West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith had a solid showing at the NFL combine on Sunday and during his NFL Network interview he admitted that the Pittsburgh Steelers were one of many teams that he met with while in Indianapolis.
Smith is expected to be long gone by the time that the 17th pick rolls around, but the Steelers are doing their due diligence just the same.
A smoke screen, perhaps? Sure, it is possible. General manager Kevin Colbert has stated ever since the season ended that all positions are open to being drafted in every round, and that includes the quarterback position. Do we really believe that he is willing to take a quarterback in the first round? I don\’t believe it and I\’m pretty sure many of you don\’t believe as well.
Colbert perhaps wants to at least give the appearance that he is open to the idea of drafting a quarterback in hopes that it will at least get teams that are wanting to move up to draft one, or any other player for that matter, a reason to call on draft day to inquire about the pick. Just call it draft day poker.
Do I think that the Steelers will trade down on draft day in round one? I think it is highly unlikely that they move up or down in the first round, but if they do wind up trading out of the spot, I firmly believe that it will be down.
Many Steelers fans are Mountaineer fans, but I would not get your hopes up that Smith is being seriously pursued by the black and gold. I hate making guarantees when it comes to the draft, but I guarantee you that Smith will not be photographed on draft day holding up a No. 1 Steelers jersey.
Teams are allowed to meet with 60 prospects during the combine for 15 minutes each. That\’s about 18% of the players that will be passing through Indianapolis and it is not uncommon for all the first round prospects to be interviewed by each and every team.
