I Think Dale Lolley Liked The Steelers Draft, But I'm Not Quite Sure

by Blitzburgh on Apr 29, 2008 2:00 PM EDT Comment 12 comments

In an article for the Observer-Reporter titled 'Underlying Draft Theme Disturbing for Steelers', Dale Lolley makes note of the previous injuries suffered by three of our first five picks: Limas Sweed (wrist), Tony Hills (leg), and Dennis Dixon (ACL). And he doesn't hint that these injuries are insignificant:

In the case of Sweed, a talented 6-4 receiver with good speed and hands, it was ligament injury in his wrist that required surgery last October.

He had first-round talent. But wrists are important for receivers - being connected to their hands and all - and the question marks surrounding the injury were enough to push him to the second round.

Lolley, who many of us really enjoy, especially on his fantastic blog NFL From The Sidelines, seems more enthusiastic on his blog. He does mention in detail, like he did in the previous newspaper article, that he was most mystified by the Dennis Dixon selection. But he also was more supportive and confident in the Limas Sweed and Tony Hills selection.

To his credit, Lolley doesn't say it's a foregone conclusion that the Steelers strategy to not reach for needs will fail. He merely points out that this strategy is a change of pace from recent Kevin Colbert drafts, when the organization reached to fill depth chart needs. Many of those reaches are no longer with the team.

Perhaps we'll try to get Mr. Lolley on for a Q&A about his thoughts on the draft, but I guess I would have to summarize his stance as, cautiously optimistic.

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He spends a lot of time on the 5th

I love Dixon at 5, 156 overall
Historical 5th round steelers:

1998: Jason Simmons (137)
1999: Jerame Tuman (136)/Malcolm Johnson (166)
2000: Haggans (137)/Tee Martin (163)
2001: Chukky Okobi (146)
2002: Verron Haynes (166)
2003: Brian St. Pierre (163)
2004: Nathaniel Adibi (145)
2005: Rian Wallace (166)
2006: Omar Jacobs (164)/ Charles Davis (167)
2007: Cameron Stephenson (156)/William Gay (170)

What pops out is the steelers got good value from 99-03, and since then have largely wasted the pick, with the exception of Gay. I feel now would not be the time to rip the Steelers for poorly choosing in the 5th round. Now would be the time to lament wasted picks from 1-4 years ago.
You could make a case that Dixon is Omar Jacobs all over again- a potential Heisman candidate knocked down by injury. But a shoulder injury is a different beast. I also don’t remember much about Jacob’s collegiate career.

by vherub on Apr 29, 2008 3:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

good point...

@vherub – Actually one of my first thoughts was Omar Jacobs. Tons of promise, very little substance. I’m happy with the draft overall but like most am cautiously optimistic about Dixon. High risk…high reward. But, based on your observations of the last 4 years, the risk doesn’t seem too high in the 5th round.
http://www.5goldenrings.net

by 5goldenrings on Apr 29, 2008 4:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The bummer part is if he does develop into a 2nd string QB we’ll want to keep around, it probably won’t be for a few years. At that point I’ll bet he’ll want a shot at being #1 somewhere instead, and if he is good enough to be #2 here he could probably be #1 somewhere else.

by steelguy99 on Apr 29, 2008 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To add to that – Batch knows where he stands and I think is happy to stay there. I’m not convinced someone we have groomed for years we’ll be fine waiting for his shot, which means we have wasted effort. Except for maybe a trick play here or there.

by steelguy99 on Apr 29, 2008 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keeping in mind

I agree with you that if Dixon develops that he will want a shot somewhere else. Batch is 34 years old though.

by draftguy on Apr 29, 2008 11:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Injuries

I am always more worried about picking players with injury histories in the first round. So, I don’t mind so much taking chances on guys who slipped due to injury. It is a little concerning that we had so many such instances, but it’s hard to argue the value of each of those picks.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 29, 2008 4:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Change in Strategy

This was a big shift from previous Colbert drafts. When I made my Steelers mock draft, I purposefully reached for the picks, because in recent years, they have locked onto their guys and either traded up for them or overdrafted them. Probably every pick last year was like that, with mixed results. This year, they took the guys that fell and ignored needs to a fault. It makes we wonder if Tomlin has had some influence on this, or if Colbert just realized his old strategy wasn’t working consistently.

by BadMaafala on Apr 29, 2008 4:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Has anyone considered

that Dixon may bide his time waiting to be #2 playing a Slash/Randle El type role. Another weapon. Another thing opponents would have to invest time preparing for.

by RickVa on Apr 29, 2008 6:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

slash

Everything coming from the coaching staff and beat writers (Ed Bouchette) points to the Steelers not interested in using Dixon as a ‘slash’ player.

by cgolden on Apr 30, 2008 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He doesn't have to be Slash to help us win a championship

He could be used on just one or two plays to help give us an edge in a big game. Of course, one of the things that made Randle El so effective for us on trick plays was that he was part of the regular package.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 30, 2008 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Has anyone considered

I defitely see Dixon as another ‘slash’ type of Receiver and not as a backup to Ben…

by Rustopher on Apr 30, 2008 12:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As cgolden stated the staff do not seem to be interested at all in him being a slash player. Quotes from him suggest he won’t be, but he would be okay with it if it makes him millions every year, but would prefer to be QB. Of course, the steelers staff lie all the time, they excel at it.

by steelguy99 on Apr 30, 2008 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs