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Friday, April 23, 2010

Day 2 thoughts

After passing on selecting a defensive back on day two of the draft, we can only assume the Steelers are happy to let things ride with their current group.

The Steelers apparently feel that second-year players Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett are ready to make a big impact in 2010.

I did find out that there was a great deal of discussion in the second round prior to the team selecting Jason Worilds. Some in the room wanted Penn State's Sean Lee, who was still available.

But it was decided the depth at inside linebacker - where Larry Foote and Keyaron Fox back up Lawrence Timmons and James Farrior - was good enough. They needed an OLB behind James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley.

And head coach Mike Tomlin loved Worilds. Lee went three picks later to Dallas.

In round three, the Steelers were looking hard at safety Major Wright, but he went seven picks ahead of them to Chicago.

So they decided to instead go for a receiver they see as the heir apparent to Hines Ward, SMU's Emmanuel Sanders.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dale, This bothers me even more after reading this! Sean Lee a player who would be an eventual replacement for Farrior down the road gets overruled by Tomlin?? How does Colbert not have the final say?? Then with all the polished receivers avab (Shipley,Decker,Mitchell) they take Sanders who weighs 185. The next Hines Ward r u kidding me?

Anonymous said...

The more I read and watch about Sanders the more I think we may have found a second Mike Wallace. He is very fast and can go up in traffic. Also there is some knock against his blocking but the tape that is available on him shows him coming across to make two devastating blocks that would make Hines cringe. One block he took out two guys by himself. He is a bit of a project like Wallace but who isn't later in the draft. I think he will be very solid and eventually step in for Hines next year or the year after.

Anonymous said...

Sean Lee was just ok based on the tape I watched. Also I heard there was an injury rumor about him. This guy worilds was not somebody I had heard of but he certainly can get in the backfield. I hope he is not another bruce davis without coverage ability, but at least on one play he could cover making a one handed athletic stop of a deep pass. Plus he was not asked to cover much.

The only knock on all of the Steeler's picks is that they could have taken them all a few picks later and then packaged the additional picks they received to move up for an additional third or second rounder. Unlike the Patriots they don't screw around with value trades and you can't knock success.

Anonymous said...

I hope the steeler's package their fifth and or sixth rounder to move up in the beginning of the fourth round and get two fourth round picks. I can't see where 4 fifth round picks are going to fit. I was hoping they would move up into the third but there still is some good talent to be had in the fourth.

Dale Lolley said...

Actually, I was just looking at my USA Today Sports Weekly when I got home to look where they had those two guys.
Worilds was rated as the seventh-best OLB prospect and as a solid second-round pick. According to that publication, they got him right where they should have.
Sanders was their 11th-rated WR and as a fourth-round pick.

Anonymous said...

What about Myron(?) Rolle from FSU? Obviously his stock dropped when he chose a Rhodes scholarship over football, but until then he was a highly rated DB. He's worth taking with at least one of the 5th round choices if he's still on the board.

Anonymous said...

Let's look at the drafts from 1997 to 2007. (2007, you'll recall, was 20 years after Brett Favre first started considering retirement.) Here's how many Pro Bowl years those draft picks have had since:



Indianapolis Colts 37


Pittsburgh Steelers 35


Dallas Cowboys 34


Seattle Seahawks 31


Philadelphia Eagles 27


Chicago Bears 26


Minnesota Vikings 26


Baltimore Ravens 25


New England Patriots 24


Washington Redskins 23


Green Bay Packers 23


San Diego Chargers 22


Arizona Cardinals 22


Carolina Panthers 20


New York Jets 19


Denver Broncos 19


St. Louis Rams 19


Atlanta Falcons 19


Kansas City Chiefs 18


Cincinnati Bengals 18


San Francisco 49ers 18


New York Giants 18


Oakland Raiders 16


Miami Dolphins 15


Tennessee Titans 14


New Orleans Saints 13


Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12


Buffalo Bills 10


Houston Texans 10


Jacksonville Jaguars 9


Cleveland Browns 7


Detroit Lions 4

Anonymous said...

Dale, have you heard who the steelers like for RB in this draft or trade??

Anonymous said...

Dale, have you heard who the steelers like at RB or trade?

Ben said...

Dale, thoughts on Gibson?

I'm really hoping the Steelers pick up a safety or a running back soon in the 5th. I like Charles Scott (LSU) or Anthony Dixon (MS St).

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable, it looks like they're using all 10 picks. Have to keep the practice squad well stocked!

I wonder if they're not taking a CB just to be stubborn and piss us off.

Anonymous said...

Willie Gay must be so happy he gets to keep his job another year.

That said, the only pick I dislike is our 2nd rounder. I see another Bruce Davis.

adamg said...

Like last year when there was a run on OL, there was a big run on DBs. Probably would have been more of reach than Worlids or the WR.

Dale Lolley said...

I really like Dixon from Miss. State and Scott from LSU as running backs.

Dale Lolley said...

Worilds is way more physical than Bruce Davis ever way or could have been.