Mock Draft on Steelers' Blog

by Bruce Raffel on Feb 22, 2011 11:01 AM EST

Over at SB Nation's blog on the Pittsburgh Steelers, Behind the Steel Curtain, they are in the process of doing a complete seven round Mock Draft. With two rounds in the books, they will be posting additional rounds in the near future. For now, check out their first two rounds and the guys they had our Baltimore Ravens pick.

This being a Steeler blog, I half-seriously wondered if they had us taking guys that wouldn't produce against them, but their commentary on the Ravens first pick made sense, so that is just a bit overreaching in typical rivalry fashion. Their first round pick for us was Ohio State defensive end, Cameron Heyward, who was seen in other Mock Drafts being selected by the Ravens due to his pass-rushing prowess that would complement Terrell Suggs on the other side.

In the second round, they had us going for LSU offensive tackle, Joseph Barksdale, who opened up holes for LSU's running game in the toughest conference in college football, the Southeastern Conference.

Head back to BTSC to see the remaining rounds and I'll try to keep you all updated as they are released.

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Heywards has been a guy I would enjoy getting in here. Some injury concerns, but is a monster when healthy.

While Barksdale is one of the better talents at OT this year, he seems to be a 3rd-4th round pick possibly. Gotta see the combine and pro day first before we give him a 2nd round grade.

"If only Flacco could put up numbers similar to Matt Ryan, or maybe just improve his stats year-to-year, he wouldn’t seem like such a wasted draft pick. It’s as if a young quarterback needs to put up better stats in his first three years than nearly every other quarterback to play in the NFL to justify a first round pick." - Amp

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 12:22 PM EST reply actions

Were I doing the mock

I’d give you guys Martez Wilson in the 1st, because I don’t think he’ll be there for you in the 2nd.

In the 2nd, I would try to get you Rahim Moore. Ed Reed doesn’t have long to go before he decides his body can’t take it.

3rd would be the best OT available.

4th I would give you the best wideout available.

5th would be a good time to grab a corner. Deep corner draft, and a quality guy will most likely slip to this round.

6th BPA on d-line

7th project QB. Or maybe a project O-lineman.

"SteelFever gets #93. Just like Ron Artest. Great game just keep an eye on him that he doesn't go into the stands after a fan."
- 5020 on my making the BTSC active (riot) squad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC0NCHq4v3I

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 1:26 PM EST reply actions

Amazing first two picks judging by which WR are there, but I am sure the people here would have no problem with them.

Don’t go for a CB after the 3rd round. Our front office has already said that they do not like taking CB after the third round, so it most likely won’t happen.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 1:28 PM EST up reply actions

I didn't know y'all don't have a 5th

I really don’t think corner is a big need for you. Aren’t you getting Fabian Washington back from injury?

You need a beast to try and fill the hole left when Ray-Ray does finally decide to retire. From all I’ve seen and read, Wilson is the best MLB to come out this year.

I have no idea who you have to try and fill the shoes of Reed, but I can almost guarantee he doesn’t have the skill set of Rahim Moore.

With Gaithers perhaps leaving, and the way your line looked this last season, you need to upgrade badly. There will be quality tackles in the 3rd.

Stallworth, Boldin, Douche, and Mason………Flacco needs a really good wideout to target, or he will stay the 3rd best QB in the AFCN. (sorry, couldn’t resist a jab at Flacco)

The rest you can only guess at.

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

We don’t have a 5th because of the trade for Josh Wilson. And Washington was already back from injury this year and sucked it up for us. He is definitely gone after this year. We will most likely have Foxworth, Wilson, Webb and Carr in purple next year and if you ask many of us around here, we REALLY like those 4 guys and don’t think that a rookie is going to be able to bring more to the table than they will.

I love Martez Wilson this year, and it would be great to get him to take over for Ray. You are right that we need to start finding that replacement.

As for replacing Reed, many will tell you they like Tom Zbikowski back there who did a damn good job over the last two years filling in for Reed. But I would not mind getting Moore in here, he could definitely be a solid replacement.

Gaither is about 50-50 for coming back to Baltimore right now. He is by far the best option we have for fixing the OL and losing him screwed everything up. When we finally know the Gaither situation and whether or not he is coming back, I will then make a claim for where we need to find talent in the draft at OT. But 1st to 3rd round is definitely an option.

I want Housh and Donte outta here, possibly Mason. It is time to revamp this entire WR group with speed and youth and stop using little stop gaps like we did last year and cross our fingers it works. We need to breed guys with Joe for the future and the current group can’t do that.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 2:43 PM EST up reply actions

Well said

Watch for “Meet Martez Wilson” Post coming up this week.

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Feb 22, 2011 2:54 PM EST up reply actions

I could also see you guys targeting one of the top centers

in the 2nd. How long will Burk be able to play well? Alex Linnenkohl is 6’2", ~300 lbs, and seems like he could stand up to Casey Hampton pretty well. NFP ranks him at #6 for centers.

If Torey Smith falls to your pick in the 3rd, I don’t see how you could pass him up. NFP ranks him 9th.

If FS isn’t a real need for you guys this year, I say wait till the 2012 draft.

I see the Ravens going D, O, O, O, D, D. In that ordwer of the draft.

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 2:57 PM EST up reply actions

So hard to predict

Who woulda thunk they’d go TE, TE in rounds 3 and 4 last year?

aka 'Rexx'

by Bruce Raffel on Feb 22, 2011 3:00 PM EST up reply actions

Obviously Ozzie thunk it

If their big board says this guy, and he falls to them, he’ll pick em. That’s why Ozzie is widely considered one of the best drafting GM’s in the league.

BPA + scheme fit / his big board = player they will pick. Maybe that equation isn’t accurate (I barely passed math), but it’s close enough. :)

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

See the whole problem with mocking these drafts and doing so at such an early period in the off season is that

A. We only have 7 picks and so many areas we need to address. There are endless combinations for how this team can be improved through the draft.

B. We haven’t seen anything from Free Agency yet and that of course will be where Ozzie fills some of our needs.

Alot of the questions we are asking and answering will be alot brighter come the beginning of April.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 3:14 PM EST up reply actions

I know all this talk is strictly speculation right now

but there’s absolutely NOTHING going on except the stupid combine in two days.

We can still talk about what our teams need versus what we want for them. I think it’s fun.

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 3:16 PM EST up reply actions

Hey, if Ozzie decides to take a guy like Brandon Harris, Jimmy Smith, Aaron Williams or others in the 1st or 2nd round, I won’t have a problem with it all simply because what Ozzie says goes around here. If he makes that decision, we will all love it because we know how great of a chance that player will have to be a huge contributor here and possible pro bowler if Ozzie thought he was worthy of such a high pick. So if it happened, then let’s get it going. I am just trying to say that we have guts at CB right now who are pretty darn good and we spent alot to get them so far, which should tell us just how much Ozzie thinks of them.

This is Birk’s last year. The coaches and front office would like to see utility lineman Chris Chestor step into Birk’s position once he leaves, but that is still up in the air.

Tell you right now buddy, Torrey Smith ain’t falling into the 3rd round. I will be VERY surprised if he is there at our pick in the 2nd round, which then we will have to grab him. He might go first round.

FS isn’t really a need because we don’t know how long Reed could play. He has said himself that once he got back in the flow this year, he felt like he could play another 5 years if he wanted, and I would not doubt it. Reed was at a tough point in his life when he starting with all that retirement talk. He had some serious concerns with injuries and so on, but it is obvious that the doctors think he is ready to go and can still do his thing, judging by how he led the league in interceptions this year with playing in only 10 games. The man still has it and if he is still back there in 2014, I will not be surprised.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 3:11 PM EST up reply actions

Ozzie will pick who he likes as he always does

Same with Kevin Colbert. Makes it REALLY hard to judge where they’re going to go in a draft.

Utility linemen are utility for a reason. They can’t excel at one position, so they need to be decent at most every other one to remain on a roster, and viable to the team. Superstars are great at their position, and that’s it, because they don’t need to be good at anything else.

Okay then. You’ll most likely have to settle for Austin Pettis or Terrence Tolliver. Either that, or take some no-name guy in the 4th, or 6th.

Settle down on Reed, man. If he can keep playing at a high level, then you won’t need to think about drafting a FS for a while. If Zbikowski seems a viable replacement, so be it.

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 3:23 PM EST up reply actions

What do you mean by settle down on Reed?

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 22, 2011 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

I mean I get it

FS isn’t a need for the Ravens. Moving on.

by Steel Spike on Feb 22, 2011 3:57 PM EST up reply actions

Chris Chester is too weak to be a normal starter anywhere on the line. He’s an above average back-up, but that’s all he’ll be unless he does some serious roids in the off season (this would be the off season to do it, no drug testing if there’s no cba). We need to draft a center for the future. I’d like one of our later round (6 or 7) picks to be a sleeper at OL.

by MrPoopyPants on Feb 22, 2011 3:35 PM EST up reply actions

4 OT's are predicted to go in the first round

But should any of them fall to us at pick #26 (Castonzo, Soldier, Smith or Carimi) we have to pull the trigger. We can always pick up a WR in the 2nd, or possibly even later. But there’s no denying the impact that poor Offensive line play had on our season. The run game was unpredictable, and Flacco spent way to much time running for his life.

Now all this could be somewhat unnecessary if we do end up bringing Gaither back, but who’s to say if he’ll be his former self. Also something I don’t see being brought up, but what if (god forbid) we didn’t end up resigning Yanda. There’s all this talk of finding Birk’s replacement, but what happens if we end up retaining Gaither and not Yanda? Although as unlikely as that may be, it’s still something to keep in conssideration.

But as I’ve pointed out on other threads, I have my hopes set on snagging Casey Matthews in the 3rd round. So there you have it:

1st: Any of the 4 previously mentioned Offensive Tackles
2nd: Any WR that slips this far, that is capable of making an immediate impact
3rd: Casey Matthews….duh
4th: Let the “Wizard of Oz” work his magic, he rarely dissapoints.

"Anything worth doing, is worth doing right."
-Hunter S. Thompson-

by StuckInUtah on Feb 22, 2011 5:58 PM EST reply actions

Not Castonzo

Castonzo is a poor fit in our scheme IMO. Too finese to get much push in the running game. However if we cant get something done with Gaither, then we dont need to draft an OT.

I’d also rather Kelvin Sheppard than Casey Matthews, but there isnt really that much between them. Both have great instincts that means they play quite quickly.

Also we need to address the pass rush in some form (either LDE or LOLB) as we cant expect our secondary to keep performing as well as it has been when the pass rush is only the 27th in the league in sacks

by drd23 on Feb 22, 2011 7:34 PM EST up reply actions

Yea while Castonzo is very good in pass protection (maybe the best in this class) his run blocking is very, very poor. And at the RT position, I am more worried about run blocking next to the monster that is Marshall Yanda so we can hit those holes on that side.

Gabe Carimi would be a great fit if he is there and we don’t bring Gaither back. In my opinion, he is the best OT in this draft.

by Mr MaLoR on Feb 23, 2011 12:41 PM EST up reply actions