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Draft Value: Are the Steelers "Good Shoppers?"




Just a little exercise to measure the "bang for our buck" we got with our draft picks. Of course, these guys haven't even played one snap in Rookie Mini Camp yet. Their true value won't be realized for years. But we don't want to wait; what fun is there in that?

I will start with the Steelers total draft capital to spend, if you will. I'm using the Trade Value Chart from Draftek as reference. Adding up the values assigned to our allotted draft slots, the Steelers begin the draft with 1,239.9 Draft Bucks. How wisely did they spend them?

I'm using CBS Sports Position Rank to assess value here. With that in mind:

Pick 25 (value of 720)-Artie Burns ranked 66 by CBS-assigned value of 260= a net loss of 460

Pick 58(value of 320)-Sean Davis ranked 60 by CBS-assigned value of 300= a net gain of 20

Pick 89 (value of 145)-Javon Hargrave ranked 88 by CBS-assigned value of 150=a net gain of 5

Pick 123 (value of 49)-Jerald Hawkins ranked 81 by CBS-assigned value of 185=a net gain of 136

Pick 220 (value of 3)-Travis Freeney ranked 196 by CBS-assigned value of 12.6=a net gain of 9.6

Pick 229 (value of 1.9)-Demarcus Ayers ranked 443 by CBS-assigned value of ?, set as 1.0=net loss of 0.9

Pick number 246 (value of 1)-Tyler Matakevich ranked 109 by CBS-assigned value of 76= a net gain of 75

Total value of picks: 1239.9 vs total assigned value of players selected:983.6 for a total net loss of 253.3

The Steelers gained value in every round but the first. The selections of Hawkins in the 4th, and Matakevich in the 7th, were excellent "bargains," by this measure. That did not make up, however, for the purported "loss" we took with Burns.

This by no means expresses the way I feel about the picks. It's simply an exercise to look at our draft choices in a straight-up-value kind of way.

FWIW, after not hearing much about Artie Burns beforehand, and a "What?" reaction at the time of the pick, I am warming to him and see his upside .I like Sean Davis, more and more. Not my draft crush, Kujo, but the next best thing. He's a tremendous athlete, with enough cover skills that he played CB in college. Oh, and he hits anything that moves :) Love Hargrave. Love Hargrave. Love Hargrave. While some may not understand the Hawkins pick, it makes a ton of sense. Don't know if Villy takes another step, Harris is a short term guy. Gilbert will be 31 by the end of his current contract (2019). You get a team captain that played in a pro style offense for basically his senior season. If he stayed in school, Hawkins is easily a 2nd rounder in 2017.

I don't have a strong opinion either way of the late rounders. We got another freakish athlete, a PR guy, and the Bronko Nagurski Award winner. I like those for as much as I know about them.

I hope this spin on our draft value is an enjoyable read for you all. You can certainly play with the trade value chart and imagine other prospects we could've taken. That's way too much thinking for me on a Sunday morning.

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.