Reasons why the Steelers passed on Sharrif Floyd

Back in February, after the Super Bowl, Shariff Floyd was commonly mocked as a late first to early second round pick. Scouts sited his strength and athleticism as pros and his arm length and run coverage as weaknesses. He was viewed as a good but not elite prospect.

However, over the course of the draft process, NFL Draft "experts" fell in love with Floyd's pass rushing ability and versatility, and by April 25th, he was commonly mocked anywhere from 3rd overall to the Raiders to no lower than 9th overall to the Jets.

Floyd fell to 23, where the Vikings wasted no time in scooping him up. The question is: why is this happening?

While none of us know the exact answer, perhaps it has to do with his sub-par arm length. With only 31 3/4 inch arms, he is at the very low end in terms of defensive tackles. However, it would not make sense for that to be the only reason for his fall.

Perhaps the general managers just never saw the explosiveness and pass rushing ability that draft experts saw. He did only have three sacks last season at Florida. The other possibility would be that he really blew his pre-draft interviews with teams and that scared teams away but that would not fit into Floyd's personality.

Floyd will likely still be a successful NFL player but perhaps this will teach draft experts a lesson. Stick to your original thoughts and don't change so much over the two month process between February and April. As we have seen time and time again, the NFL Draft is one of the most unpredictable events in the world and Shariff Floyd's fall is another example of why.