FanPost

A View from the SteelCage...Day three targets and mock



Similar to yesterday, I preview a few guys who have been linked to us and then list some targets. If you only want to see who I would take vs who I think the Steelers will take, just scroll to the bottom.

Akwasi Owusu-Ansah – CB/S/KR/PR, IU(P) 6’0 ¼"/207 lbs. 4.47 40 yard dash

Pronounced Ak-wa-see O-woo-sue An-sa, or AOA or Scrabble, this kid was a DII highlight machine. 8 picks in 2008 led to teams avoiding him like the plague this season. Compares to DRC in his draft rise from obscurity and is one I mocked to us in my December and February Mock. In my opinion, he is what Ike Taylor could be if he knew how to catch. He had 8 picks and 10 PD as a junior so they stopped throwing his way this season and ended with 2 and 6 this season. In the last two years he has 3 KR TD, 3 PR TD, 1 INT TD, 1 FR TD. We really only have 4 CB on the roster that are worth actually considering CB, Taylor, Lewis, Burnett, and Gay. A CB will be selected somewhere between 4 and 6, and his return ability, size, and potential make him a good fit. Steelers West are also supposedly targeting him, so grabbing him for spite works too.

Chris Degeare, T/Wake Forest, 6’3 5/8", 325 lbs, 5.16 40 yard dash

Came in for a visit so the Steelers are obviously interested in. 34 inch arms and nimble feet have many convinced he can play LT. His brute strength and agility (1.72 10 yard was fastest of OL at combine, tied with Bruce Campbell) have me convinced he can play inside or outside, anywhere but center, where for the first time since Hartings left, I can say we don’t need any more. Tomlin loves versatility. A development LT. Moneyball style pick who I could really see happening.

Kam Chancellor, S/VT, 6’3 ¼"/231 lbs, 4.69 40 yard dash

Another supposed Tomlin favorite. Tthe poor man’s Taylor Mays. Played nickel back as a freshman and sophomore, SS as a junior and FS this year. During the East-West Shriner’s practices was lighting people up. Not quite a fluid as his experience may lend you to believe, but a gamer. Given a year or two he could end up a Chris Hope type of safety, capable of starting either FS or SS. This is important with Troy’s playing style and age and our utter lack of depth at safety. Is a feast or famine player. However, he is a hard worker, and again shows some versatility. I could see this happening if Tomlin is really big on this guy, although I feel there are too many other safeties that are better for our system.

Legarrette Blount, RB/Oregon, 6’0 ½"/241 lbs, 4.86 40 yard dash

I feel a running back will be drafted somewhere in the draft. Blount was one of the pre-season Heisman watch candidates, but has dropped for character concerns and one can assume the visit and interviews revolved around the sucker punch that got him suspended. He can run, no doubt, but with this off season do the Steelers risk it.

Other guys of interest in positions I see being addressed:

RB

Jonathan Dwyer, Georgia Tech

Joe McNight, USC

Anthony Dixon, MSU

FB

John Conner, Kentucky

OT

Bruce Campbell, Maryland

Ciron Black, LSU

Chris Campbell, Eastern Illinois

Derek Hardman, East Kentucky

OG

Mitch Petrus, Arkansas

Sergio Render, VA Tech

Jacques McClendon, Tennessee

Marshall Newhouse, TCU

NT

Jeff Owens, Georgia

Al Woods, LSU

Cam Thomas, UNC

Ekom Udofia, Stanford

Martin Teveseau, Nevada

Kade Weston, Georgia

DE

Vince Oghobaase, Duke

Corey Wooten, Northwestern

Greg Hardy, Ole Miss

Doug Worthington, Ohio State

Clifton Geathers, South Carolina

ILB

Joe Pawelek, Baylor

Philip Dillard, Nebraska

Albert McClennan, Marshall

Micah Johnson, Kentucky

Mike McLaughlin, Boston College

Lee Campbell, Minnesota

CB

Perrish Cox, Oklahoma State

A.J. Jefferson, Fresno State

Donovan Warren, Michigan

Syd’Quan Crosby, Cal

Walter Thurmond, Oregon

S

Kendrick Lewis, Ole Miss

Robert Johnson, Utah

Myron Rolle, FSU

Harry Coleman, LSU

My Mock

4. Akwasi Owusu-Ansah – CB/S/KR/PR, IU(P) 6’0 ¼"/207 lbs. 4.47 40 yard dash

5a. Joique Bell – RB, Wayne State (MI), 5’11 1/4"/220 lbs, 4.72 40 yard dash

5b. Jeromy Miles – S, UMASS, 6’2"/215 lbs, 4.49 40 yard dash

5c. Tony Washington – OT, Abilene Christian, 6’6 1/8"/311 lbs, 5.25 40 yard dash (or Chris Degeare)

5d. Jamar Chaney – ILB, Mississippi State, 6’0 3/4"/241 lbs, 4.54 40 yard dash

6. Travis Ivey – NT/DE, Maryland, 6’3 3/4"/341 lbs, 5.25 40 yard dash

7. John Fletcher – DE, Wyoming, 6’5"/270 lbs, 4.82 40 yards (or Clifton Geathers, S. Carolina)

Who I see the Steelers actually taking

4. Kam Chancellor, S/Virginia Tech

5a. Anthony Dixon,RB/ MSU

5b. Chris Degeare, T/Wake Forest

5c. A.J. Jefferson, CB/Fresno State

5d. Clifton Geathers, DE/South Carolina

6. Ekom Udofia, NT/Stanford

7. Lee Campbell, ILB/Minnesota

For more Views from the SteelCage

http://www.sbnation.com/users/SteelCage/blog

The opinions shared here are not those of the editorial staff of Behind the Steel Curtain or SB Nation. These posts are not approved in any way by the editorial staff of this web site.