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Mock draft season is upon us as you can’t seem to scroll through any website that covers the NFL without seeing their latest and greatest 2022 NFL Mock Draft.
Each Monday, SteelerNation will be putting out our 3M’s Mock Drafts by three writers (Mike Stiffler, Matt Papiernik, and Ben Michaelian) who will be rotating through three mock draft simulators. We all coincidentally have a name leading with the letter M, hence the catchy title.
The three simulators we will be rotating through are Pro Football Focus’, Pro Football Network’s, and The Draft Network’s. By doing three different simulators and rotating through them all, it will give everyone a good feel of who will be available and how the Pittsburgh Steelers draft could shake out this April.
Below are the three mock drafts for this week. We started with Mike taking PFN, Ben taking PFF, and I took TDN. Here is a link to last week’s as well.
Mike wrote: “The Steelers decided to cross the border to a state their rivals call home, and poach some of the best talent across Ohio. After the exodus their receiver room saw in the first week of free agency, the Steelers decide to go with an immediate impact player like Olave. 4.39 speed, a natural deep threat, and someone who has learned the ins and outs of the position from his position coach, former NFL vet Brian Hartline. Ridder is too good a value to pass up in the second round. He will need time to grow and advance his game and will have a season to do so behind Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. He does offer Matt Canada the potential to throw in some “wildcat” plays given his 4.52 speed. Ruckert was asked to be a blocker first and pass catcher second not due to his ability, but because of the style of offense Ohio State runs, so don’t get caught up in the stats. Ruckert displayed enough athleticism and capability in the few opportunities he did have to show he’s a solid pass catcher. While tight end may not jump out at you as a need, the Steelers would be wise to add him to use two tight end sets more effectively. Weatherford rounds out the group of Ohio players and brings unique size to the safety position with a thumper mentality. Allen is more of a run stopping edge than anything. He will need to work on his pass rush skill set, but could be valuable as a rotational player early on. Corbin adds much needed depth to a lackluster running back room. A physical runner who isn’t afraid to pass block, and possesses solid hands that could eventually see him as the number 2 behind Najee Harris. Parham, a four-year starter, would likely end up either as one of the last 53 players or on the practice squad. While he is smaller compared to NFL standards, his frame is solid enough that it shouldn’t be a concern moving forward.”
Ben wrote: “I think it’s safe to say a wide receiver at the 20th spot is a definite possibility, so of course I grabbed Chris Olave there. I consider him one of the best receiving prospects in this draft. Then I took a bit of a turn in the 2nd round and picked Heisman-finalist Kenneth Walker III. The Steelers do best with a 2-headed monster in the running game and Walker III paired with Najee Harris would be a nightmare for defenses. In the 3rd, I took Darrian Beavers who is a monster at ILB. The Steelers still need depth there, and Beavers would do great in Pittsburgh. Then I went secondary with my following picks: Cordale Flott and Brad Hawkins. Flott is a great slot defender and can be that ‘Mike Hilton’ nickel back defender they need. We still don’t know the current state of the strong safety position, but Hawkins could be a day 1 starter. He’s a scrappy player who is physical and does well lined up in the box. With my last 2 picks, I grabbed offensive tackle Logan Bruss and tight end Lucas Kroll. Bruss would be a great depth player to be groomed into a reliable NFL offensive line anchor. Kroll is that big-bodied, gritty player who would provide Mitch Trubisky that extra safety blanket in 2-tight end sets. He’s a great value pick in the 7th round.”
What I had to say about my mock: “First round wide receivers are going to constantly be questioned by viewers, but I don’t care. There is just to good of value in the first round with some of these WRs. There are arguably 4-5 I’d love for the Steelers to take, and after the first wave of free agency, WR and CB are clearly their biggest needs. Chris Olave is one of the 4-5 I mentioned. He proved he has elite speed running a 4.39s 40-yard dash at the combine, and that’s on top of being arguably the best route runner in the class. In the second, Roger McCreary is one of the corners who isn’t talked about as much as some of the others, but could be one of the most impactful early in his career. He is very sound technically and one of the most tested after starting for Auburn against some of the best WRs in the SEC. He is beat up in your face and a very committed run defender. Leo Chenal will be a fixture in many mocks drafts in the 3rd, but I’m not sure he makes it there. He’s a downhill linebacker that brings the power hitting the offensive linemen instead of receiving it. The team re-signed Chukwuma Okorafor and have Dan Moore Jr., but no one with upside behind them. Rosenthal can give them that, and he is dominant at times with prototype size. He is relatively new to the position full-time, but he can be a big time player. Markquese Bell is a twitched up box safety that will excel on special teams early in his career, and could work early in some goal line packages. I think the Steelers will add a veteran back this offseason, but adding someone like Ty Chandler also with exceptional passing game ability and breakaway speed can give their offense more explosive plays they’ve definitely been missing. Lastly, there is little depth on the edge behind DPOY TJ Watt and rising star Alex Highsmith, so adding Allen out there would be nice at this point. He is a beast physically, but lacks feel for the game right now due to missing half his career with injuries. Learning from Watt and Highsmith who are constantly studying how to make their game better from a technical and instinctual standpoint, could be great for him.”
All these simulators always obviously rank people in very different locations, but you can see trends in all of these as well as some overlapping names. These different simulators now have all the same picks finally as the compensatory picks have finally been announced!
Let us know below what you think of all of our mocks we did this week and who you think would be good prospects to look into! Click to comment below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
Each Monday, SteelerNation will be putting out our 3M’s Mock Drafts by three writers (Mike Stiffler, Matt Papiernik, and Ben Michaelian) who will be rotating through three mock draft simulators. We all coincidentally have a name leading with the letter M, hence the catchy title.
The three simulators we will be rotating through are Pro Football Focus’, Pro Football Network’s, and The Draft Network’s. By doing three different simulators and rotating through them all, it will give everyone a good feel of who will be available and how the Pittsburgh Steelers draft could shake out this April.
Below are the three mock drafts for this week. We started with Mike taking PFN, Ben taking PFF, and I took TDN. Here is a link to last week’s as well.
Here is Mike’s:
Mike wrote: “The Steelers decided to cross the border to a state their rivals call home, and poach some of the best talent across Ohio. After the exodus their receiver room saw in the first week of free agency, the Steelers decide to go with an immediate impact player like Olave. 4.39 speed, a natural deep threat, and someone who has learned the ins and outs of the position from his position coach, former NFL vet Brian Hartline. Ridder is too good a value to pass up in the second round. He will need time to grow and advance his game and will have a season to do so behind Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph. He does offer Matt Canada the potential to throw in some “wildcat” plays given his 4.52 speed. Ruckert was asked to be a blocker first and pass catcher second not due to his ability, but because of the style of offense Ohio State runs, so don’t get caught up in the stats. Ruckert displayed enough athleticism and capability in the few opportunities he did have to show he’s a solid pass catcher. While tight end may not jump out at you as a need, the Steelers would be wise to add him to use two tight end sets more effectively. Weatherford rounds out the group of Ohio players and brings unique size to the safety position with a thumper mentality. Allen is more of a run stopping edge than anything. He will need to work on his pass rush skill set, but could be valuable as a rotational player early on. Corbin adds much needed depth to a lackluster running back room. A physical runner who isn’t afraid to pass block, and possesses solid hands that could eventually see him as the number 2 behind Najee Harris. Parham, a four-year starter, would likely end up either as one of the last 53 players or on the practice squad. While he is smaller compared to NFL standards, his frame is solid enough that it shouldn’t be a concern moving forward.”
Now let’s take a look at Ben’s:
Ben wrote: “I think it’s safe to say a wide receiver at the 20th spot is a definite possibility, so of course I grabbed Chris Olave there. I consider him one of the best receiving prospects in this draft. Then I took a bit of a turn in the 2nd round and picked Heisman-finalist Kenneth Walker III. The Steelers do best with a 2-headed monster in the running game and Walker III paired with Najee Harris would be a nightmare for defenses. In the 3rd, I took Darrian Beavers who is a monster at ILB. The Steelers still need depth there, and Beavers would do great in Pittsburgh. Then I went secondary with my following picks: Cordale Flott and Brad Hawkins. Flott is a great slot defender and can be that ‘Mike Hilton’ nickel back defender they need. We still don’t know the current state of the strong safety position, but Hawkins could be a day 1 starter. He’s a scrappy player who is physical and does well lined up in the box. With my last 2 picks, I grabbed offensive tackle Logan Bruss and tight end Lucas Kroll. Bruss would be a great depth player to be groomed into a reliable NFL offensive line anchor. Kroll is that big-bodied, gritty player who would provide Mitch Trubisky that extra safety blanket in 2-tight end sets. He’s a great value pick in the 7th round.”
Lastly, let’s take a look at mine:
What I had to say about my mock: “First round wide receivers are going to constantly be questioned by viewers, but I don’t care. There is just to good of value in the first round with some of these WRs. There are arguably 4-5 I’d love for the Steelers to take, and after the first wave of free agency, WR and CB are clearly their biggest needs. Chris Olave is one of the 4-5 I mentioned. He proved he has elite speed running a 4.39s 40-yard dash at the combine, and that’s on top of being arguably the best route runner in the class. In the second, Roger McCreary is one of the corners who isn’t talked about as much as some of the others, but could be one of the most impactful early in his career. He is very sound technically and one of the most tested after starting for Auburn against some of the best WRs in the SEC. He is beat up in your face and a very committed run defender. Leo Chenal will be a fixture in many mocks drafts in the 3rd, but I’m not sure he makes it there. He’s a downhill linebacker that brings the power hitting the offensive linemen instead of receiving it. The team re-signed Chukwuma Okorafor and have Dan Moore Jr., but no one with upside behind them. Rosenthal can give them that, and he is dominant at times with prototype size. He is relatively new to the position full-time, but he can be a big time player. Markquese Bell is a twitched up box safety that will excel on special teams early in his career, and could work early in some goal line packages. I think the Steelers will add a veteran back this offseason, but adding someone like Ty Chandler also with exceptional passing game ability and breakaway speed can give their offense more explosive plays they’ve definitely been missing. Lastly, there is little depth on the edge behind DPOY TJ Watt and rising star Alex Highsmith, so adding Allen out there would be nice at this point. He is a beast physically, but lacks feel for the game right now due to missing half his career with injuries. Learning from Watt and Highsmith who are constantly studying how to make their game better from a technical and instinctual standpoint, could be great for him.”
All these simulators always obviously rank people in very different locations, but you can see trends in all of these as well as some overlapping names. These different simulators now have all the same picks finally as the compensatory picks have finally been announced!
Let us know below what you think of all of our mocks we did this week and who you think would be good prospects to look into! Click to comment below!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..
