On Tuesday, ESPN draftniks Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay both released new versions of mocks of the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft and each have new names going to the Pittsburgh Steelers the 15th overall selection.
Kiper has Notre Dame tackle Zack Martin going to the Steelers and he writes:
In my draft needs piece, I wrote, “Kelvin Beachum could be holding down the left tackle position, and, although Ramon Foster was pretty good last year at left guard, given the injuries the Steelers have dealt with up front the past couple of seasons, I could see an addition at tackle or guard to improve depth.” Martin is up there with Joe Bitonio of Nevada for me as perhaps the most versatile offensive line talent in the draft, which is pretty useful for the Steelers. Pittsburgh could go cornerback here, but I don’t like the value with the top two off the board. Receiver is also an option.
As for McShay, he now has Virginia Tech cornerback Kyle Fuller tabbed for the Steelers. He writes:
I don’t think the Steelers have to go with a cornerback here, but it’s definitely a need position. The three players it came down to for me were Fuller, Justin Gilbert and C.J. Mosley. Mosley could be a fit, but I think the durability concerns will probably lead to him falling a little. I’m sure they’d love to have Gilbert’s playmaking ability, but they’ve always gone for more physical corners like Fuller over guys like Gilbert who don’t get up and press and are poor tacklers. If they can find a way to trade back and add extra picks, that’d be a good move; they could get similar value to Fuller six or so spots down the board.
The Fuller pick by McShay I can fathom happening, but the selection of Martin by Kiper really doesn’t make a lot of sense and especially being that the Notre Dame product might be best suited to play guard at the NFL level.
It should be noted that both Kiper and McShay already have Mike Evans, Odell Beckham Jr. and Darqueze Dennard already off the board come time for the Steelers selection. Kiper also has Justin Gilbert already off the board as well.
