2013 Draft

Steelers 2013 Draft Analysis: Outside Linebacker – Early Look At The Rankings

Christopher DiMarino

It\’s time to start looking at the positions that the Pittsburgh Steelers will look to draft in April. I like to start with a very broad scope, so if certain players surge leading up to the draft, I\’m prepared. It is also a good idea to get a feel for a player before the combine, so you can tell if players are rated high just based on one weekend of workouts. Outside linebacker is an integral position for the Steelers and regardless of the status of James Harrison, there is a good chance that one will be targeted early in the draft. LaMarr Woodley has been inconsistent and Jason Worilds has only begun to show what he can do so depth is direly necessary.

Below is a list of the top players who should figure as a possibility to play outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme like the Steelers\’. This list includes profile information like school, class, height and weight. It also includes 3 different ways that I\’ve ranked the players. I will get more into these rankings in a bit, but it is useful to establish a baseline. This will help us understand who should be available when, which is the hardest battle a mock drafter faces. The first category ranks the player\’s skill level out of 100. The second gives a general idea what round the player should be drafted in, while the last category guesses the draft position more precisely.

Name School Class Height Weight Rank Round Position
Bjoern Werner Florida State Jr 6\’4 256 92 early 1 6
Jarvis Jones Georgia rJr 6\’2 242 92 mid 1 6
Barkevious Mingo LSU rJr 6\’4 240 94 mid 1 9
Dion Jordan Oregon rSr 6\’6 243 91 late 1 19
Damontre Moore Texas A&M Jr 6\’4 250 93 early 1 25
Alex Okafor Texas Sr 6\’5 261 82 late 1 35
Sam Montgomery LSU rJr 6\’5 260 87 1-2 36
Ezekiel Ansah Brigham Young Sr 6\’5 274 91 mid 1 55
Jamie Collins Sou Miss Sr 6\’3 245 66 3 82
Brandon Jenkins Florida State Sr 6\’3 260 80 3 85
Cornellius Carradine Florida State Sr 6\’4 265 85 late 2 95
Chase Thomas Stanford rSr 6\’3 241 79 2-3 101
Corey Lemonier Aubrun Jr 6\’3 242 81 3 102
Michael Buchanan Illinois Sr 6\’5 252 70 4-4 114

The next chart contains the information that I gathered to create the 3 rankings above. The NFL.com and ESPN.com sites were used to establish the player ranking attribute. The WalterFootball and NFLDraftScout sites were referenced for the approximate draft round. Finally, the CBS.com and DraftTek sites were used to approximate the exact pick where the player should be drafted. Also included in the chart below are 4 sets of positional rankings to consider.

Player NFL.com ESPN CBS DraftTek Walterfootball NFL Draft Scout
 * Score Score Pos Rk Ovr Rk Pos Rk Ovr Rk Pos Rk Ovr Rk Pos Rk Ovr Rk
Bjoern Werner 90.9 94 1 2 3 9 2 top 10 1 1st
Jarvis Jones 88.8 95 1* 8 1 3 4 top 20 1* 1st
Barkevious Mingo 92.8 95 3 9 2 8 5 top 20 3 1st
Dion Jordan 88 93 7 27 4 11 6 1-2 7 1st
Damontre Moore 89.2 96 2 4 7 45 1 top 10 1 1st
Alex Okafor 85.2 78 6 25 6 44 7 1-2 6 1st
Sam Montgomery 81.4 92 8 32 5 39 8 1-2 8 1-2nd
Ezekiel Ansah 89.3 92 4 16 12 94 3 top 20 4 1st
Jamie Collins 68.8 64 10* 96 9 68 14 2-4 10* 3rd
Brandon Jenkins 82.9 78 7* 76 11 93 12 2-4 7* 2-3rd
Cornellius Carradine 85.4 85 11 95 13 94 11 2-3 11 3rd
Chase Thomas 79.4 79 6* 73 17 128 10 2-3 6* 2-3rd
Corey Lemonier 71.2 90 13 120 10 84 9 2-3 13 4th
Michael Buchanan 69.5 71 17 171 8 57 16 3-5 17 5-6th

*Rank for outside linebacker position (rather than defensive end)
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 OLB by commenting below. Please try to keep the discussion about the OLB 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.nfldraftscout.com

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