Kelvin Benjamin- I hope we don't take him

[ZACKB]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports at least "one of the Steelers people" think Florida State WR Kelvin Benjamin is the second-best receiver in the draft behind Clemson's Sammy Watkins.

Beat writer Gerry Dulac believes there's a "very good chance" the Steelers grab Benjamin with the No. 15 overall pick next Thursday night. Most in the Steelers organization are higher on Mike Evans, but Evans is fully expected to be long gone by the time the Steelers are on the clock. Benjamin would give the Steelers an infusion of size that they badly need at the position and a red-zone presence.


In the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's annual poll of NFL personnel men, Florida State's Kelvin Benjamin tied for seventh in the scouts and executives' wide receiver rankings.

The media has been higher on Benjamin than the NFL throughout the draft process, by all indications. Benjamin tied Indiana's Cody Latimer and Colorado speedster Paul Richardson for seventh in the Journal-Sentinel's vote-based "points" system, behind Sammy Watkins, Mike Evans, Odell Beckham, Brandin Cooks, Marqise Lee, and Jordan Matthews, in that order. "He's stiff and lazy," one scout said of Benjamin. "Can't separate. Inconsistent catcher. I don't think he has off the field what it takes to be great on field. Other than that he'll be fine."

both from rotoworld.com

 

[Idioteque]

Massive, Sweed-esque bust factor there.

 

[ZACKB]

Dulac has been saying that the 4 guys we may take are Evans, Dennard, Gilbert, and Benjamin. It is completely nuts to grab him in rd 1. Rd 2...maybe. I'd rather take a dline guy in rd 2 and see what wr is there in rd 3.

 

[Drink IRON City]

I'm with you Zackb, over priced, if taken in round 1. Hope Rooney steps in, if needed!


Salute the nation

 

[jitter77]

Benjamin is the guy I absolutely hate in the first round. I would not even take him in the second. He is big, but not super fast. His vertical jump is pretty poor, and his attitude stinks. Also he is extremely raw in routes and seems to drop some easier passes. Not to mention his work ethic is questionable at best. I only think Benjamin will work as a TE/WR hybrid in this league if at all.

 

[skialta]

that lazy *** butterfingers. i'd love to say "no way they'd take him"...problem is, i have zero faith in our drafting these days. YES! RUN THE PICK UP TO THE COMMISH!!!!!

 

[Steelers1356]

CB is the most likely pick at 15. The draft is deep with WR's, you can get guys at least as good as Benjamin in the 2nd or even 3rd round.

 

[Stryker]

Personally, I love his size and his intangibles, however he has one glaring weakness: Poor hand placement. He will not translate well to better, harder thrown balls. He'd make Limas Sweed look like Wes Welker. Never draft a QB that isn't accurate, and never draft a WR that has inconsistent hands.

 

[scstillerfan]

Just like DE, it they pick KB, I'll throw my remote through the ******* TV. Yep, I hated the Plex pick too.

 

[SteelerFan448]

I may have a meltdown if Beckham is sitting on the board and the Steelers take Benjamin with the 15th pick.

 

[Idioteque]

Personally, I love his size and his intangibles, however he has one glaring weakness: Poor hand placement. He will not translate well to better, harder thrown balls. He'd make Limas Sweed look like Wes Welker. Never draft a QB that isn't accurate, and never draft a WR that has inconsistent hands.

Just curious.. what about his intangibles impresses you? That's what turns me off to him the most. He was very slow to develop at FSU and is quite possibly the laziest WR I've ever seen.

 

[steelerscotty]

Its Benjamin and Ebron for me. Benjamin sounds like a fat ***, lazy slacker who has made one good catch. I keep hearing how Ebron doesnt like to block and has issues catching the ball. I know he's tall, fast and is a phenomenal athlete but what good is a TE that cant block or catch?

 

[Turd Ferguson]

How friggin' stupid....I'll ALWAYS say WRs are a dime a dozen. Unless it's a Fitz or Calvin Johnson type you never take one in the top half of round one. Hell...Antonio Brown was drafted in the 6th round and he's by far our best WR. Hines Ward was a 3rd rounder.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

I may have a meltdown if Beckham is sitting on the board and the Steelers take Benjamin with the 15th pick.

Thats the thing... Many of you are forgetting why we need a WR- we need receivers that will help in the redzone.

Our RZ scoring offense has been one of the worst in the league the last couple of years- and getting another undersized WR does little to remedy that.

Not saying that KB is worth the value at 1.15- but no need to just grab a rec'vr for the hell of it

 

[TMC]

Thats the thing... Many of you are forgetting why we need a WR- we need receivers that will help in the redzone.

Our RZ scoring offense has been one of the worst in the league the last couple of years- and getting another undersized WR does little to remedy that.

Not saying that KB is worth the value at 1.15- but no need to just grab a rec'vr for the hell of it

Well, size does have some merit, but Wes Welker, Victor Cruz, and James Jones were in the top 10 or son in scoring (for WRs) several times in the past few seasons. The key if they are under 6'3" or so would be their ability to get open and that comes with quickness and route running. I think you can score effectively in the redzone if you are under 6'3" if you have the ability to make that quick break, create a little space, and get open. There are plenty of bigger corners that understand how to defend those high throws. I also believe a more well-developed running game would help significantly.

My issue with the bigger WRs is, all of them have a glaring flaw in their game. Evans lacks COD skills and has a limited route tree. Benjamin is similar, but he is a work in progress. Moncrief and Benjamin have some issues with drops. I do not care which guy you look at, they all have something that makes you pause and wonder if they can overcome that obstacle. It is why I would rather wait a little to draft my big WR.

 

[Superman]

**** Benjamin. if we're so set on a bigger WR, why not trade back and pick up Allen Robinson?

 

[ZACKB]

I would only consider Benjamin in rd 2...if Tuitt and Nix are gone. I'm hoping we can trade down with Miami, get their third rounder, and draft Moncrief with their third rounder. cb, then Tuitt/Nix, and Moncrief...would be awesome.

BTW, Benjamin has suspect hands, is kinda slow, and has zero acceleration coming of the LOS. How the hell does that even make him a 2nd rounder?

 

[Idioteque]

Hines Ward is one of the best RZ receivers I've ever seen. The skills needed in the RZ are experience, short-area suddenness, and hands.

The stupid throw-it-up-to-the-corner-and-let-the-tall-guy-jump-for-it **** never works. I don't know the actual success rate, but I'd bet it's low. Even Calvin can be corralled at that more often than not. Go ask Sweed and James Hardy if all you need is height.

 

[ZACKB]

Hell, there is Brandon Coleman from Rutgers, who is 6'6" and that guy can be had in rd 4.

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

Well, size does have some merit, but Wes Welker, Victor Cruz, and James Jones were in the top 10 or son in scoring (for WRs) several times in the past few seasons. The key if they are under 6'3" or so would be their ability to get open and that comes with quickness and route running. I think you can score effectively in the redzone if you are under 6'3" if you have the ability to make that quick break, create a little space, and get open. There are plenty of bigger corners that understand how to defend those high throws. I also believe a more well-developed running game would help significantly.

My issue with the bigger WRs is, all of them have a glaring flaw in their game. Evans lacks COD skills and has a limited route tree. Benjamin is similar, but he is a work in progress. Moncrief and Benjamin have some issues with drops. I do not care which guy you look at, they all have something that makes you pause and wonder if they can overcome that obstacle. It is why I would rather wait a little to draft my big WR.

I agree with you. And quite frankly, I think the hype of this draft's WR is getting out of hand.

I do not see any "homeruns"- not even Evans or Watkins. I see Evans as having the highest ceiling of the group, but almost all of them require some 'coaching up'. The small guys (Beckham, Cooks) have great hands, pretty good separation, but aren't known to fight for the ball and get a lot of their production from trick plays. The big guys (except Evans) all have trouble with drops and are inadequate route runners.

If Evans is off the board, I would actually wait until the 3rd; however, being that we dont have a true third, more than likely we are going to have to look at Moncrief or Bryant

 

[ZACKB]

Beckham isn't that small...he's 5'11''. Now Cooks, he is smaller...right?

 

[Bigappleyinzer]

Hines Ward is one of the best RZ receivers I've ever seen. The skills needed in the RZ are experience, short-area suddenness, and hands.

The stupid throw-it-up-to-the-corner-and-let-the-tall-guy-jump-for-it **** never works. I don't know the actual success rate, but I'd bet it's low. Even Calvin can be corralled at that more often than not. Go ask Sweed and James Hardy if all you need is height.

The stupid throw-it-up-to-the-corner-and-let-the-tall-guy-jump-for-it works plenty- and its also a pretty low risk move considering you put it only where the WR can grab the ball.

Steve Smith and maybe Hines Ward are maybe the only small guys who could muscle their way in the RZ. Its not really a difficult thing to understand why you would like a bigger target in the endzone

 

[kev4heels]

IF they plan on taking Benjamin that would be crazy not to trade down. Don't see anyone taking him prior to late 1st.

I'm fine with it as long as we don't do it at 1.15.

 

[TMC]

I agree with you. And quite frankly, I think the hype of this draft's WR is getting out of hand.

I do not see any "homeruns"- not even Evans or Watkins. I see Evans as having the highest ceiling of the group, but almost all of them require some 'coaching up'. The small guys (Beckham, Cooks) have great hands, pretty good separation, but aren't known to fight for the ball and get a lot of their production from trick plays. The big guys (except Evans) all have trouble with drops and are inadequate route runners.

If Evans is off the board, I would actually wait until the 3rd; however, being that we dont have a true third, more than likely we are going to have to look at Moncrief or Bryant

I think guys like Robinson and Abbrederis would be excellent redzone WRs. Robinson is 6025 while Abbrederis is 6010. Neither are true burners, but both have the ability to get open in the first 10 yards of a play. They both show good explosion out of their breaks and get great separation. Both have excellent hands. Both are excellent route runners. They do the things in short areas that translate well to the redzone.

In order for me to want a bigger WR for my redzone target, he has to get after the football in the air. He has to be strong at that. Not many in this draft are great at it.

 

[TMC]

Beckham isn't that small...he's 5'11''. Now Cooks, he is smaller...right?

Beckham is 5112 and Cooks is 5096. Where both excel is in their short area quickness, which means they can run right into the body of the CB and break either way. With their burst out of the break, either should be able to get separation in tight areas.