Steelers draft needs

With the draft a couple weeks away its time to prognosticate on what I think the Steelers should do. Over the years, I’ve realized that this is probably not what they will do, however, because the organization has proven in the past that they are disciples of the concept of taking the best value on the board when it comes to their pick. So they’ll take a player at a position they don’t technically have an immediate need for if he is in their mind the best player with the best value on the board.

Regardless, in the event Dan Rooney gives me a call at the last minute to join their draft team, I’ll get my needs list ready.

So here is my list of the most urgent needs that I think the Steelers should address in this year’s draft. I’ll list the needs in order from most urgent to least urgent. I’ll put seven needs on the list even though I think the Steelers may only have 6 picks this year.

1. Offensive Tackle / Guard
2. Offensive Guard / Tackle
3. Defensive End
4. Wide Receiver
5. Center
6. Corner Back
7. Defensive End / Linebacker

Going into the off season, my main concern was Center and I would have made that #1 on the list except we did end up signing Justin Hartwig. I’m still not convinced he is the answer (though to repeat a thought from last entry I do think he’ll be better than Mahan) but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since the Steelers front office did. So I wouldn’t say center is now our most urgent need. BUT, I did still put a center in the 5th position because I’d like to have someone new in the hopper just in case Hartwig does bust out also.

That makes my new #1 concern the rest of our offensive line. I don’t really care if we go with a Tackle or a Guard. In general, it seems to me that tackles can switch to guard easier than guards can switch to tackles so that is why I technically listed a Tackle first even though we probably have a more pressing need at guard. If we can land a good Tackle with our first pick I think we should jump on it and then convert one of our existing Tackles to a Guard if need be. I just don’t want to stretch for a Guard if he his not there when our pick comes up.

That said, my #2 concern is the same thing. We are just too thin on the offensive line as far as depth goes. I fear last year also showed us that our backups are indeed backups (i.e., not ready to step up in a starting role). So similar to my thoughts on Center, we need to have some young, new guys in the hopper at ALL times. They don’t always pan out so we should get a large group of them over a couple years and hope at least one or two shake out as starters.

At #3 I go for a Defensive End. When Aaron Smith went down with an injury last year our Defensive Line fell apart completely. This is another example of our backups being backups because no one could get in there and do what Smith was doing. I really hope the rookie we drafted last year (McBean) is ready to step up and be our primary back up this year but citing another point from above just in case he’s not I think we need to get someone else in the hopper. In this case, I must say I wouldn’t be too upset if these Steelers drafted a Defensive End in the second round or MAYBE even in the first round as long as they use one to two of their other first three picks on the O-Line. Most people seem to think the Steelers will go with O-line with their first pick but I’ve read a number of things that could indicate that they will indeed go D-Line instead. Remember: they will draft for value with that first pick so if they think a D-Line is the best value for the talent on the board they will absolutely take him over an O-Line. So we’ll see.

Let’s give Big Ben his tall wide receiver with #4. I think Ben was a bit out of line with his off season comment that he wanted the Steelers to add a tall wide receiver and I think Hines Ward was right to be offended as it suggested he wasn’t good enough because he is short. That said, I see Ben’s point (I just wish he would have kept it between him and Kevin Colbert). As you may remember, I am NEVER in favor of drafting a WR in the first round, but by the 4th round I’m okay with taking one as long as we get a tall one. I love Hines and I really like Santonio but neither of them will ever create a height mismatch with a DB. Nate Washington is a little taller and yet again he showed flashes of coming into his own last season but I’m all but giving up on him. Every year he shows us a little bit of what he can be and then he always fades back into mediocrity. So let’s take a shot at a tall WR and see what we get.

Per my initial comment I go with a Center at #5. Until one of these guys we have shows us he can actually exist in the same room as Mike Webster’s, Dermonti Dawson’s, and Jeff Harting’s jocks, I’m going to call for drafting Centers. I don’t even need them to hold their jocks… just exist in the same room as them for Christ’s sake. They can grow into greatness if they can just find the right starting point.

At #6 I’d go with a Corner Back. It’s been a long time since the Steelers have had a really dominant Corner Back and since we don’t chase shut down free agents it will probably be a long time until we have another. That said, it’s always good to keep a stable of Corner Backs around. This is another position where we just have to keep putting guys in the hopper and hope one of them shakes out.

Finally, I think our #7 need is someone in the front 7 on defense. Whether that is another Defensive End or a Linebacker I’ll leave that up to the best value on the board at the time. But I do think we need to make sure we have enough development depth in our front 7 at all times. With Haggans gone it looks like Woodley will step up into the starting role but we may want to plug someone in to replace Woodley on the up and coming list.

That’s my assessment anyway. I’m not going to get too bent out of shape this year at the order the Steelers draft in as long as they address most of these needs. My one request is that they MUST draft at least one Offensive Lineman with the ability to start next season. I don’t think we should assume our O-Line is ready to go with the people we already have on the roster. Therefore I would ASSUME they would want to take an O-Line guy very early in the draft.

But we shall see. And at the risk of sounding redundant year to year, let me leave you with my annual pre-draft prayer:

Dear Lord, please do not let us draft a WR in the first round.

-David