A couple of weeks ago, Pittsburgh Steelers’ Head Coach Mike Tomlin was at the University of Louisville’s pro day. Somewhat surprisingly, he spent a good deal of time with the Cardinals’ wide receiver DeVante Parker.
Now, this could just be Tomlin being “buddy-buddy” with another wide receiver. After all this is what Tomlin played in college but now Parker is one of several college players coming in for a pre-draft visit. He’s also the only one scheduled to workout at this time.
Can anyone answer the question “why?”
The Steelers seem to be pretty content at wide receiver at least with the top three spots where Antonio Brown, Markus Wheaton and Martavis Bryant reside. The re-signing of Darrius Heyward-Bey last week adds depth but a more formidable extra receiver would be nice.
At 6′ 3″ and about 208 lbs, Parker is an excellent athlete who is capable of making excellent catches. According to scout Lance Zierlein, “he does his best work when the ball is in the air.”
What’s even more surprising is that he is not regarded as a good blocker at all. That’s typically something the Steelers look for immediately in a receiving prospect. It’s not a deal-breaker by any stretch but the rule has always been if you can’t block you won’t play receiver in Pittsburgh.
The biggest factor in why this interest in Parker is so bizarre is that he’s likely to be gone by the time the Steelers select in the second round. I can’t for the life of me see them using their first round pick on him with so much help needed on defense, but stranger things have happened.
Maybe the Steelers are just doing their due diligence and are preparing for him to maybe be there in the second round. Even if they took him in that round, it would still raise serious questions.
This is of course the season of “smoke screens” in the NFL and perhaps Tomlin is creating one. Seems like an awful waste of time. Then again, maybe the team isn’t as sold on Markus Wheaton as we think they are.
photo courtesy fanaticalyankee.com
1 comment
They could move down a few spots pick up an extra pick then draft him.