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Welcome to the pre-draft season! Leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft starting on April 28th, we will be releasing draft profiles of prospects who could potentially see themselves on the Pittsburgh Steelers. Next up…
OVERVIEW:
“Defensive linemen are like pretty women; there’s not a lot of them but everyone wants them.” These words were spoken by Steelers’ Defensive Line Coach, Karl Dunbar, after the 2021 NFL Draft last year. As we look back on how the Steelers’ defense performed in 2021, the run defense was atrocious which was largely due to key injuries along the defensive line. Don’t get me wrong, rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk played well in his first season, but it was difficult to account for Stephon Tuitt’s absence mixed with Tyson Alualu’s season-ending injury and Isaiah Buggs missing a lot of action. The Steelers are an organization who prides themselves in winning in the trenches and previous draft classes have shown that. Therefore, who are they eyeing as a middle-round sleeper in this year’s draft? My guess is Noah Elliss is on their list.
PROS:
Elliss is a monster on the defensive line. Measuring 6’4” and 367 pounds, he is a force at the line of scrimmage. Not only is he a big body, but Elliss is surprisingly athletic for his size as well. He has great footwork and is effective with his hand placement on offensive linemen. He’s able to shed blocks and get into the backfield and disrupt the play before it happens. Elliss’ athleticism and polished technique is most likely due to the fact that his father is a defensive line coach himself and was also a Pro Bowl defensive lineman. Therefore, you need to take those genetics and offseason workouts into consideration. Elliss is a unique combination of incredible size, finesse, power, and footwork that makes him a Defensive Coordinator’s dream. Just look at this footage from the East-West Shrine Bowl in January:
CONS:
First, playing at the University of Idaho isn’t going to pin you against the best competition in the country. This is naturally going to play into NFL scouts’ evaluation of Elliss. Aside from that, Elliss needs to work on a couple of skills that’ll take him to the next level. Those being maintaining his pad level and reading the offensive line. Elliss seems to struggle in keeping a nice pad level and gets taken out of plays. With him being such a sizeable force at the line, he’ll draw double-teams, which he has troubles getting out of. In addition, he has trouble recognizing protection schemes at the line and is pretty inconsistent in diagnosing the right gaps to penetrate on run plays. Finally, with his technique he has a tendency to try to finesse his way off blockers instead of bull-rushing them, which results in him not being able to get to the backfield quickly.
DRAFT PROJECTION: 3rd Round
Elliss hasn’t gotten much attention lately, and that may be simply because of the diverted attention to the Senior Bowl attendees. Not to mention, with the incredible defensive linemen out of Georgia dominating this year’s defensive line draft class, Elliss will fall towards the middle rounds. I see him getting called in the third round, but if he shows out at the NFL Combine, don’t be surprised if he leaks into the second. Regardless, he’s a solid Day Two pick.
VERDICT:
I find myself going back to Coach Dunbar’s quote from last year and completely agree with him. Every NFL defense is on the constant search for a solid anchor at the defensive line and if teams find one, they’ll jump on it no matter where they are in the draft. With that logic, I love Elliss for the Steelers. Again, we saw how much of an effect not having a solid defensive line has on the entire defensive unit and Ellis would pair nicely with Cam Heyward and Chris Wormley. Although we heard from General Manager Kevin Colbert that Tuitt is looking to return to the team, a third-round pick on Elliss would be incredible for the Steelers’ defensive front. Definitely watch Elliss going into the combine next week.
Where do you see Elliss going in April? Would you want to see him in the black and gold? Let us know in the comments!
#SteelerNation
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Noah Elliss (Defensive Tackle), University of Idaho, Redshirt Junior
OVERVIEW:
“Defensive linemen are like pretty women; there’s not a lot of them but everyone wants them.” These words were spoken by Steelers’ Defensive Line Coach, Karl Dunbar, after the 2021 NFL Draft last year. As we look back on how the Steelers’ defense performed in 2021, the run defense was atrocious which was largely due to key injuries along the defensive line. Don’t get me wrong, rookie Isaiahh Loudermilk played well in his first season, but it was difficult to account for Stephon Tuitt’s absence mixed with Tyson Alualu’s season-ending injury and Isaiah Buggs missing a lot of action. The Steelers are an organization who prides themselves in winning in the trenches and previous draft classes have shown that. Therefore, who are they eyeing as a middle-round sleeper in this year’s draft? My guess is Noah Elliss is on their list.
PROS:
Elliss is a monster on the defensive line. Measuring 6’4” and 367 pounds, he is a force at the line of scrimmage. Not only is he a big body, but Elliss is surprisingly athletic for his size as well. He has great footwork and is effective with his hand placement on offensive linemen. He’s able to shed blocks and get into the backfield and disrupt the play before it happens. Elliss’ athleticism and polished technique is most likely due to the fact that his father is a defensive line coach himself and was also a Pro Bowl defensive lineman. Therefore, you need to take those genetics and offseason workouts into consideration. Elliss is a unique combination of incredible size, finesse, power, and footwork that makes him a Defensive Coordinator’s dream. Just look at this footage from the East-West Shrine Bowl in January:
CONS:
First, playing at the University of Idaho isn’t going to pin you against the best competition in the country. This is naturally going to play into NFL scouts’ evaluation of Elliss. Aside from that, Elliss needs to work on a couple of skills that’ll take him to the next level. Those being maintaining his pad level and reading the offensive line. Elliss seems to struggle in keeping a nice pad level and gets taken out of plays. With him being such a sizeable force at the line, he’ll draw double-teams, which he has troubles getting out of. In addition, he has trouble recognizing protection schemes at the line and is pretty inconsistent in diagnosing the right gaps to penetrate on run plays. Finally, with his technique he has a tendency to try to finesse his way off blockers instead of bull-rushing them, which results in him not being able to get to the backfield quickly.
DRAFT PROJECTION: 3rd Round
Elliss hasn’t gotten much attention lately, and that may be simply because of the diverted attention to the Senior Bowl attendees. Not to mention, with the incredible defensive linemen out of Georgia dominating this year’s defensive line draft class, Elliss will fall towards the middle rounds. I see him getting called in the third round, but if he shows out at the NFL Combine, don’t be surprised if he leaks into the second. Regardless, he’s a solid Day Two pick.
VERDICT:
I find myself going back to Coach Dunbar’s quote from last year and completely agree with him. Every NFL defense is on the constant search for a solid anchor at the defensive line and if teams find one, they’ll jump on it no matter where they are in the draft. With that logic, I love Elliss for the Steelers. Again, we saw how much of an effect not having a solid defensive line has on the entire defensive unit and Ellis would pair nicely with Cam Heyward and Chris Wormley. Although we heard from General Manager Kevin Colbert that Tuitt is looking to return to the team, a third-round pick on Elliss would be incredible for the Steelers’ defensive front. Definitely watch Elliss going into the combine next week.
Where do you see Elliss going in April? Would you want to see him in the black and gold? Let us know in the comments!
#SteelerNation
Support SteelerNation by clicking here to read the story..