2009 NFL Mock Drafts

would be a miracle! I think we should trade up to get him if he sleeps around 20th! Andre Smith too!

Oher was considered a SURE top-3 before last season, and probably a 1st pick! He is a great OT, and would be a all-pro, BIG RISK BIG REWARD! I think for a team with so few areas in need, is worth a shot!

The only thing I expect on draft day is to be surprised. Last year, did you expect Limas Sweed and Rashard Mendenhall? Did anybody have us drafting either of them? Most mock drafts had us taking offensive linemen. That being said, I think they took the best players on the board at the time, and that’s what I expect them to do again this year.

We have 8 picks. I don’t expect any compensatory ones. If I were to determine what we need most, I would split them up thusly:

2 DL (4th round, a tackle and an end in the 7th)
2 OL (1st round, a tackle. 3rd round, a guard)
1 ILB (late rounds)
1 CB (2nd round)
1 HB (late rounds, because most don’t last long)
1 WR (Sweed proved little last year and we might need to replace washington)

Plus, with the CB/WR/HB idea, recall that we need a KR/PR. We had nothing last year. Also, the ILB drafted would be primarily expected as a special teams player.

I do expect the Steelers to have a similar plan, but I also expect them to take the best player on the board, and I doubt the final draft looks much like my prediction at all.

I don’t see the Steelers taking a CB in the first 2 rounds, unless one of the top ones slip to us. Gay will be fine, maybe even better with another year under his belt, but Townsend is getting slower, so we need to get a #4 with potential to be a #2 or #3 in case the injury bug bites. We might even have someone on the roster now with that potential. O-Line and D-Line cannot be ignored this year. I think there is a good chance one of the top linemen will fall to us (Andre Smith or Duke Robinson), but if not, I’d have no qualms taking Alex Mack @ 32. If the right DE or NT falls to us, that would be ok too. There is a lot of depth in this draft, so I think CB can be addressed in round 3 or later. We just need to get younger on the lines. We need solid depth there, because we’ve lost some former starters as well as backups, and you always need guys that can step up if needed. I have faith that the front office knows what they are doing. After all, if we just won a Super Bowl with our “offensive” offensive line, so I’m sure we will be fine next year. Losing BMac will hurt a little, but we’ll be fine.

get a 3rd round comp pick for Faneca. That gives us 8 or 9 draft picks.

Imo, way too many. I would like to see us some of those picks to trade up a couple times, maybe rounds 2-4.

Quality over quanity. I’d like to see this breakdown: 2 OL, 1DL, 1CB, 1WR.

Vontae Davis and Malcom Jenkins are the best CBs in the draft. They’ll be off the board early and then thereisn’t another good CB left.

A lot depends on who’s available, but I suggest the Steelers might be in the market for a monster nose tackle. Casey Hampton, who anchors the center of the defense, is in the twilight of his career. The Steelers just won a Super Bowl with a mediocre O-line and a stellar defense. I expect they might wish to safeguard the defensive side of that formula before revamping the o-line.

First of all i agree with BigDaddyTat2boy that you guys are great with all the stats and
tracking of the players. I justt joined the site and I am a die hard Steelers fan. But on to
the subject at hand. The O-line was an issue last year but I think that we should give them another year to work together. They are relatively young except for Justin, but he
is a lot better than Sean Mahan.I believe that we should start by adressing the needs
along the defensive line. My thoughts are this; 3 DL,2 OL, 1 CB, KR/PR, 1 OLB.
The Steelers should alternate the first three rounds choosing between the DL’S and
O-line provided that we get two 3rd round draft picks.

I wish the poll had listed C/OG as one selection… I am all for the Max Unger pick. The Steelers obviously don’t have much depth at guard, especially since Simmons won’t be coming back. Stapleton played well enough, and it’s probably to early to evaluate what he could become. On the other hand, Hartwig is not the future. He is a serviceable C, but his best days are probably behind him. Drafting Unger provides depth at both postitions, but hopefully he would become a dominate C that we are so used to seeing.

I would not waste a pick on a CB in the first round. Though Ike has a little problems catching the ball, he should remain the #1 corner for the foreseeable future. William Gay is a serviceable player at #2 CB, and Deshea provides good depth, although obviously not a starter in the league any more.

Tyson Jackson… don’t like the pick at all. He’s definitely a dominant player that will make his impact in the NFL, and I would love to have him, but the Steelers have bigger needs. Bottom line is that we can make a pretty damn good 3-4 DE… just look at Keisel and Aaron Smith. If we played a 4-3, then Tyson Jackson would be an interesting pick… but bottom line is that in our scheme, OLB’s get the sacks, not the DE’s. Our front three make the 4 LB’s look good. In summary, I would love to have T. Jackson, but I would also love to have a lot of layers that will go high in the draft… he’s not what we need.

NT… a player of Hampton’s caliber will never be available at pick #32. Plus, I disagree that he is in the twilight of his career. NT’s typically last longer… they don’t need to be quick… just powerful. I give Casey 4 more years.

If it were up to me, I would pick in the following order:
1 – C/OG
2 – RB or CB
3 – RB or CB (whichever not picked with the earlier pick)

I am hoping Rashard Mendenhall will be the RB of the future, as well as even next year. Willie may not be done entirely, but I think he benefited greatly from having a traditional fullback (God bless Kreider), and well of course, a stronger interior OL. I just don’t see Willie doing well with Bruce Arians scheme. That said, I would like the Steelers to pick a good RB in the 2nd or 3rd round who can provide a 1-2 punch with Rashard. The depth is unusually deep with RB’s like last year, and their should be pretty good talent remaining.

I’d be shocked if we drafted one, especially since we signed free agent RB Logan recently.

Yep, we did win the Super Bowl last year with Carey Davis, Gary Russell, Mewelde Moore, etc… but we also were #23 in the league in terms of total rushing. Let’s be honest with ourselves… Davis and Russell may not hold down a roster spot on a lot of teams in the league.

We need a solid RB not only to provide the a strong RB tandem, hopefully with “Mendy,” but if nothing else, as an insurance policy if Mendenhall doesn’t work out. Russell and Moore are never going to be the feature back, despite the fact that Moore filled in EXTREMELY well during Parker’s injury.

Let’s be honest about Willie… he’s not what he was a few years ago. He’ll be turning 29 this year which is old for an NFL RB. Just look at LT and the wall he hit. That’s just what happens in this league. Willie’s YPC has dropped each year since he became a full time starter. Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t have the size to offset the wear and tear on his body… he’s just a step slower. Plus, I think it is a fair statement that he looked a lot different this year coming off last year’s injury. Furthermore, I think it is fair to say that he isn’t a perfect fit for Arians scheme. He needs a lead blocker, i.e. not running out of a bunch formation right, and he isn’t as good catching passes out of the backfield. Don’t get me wrong. He has been an important part of this organization… I love seeing clips on him from Super Bowl XL streaking down the sideline for a TD. Unfortunately, RB’s don’t last forever and his best days are past and opening.

Mendenhall… I hope he will be what we expect of him, but he isn’t a proven commodity yet.

Moore… He’s a third down back and a very good one at that. But he’s not a feature back.

Russell… He’s performed alright as a goal line back, but that’s about it. He carried 28 times this year for a total of 77 yards, 2.8 YPC. Granted that figure might be skewed slightly to the left but I’d say his YPC won’t be much higher than 3.5 YPC excluding goal line carries.

Bottom line… we have one potential feature back, and I am hoping he establishes himself as a dominant NFL RB. But we do need another good RB. Not necessarily with a 1st round pick, but with this draft, we can probably get a good RB in the 2nd or 3rd round.

Running back is one of the deepest positions on the team. A veteran RB with one year left on his contract, a first-round draft pick with four years left, a valuable third-down back and capable emergency starter with two years left, and a young kid with some power and room for improvement who doesn’t get enough playing time as it is and yet could be expendable. We could use a FB to battle McHugh and Davis for playing time. Parker is probably going into his last year as a Steeler and a year from now we will know what Mendenhall can do. At that point there is time to draft a RB because it is the one position on offense where a rookie can come in and make an immediate impact, which Mendenhall might well have done last year if he’d stayed healthy. Don’t forget that he was the starter, not Moore, when Willie went down so obviously he had done enough in Tomlin’s mind to earn the shot. We’re four deep at one position, and Arians can’t figure out how to use two guys let alone three, let alone four, and now you’re talking five. Asking Bruce to figure out a three-man RB rotation would be like asking him to calculate the required entry angle of a spaceship landing on Pluto. Now if we trade Parker to clear cap space and/or get a better draft pick this year (extremely unlikely but you never know) then I think you are in business with drafting a RB in the middle rounds.