Thumbs up for a bold Steelers draft
After the draft, and after the subsequent press conference, I asked Mike Tomlin whether he’s noticed a new sense of determination in his players during the few gathered workouts the last couple weeks.
“Not really,” he said. “We’re just getting started.”
He didn’t want to say much, and who could blame him? Not responding to the humiliating chaos these past few months has looked good on him. Why start now?
But his organization’s actions say otherwise. A new determination, or a renewed determination, was apparent in what was a bold draft weekend.
Bold, is the word, and I used it to death the other day in reviewing the Devin Bush pick. But that boldness only continued in ensuing rounds:
n Drafting their sleeper receiving prospect, little-known Diontae Johnson, with his average height, speed and workout numbers, in the third round while big, fast, well-known and popular prospects such as Hakeem Butler and Miles Boykin were still on the board. Bold!
n Drafting a converted wide receiver with raw coverage skills, Justin Layne, with one of the more pure, and again popular, cornerbacks of the draft, Notre Dame’s Julian Love, still on the board. Bold!
n Benny Snell’s too slow, right? The Steelers ignored all of us computer geeks who forgot how much Snell had to do with the turnaround at Kentucky — with heart the size of Walter Payton — just because he ran a 4.66 40 with a Costanza-like vertical jump of 29.5 inches. Bold!
n With a gaping hole at tight end following the departure of Jesse James, the Steelers ignored playmaker types such as Caleb Wilson and Alize Mack for the less-productive and slower Zach Gentry. The former were guys who had either played for one of the Steelers current coaches or had visited the South Side before the draft. But they couldn’t block! Gentry, on the other hand, might become Matt Spaeth. Drafting for the next Matt Spaeth is … Bold!
n Drafting the nation’s leading pass-rusher — from the MAC? — even though he, at 6-0, 233, is built like a big safety or a little off-the-ball linebacker, but who really can’t do anything but rush the passer. That’s bold!
n Allowing new-ish defensive line coach Karl Dunbar to do something long-time and legendary DL coach John Mitchell never could — draft one of his Alabama guys. And this after Dunbar’s I-know-this-guy pick in the seventh round last year washed out. But the Steelers gave Dunbar another chance this weekend, but this time to pick a guy who had actually started. Bold!
n Drafting not only their second player out of the MAC in the sixth round, but third in their entire draft, a little known run-and-hit guy from Akron who’s destined for special teams, but who ran faster than their new cornerback. Bold!
n And even in the seventh round, the Steelers took a nobody offensive tackle who’ll probably have to move inside for a team stacked with linemen, but not safeties, deep receiving threats or tight ends. Maybe not so bold, but in the Kelvin Beachum School of 7th-round, long-time starting left tackles, Smart!
I look back and consider these moves to have been bold, but at the time, as I missed prediction after prediction because I was soused with four months of research and numbers, I, like many of the draft geeks out there, became frustrated by the Steelers’ draft — at the time.
Of course the Steelers know the analytics. Of course they had the 40 times and workout numbers. Of course they talked to these players.
As I looked over the list of players the Steelers had acquired I gained more respect for what they had just done.
If you know anything about handicapping horses, or even football games, you know that formulas just don’t work. What works are a modicum of formula laced with a lotta instinct honed by years of experience — and experience at losing, too. Getting stung has a way of sticking with you, and makes you realize when a statistic is just, well, B.S.
I felt that way looking over the lists of the other teams in the division. No, the Steelers, in spite of my knee-jerk, in-game assessment of mediocrity, had the best draft in their division. Here’s why:
1.) Devin Bush, ILB, Michigan — Yes, he’s the shortest linebacker ever drafted in the first round, but, as Tomlin explained, speed at that position might mean more than speed at any other defensive position. Bush might get blocked by Wisconsin in its power run game, but the NFL doesn’t try to win with seven linemen, a fullback and a 245-pound tailback on every. single. down. The NFL attacks the flanks with every type of screen pass imaginable. Now the Steelers have someone who can disrupt all of that flow, and surely help disrupt Lamar Jackson, Justice Hill and Trace McSorley.
3-A.) Diontae Johnson, WR, Toledo — Same size, speed and conference as Antonio Brown, and, wow, these guys are right about his release off the line. I went home and watched tape of Johnson killing the big Miami (Fla.) press corners off the line time and again. He scored one short TD on a slant in front of the corner, and then beat them for a 40-yard touchdown in which he hit the seam running and outraced the two safeties (who were both drafted this weekend). He just needs to get in the weight room, get sturdy, and he’ll help right away.
3-B.) Justin Layne, CB, Michigan State — I’d already watched him match up with N’Keal Harry, the big receiver drafted by the Patriots in the first round, and had already been impressed. That was an epic match-up with each player winning his share, and each competing — hard! — every down. Layne, at 6-2, 192, has Ike Taylor’s size, and as a converted receiver (who converted back during an emergency last season) much better ball skills. Layne doesn’t have Ike’s 4.3 speed, and at 4.5 could be a risk over there if he doesn’t polish his boundary skills. I had Layne targeted as a second-rounder, so I obviously like this pick.
4.) Benny Snell, RB, Kentucky — I became quite the Kentucky fan this season, and mainly because of Snell. These were my notes while watching him in-season: “Hines Ward-size chip,” “Wildcat QB,” “good hands but not used as receiver,” “dad was a college running back, in Ravens camp,” “related to Matt Snell,” “heart and soul guy.” In my first mock draft, I had Snell going to the Steelers in the fourth round, with the note “I say Benny Snell falls this far.” Yes, he was a guy I once hoped would fall to the fourth round. And then he ran a 4.66 40 and we all forgot all about him. The Steelers didn’t. They remember the tape.
5.) Zach Gentry, TE, Michigan — I initially had Gentry as a Jesse James clone. Gentry is an inch taller than James at 6-8, with longer 34-inch arms, and just a bit slower 40 at 4.9. But in re-watching Gentry the other night, I saw that massive Matt Spaeth frame, which TE coach James Daniel had mentioned after the pick. Gentry, I thought, could even turn into something of an Alejandro Villanueva-type giant at his position if he continues his transformation from former quarterback into blocking tight end. Coach Daniel is happy. No one’s ever seen that, at least since Heath Miller retired.
6-A.) Sutton Smith, OLB, Northern Illinois — I watched a few NIU games and, frankly, was mesmerized by this guy’s ability to get to the quarterback. But I wanted to write him off. I mean, he really does look like a safety lining up on the edge. But during one game I was compelled to tweet that Smith was outplaying Brian Burns. And while I realize it will be difficult for a 6-0, 233-pounder to replicate anything close to his college numbers in the league, Sutton Smith will make this team and at least perform that magic on special teams. He’s a special player. Great pick, maybe my favorite after Bush.
6-B.) Isaiah Buggs, DE/DT, Alabama — Watching Alabama as a reporter who fancies himself a TV scout can be difficult. The thing was, as I tried to focus on Mack Wilson and Deionte Thompson on that Tide defense, Buggs kept showing up. And he showed up with enthusiasm. For a guy who was too wide to play an NFL edge, and maybe too small to play tackle, he sure made a lot of plays. If moved inside, and with good coaching, he could become a genuine player.
6-C.) Ulysees Gilbert, ILB, Akron — From ‘Bama to ‘Kron, Gilbert went one round after Mack Wilson, a guy people once thought was a first-round Steelers lock. Gilbert can run (4.48 at the Akron pro day). He’s considered a coverage backer, but for now he’s just expected to run and hit on special teams. Excellent pick.
7.) Derwin Gray, OT-OG, Maryland — I have to plead ignorance here but even Mr. Google couldn’t help me find information on Gray, other than he measured 6-4 1/2, 320 at the Combine with long 34 1/2-inch arms. I also found that he started 25 games at left tackle at Maryland, one of the best running teams in the country the last three seasons. Another solid pick.
The Steelers made several solid picks, with Bush, Johnson, Snell and Gentry certain to make the team and contribute as rookies. Bush and Johnson could even turn into sensational picks, and guys such as Layne and the sixth-rounders all have a shot at that. As just noted, the seventh-rounder is solid, too.
This draft may not have fulfilled fantasies and predictions of Analytics Nation, but it’s at the very least rock solid at the floor. The ceiling has high-arch potential, too, because of the bold steps taken this weekend.
Bold and possibly beautiful. It’s the soap opera they needed.