It’s time to have some fun and do a redraft exercise for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are the rules:
You must either choose the actual player that the Steelers selected in each round or another player that was taken before their next selection.
Here are the results by round.
Here is my redraft:
Round 1 – ILB Ryan Shazier – Ohio State – While I would have loved cornerback Kyle Fuller to last one more pick, I am on board with the selection of Shazier. He is an incredible athlete and that speed will come in handy. He also has a solid chance to start week one and that’s certainly encouraging. Yes, Darqueze Dennard would be another choice, but I will address the cornerback position shortly.
Round 2 – DE Stephon Tuitt – Notre Dame – Now that I know Tuitt lasted this long, I have no problems with getting him in the second round of my redraft. The only reason I didn’t select him in my final mock draft was because I was convinced he’d be off the board. If the Steelers got the 2012 version of Tuitt, they will be in great shape a far as the defensive line goes for several years.
Round 3 (Comp) – CB Jaylen Watkins – Florida – Watkins will more than likely wind up as a slot corner at the NFL level, but he can play outside in a pinch. He is very versatile and would have made a solid special teams contributor for the Steelers in his first year. I like his upside more than that of Dri Archer. This team needs cornerbacks more than kick returners. Hopefully Archer makes me eat these words.
Round 4 – WR Martavis Bryant – Clemson – Yet another actual pick that I’m on board with. A young wide receiver with both speed and size is hard to come by in the fourth round. Bryant has the upside of a 60 catch a season receiver that can provide seven or more touchdowns a year as well starting in 2015.
Round 5 – CB Shaquille Richardson – Arizona – As a second cornerback taken in the draft, I can live with Richardson. It will take some time to develop him, but the way I drafted above, I could see a future Steelers secondary that includes him starting opposite Cortez Allen with Watkins playing in the slot.
Round 5 (Comp) – T/G Wesley Johnson – Vanderbilt – This looks homerish, but I am on board with this pick assuming that he kicks inside and finds a home at left guard. I would rather him play inside the phone booth instead of outside of it. Hopefully he gets stronger and fills out a tad more. He might be a practice squad player in year one.
Round 6 – RB Marion Grice – Arizona State – Grice has nice size, but not great speed. He does, however, catch the ball well out of the backfield. Solid character with a nose for the end zone.
Round 6 (Comp) – OLB Randell Johnson – Florida Atlantic – Not much to choose from here, but instead of Daniel McCullers, who I’m not very high on, I would go with Johnson, a 3-4 outside linebacker that will need good coaching to develop into a reliable backup. No guarantees he would make the roster, but you get what you get this late.
Round 7 – TE Rob Blanchflower – Massachusetts – Yes, I have been on the Blanchflower upside bandwagon for a long time. If he doesn’t make the final roster, a year on the practice squad would likely do him good. Boom or bust pick.
Now it’s your time. Lets see your redraft below based on the rules above.
