BTSC Steelers Daily Six Pack-The Drafts of Years Past Edition

by Frank Mineo (DYMS) on Apr 9, 2009 3:07 PM EDT

Today's six pack will be a little different focusing on some previous mock drafts and some commentary after the draft. This time of year everyone has an opinion on the draft and what their team will take and thanks to the internet we can go back and find out who was on the money and who missed the mark. Thanks to PittsburghArn for the idea and some link assists.

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IX- The 2003 Pittsburgh Steelers were coming off a 10-5-1 record and a loss in the Divisional round to the Tennessee Titans and were eager to improve their defense with some help in the secondary. The Steelers traded up to get Troy Polamalu and also selected Ike Taylor in the 4^th round. Back in 2003 mock drafts weren't as prevalent but I did find this mock that got the players wrong, but knew what Pittsburgh needed to select. Sports Illustrated also had some interesting comments about future star Anquan Boldin's combine performance.

X- 2004 was the year that a franchise quarterback fell into our laps at pick number 11 following a disappointing 2003 season. This mock draft was very impressive and had the 3 major quarterback going to the right teams and even had the Chargers and Giants trade projected correctly before the draft. In review the Steelers got a B- from the same draft guru, mainly because Ben Roethlisberger wouldn't make an impact early in his career. I think we all know who that story has played out.

XIII- After the devastating loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, Ben Roethlisberger promised to get Jerome Bettis the ring he deserved. The front office hoped that the 2005 draft could help add depth and fill in the few holes that this soon to be championship team needed. One mock had the Steelers taking ~~drug addict~~ Matt Jones in the first round and another had us taking Bryant McFadden a round early. The Steelers received an "A" grade even though looking back it really only produced two starters, one of which left in free agency this season.

XIV- Coming off their 5^th Lombardi trophy the Steelers had lost a few key players in free agency including Antwaan Randle El and Chris Hope and were looking to replace them in the 2006 draft. The Steelers were projected in a few mocks to be either taking a wide receiver like Sinorice Moss, or a running back to replace Jerome Bettis like the fat lard Lendale White. Luckily the Steelers traded up and grabbed our Super Bowl MVP for the Sixth Lombardi. Draft grades were pretty kind to the defending Super Bowl Champs.

XL- Mike Tomlin's first draft after Bill Cowher's retirement was full of surprises, but might have been one of our better drafts in recent history when we look back. Lamar Woodley is coming off a great second year, Lawrence Timmons and William Gay are both looking to make major impacts next year, and Daniel Sepulveda looks to bounce back from an injury. Mocks prior to the draft had us either stuck on Penn State standout Paul Posluszny or Jarvis Moss for our inevitable switch to the 4-3 under Mike Tomlin. Grades for this draft were generally around a "B" or a "B-" as many were befuddled with trading up for a punter.

XLIII- It was only a year ago that you couldn't find a mock draft that didn't have the Steelers rebuilding our offensive line very early. Although it came as no surprise to those of us on BTSC that Pittsburgh took the best player available instead of reaching for a lesser linemen. Grades of the Steelers draft were very good considering we got a top 15 player and a first round talent without trading to get them.

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DaTruth's Mock Draft for the Steelers; the Reign Continues

Guys, I made one change to my mock draft after talking with Dale Lolley and hearing him say that he doesn’t think A.J. Shipley from Penn State will be drafted, and if he does, it’ll be the 6th or 7th round. For those of you who haven’t seen my mock, here is something to discuss:

1) DE Jarron Gilbert – San Jose State – Just what the doctor ordered for DL coach John Mitchell, a diamond to mold. However, if CB Darius Butler is available at no. 32, there will be a lot of discussion on the South Side for this pick. I go with Gilbert.

2) CB/S Sherrod Martin – Troy – The Steelers view him as a corner with some thump. There is a reason Kevin Colbert spent a lot of time talking to him at the combine. He’s 6’1, 198 lbs, runs in the low 4.4’s and isn’t 5’9’’ like CB Anthony Smith from Wake Forest. Can you see A. Smith trying to stop Larry Fitzgerald on a fade route in the end zone? I can’t either.

3) WR/KR/PR – Mike Wallace – Missippi – Is this a little early for him? Not if you are a Super Bowl team who has a hole for a KR/PR and a WR to stretch the field. Wallace has decent size as well at 6’0, 200 lbs. Like the fact that he played in the SEC and the light really came on his senior year in leading the conference in yards per catch average and and had 8 TD’s. And, oh by the way, he ran a 4.33 at the combine.

4) LT Joel Bell – Furman – A sleeper at the tackle position. The Steelers also could go for for Andrew Gardner from Georgia Tech here (Larry Zierline worked Gardner out personally at his Pro Day) but I’m going with Bell. At 6’7’’, 315-lbs, he offers good size at the position and brings a little attitude to the table. His 40 at 5.13 is pretty good for someone of this size as well.

5) G Louis Vasquez – Texas Tech – I could actually see this guy playing next year for the Steelers at RG, though not starting there for the first game. He was the strongest guard at the combine (39 reps), but yet ran the 8th best 40 time at his pro among guards for this year’s draft (5.2) at 6’5, 330 lbs. Datruth looks at it as a positive that this guy comes from a predominantly pass blocking offense. Maybe he can teach Chris K. and W. Colon that it isn’t as hard as they make it appear to be.

5) FB/RB – Frank "The Tank" Summers – UNLV – Time for the Steelers to put some thump back into its ground game and goal-line offense. Summers can do that while also being a good outlet out of the backfield for Ben, picking up the blitz and being a beast on special teams. Yep, a Mike Tomlin type of guy. Remember, the more you can do …

6) NT/DT – Sammie Lee Hill – Stillman – Meet the heir apparent to Casey Hampton at NT. Stillman is a little taller than your average nose tackle at 6’4’’, but has the strength and girth at 320 lbs. to apply for the job. He’s raw, but that is how Coach Mitchell likes his DL meat.

7) DE Zach Potter – Nebraska – Yep, you guessed. This is to make up for the past 3 years where the team has given John Mitchell nothing but lumps of coal to work with. He now has 3 young players with ability to learn behind the starting 3. Hopefully, the team will resign the Diesel and Big Snack to extensions, but at least Coach Mitchell will have some players to work with to get them ready to play Steelers type of ball.

7) OLB Philp Hunt – Houston – Classic case of a tweener that is too short (6’1’’), too slow (4.8 in the 40), not big enough (250 lbs.) and not strong enough (16 reps on the bench) to fit any of the profiles to get teams excited. However, he does one thing that Mike Tomlin loves – he kills QBs. 24 sacks in the past two years. He’s built like James Harrison, just doesn’t have his explosiveness (who does?). However, killing QBs is an acquired skill and taste. And the Steelers acquire them while teaching them to do other things, such as drop into coverage, hold the point and play special teams.

Datruth could easily see the Steelers considering some DB’s in the late rounds like Derek Cox from William and Mary and Don Carey from Norfolk State. Thoughts?

by datruth4life on Apr 9, 2009 3:42 PM EDT reply actions

I’ll take it

by phxsteeler on Apr 9, 2009 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I'd like to see this bumped to the front page so it has it's own thread

I can’t really argue well for or against any of these, but I would like to consider who else may be available for those picks. Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time to research as I’d like, so I would be interested in hearing from some of the other draft gurus out there.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 9, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Blitz, can you make it happen?

See WolfpackSteelersFan comment above. Would love to hear back from the Nation. Both Jim Wexell and Dale Lolley think the Steelers guy at no. 32 will be C/G Eric Wood from Louisville. I wouldn’t be mad at that, but someone is going to be there at no. 32 who they didn’t think would be. I think it will be either CB Vontae Davis from Illinois, CB Darius Bulter from Connecticut or my man DE Jarron Gilbert from San Diego State.