Steelers select CB Artie Burns - Miami

[Coach]

Ike Taylor was more raw than Burns..

Ike was much more physical too, and you know what he went in round four where a gamble makes sense. Burns at age 20 went in is round one...

 

[Spike]

People have short memories. He won't pan out. HAHA!

Troy Edwards, Ricardo Colclough, Scot Shields, Shamarko Thomas

HA HA!

 

[Coach]

Common knowledge equates to prophecy. And speculation is the truth in his mind.

We all knew this was coming...

Hey Bermudasteel. You didn't want Burns in round one and said so below. Thanks for playing, and Remember that Long Island Iced tea!


CB Burns. ( B- ) Film is not that good, but the coaching at UM was awful. An upside guy, and I think a bit of a reach for round one. For some reason, mock draft sites have us picking him. I'd like to see how he interviewed and how smart he is. -Coach

Great kid with a lot of potential; not a round one pick for me...- Bermuda Steel

CB Burns. ( C ) A ton of athletic skills, but that has not matched production. He is more of a second-round player and I'd be pretty disappointed if this was the pick. - Steelerfan 448


http://steelernation.com/showthread...ce-if-you-dare-for-round-one!&highlight=burns

 

[Coach]

Troy Edwards, Ricardo Colclough, Scot Shields, Shamarko Thomas

HA HA!

I'll raise ya a Jeremy Statt, Bruce Davis, and Limas Sweed.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

The steelers would have been crazy to take Billings with the way the draft unfolded. 6 DBs were off the board when the steelers took Burns. Meanwhile, there were fewer DL drafted than expected. DL was already very deep and now you have guys like Billings, Reed, Robinson, Dodd are all still available. That means that there's still going to be quality available later.

 

[lefty]

The steelers would have been crazy to take Billings with the way the draft unfolded. 6 DBs were off the board when the steelers took Burns. Meanwhile, there were fewer DL drafted than expected. DL was already very deep and now you have guys like Billings, Reed, Robinson, Dodd are all still available. That means that there's still going to be quality available later.

Yup. After i had a chance to think about it, this is exactly what i felt as well. The one thing I will say about this kid is that he has great size for the position. Seems to have all the tools as well.

 

[Steel Vanguard]

For you guys complaining about the draft position:

Josh Norman, who a lot of you wanted, was a 5th round pick. He plays like a 1st rounder. My favorite Steeler of all time, Nine Deuce, was undrafted out of Kent State.

All that matters is whether or not the guy can play, not where we got him.

 

[POP]

I think they blew it.

Consensus grade: D.

Burns may have the ability to become an average CB in time. But most of his value is in potential, not as he sits now. Most had
him graded as a 3rd-4th round pick, based solely on potential, but he is raw and will not make the field his rookie year. He has size,
length and decent speed but can be picked on and loses his confidence. There were probably about 40 players, left on the board, who
would have been better picks than Burns was here.

 

[MT~Forged]

144th rated guy in the draft by PFF and we take him 25th. Don't like it. Hope I'm wrong, but really don't like it.

I could care less where he was rated OVERALL. I am more interested in where he is in relation to the CB's in his group. There could be 30 QB's and 15 K's a few punters ahead of him, who cares, those are not a position of need for the Steelers. Everywhere I read they say a top CB pick, some say 1-3 some 6-8. I will reserve judgement until he gets a chance to play.

 

[SteelerSask2]

My feeling is that the pick goes exactly against what the majority here have said. Don't go with a project. This team isn't in a project player situation. Window closing. Go with safe and ready to play. The other point is that when the majority of people approve of the pick it usually goes well. I would say with the exception of Mendenhall which was a fairly consensus pick. Conversely, when people are gowning like Hood and Jarvis it has not gone well. With the exception of Timmons, but he was a long term project that looked bust for two years too.
Other point. They haven't reached in a few years. Here they went with the last guy who has first round measurables. But he was the guy without first round tape. Artie Burns could be a great player. I just think there are too many different ways this could have gone, that would be far safer.

 

[FordFairLane]

I'm literally just getting up because I got so ******* drunk after this pick. I'm just dumbfounded that people who actually get paid to draft players can be so ******* bad at it. Ok, WJIII was snaked by the bungholes. I get it that they're upset but don't get so butthurt that you reach on a player. The thing that REALLY chaps my *** is you know that trade back with the Broncos was offered to the Steelers. Take that trade and there's a 99% chance Burns is still on the board and they picked up an extra third.

Tombert just needs to go. It's very apparent that they have no ******* clue how to draft or make moves.

 

[FordFairLane]

I give the Steelers an F for this pick. They drafted a position not the player or value. The fact we likely could have got Burns later and or could have gotten an extra third round pick from Denver makes this probably the worst pick the Steelers have made in a decade.

 

[ark steel]

Maybe. Last year to me was average defense.

2015: Good Offense + Average Defense = 11-5 season
2014: Good Offense + Bad Defense = 8-8 season
2013: Average Offense + Average Defense = 8-8 season

I sort of suspect another Good Offense + Average Defense again and likely another 10-12 win season.

If we can ever get the defense to be good (maybe even for a spurt at the right time), I think that leads to the potential of a deep playoff run. Until then, average might be good enough for playoffs, but not much more.

While there was some improvement in last year's defense (just looking at stats and such as I didn't see very many games), I think it still had a way to go to be average. Missed tackles, allowing a lot of yards (keeps opposing offense on the field rather than allow our outstanding offense onto the field. The 2015 season was the first in Tomlin's tenure that the Steelers had less ToP (average) than the opponent. Only by 1 minute, but still a change. In 2014, we had the ball almost 5 minutes more than opponents. And we had more sacks and turnovers in 2015.

While we did allow 3 pts less per game in 205 over 2014, time on the field does matter.

I think average D last year puts us in the AFC championship game and average D the year before wins, at least, the Baltimore game.

 

[Superman]

POP is quoting an Idiot eque

 

[SteelBuckeye]

i'm not sure that he's a first rounder. the mock that i saw by daniel jeremiah has us taking him and leaving billings on the table. honestly, no chance i see that happening

Sorry .... I had to.

 

[madinsomniac]

Meh, I think he can be good, but also could be a project... he was a quiet climber on a lot of boards, and the clear cut better CB prospects were off the table. i like his Bump and run ability.Not appalled, but somewhat less than stoked about it

 

[ark steel]

Right. We could have had Alexander and 3rd round pick or Burns.

We could have had Billings and a third round pick or Burns.

And Burns could have been there at #31, we can't say for sure.

1: You don't know Den offered a 3rd round pick. Why would they if they new they could trade it to Seattle instead? Maybe, fear of another team moving up? Maybe. All speculation. Saying we could have a 3rd round is not fact.
2: From other items posted, Burns was unlikely to be there at 31. Speculation, I guess, but seems to be backed up by what some are saying.
3: One of the items was that the Cards were innerested. Everyone here likes to tout Arians Coach of the Year honors (2 of them?). Why would a two time coach of the year take this bum only a few slots later?

 

[deljzc]

I don't see this "great, raw, athlete" like some seem to think of this guy.

For all his track background, it's not like he blew up the combine and ran a 4.30. He ran a 4.46. And because of his track background, he's probably much better on starting a sprint than most others. So to me, his speed is average.

He's not strong. If anything he is "track strong", which means his weight is in his thighs. For being a supposedly "solid" 6'-0" and 197 lbs, he only benched 7 reps. Not very good. If he was a weight room guy, sounds to me like he spent most of it on track weight lifting (lower body) but he very well might not be a weight room guy at all (which is never good, even for CB's).

He's not explosive. Again, you'd think sprinter, hurdler, big lower body... he should jump out of the gym. Wrong again. His vertical jump was a BELOW average 33".

Now he has fully admitted he spent college 50%-50% as a track and football athlete, so his training for track might have limited his athleticism for football but I still don't see this "super athlete" that some seem to indicate. And I know people love his arm length, but he's not a "big corner". He's not Sherman or Rhodes or Ramsey or Peterson big. Not even close. He's not even bigger than Cortez Allen.

So I'm not buying the "superior athlete" rhetoric yet. He's not going to come into this league and succeed based on his superior athleticism. He better learn how to play the correct way or this experiment will be over before it starts.

 

[FordFairLane]

I just don't get the pick. It's like they assumed WJIII was going to be there he gets picked and we panic and just take the next CB on our board regardless of what value he is at 25.

 

[POP]

the last time we took a db in the first that coach didnt like, that dude turned out pretty good. pollymollyloo or something.

If you think Burns is comparable to Troy in any way, you need to get out of the sun, or have a cup of coffee. 1.) They don't play the same position, at all, and, 2.) TP was a complete freak of nature; Burns isn't really special at all, in any area. He's not that big, he's not that fast (4.46 forty is below average for an NFL CB), he's not strong at all (7 reps of 225), he is not focused, plays with too high a center of gravity. Purely valued for potential, and you don't use a 1st round pick on potential. I really wonder what Tolbert are thinking sometimes.

 

[deljzc]

If you think Burns is comparable to Troy in any way, you need to get out of the sun, or have a cup of coffee. 1.) They don't play the same position, at all, and, 2.) TP was a complete freak of nature; Burns isn't really special at all, in any area. He's not that big, he's not that fast (4.46 forty is below average for an NFL CB), he's not strong at all (7 reps of 225), he is not focused, plays with too high a center of gravity. Purely valued for potential, and you don't use a 1st round pick on potential. I really wonder what Tolbert are thinking sometimes.

Well, on the other hand when Tombert uses 1st round picks on college production and ignores potential you get Jarvis Jones....

 

[CoolieMan]

If you think Burns is comparable to Troy in any way, you need to get out of the sun, or have a cup of coffee. 1.) They don't play the same position, at all, and, 2.) TP was a complete freak of nature; Burns isn't really special at all, in any area. He's not that big, he's not that fast (4.46 forty is below average for an NFL CB), he's not strong at all (7 reps of 225), he is not focused, plays with too high a center of gravity. Purely valued for potential, and you don't use a 1st round pick on potential. I really wonder what Tolbert are thinking sometimes.

supes point is that coach is NOT a good judge of talent. He was not comparing the way Troy played to Burns....

your opinion matters just as much as Coach's...which is not at all

 

[POP]

My feeling is that the pick goes exactly against what the majority here have said. Don't go with a project. This team isn't in a project player situation. Window closing. Go with safe and ready to play. The other point is that when the majority of people approve of the pick it usually goes well. I would say with the exception of Mendenhall which was a fairly consensus pick. Conversely, when people are gowning like Hood and Jarvis it has not gone well. With the exception of Timmons, but he was a long term project that looked bust for two years too.
Other point. They haven't reached in a few years. Here they went with the last guy who has first round measurables. But he was the guy without first round tape. Artie Burns could be a great player. I just think there are too many different ways this could have gone, that would be far safer.

When are these fools going to get it: You don't use a first round pick on someone who hasn't really shinned in terms of already having quality on tape/results. That is what round 7 is for. Could they luck out with burns? They could. But you use the Jimmy Johnson/Big Tuna philosophy which is prior playing success trumps all else, including combine #s. Prior production is the Holy Grail; nothing trumps it. But they went for "potential" over all else here.

 

[steelermania]

Meh, I think he can be good, but also could be a project... he was a quiet climber on a lot of boards, and the clear cut better CB prospects were off the table. i like his Bump and run ability.Not appalled, but somewhat less than stoked about it

Very few cornerbacks aren't a project. Even Mel Blount was roasted regularly in his first year as a starter.

 

[steelermania]

When are these fools going to get it: You don't use a first round pick on someone who hasn't really shinned in terms of already having quality on tape/results. That is what round 7 is for. Could they luck out with burns? They could. But you use the Jimmy Johnson/Big Tuna philosophy which is prior playing success trumps all else, including combine #s. Prior production is the Holy Grail; nothing trumps it. But they went for "potential" over all else here.

We had plenty of tape on Uncle Jarvis. Lots of production too! How'd that work out?