Christopher DiMarino
This article continues along with my pre combine look at key positions for the Steelers. For an explanation on how the rankings are calculated please reference the link below:
The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a unique situation at wide receiver. Mike Wallace is all but gone and there is a slight chance that Jerricho Cotchery could be right behind him thanks to a tough cap year approaching. Wallace underperformed and while Cotchery made plays as required, he wasn\’t featured enough to make a significant impact. This leaves the Steelers with Antonio Brown and Emmanuel Sanders along with a small group of prospects. The Steelers would like to get a receiver with size so Sanders can slide to the slot in three wide situations, but the Steelers could easily grab multiple wide outs just the same. The Steelers have made a living drafting receivers late in drafts, and with this deep class, there is an opportunity to continue that trend.
| Name | School | Class | Height | Weight | Rank | Round | Position |
| Keenan Allen | Cal | Jr | 6\’3 | 210 | 88 | mid 1st | 12 |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | Tennessee | Jr | 6\’3 | 205 | 91 | late 1st | 20 |
| Tavon Austin | West Virginia | Sr | 5\’9 | 175 | 87 | late 1st | 30 |
| DeAndre Hopkins | Clemson | Jr | 6\’1 | 200 | 87 | early 2nd | 36 |
| Terrance Williams | Baylor | rSr | 6\’2 | 201 | 84 | mid 2nd | 43 |
| Justin Hunter | Tennessee | Jr | 6\’4 | 200 | 86 | mid 2nd | 48 |
| Robert Woods | USC | Jr | 6\’1 | 190 | 85 | late 2nd | 43 |
| Quinton Patton | Louisiana Tech | rSr | 6\’0 | 202 | 82 | early 3rd | 64 |
| Markus Wheaton | Oregon State | Sr | 5\’11 | 183 | 80 | mid 3rd | 77 |
| Da\’Rick Rogers | Tennessee Tech | Jr | 6\’2 | 206 | 73 | late 3rd | 83 |
| Stedman Bailey | West Virginia | rJr | 5\’10 | 195 | 73 | late 3rd | 90 |
| Aaron Dobson | Marshall | Sr | 6\’3 | 203 | 75 | 4th | 54 |
| Cobi Hamilton | Arkansas | Sr | 6\’2 | 199 | 74 | 4th | 124 |
| Kenny Stills | Oklahoma | Jr | 6\’0 | 190 | 70 | 4th | 105 |
| Tavarres King | Georgia | rSr | 6\’0 | 192 | 69 | 4th | 86 |
| Ryan Swope | Texas A&M | rSr | 6\’0 | 204 | 62 | 4th | 127 |
| Chris Harper | Kansas State | rSr | 6\’1 | 228 | 65 | 4th | 129 |
| Marquise Goodwin | Texas | Sr | 5\’9 | 179 | 54 | 4th | 122 |
| Denard Robinson | Michigan | Sr | 5\’11 | 196 | 70 | 5th | 165 |
| Conner Vernon | Duke | Sr | 6\’0 | 193 | 57 | 5th | 162 |
| Marcus Davis | Virginia Tech | rSr | 6\’3 | 230 | 56 | 5th | 187 |
| Josh Boyce | TCU | rJr | 5\’11 | 203 | 66 | 6th | 180 |
| Aaron Mellette | Elon | rSr | 6\’3 | 216 | 66 | 6th | 186 |
| Marquess Wilson | Washington St | Jr | 6\’3 | 188 | 69 | 6th | 216 |
| Rodney Smith | Florida State | Sr | 6\’5 | 219 | 62 | 7th | 190 |
| Alec Lemon | Syracuse | Sr | 6\’1 | 200 | 43 | 7-FA | 230 |
| Keenan Davis | Iowa | Sr | 6\’2 | 216 | 55 | 7-FA | 276 |
| Jasper Collins | Mount Union | Sr | 5\’10 | 183 | 19 | 7-FA | 268 |
| Ace Sanders | South Carolina | Jr | 5\’8 | 176 | 49 | 7-FA | 283 |
| Dan Buckner | Arizona | rSr | 6\’4 | 212 | 56 | 7-FA | 291 |
| Brandon Kaufman | Eastern Wash | rJr | 6\’4 | 215 | 49 | 7-FA | 315 |
| Corey Fuller | Virginia Tech | rSr | 6\’2 | 197 | 49 | 7-FA | 303 |
| Emory Blake | Aubrun | Sr | 6\’1 | 196 | 48 | 7-FA | 361 |
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 | |
| Keenan Allen | 86.3 | 89 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st |
| Cordarrelle Patterson | 90.6 | 91 | 2 | 20 | 2 | 19 | 6 | 1-3 | 6 | 2nd |
| Tavon Austin | 85.4 | 88 | 4 | 38 | 1* | 21 | 3 | 1-2 | 4 | 2nd |
| DeAndre Hopkins | 87.8 | 87 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 1-2 | 3 | 2nd |
| Terrance Williams | 83.6 | 85 | 6 | 45 | 5 | 40 | 2 | 1-2 | 2 | 2nd |
| Justin Hunter | 81.8 | 90 | 10 | 67 | 3 | 29 | 5 | 1-3 | 5 | 2nd |
| Robert Woods | 83.1 | 86 | 5 | 41 | 6 | 45 | 9 | 2-3 | 10 | 3rd |
| Quinton Patton | 83.8 | 80 | 9 | 56 | 9 | 72 | 15 | 3-4 | 8 | 3rd |
| Markus Wheaton | 81.8 | 78 | 8 | 53 | 3* | 101 | 12 | 2-4 | 7 | 2-3 |
| Da\’Rick Rogers | 74.4 | 72 | 11 | 77 | 11 | 89 | 7 | 1-3 | 15 | 4th |
| Stedman Bailey | 79 | 66 | 14 | 101 | 10 | 79 | 10 | 2-3 | 12 | 3rd |
| Aaron Dobson | 71.7 | 79 | 7 | 48 | 8 | 60 | 19 | 4-6 | 19 | 4-5 |
| Cobi Hamilton | 72.9 | 76 | 12 | 83 | 19 | 165 | 8 | 2-3 | 13 | 3-4 |
| Kenny Stills | 66 | 73 | 15 | 103 | 12 | 107 | 13 | 3-4 | 16 | 4th |
| Tavarres King | 69.8 | 68 | 16 | 118 | 7 | 53 | 23 | 5-7 | 20 | 5th |
| Ryan Swope | 67.4 | 56 | 17 | 125 | 14 | 129 | 11 | 2-4 | 17 | 4th |
| Chris Harper | 68 | 62 | 18 | 144 | 13 | 113 | 22 | 5-6 | 11 | 3rd |
| Marquise Goodwin | 68.5 | 40 | 13 | 90 | 6* | 154 | N/A | FA | 9 | 3rd |
| Denard Robinson | 70.3 | 70 | 23 | 188 | 5* | 142 | N/A | FA | 14 | 3-4 |
| Conner Vernon | 55.4 | 58 | 19 | 161 | 18 | 162 | 18 | 4-5 | 22 | 5th |
| Marcus Davis | 63.8 | 49 | 29 | 236 | 15 | 138 | 14 | 3-4 | 21 | 5th |
| Josh Boyce | 72.2 | 59 | 27 | 221 | 16 | 139 | 20 | 4-6 | 43 | FA |
| Aaron Mellette | 67 | 64 | 21 | 169 | 22 | 203 | N/A | FA | 18 | 4th |
| Marquess Wilson | 67.3 | 71 | 31 | 256 | 20 | 176 | 16 | 3-5 | 23 | 5th |
| Rodney Smith | 72.8 | 51 | 22 | 186 | 7* | 194 | N/A | FA | 28 | 6th |
| Alec Lemon | 54 | 31 | 26 | 207 | 26 | 253 | 25 | 6-7 | 31 | 6-7 |
| Keenan Davis | 59.4 | 50 | 54 | 394 | 17 | 157 | 26 | 6-7 | 38 | FA |
| Jasper Collins | 0 | 37 | 24 | 195 | 30 | 340 | N/A | FA | 24 | 6th |
| Ace Sanders | 68 | 30 | 20 | 165 | N/A | 400 | N/A | FA | 29 | 6-7 |
| Dan Buckner | 66.9 | 45 | 41 | 358 | 24 | 223 | 21 | 5-6 | 32 | 7th |
| Brandon Kaufman | 68 | 30 | 28 | 230 | N/A | 400 | N/A | FA | 25 | 6th |
| Corey Fuller | 56 | 41 | 25 | 206 | N/A | 400 | N/A | FA | 26 | 6th |
| Emory Blake | 58.6 | 38 | 44 | 389 | 29 | 332 | 17 | 4-5 | 65 | FA |
* Denotes “return” wide receiver candidate
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 WR by commenting below. Please try to keep the discussion about the WR 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
