The Los Angeles Times held their annual NFL beat-writers’ mock draft on Thursday and you can see the pick-by-pick results below. If you would like to read the full explanations of each and every selection you can do so by following the link.
Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette picked for the Pittsburgh Steelers and he drafted Michigan safety Jabrill Peppers with the 30th overall selection and he writes:
The Steelers are looking for playmakers in the secondary who can cover the field. With so much sub package, Peppers would be the ideal fifth DB for now.
Peppers has showed up quite often as the Steelers first-round selection in several major media mock drafts as of late. Additionally, a few weeks ago, Aditi Kinkhabwala of the NFL Network reported that Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert is quite fond of Peppers.
“I can tell you at that 30th pick, GM Kevin Colbert loves Jabrill Peppers,” Kinkhabwala reported nine days ago during a television segment. “Will he actually be available, that of course will be the big question.”
Peppers, who measured in at this year’s scouting combine at 5107, 213-pounds, ran the 40-yard-dash in 4.46 seconds while in Indianapolis. Last season he registered 72 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and one interception as a linebacker. During his 2015 season as a defensive back, Peppers recorded 45 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and a career-high 10 defensed passes. He also played some running back at Michigan in addition to returning punts and kickoffs.
So, did Dulac choose wisely for the Steelers based on the way the first 29 picks went? Who would you have selected instead of Peppers? Let me know in the comments below.
| PICK # | NFL TEAM | SELECTION | MEDIA MEMBER |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cleveland Browns | DE Myles Garrett, Texas A&M | Mary Kay Cabot, Cleveland Plain Dealer |
| 2 | San Francisco 49ers | DE Solomon Thomas, Stanford | Matt Barrows, Sacramento Bee |
| 3 | Chicago Bears | FS Malik Hooker, Ohio State | Rich Campbell, Chicago Tribune |
| 4 | Jacksonville Jaguars | DT Jonathan Allen, Alabama | Ryan O’Halloran, Florida Times-Union |
| 5 | Tennessee Titans | SS Jamal Adams, LSU | Jason Wolf, The Tennesseean |
| 6 | New York Jets | CB Marshon Lattimore, Ohio State | Brian Costello, New York Post |
| 7 | Los Angeles Chargers | WR Mike Williams, Clemson | Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times |
| 8 | Carolina Panthers | RB Leonard Fournette, LSU | Joe Person, Charlotte Observer |
| 9 | Cincinnati Bengals | DE Derek Barnett, Tennessee | Paul Dehner, Cincinnati Enquirer |
| 10 | Buffalo Bills | QB Mitchell Trubisky, North Carolina | Tim Graham, Buffalo News |
| 11 | New Orleans Saints | OLB Haason Reddick, Temple | Jeff Duncan, New Orleans Times-Picayune |
| 12 | Cleveland Browns | TE O.J. Howard, Alabama | Jeff Schudel, News Herald |
| 13 | Arizona Cardinals | ILB Reuben Foster, Alabama | Kent Somers, Arizona Republic |
| 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | WR John Ross, Washington | Les Bowen, Philadelphia Daily News |
| 15 | Indianapolis Colts | OLB Takkarist McKinley, UCLA | Stephen Holder, Indianapolis Star |
| 16 | Baltimore Ravens | WR Corey Davis, Western Michigan | Jeff Zrebeic, Baltimore Sun |
| 17 | Washington Redskins | RB Christian McCaffrey, Stanford | Master Tesfatsion, Washington Post |
| 18 | Tennessee Titans | OL Forrest Lamp, Western Kentucky | Jason Wolf, Tennessean |
| 19 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | RB Dalvin Cook, Florida State | Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times |
| 20 | Denver Broncos | OT Garett Bolles, Utah | Mike Klis, 9News |
| 21 | Detroit Lions | DE Taco Charlton, Michigan | Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press |
| 22 | Miami Dolphins | DT Malik McDowell, Michigan State | Omar Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel |
| 23 | New York Giants | TE David Njoku, Miami | Tom Rock, Newsday |
| 24 | Oakland Raiders | ILB Jarrad Davis, Florida | Vic Tafur, San Francisco Chronicle |
| 25 | Houston Texans | QB Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech | John McClain, Houston Chronicle |
| 26 | Seattle Seahawks | CB Kevin King, Washington | Bob Condotta, Seattle Times |
| 27 | Kansas City Chiefs | QB Deshaun Watson, Clemson | Terez Paylor, Kansas City Star |
| 28 | Dallas Cowboys | DE Charles Harris, Missouri | Charean Williams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram |
| 29 | Green Bay Packers | OLB T.J. Watt, Wisconsin | Pete Dougherty, Green Bay Press-Gazette |
| 30 | Pittsburgh Steelers | SS Jabrill Peppers, Michigan | Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |
| 31 | Atlanta Falcons | DE Carl Lawson, Auburn | D. Orlando Ledbetter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| 32 | New Orleans Saints | CB Tre’Davious White, LSU | Larry Holder, New Orleans Times-Picayune |
