The 2015 NFL Supplemental Draft will take place on Thursday and per usual, you shouldn’t be expecting the Pittsburgh Steelers to make a selection during it.
This year, seven players are eligible for the annual supplemental draft and they are Clemson tackle Isaiah Battle, West Georgia defensive end Darrius Caldwell, West Georgia defensive tackle Dalvon Stuckey, Houston defensive end Eric Eiland, Connecticut tight end Sean McQuillan, Kansas cornerback Kevin Short and North Carolina Central wide receiver Adrian Wilkins.
Battle is the only player with a legitimate chance of being selected in this year’s draft, but he does come with a few character red flags attached to him in addition to several technical flaws.
At his recent pro day, Battle (6-foot-6 1/8, 312 pounds) reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 5.29 and 5.21 seconds. He posted a 24 1/2-inch vertical jump and an 8-foot-5 broad jump but only did 12 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press.
On tape, Battle has problems anchoring at time in pass protection. Additionally, you will see him lunge and flat-back quite often. Despite his ideal left tackle size, he’s not as physical in the running game as you would like him to be and he lacks quality upper-body strength.
Several experts expect Battle to be drafted around rounds three or four of the supplemental draft, but I have a feeling he’ll go later than that.
Keep in mind that any team that selects Battle will more than likely have to carve out a spot on their 53 man roster for him unless they want to run the risk of throwing away a 2016 draft pick for a training camp player.
The supplemental draft starts at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday.
