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Sorry for the long post. I wanted to share some thoughts on our roster and how the draft affected our depth chart at various positions. Just trying to read the tea leaves here. 
No moves made at QB, no developmental guy drafted. They're either bullish on Landry Jones, or will look to add a back-up at some later point. Who knows what Dustin Vaughan is capable of, I guess we'll find out in camp & pre-season. Ben will be Ben for the foreseeable future, I see no signs of his play dropping off, these next few years at least.
Seems the Steelers are content with their running back group behind Bell. DWill proved last year he can get the job done, let's pray he'll hold up for another season. I believe he's the oldest RB in the league. Not drafting a RB tells me they're happy with the progress made by Toussaint last year. They did add Daryl Richardson to the mix, who at least has a bit of experience. I presumed they'd draft a young RB to compete with Toussaint, guess not. They must also feel confident Bell will be back full strength and that DWill can back him up. Status quo with the RB group. I'm betting on Leveon being back as good as ever, just pray he can hold up for a whole season. Nix seems to have nailed down the FB job, no more Will Johnson to contend with. Looking forward to seeing what he can do in his 2nd year.
We're clearly set 1-4 with the wide recievers, having signed back DHB. Both Coates and Wheaton will be under the gun to step up for Bryant. After that, it's a crap shoot, with rookie Ayers possibly sliding into the #5 spot ahead of a bunch of unremarkable guys like Phillips, Rogers et al. Like with RB's, I was pretty sure they'd draft a size-speed guy to add to the group. Depth looks okay on paper, but better hope no one gets injured cause it could get thin in a hurry. If I'm Colbert I'd defintely try to add someone after rosters start getting cut down. The Gold standard here of course is AB, who is just dominating the field at this point. No slowing down for him, regardless how hard D coordinators will try to limit him. But a lot is riding on Wheaton & Coates to take at least a little pressure off AB.
The tight end group is locked down. Huge move signing Ladarius Green who becomes the immediate starter. By not drafting any TE's, seems they're happy with where Jesse James is at this stage as the #2. Matt Spaeth is getting old, but may hold onto the third spot, primarily for blocking. Who knows if one of the UDFA's are any good, they're both bigger dudes, probably better blockers than receivers. I think I read somewhere that they like Xavier Grimble as well. So maybe there is a fight among these guys to jump ahead of Spaeth.
Adding Ryan Harris to the tackle group was significant, really strengthened our depth there. That allowed them to pick a younger, upside prospect in Hawkings. Mike Adams is the wild card here. Will he be able to resume his career, is he healthy enough? Or will he fall to the wayside. That would be a pretty big hit, losing out on a 2nd round pick. Seems like there will be a healthy competition between Villaneuva and Harris to start at LT. Should be a good one. Gilbert really played well last year, he's really underrated in that we never talk about him.
At guard we got Foster back to pair with DeCastro and have Wallace, Hubbard and maybe BJ Finney backing up the interior spots. Seems rather thin here, especially since that's all we have behind Pouncey as well. Since we drafted no reinforcements, you have to wonder if Colbert will look to add some depth here later on. And is Pouncey finally back and can he play through a god damn season? He has got to break this injury spell, such a bummer not to have him on the field. Please, let this season be the year he stays healthy.
I think the d-line is rounding out nicely, presuming Hargrave can also play the DE spots if needed. Coach Mitchell seems to think McCullers will be a different, better player next year. That would give us two solid DT's, presuming Hargrave is as advertised. Behind Cam and Tuitt we'll see what Ricardo Mathews is about, if he'll even make the team. And alas, has LT Walton made any strides from last year? Mitchell seemed to like him when they drafted him, but it's been radio silence since.
Looks like we're relatively deep (again) at ILB, with Vince Williams and Steven Johnson backing up Shazier & Timmons. We know next to nothing about Johnson, seems more like a ST guy, so maybe Zumwalt, LJ Fort or even Matakevich has a shot to stick. Should be a good battle in camp among this group.
We're four strong at OLB (presuming Deebo's back) and have Chickillo, Feeney and McCord trying to break through. I doubt any of them can push Moats off the roster, but maybe one of them make it as a ST guy and sticks as a #5 OLB. My bet would be on Feeny. I'm a little nervous about Deebo, 1. does he come back for sure, 2. if he does, can he keep playing at the level we need him to? Jarvis is an eternal question mark, just seems like C+/B- may be his ceiling, which won't cut it. I like having Moats around, but is he really an impact player? Not really. Let's presume Bud Dupree only keeps getting better, and then we can pray some combination of Deebo/Jarvis/Moats can get the job done on the right side.
Our CB depth - and talent level - is finally decent, thanks to the addition of Burns & Golson. I see Grant sticking here as the #5 corner. Have to admit this group of Gay, Cockrell, Burns, Golson and Grant at least provides some hope for our secondary. I'm as eager to see Senquez Golson on the field as much as Artie Burns. We could have used him last year, he finally gets a chance to perform. Hope he's completely past the injury and is ready to go.
Looks like we're four deep with safeties, Mitchell, Davis, Golden, Shamarko. Shamarko may be on the bubble if Grant can back-up at one of the safety spots. Big question will be the starting SS spot, will Davis get a fair shot to knock off Golden? Is he good enough?
None of the other back-up CB's or S's seem to have a shot, but you never know.
I think Boswell will be our kicker for years to come, though I have nothing but respect for Suisham. I hope we can find a good landing spot for him and get something back in return.
I love the idea of having a full-on punting battle in camp, Will Monday is no slouch coming in. I don't neccessarily hate Jordan Berry, who played well at times, but he's got to really step up and be much more consistent. Otherwise, out with the old, in with the new.
Overall, I don't see any glaring holes in this roster. We have a lot of pieces in place, but as always, a lot will be riding on the health of Ben, Bell, Brown & Pouncey. With this draft lot we've significantly improved our talent in the secondary and plugged a minor hole in the D-line. That leaves us in a better place than we were and for that I am grateful.
A final thought, that I don't think gets enough attention, is the stability of our coaching staff. All coordinators and position coaches remain in place. If consistency is a virtue, Mike Tomlin is holding up his end. For a while I thought Tomlin might replace Carnell Lake, but let's see what he can do with some top-notch talent for a change. From this point on, it's on him to get the secondary where it needs to be.
No moves made at QB, no developmental guy drafted. They're either bullish on Landry Jones, or will look to add a back-up at some later point. Who knows what Dustin Vaughan is capable of, I guess we'll find out in camp & pre-season. Ben will be Ben for the foreseeable future, I see no signs of his play dropping off, these next few years at least.
Seems the Steelers are content with their running back group behind Bell. DWill proved last year he can get the job done, let's pray he'll hold up for another season. I believe he's the oldest RB in the league. Not drafting a RB tells me they're happy with the progress made by Toussaint last year. They did add Daryl Richardson to the mix, who at least has a bit of experience. I presumed they'd draft a young RB to compete with Toussaint, guess not. They must also feel confident Bell will be back full strength and that DWill can back him up. Status quo with the RB group. I'm betting on Leveon being back as good as ever, just pray he can hold up for a whole season. Nix seems to have nailed down the FB job, no more Will Johnson to contend with. Looking forward to seeing what he can do in his 2nd year.
We're clearly set 1-4 with the wide recievers, having signed back DHB. Both Coates and Wheaton will be under the gun to step up for Bryant. After that, it's a crap shoot, with rookie Ayers possibly sliding into the #5 spot ahead of a bunch of unremarkable guys like Phillips, Rogers et al. Like with RB's, I was pretty sure they'd draft a size-speed guy to add to the group. Depth looks okay on paper, but better hope no one gets injured cause it could get thin in a hurry. If I'm Colbert I'd defintely try to add someone after rosters start getting cut down. The Gold standard here of course is AB, who is just dominating the field at this point. No slowing down for him, regardless how hard D coordinators will try to limit him. But a lot is riding on Wheaton & Coates to take at least a little pressure off AB.
The tight end group is locked down. Huge move signing Ladarius Green who becomes the immediate starter. By not drafting any TE's, seems they're happy with where Jesse James is at this stage as the #2. Matt Spaeth is getting old, but may hold onto the third spot, primarily for blocking. Who knows if one of the UDFA's are any good, they're both bigger dudes, probably better blockers than receivers. I think I read somewhere that they like Xavier Grimble as well. So maybe there is a fight among these guys to jump ahead of Spaeth.
Adding Ryan Harris to the tackle group was significant, really strengthened our depth there. That allowed them to pick a younger, upside prospect in Hawkings. Mike Adams is the wild card here. Will he be able to resume his career, is he healthy enough? Or will he fall to the wayside. That would be a pretty big hit, losing out on a 2nd round pick. Seems like there will be a healthy competition between Villaneuva and Harris to start at LT. Should be a good one. Gilbert really played well last year, he's really underrated in that we never talk about him.
At guard we got Foster back to pair with DeCastro and have Wallace, Hubbard and maybe BJ Finney backing up the interior spots. Seems rather thin here, especially since that's all we have behind Pouncey as well. Since we drafted no reinforcements, you have to wonder if Colbert will look to add some depth here later on. And is Pouncey finally back and can he play through a god damn season? He has got to break this injury spell, such a bummer not to have him on the field. Please, let this season be the year he stays healthy.
I think the d-line is rounding out nicely, presuming Hargrave can also play the DE spots if needed. Coach Mitchell seems to think McCullers will be a different, better player next year. That would give us two solid DT's, presuming Hargrave is as advertised. Behind Cam and Tuitt we'll see what Ricardo Mathews is about, if he'll even make the team. And alas, has LT Walton made any strides from last year? Mitchell seemed to like him when they drafted him, but it's been radio silence since.
Looks like we're relatively deep (again) at ILB, with Vince Williams and Steven Johnson backing up Shazier & Timmons. We know next to nothing about Johnson, seems more like a ST guy, so maybe Zumwalt, LJ Fort or even Matakevich has a shot to stick. Should be a good battle in camp among this group.
We're four strong at OLB (presuming Deebo's back) and have Chickillo, Feeney and McCord trying to break through. I doubt any of them can push Moats off the roster, but maybe one of them make it as a ST guy and sticks as a #5 OLB. My bet would be on Feeny. I'm a little nervous about Deebo, 1. does he come back for sure, 2. if he does, can he keep playing at the level we need him to? Jarvis is an eternal question mark, just seems like C+/B- may be his ceiling, which won't cut it. I like having Moats around, but is he really an impact player? Not really. Let's presume Bud Dupree only keeps getting better, and then we can pray some combination of Deebo/Jarvis/Moats can get the job done on the right side.
Our CB depth - and talent level - is finally decent, thanks to the addition of Burns & Golson. I see Grant sticking here as the #5 corner. Have to admit this group of Gay, Cockrell, Burns, Golson and Grant at least provides some hope for our secondary. I'm as eager to see Senquez Golson on the field as much as Artie Burns. We could have used him last year, he finally gets a chance to perform. Hope he's completely past the injury and is ready to go.
Looks like we're four deep with safeties, Mitchell, Davis, Golden, Shamarko. Shamarko may be on the bubble if Grant can back-up at one of the safety spots. Big question will be the starting SS spot, will Davis get a fair shot to knock off Golden? Is he good enough?
None of the other back-up CB's or S's seem to have a shot, but you never know.
I think Boswell will be our kicker for years to come, though I have nothing but respect for Suisham. I hope we can find a good landing spot for him and get something back in return.
I love the idea of having a full-on punting battle in camp, Will Monday is no slouch coming in. I don't neccessarily hate Jordan Berry, who played well at times, but he's got to really step up and be much more consistent. Otherwise, out with the old, in with the new.
Overall, I don't see any glaring holes in this roster. We have a lot of pieces in place, but as always, a lot will be riding on the health of Ben, Bell, Brown & Pouncey. With this draft lot we've significantly improved our talent in the secondary and plugged a minor hole in the D-line. That leaves us in a better place than we were and for that I am grateful.
A final thought, that I don't think gets enough attention, is the stability of our coaching staff. All coordinators and position coaches remain in place. If consistency is a virtue, Mike Tomlin is holding up his end. For a while I thought Tomlin might replace Carnell Lake, but let's see what he can do with some top-notch talent for a change. From this point on, it's on him to get the secondary where it needs to be.
