Christopher DiMarino
This article continues along with my pre combine look at key positions for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have made some changes compared to the first articles. I eliminated NFLDraftScout because it was identical to CBS, and I replaced it with DraftInsider. I want to reiterate how it works, NFL and ESPN combine to give us the player ranking (out of 100) and CBS and DraftTek combine to give us the draft position. The approximate draft round is an average that I do by eye comparing all of the values for all of the sites. Finally, I want to remind everyone that no site is perfect but it is important to get other opinions. DraftTek might make some bold and (sometimes ridiculous) claims, but they offer an in depth look at the draft so I find it worthwhile to consider. Finally, not all players are ideal prospects for this position, but I wanted to be cautious and include them just in case.
Inside linebacker is a very interesting position for the Steelers. Just one full season ago, James Farrior decided to retire and threw this position in jeopardy. This decision wasn\’t a surprise, but it was becoming quickly clear that the Steelers did not have a replacement to captain this defense. Larry Foote had a remarkable season filling in for him, but is also getting up there in age and might not be brought back. This position might not warrant an early pick, but you need to consider that whoever plays this position could end up being the signal caller for the defense.
| Name | School | Class | Height | Weight | Rank | Round | Position |
| Kevin Minter | LSU | rJr | 6\’1 | 245 | 87 | late 1st | 26 |
| Manti Te\’o | Notre Dame | Sr | 6\’2 | 255 | 90 | late 1st | 33 |
| Jon Bostic | Florida | Sr | 6\’1 | 246 | 65 | 4th | 106 |
| Nico Johnson | Alabama | Sr | 6\’2 | 249 | 64 | 4th | 108 |
| Kiko Alonso | Oregon | rSr | 6\’3 | 242 | 76 | late 4th | 127 |
| Kevin Reddick | North Carolina | Sr | 6\’2 | 246 | 76 | late 4th | 144 |
| A.J. Klein | Iowa State | Sr | 6\’1 | 246 | 51 | 5th | 208 |
| Bruce Taylor | Virginia Tech | rSr | 6\’1 | 234 | 52 | 6th | 218 |
| Albert Rosette | Nevada | rSr | 6\’2 | 245 | 15 | 7th | 218 |
| Vince Williams | Florida State | rSr | 6\’1 | 247 | 29 | 7th | 289 |
The chart shown below is all of the data I tabulated for you to get more insight into what these sites think about each player. A * means that this ranking was in a different category than the rest.
| Name | NFL.com | ESPN | CBS | DraftTek | Walterfootball | Draft Insider | ||||
| Score | Score | Pos Rk | Ovr Rk | Pos Rk | Ovr Rk | Pos Rk | Ovr Rk | Pos Rk | Ovr Rk | |
| Kevin Minter | 84 | 90 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 17 | 3 | 1-2 | 3 | 1st |
| Manti Te\’o | 87.5 | 92 | 2 | 37 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 1-2 | 2 | 1st |
| Jon Bostic | 62.2 | 68 | 3 | 102 | 4 | 110 | 6 | 3-3 | 4 | 3rd |
| Nico Johnson | 64.7 | 64 | 4 | 116 | 3 | 99 | 7 | 4-5 | 8 | 5th |
| Kiko Alonso | 67.1 | 84 | 5 | 131 | 5 | 123 | 5 | 3-4 | 7* | 3rd |
| Kevin Reddick | 71.5 | 81 | 6 | 137 | 7 | 150 | 4 | 2-3 | 5 | 4th |
| A.J. Klein | 56.3 | 46 | 7 | 166 | 10 | 249 | 8 | 4-5 | 6 | 5th |
| Bruce Taylor | 63.9 | 41 | 9 | 226 | 9 | 209 | 10 | 4-6 | 9 | 6th |
| Albert Rosette | 0 | 30 | 10 | 249 | 8 | 186 | N/A | FA | N/A | FA |
| Vince Williams | 0 | 57 | 8 | 205 | 15 | 373 | 11 | 5-7 | 38* | FA |
* OLB ranking
With all of the information out there, at least a baseline is established for future conversation. I will try to break down this data before the combine, but if not, please give me an idea of who you like at ILB by commenting below. Please try to keep the discussion about the ILB position only for this post and I will continue thru the positions ASAP. Also, if you have any other sites that you think have thorough and insightful draft information, please post them below.
Sites:
www.nfl.com
www.espn.com
www.cbssports.com
www.drafttek.com
www.walterfootball.com
www.draftinsider.net
