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Opinions of the final 2016 draft Class

M

madinsomniac

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1. Artie Burns (CB)- Might be a slight reach... still looks like a good long term solution at CB... might need to redshirt a year
2. Sean Davis (SS)- Solid looking safety pick... apparently some hip/coverage issues, but will be fine as long as the play is in front of him
3, Javon Hargrave (DL) - Pass rushing Dlineman adds depth
4. Jerald Hawkins (OT) - Good Value swing tackle... cant complain at all about this
6. Travis Feeney (LB) - Fast LB, lots of measurables and a chip on his shoulder. Good boom or bust guy
7. deMarcus Ayers (PR/WR) - sure handed punt returner if no one else can fill the role
7. Tyler Matakevich (ILB) - looks like a great 7th round prospect... very strong... might need a year on the practice squad

Overall I like that we adressed the areas of greatest concern... few huge steals this year, but everyone looks like they could be solid contributors. The top 4 will almost certainly get spots on the 53... all the rest can easily earn them... too... there are open slots for each
 
The more I read i don't the Burns pick was a reach at all. A few other teams were ready to grab him. So his value was about right where we took him.
 
madinsomniac said:
1. Artie Burns (CB)- Might be a slight reach... still looks like a good long term solution at CB... might need to redshirt a year
2. Sean Davis (SS)- Solid looking safety pick... apparently some hip/coverage issues, but will be fine as long as the play is in front of him
3, Javon Hargrave (DL) - Pass rushing Dlineman adds depth
4. Jerald Hawkins (OT) - Good Value swing tackle... cant complain at all about this
6. Travis Feeney (LB) - Fast LB, lots of measurables and a chip on his shoulder. Good boom or bust guy
7. deMarcus Ayers (PR/WR) - sure handed punt returner if no one else can fill the role
7. Tyler Matakevich (ILB) - looks like a great 7th round prospect... very strong... might need a year on the practice squad

Overall I like that we adressed the areas of greatest concern... few huge steals this year, but everyone looks like they could be solid contributors. The top 4 will almost certainly get spots on the 53... all the rest can easily earn them... too... there are open slots for each
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Don't sleep on Matakevich getting on the 53, relentless player that is smart, works hard, and studies like a fiend.
 
I like it a lot, not because I know the players all that well, because I don't. I just like the fact that weak areas of the team were addressed. Now we will see what happens.

I like the fact that all the guys seem to be explosive players. I like the fact there were no wasted picks on tiny running backs or something.
 
CoolieMan said:
Ayers is going to be ******* awesome as a punt returner and will earn his way into the receiver rotation
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You've got that much faith in the lil guy eh? I've never seen a Houston game ... so, if you guys who live that way say so, I'll keep an open mind.
 
SteelBuckeye said:
You've got that much faith in the lil guy eh? I've never seen a Houston game ... so, if you guys who live that way say so, I'll keep an open mind.
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I might be slightly overly optimistic. But Ayers was very solid as a PR, there was no fear of him fumbling the ball or muffing the kick. He showed good vision and quick moves to evade defenders and took one to the house. On offense he had receiving, passing and rushing TDs which shows he was willing to do anything to win the game.
 
CoolieMan said:
I might be slightly overly optimistic. But Ayers was very solid as a PR, there was no fear of him fumbling the ball or muffing the kick. He showed good vision and quick moves to evade defenders and took one to the house. On offense he had receiving, passing and rushing TDs which shows he was willing to do anything to win the game.
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looks like he is quick shifty with good hands....
 
..

I guess my question is... how does Ayers get to dress with the 45 on game days? If he IS going to return punts, he is going to have to bring something else to the table. Maybe as a 5th WR? It seems we may have an opening for one there? However, a 5th WR normally plays a lot on ST... and not just on the punt return unit.

.
 
steelpastor said:
..

I guess my question is... how does Ayers get to dress with the 45 on game days? If he IS going to return punts, he is going to have to bring something else to the table. Maybe as a 5th WR? It seems we may have an opening for one there? However, a 5th WR normally plays a lot on ST... and not just on the punt return unit.

.
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I would bet the kid would sacrifice his body on the punt coverage or kickoff teams also....

as a freshman and sophomore he also returned kickoffs....he did not do it as a junior because they had a better kick returner on the team...kid took two to the house
 
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ianv2012 said:
Don't sleep on Matakevich getting on the 53, relentless player that is smart, works hard, and studies like a fiend.
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Could he be our next Jerry O ? Hope I'm not showing my age lol
 
For those that are looking at our early picks as players that will only help us down the line....I loved this headline from the paper we can't refer to:

"On the Steelers: Three rookies could start on defense this season"

Pretty funny, given we've been reading all the doubters proclaim how we made reach after reach picks.

For whatever it's worth, all of Lake, Mitchell, Tomlin and Colbert indicated that Burns, Davis and Hargrave will be given every opportunity to start.

- Javon Hargrave has to beat out Dan McCullers, who himself is more of a project, developmental guy than an established starter. Regardless of who starts, I see the two of them rotating through. Hargave seems to have the clearest path to significant playing time early on, especially if he can play on passing downs.

- Sean Davis has only Robert Golden ahead of him (presuming Shamarko washes out). He has to show a good understanding of the playbook, which may be tough out of the gate, but not impossible. I think it'll be significant if he can develop chemistry with Mike Mitchell early on. If that happens, and Mitchell embraces the rook, I can see Davis as the Game 1 starter at SS.

- Projecting Artie Burns as a starter early in the season is probably the most difficult of the three. He would have to show consistent, superior skills to Cockrell & Golson and have a can-do, winning attitude very early on. He needs to impress the coaches that they feel comfortable enough that they'd rather not keep him off the field. They may decide to let him learn from his mistakes with the live bullets flying and get him up to speed as soon as possible. Again, probably unlikely but we can't completely rule it out. First indiciation we'll get will be rookie mini-camp, then OTA's and finally Latrobe. Really looking forward to seeing how the secondary shakes out.

The rest of the guys will be plugged in at the bottom of the depth chart and hope to make the squad in some form or fashion. They really like Hawkins as a potential future starter, plus the fact he can play both LT & RT makes him a great value pick in the 4th.
 
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Tibs said:
For those that are looking at our early picks as players that will only help us down the line....I loved this headline from the paper we can't refer to:

"On the Steelers: Three rookies could start on defense this season"

Pretty funny, given we've been reading all the doubters proclaim how we made reach after reach picks.

For whatever it's worth, all of Lake, Mitchell, Tomlin and Colbert indicated that Burns, Davis and Hargrave will be given every opportunity to start.

- Javon Hargrave has to beat out Dan McCullers, who himself is more of a project, developmental guy than an established starter. Regardless of who starts, I see the two of them rotating through. Hargave seems to have the clearest path to significant playing time early on, especially if he can play on passing downs.

- Sean Davis has only Robert Golden ahead of him (presuming Shamarko washes out). He has to show a good understanding of the playbook, which may be tough out of the gate, but not impossible. I think it'll be significant if he can develop chemistry with Mike Mitchell early on. If that happens, and Mitchell embraces the rook, I can see Davis as the Game 1 starter at SS.

- Projecting Artie Burns as a starter early in the season is probably the most difficult of the three. He would have to show consistent, superior skills to Cockrell & Golson and have a can-do, winning attitude very early on, to impress the coaches that they feel comfortable enough that they'd rather not keep him off the field. They may decide to let him learn from his mistakes with the live bullets flying and get him up to speed as soon as possible. Again, probably unlikely but we can't completely rule it out. First indiciation we'll get will be rookie mini-camp, then OTA's and finally Latrobe. Really looking forward to seeing how the secondary shakes out.

The rest of the guys will be plugged in at the bottom of the depth chart and hope to make the squad in some form or fashion. They really like Hawkins as a potential future starter, plus the fact he can play both LT & RT makes him a great value pick in the 4th.
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Not sure the Steelers would start any of the three out of the gates. But I could see all three rotated in. And I wouldn't be shocked to see Burns starting by midseason.

Hargrave has Mathews in the way and Davis has Golden. I would think they would be a little more difficult to push out of the way than Cockrell.
 
Starting a rookie player because he is very good and you simply can't keep him off of the field is not the same as having to start him because there is little or nothing in front of him. Case in point is Jarvis Jones. While I think his lack of strength and speed are his real problems, probably starting him immediately wasn't helpful either. In comparison Dupree earned his way on the field at the end of last year past a veteran and I believe will be better for it
 
SteelerSask said:
Starting a rookie player because he is very good and you simply can't keep him off of the field is not the same as having to start him because there is little or nothing in front of him. Case in point is Jarvis Jones. While I think his lack of strength and speed are his real problems, probably starting him immediately wasn't helpful either. In comparison Dupree earned his way on the field at the end of last year past a veteran and I believe will be better for it
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good thing is all three prospects has someone in front of them with experience starting....

I think if they end up starting it will because they earned it.
 
slashsteel said:
Not sure the Steelers would start any of the three out of the gates. But I could see all three rotated in. And I wouldn't be shocked to see Burns starting by midseason.

Hargrave has Mathews in the way and Davis has Golden. I would think they would be a little more difficult to push out of the way than Cockrell.
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I don't see how Hargrave has Matthews to compete with other than rotational in the nickel as Mitchell stated in his press conference that Hargrave will play Nose in our base, and rotate with Tuitt and Heyward in the sub package. Most likely Hargrave's main competition will be McCullers.
 
I was initially disappointed with the Burns pick. Now that I've stepped away from the whole thing and looked at the draft in an entirety I feel like they got the BPA at positions of need in the first three rounds. Three guys who could contribute something next year. Then they went out and got some good backups in the later rounds. Considering they were low on picks and couldn't move up that is the best you could do. I bitched on Thursday and into Friday, but all and all it is about the best they could do. Burns was the best available CB, Davis has the tools to be a starter and while I would have prefered Billings I do think Hargrave is more versatile in the sub packages because of his pass rush.
 
Overall, I like the draft. We got big and fast in the secondary. We added a potential 3 down D-lineman that grew up loving the Steelers and wants to prove himself after coming from a small school. Hawkins is a good developmental O-lineman. I actually really like the chances they took on the 2 LB's. Both have boom or bust potential but I like to look at their boom side. Plus they were late round picks so you don't expect much. The pick I don't like much is the small punt returner. He is small and slow and not much bigger than Dri was. Sure he has much better hands but I can't see him making the team just as a punt returner. He will have to win a roster spot by being able to do more than just return punts and right now, I just don't see it.
 
Round 1- D
Steelers panicked and pigeon holed a position to draft. Leaking that they were taking a CB just shows you how in disarray our front office is.
Burns is a quality player and in a couple of years I bet he's a serviceable starter. He has almost no shot at being more than the #4 CB this upcoming season. To be fair I think the top three CB don't start the season as a starter either but they likely would have seen increased playing time as the season progressed and doubt any would have started before half way through the season. Burns is a nice sized and length. Has above average hands. Burns though thought to be a great athlete Burns really didn't test well. Decent 40 but once you take into consideration he's a track guy and he likely got a better jump than a football player trying to all of a sudden run track. It wouldn't shock me if that's a tenth of a second advantage in the 40. His vert, broad jump, shuttle all very pedestrian. The problem I have is it was stated he's a world class athlete who hasn't focused on football. But when I look at the numbers he's an average athlete who ran track. I do believe he can get better with techniques and football skills as right now his footwork and hand placement is very raw and poor. So he does have upside. I personally saw a huge drop after WJIII was off the board and can't believe the Steelers didn't. I feel they went in saying CB come hell or high water and took him. I honestly feel Xavien Howard, Kendall Fuller, Deiondre Hall all rated about the same as Burns.

Round 2- A-
Davis was a riser on my board. Big, fast, smart, productive, aggressive, and scheme diverse. I feel he fits what the Steelers are going to do.
Round 3- B
Hargraves reminds me of ziggy hood as a penetrator and not a stuffed. I think if we use him correctly in sub packages and McCullers in others we have a great thunder and lightning combination. If they try to square peg in round hole him he's a bust.

Round 4- B
Hawkins is a guy I believe they liked and did their homework on. Decent value there and I feel this pick likely pushes Mike Adams off the team. Personally thought there's better value on the board but if Munchak feels he can turn Hawkins into something I'm ok with it.

Round 6- B+
Feeney is a quick twitched athlete who needs to get stronger but has actual world class athleticism. He reminds me of Howard Jones we should have kept over Jarvis Jones. I think this is the best value pick we made.

Round 7a- B+
DeMarcus Ayers was a guy I liked then took off my draft board because of his 40. I will admit it I had AB off my board because of his 40. But looking at Ayers he reminds me of Brown with better hands tho. He runs nice routes, is elusive when he has ball in his hands, snags the ball out of the air with his hands, adjusts to the ball in the air. If not for his 4.72 40 he'd be a round 2-3 guy. Especially when you factor in his return ability. The pick is definitely growing on me.

Round 7b- C-
Matakevich with Scooby Wright III on the board I personally take him all day if you are looking for an ILB. Matakevich should be a solid special teams player but I don't see him even making it to backup. Probably ps for a season then cut next training camp.
 
Ayers has better hands than AB?
Ummmm ... What?
 
Well, Burns has a pretty damn good Wr to line up against everyday in practice. i'm sure they will no what they have in him, if he holds his own against him.
 
Superman said:
Ayers has better hands than AB?
Ummmm ... What?
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Coming out of college, yes. Ayers has one of the better drop percentages in college football. AB wasn't known for his hands in college.
 
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