money with precise route running and then working after the catch.

I’m a big fan of him, but I think his lack of size makes him a bit of a reach at the 15th pick.

I’m not one that has to get a 6’5″ receiver, but it would be nice to get a red-zone threat at the 15th pick.

It’s possible the Steelers like Beckham enough to take him at their current spot in the first round, but history suggests they won’t.

Draft stock fluctuates so wildly that I don’t have any hard numbers to back this up, but I can tell you what I’ve observed about the Steelers’ draft strategy in the past…

To me it seems the Steelers typically go with the “safe” value pick in round 1, and then tend to get a little more creative afterwards. I can honestly say the only pick in recent memory that really surprised me in round 1 was Ziggy Hood.

Guys like Jarvis Jones, David DeCastro, Cameron Heyward, Maurkice Pouncey, Rashard Mendenhall, and Lawrence Timmons were all considered to fit the range or in a lot of cases great values at their draft slot.

Where the Steelers “reach” (and understand I’m just talking according to all the clueless talking heads, myself included) is usually after round 1. Last season Jarvis Jones was considered a steal, and Le’Veon Bell  was considered a reach.

I bring all of this up because it seems like the Steelers are paying a lot of attention to guys that according to most people, are late first round picks.

Odell Beckham Jr, Allen Robinson, Kelvin Benjamin, Jason Verrett, Bradley Roby, Ryan Shazier, Louis Nix, and Stephon Tuitt are all guys that seem to fit that description in my opinion.

It’s always possible the Steelers like someone a lot more than the general public. However, I also think that if guys like Gilbert, Dennard, and Evans are off the board the Steelers will try hard to move down.

Colbert has talked about how deep this draft class is, and it’s been said that maybe not many teams want to move up… but I think that’s the plan going in.

Once names start flying off the board though I think you’ll see teams get antsy and deals will be on the table.

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3 comments

Vittorio April 11, 2014 - 11:24 pm

Why is Beckham Jr even being considered by some fans at 15?All I hear “oh he can do damage on the shallow crosses and slant routes” to me they already have that in the form of AB and Moore. most of you are firmly against taking a Tall WR because of how Sweed turned out and that’s fine but I counter with this: Sweed was an aberration and nothing else. Look at how Burress did while he was here. There is your typical WR for this Steeler team. A guy that’s at least 6’4 to even maybe 6’6 who can go make jump ball catches. Let me ask you guys this if AB, Wheaton or Moore were to attempt a jump ball catch what would be the end result? I know people have heard what happened with Benjamin but that’s gil brandt talking and 1 coach. What about the other writers and the other coaches that visited him down at FSU pro day? Until I hear other writers and coaches come to the same assessment I don’t care what you guys think of him. In the NFL draft every year you can find those short guys anywhere in the draft. There is bunch of those guys out there. How often do you see those numbers in tall WR’s? I’m not saying that by adding this 1 WR they will make the playoffs, far from it and in fact I never made such a statement. But by adding a Tall WR I find real hard for fans not to say the offense will be better than ever. Ben needs another weapon and a Tall WR is what most fans is what the doctor ordered for the Steelers.

bob graff April 12, 2014 - 12:09 pm

I think they are looking at all these late first round potential players knowing someones going to slide to them in the second round. This draft appears to be that deep and Benjamin is a good candidate. No one has talked yet about moving up in the second round to get a solid first round quality player , it’s just a thought.

bob graff April 12, 2014 - 12:52 pm

I was doing some studying of draft history and draft profiles that were effective at actually taking a team to another level. There were two that i found interesting. First was the 1981 49er’s they went out and got 4 db’s in the draft including immediate starters Lott, Wright and Williamson. So i figured i would look for something similar. What i found right away were the the Seahawks drafting there entire defensive backfield in 2010 and 2011. Just some food for thought both drafts were effective at immediately helping each team.

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