Every NFL franchise is almost identical when it comes to the NFL Draft. Every fan believes deep down they could do better...no matter what.
For the Pittsburgh Steelers, who enter the 2019 Draft with 10 picks, black-and-gold faithful have their hopes on a draft day trade to move up and get themselves a Devin. You know, Devin Bush or Devin White.
Most believe White, the LSU standout linebacker, would require a king’s ransom to move up and obtain, while Bush, the athletic Michigan linebacker, wouldn’t require as much compensation to climb up the board to have him try to fill the void still left by Ryan Shazier.
I have to admit, it is all so tantalizing. The thought of making a big trade on draft day to get a player who could change the complexity of the team overnight. To be quite frank, the last time the Steelers made a big trade like that was in 2003 when Bill Cowher decide to trade up and draft some safety from USC named Troy Polamalu.
Polamalu was a transcendent player, and there are some who believe the Devins, especially White, would fall into that same category.
But what Steelers fans should prepare themselves for is a lot of the usual.
You know...doing nothing.
On our Steelers Preview podcast Thursday night, you can listen to the show in the player below, Dave Schofield brought up this topic. Fans should prepare for the Steelers to not make a big marquee trade in the opening round, and also shouldn’t hope for them to trade back if the prospects aren’t there.
I’m not saying there is no chance this happens, but this is more about your expectations. Don’t expect the Steelers to make a trade, because if it doesn’t happen you won’t find yourself throwing your cell phone into your television.
On top of tempering your expectations regarding a draft day trade, you should always keep a small amount of trust with whatever the Steelers do on draft day.
Have they had their swing-and-misses? All you have to say is Jarvis Jones and fans will shudder at the thought. Then again, there have been those picks which have fans scratching their heads at the time, but paying huge dividends. Remember what everyone thought when JuJu Smith-Schuster was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2017 draft? Who the heck is this kid?!
Turned out okay, didn’t it?
To come full circle here, we all think we could do better, but there are some times when you need to just sit back and watch. Don’t fall for the knee jerk reactions, but let things play out. Sometimes the gamble doesn’t pay off, ahem Artie Burns, but other times it does, look at Vince Williams.
Avoid the let down by tempering your expectations for what will happen on draft day/night...after all, no on really knows how the chips will fall when the picks start flying off the board.