Draft wishes

All this talk of labor dispute in the NFL is really starting to bore me. I waffle between siding with the owners and then the players. Then I step back and think, their all filthy rich so who really gives a shit.

To take my mind off that silliness, I’ll focus on what the Steelers need to do to prepare themselves for the future via the NFL draft.

I’ll list the positions where I think the Steelers have the most need. Knowing the Steelers draft philosophy, I don’t expect them to draft people in this particular order, but as long as they walk away with most of these needs addressed I should be okay.

So, in order, here is what I think our need positions are.

1) CB: Prior to the Superbowl let down, I probably would have put OT in this spot. But that game just continued to highlight that beyond Ike Taylor, you really can’t count on any Steelers CB to perform worth a damn. I really have a secret dream that Crezdon Butler will all of a sudden become a stud #2 corner this year… but even if that were to happen we are not guaranteed to have Ike Taylor back. Things could be so dire here that I would be perfectly happy if we drafted two CBs this year. I’m not so sure we’ll get a good guy with the 31st pick, but hopefully by round 3 we’ve grabbed a guy that could play (at least nickel) in his rookie year. If not, I suspect it could be a frustrating year.

2) OT: I really do like Flozell Adams on the right side and I still hope we can keep Willie Colon. If we end up with both, we’re okay here for at least one more year. But our left side is a mess. Jonathon Scott is not good and we really have no depth behind Max Starks. And either way, all these starters are getting older so we need something to happen on the O-line. Maybe Tony Hills will step up. But just in case, I would really like to see us take a stud OL within the first three rounds.

3) NT: Casey Hampton is not getting any younger and we don’t appear to have his long term replacement on the team just yet. NT is VERY important in the 3-4 defense (some would argue the most important… see below).

4) S: I’d be okay with a strong safety or a free safety here. Polamalu is getting a bit older and he usually ends up injured at least a few games a year as it is. Ryan Clark is really starting to get older and though he’s been very durable, that will come to an end at some point. Ryan Mundy is okay, but he is only one man and we have two safeties on the field. Time to find a future stud starter.

5) DE: I’m actually really happy with the D-line and with Aaron Smith back, we should be that much better off. But, again, outside of Ziggy Hood everybody (starters and backups) are really old. We need to build for the future and this seems to be the year for stud D-Ends in the draft. Side note: Who will start at Left end next year? Hood or Smith? Smith has always been a stud but is he now a backup coming off his injury, I wonder?

6) QB: Dixon may or may not be an NFL caliber starter, but regardless, we’re not going to be able to keep him after his rookie contract ends. And since we don’t need a long term replacement for Big Ben just yet, it’s coming to the time where we need to throw this fish back in the ocean and get a new one. We could probably wait another year on this if we plan to keep Leftwich over Batch as the #3 QB this year, but it might be a nice grab if we can find a good guy in round 5 through 7.

7) LB, LB, LB: As always, you’ll never see me complain if we pick up another LB or two. It is the most critical piece of a 3-4 offense (well, I suppose you could argue the NT might be as well and maybe it is really a combo….). We’re in pretty good shape with our starters, and I like our depth with Fox in the middle and Worlids on the outside. I imagine Sylvester will fit in there as well. So really, we could skip LB this year if we wanted to.

What I do NOT want to see is us drafting a WR or RB in this draft. I think we have plenty of good, young depth at both positions. I also think we can pass on OG, but I suppose I wouldn’t be pissed if we picked one. I could see a scenario where we draft a TE or K, but I’m sort of hoping we don’t because I think we have greater needs than that.

What will happen? My guess is in the first round we either draft a DL or OL with pick #31 or we trade up a few spots and grab a CB if one we really love happens to slip into the 20s. By the end of round 3, I presume we’ll have a DL, CB, and maybe an OL. I also wouldn’t put it past us to grab 2 of one of those positions in the first 3 rounds and save the third position for later in the draft.

But you never know. The draft is so dynamic, that really anything can happen.

-David