What Would Your Ideal Draft Be?

Except i would like to see a guard in the 1st, ILB in the second, NT in the 3rd, and then a safety, kicker, and OLB project later on in the draft on a BPA basis. If a really good safety is available in any of the 1st three rounds id be down i they went for them. I like the safeties on alabamas team, they are both good players.
   Would like to see melechi osmele for guard, donta hightower for ILB, and that NT from memphis in the 3rd. I think this is a year that the steelers should go quality over quantity and trade up to get players they want. I also really think the steelers should use a pick on a really good kicker

FA

1. Gay has shown enough this season to get resigned
2. Resign Mike Wallce
3. Sign Plaxico Burress to a short term deal (this means hines retire and we let Coctchery walk)
4. Sign Max Starks to a front loaded deal (this would move Gilbert to Guard)

Draft
1. ILB – Manti Te’o, Dont’a Hightower ILB typically fall doing the draft, unless the raiders are looking for one. So expect one of these guys to be available to the lower first round. Either one will be good for our system and will improve the defense greatly. (I would suspect we get Hightower since he is good for the Mack position (thumper) and timmons can move to the Buck position (the fast athletic ILB that makes plays). (I think I got that right) The good thing about Hightower is that he can start game 1 since he already plays in a 3-4).

2. NT Josh Chapman, I’m going bama again. Chapman is a good run stuffer and at 6’1 310 he should be more athletic and able to handle cut blocks better than a bigger NT would.

3. DE I’m going DE here for a couple of reasons. With the quick offenses that use hurry up to tire out defense you basically need about 2 1st string defenses to rotate. I would go with Guard here but since i have moved Gilbert over to guard there is no need. Plus the S class is very weak this year so no need to go too high for a S. Here we can get Billy Winn from Boise ST. He has good size 6’4 288 and speed 4.9 40 to be a good DE. He will be able to sit and learn in the system and since he comes from a ‘small’ school he should be available in the 3rd round (he is projected 2-3).

4. S Kenny Tate Maryland. He has great size 6’4 and is a really good hitter. He moved down to linebacker this year for Maryland but I really see him losing the weight and playing as a S in the NFL. He can fight with Mundy for clark’s back up position.

5. QB I expect Dixon to be let go and Batch to retire. So we are going to need a 3rd Qb to groom. I’ve seen Kellen Moore projected this low, if he is here I take him but I just don’t believe a guy that has played so well all his college career would fall this low so I’m going to go with Brandon Weeden, he is 28 but is a great prospect. completed over 70% of his passes and has a strong arm. 16 TDs to 6 ints. Good size 6’4 220 and runs a 4.9 walterfootballs says if the guy was 6 years younger he’d be at least a 2nd rounder.

6. K I do not trust Suishim. The coaches don’t either. We need a kicker who we can count on to make kicks in heinz field from the 40-50 yard range. Danny Hrapmann has a strong leg and if we bring him in to heinz field for some kicks and he does well we should draft him.

7. G Foster has been playing well at RG so far. As long as he continues to get better I like him there with Gilbert making the move to LG, I’m not sure what to do with Kemo, would he fair better at RG? Would we want to use Foster as a backup? I dunno but its the 7th round and we should take a flyer on someone, the first 4 picks have been on defense and we should be good there, so heres the only glaring weakness on offense. I pick Antoine McClain from Clemson, good size 6’6 330 and has helped Clemson have a good year running the ball. We’ll see if he makes the team.

Go Bama for round 3 too. I doubt they would slip that far but the crimson tide has 2 good safeties as well. And as you said bama already runs a 3-4, players that come out of saban’s program always seem really well prepared for the pro game

Meant for that to be a reply for tannofsteel

1st Round- David DeCastro: Sort of a stretch since he might go earlier than we’ll be picking. If not him, then Barrett Jones. Love them both as guard prospect. If Mike Adams was here I’d want him here too, though his ability to play LT could be questionable considering how up & down he’s been so far this year.

2nd Round- Josh Chapman: My favorite NT prospect. Alameda has been invisible for UW games this year (Nebraska, USC), likewise, Chapman almost always seems to get a push against better competition. Not as high of a ceiling, but much better performance.

3rd Round- Sean Porter: Assuming he declares, but Porter has been a great rush LB. Has disappeared in games, but he’s really athletic and someone who could sit on the bench for a year and really soak it all in before becoming really, really good.

4th Round- Blake DeChristopher: Probably a reach here, but he’s had a really, really good season and while he probably wouldn’t play OT in the NFL, he could make another nice guard.

5th- Derek Moye: Team needs a tall WR who can be a RZ threat. Good speed, good route runner, isn’t great vs a jam though and drops ball that should be caught. Then he’ll make a fantastic grab the next play.

6th- Brandon Taylor- I’d imagine his stock will rise, but right now nobody talks about him b/c of Mathieu & Claiborne. Still though, he’s been a really good safety for LSU so far this year.

7th- Jake Bequette: A stretch that he would fall this far, but he’s a guy who could add around 10-15 pounds & be a pretty good prospect for a 34 end.

1st Round: Guard
Definitely need a new starting guard. I wouldnt mind upgrading both the RG and LG spots finally relieving ourselves of penalty machine Chris Kemoeatu. Also, Foster and Legs can handle the RG, but they do not excel at it. I much prefer Gilbert as our LT of the future and I would let either Colon or Starks go and whoever stays move to RT.

2nd Round:

Guard/Tackle

I may be the only one thinking this but I like the idea of double dipping on the Offensive Line in this draft as I see a lot of depth in the Offensive Line numbers. Take the chance to really shore up line. A guy who is versatile and can play both positions.

3rd Round: Safety
Mundy hasnt quite looked like he will be a solid long term starter at Safety, the mental game just isnt there and he doesnt have outstanding athleticism to compensate.

4th Round:

Nose Tackle

I think we still have Casey for 1-2 more years anyway, so we can draft a prototypical sized NT and hopefully he can pick up the position in a couple years on the squad

5th Round:

Defensive End

Just a nice project Defensive End who never truly projects and an outstanding starter, but it would be nice to add some depth who can learn in the system

6th Round: Kicker
Unlikely to happen but would like a kicker with a hell of a leg who can be more reliable than Sushi

7th Round:
Take a flyer on a small school skilled position, such as Running back, Tight End or Wide Receiver and hope they prove to be a diamond in the rough

i dont know how some of you guys are casting out sly already he is in his second season and started 2 games already this season. the kid is going to be good we just have farrior and foote infront of him its gonna be tough to get on the feild. he plays like a monster on special teams and i still think he could be a great inside line backer.

personally i say you go

rd 1 best avail g
the oline still needs help
rd 2 nt
i dont trust hoke(age) mcclendon(inexperience/size) need a big nt to take over for snack
rd 3 safety
our backups at both positions are soft and troy and clark are getting older and injury prone
rd 4 olb
i dont mind worlids or carter but having to move timmons out to olb should show we have a hole there
rd 5 cb
id like to draft a cb project that could play either corner or saftey maybe more a tweener that can hit.
rd 6 punter
kapinos isnt bad but robopunter is killing me with those hammy injuries.
rd 7 best avail
and best player still on the board cause i really think those 6 players could cover most of the holes we hav now.
rd 7

If we need anything in the 2012 Draft, it’s a premier OL guy. We can’t keep trying to plug holes in the dam while Ben continues to get pounded out there.

I honestly don’t think Safety is an immediate priority because both Clark and Polamalu will be solid starters there for at least 2-3 more years. I don’t see any drop-off in Clark’s performance; I think he’s just taking too many dumb penalties these days. Also, I don’t think we can judge the future potential of players like Mundy or Sylvester based on the limited playing time they’ve had so far. Either guy could still become a regular starter, but time will tell.

I do think we need a top NT; hopefully a young version of Casey Hampton who, in his prime, was nasty and virtually unmovable in the middle of our D. When you get constant push and pressure up the middle, it keeps a lot of bad things from happening to your D. Snack used to provide that and I’d say he was the key reason why nobody even thought of running on the Steelers a few years ago. But because we’ll never get a top OL guy and a top NT in the same draft, I think we’ll need to stick with the guys we’ve got at NT at least until 2013. You might be right about McLendon, though, especially if he can add some beef without losing his quickness.

A great guard, ala Faneca, who will team up with Pouncey in the first round. I think Gilbert goes to the left side, and Colon comes back to play the right side.
I think whether or not Farrior retires will dictate our second round pick, if he is gone then we need to get a thumper who can run to complement Timmons. Later rounds should be BPA for our schemes

Off-season moves:
Don’’t sign Max Starks why? Money and I think Gilbert can play LT better he has impressed. Willie Colon already has a deal and cutting him would be dead money. Resign Mike Wallace and I would give Lefty a deal. No Gay he has improved his play but the fact Cortez Allen is seeing playing time says to me they like what he can do a lot. Plus Curtis Brown plus Keenan Lewis and Ike Taylor and I think we draft another one in the 3rd.
1st- ILB or DT. We are getting long in the tooth and it depends o talent here but if there is a guy like Hightower or Burfict (might be there his stock is slipping) there in late 1st we take them.
2nd- Guard- I am tired of these low round pick guards we need a mauler.

3rd-DB or DT- depends on 1st pick and talent available it is a deep DT class better to go for the DT in the 3rd then the 1st.

4th- S or DB depends on the talent

5th- BPA between OLB, DE, OT, DB

6th- BPA between DT, OG, and K

 7th- BPA period

Runningback first round and Johnny eats a towel

1) David DeCastro, OG, Stanford (Round 1)
2) Trade up (lose 4th) Dont’a Hightower, ILB, Alabama (Round 2)
3) Dontari Poe, NT, Memphis (Round 3)
5) Brandon Taylor, FS, LSU (Round 5)
6) Derek Moye, WR, Penn State (Round 6)
7) Caleb Sturgis, K, Florida (Round 7)

We would replace 5 starters (including kicker) and have a tall WR for Ben. Not sure how we could have a better draft.

DeCastro starts immediately at LG. Hightower sits a year behind Farrior then starts. Poe a year or two behind Snack, and Taylor a year or two behind Ryan Clark.

Hightower and Taylor would be special teams players and would allow us to shed Kemo & Foote’s salaries.

It’s difficult for me to spend a first round pick, on a 2 down player. Your idea of McLendon stepping up is much more appealing.

With BPA in mind, I’ll list two positions for the first round, and whichever in not chosen, slips down and is added to the next round, continually, so that there are always two positions to be considered for each pick.

1. Guard and Free Safety – Guard, nuff said. Free safety, Clark plays like a strong safety. Troy is our strong safety. We need a free safety, who plays like a free safety.

2. ILB – The reasons have already been well covered here. Only thing I have to add is that our D relies on it’s LBs to make plays, more than any other position. We must have great backers.

3. OLB – Harrison goes down and our best pass covering ILB, has to go play outside. This needs to be resolved, see #2.

4. RB – Moore is no youngster anymoore. Dwyer wouldn’t have made the team this year, if Batch hadn’t gone down. With that said, Batch’s recovery is uncertain. Open camp competition between Batch, Dwyer, and the new draftee.

5. LB – Lets take a flyer on a LB to develop. Some would rather have a QB here. I’d rather have a free agent, experienced veteran for backup QB duty, than a 5th rounder needing 2 or 3 years to develop, under BA’s tutelage. Easy choice, I’ll take the LB.

6. – This is the place to take whichever position listed above, that hasn’t been picked yet.

7. WR/OL Hope we can get here before reaching for that tall WR with “potential”, or OL with “huge upside”.

I agree with the resigning list you have but only if Colon’s contract can be set up to minimize the salary cap problems that will occur if he is IR’d again. I would move Gilbert to G till Colon gets injured again. When Colon gets injured play the rookie G that was drafted and move Gilbert back to RT.

The first 4 rounds would be the BPA available in that round at G/OT, S, ILB or NT (till we have one of each) . After that BPA available at QB, OL, OLB, S, WR, K for the rest of the draft (not more than 1 of each).

1) I think resigning Gay would be a good move, but only for a year. He will be blocking someone, or overpaid and on the bench in that second year.
2) Wallace will be PAID. Either through the franchise tag, or us giving him a 5 year deal that makes him a top 5 paid WR in the league.
3) Sign Starks to a 2-3 year deal for 3 mil a season. He has proven he can still play LT in this league. Gilbert would stay on the right, with Colon moving in to RG, or traded for a pick. I would prefer to trade him for cap reasons, but he would make a better guard than any we have.
4) I agree on signing Leftwich to a one year deal, but we should draft a new QB over Dixon.
5) Hines, Farrior, Clark (?), Foote, Batch, McFadden, Dixon, D. Johnson (that is me dreaming, I know): could all either be retiring or moving on after the season, particularly if we defeat the Packers in our rematch.

Side note. Does anyone else have that gut feeling this year could be like the Pens v. Red Wings rematch? Two titans play a great championship in back-to-back years. And the Pittsburgh team wins the second time around. Go Steelers! Go Penguins! Go Pirates(?)!