2009 Steelers Draft and Mel Kiper Sucks Thread

Any thoughts on Xavier Rhodes at 17

He didnt look to good during Senior Bowl week. Michale Williams beat him for a TD. 17 is a bit too high.

Xav Rhodes is a Jr so he wasnt at the Sr bowl.

Xav Rhodes is a Jr so he wasnt at the Sr bowl.
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THis is the first year that the senior bowl let jr's play - granted 4th year Jr (eligibility) with their degree's already in hand - Fluker from Alabama and Pugh from Syracuse...

I agree - I don think Rhodes played in the game.... as a 3rd year jr (confused yet )

enjoy,

bb

To add - I believe it was T.J. McDonald USC who williams beat for the TD..  McDonald was once a high 2nd round pick - I now see him mocked to the 3rd and 4th rounds...

enjoy,

bb

To add - I believe it was T.J. McDonald USC who williams beat for the TD.

Yep my, bad. I had the 2 mixed up.

It was McDonald that got smoked

Anyone watch Vacarro in the drills, yikes!! He's really stiff with cement hips. Again Earl Wolff I am telling you this is the kid I want in camp. Also in that second group JJ Wilcox looks the part, like him too.

Anyone of the 4 UConn kids I would like to see in camp, Dwayne Gratz is really moving up the boards, his 40 and his drills helped his stock.  Sio Moore is the next Daryl Washington, similar build, nose for the ball, can move him around. The problem is that he will go late second or early third and to me that would be a "luxury" pick.  If he is there in the middle of the third I am interested, that whole level of competition goes out the window when jackasses like Mingo and Montgomery show up with all world talent and food stamp work ethics. Throw in the Homey Bladder too, with the p1ss colored hair. 4 reps on the bench, he is going to get mauled by physical WR's, all the technique in the world won't fix the fact he is a Keebler Elf either.

Dana Bugphuccer is useless on the Riser and Faller list, He mailed his latest effort in.

He previously had  Eric Fisher as a riser, has  him again. So wait he went from top 10 to top 5, quite the revaltion Dana.

I got my own list and I think it suits the draftaholics more than the casual observer, (JAFO's) -  Blue Thunder 1983

Risers:

Desmond Trufant- ran well, solid in the drills, smooth, has the length you look for. He is at the minum the 3rd best CB, and I am almost convinced he won't make it to the second round.

Jonathon Cooper- closed the gap on Warmack in fact I prefer him. Warmack looks sloppy and fat, Cooper is more polished and athletic, and more importantly stronger at a lighter weight.

Arthur Brown- looked good in the drills, ran and jumped well, very high on Mayocks OLB list. A riser to me, because we have not discussed him much, if at all.

Terron Armstead - this young man was a late round prospect before the Shrine Game, he has been ascending boards faster than any other top player. He has a very high KEI, durable, plays through pain, solid footwork, just cracked draftscouts top 50.

Shamarko Thomas- looks like a combination of Bob Sanders and Ronnie Lott, very strong, athletic, he will instantly improve your core special teams, and probably knock somebody the eff out.

Tyrann Matthieu - for all intents and purposes he looks smooth, catches the ball effortlessly, backpedal is solid. I call him a riser because some team, not Pittsburgh, will draft him on the second day hoping he stays away from dope and dopes. I think the deserves a second chance third chance, whatever, I personally do not like the kid and his 4 reps, somebody is going to truck his ass, someone like a Fullback wearing purple.

Dwayne Gratz- good speed and quickness, backpedal was fundamentally sound, ball skills in the drills being able to locate and turn.

Darius Slay- he looked like a WR catching the ball, I am actually thinking he maybe the better pro than his teammate J. Banks.

Sio Moore- This is not a homer pick, even the panel of nfl network wondered why so many UConn kids were shining and the team did not win more games. If they had seen the half dozen games like me, it was players like Moore, Gratz, Wilson, Trevardo Williams,  who kept them in games. The QB play of the Huskies was pittiful, and the OL was not their strong point. Moore was a star among one the Nations better defenses that nobody talked about...... until the combine.

Jamie Collins- This kid looks the part of a 3-4 OLB, small school kid who took advantage of an opportunity. 6-3+ and he carries his 250 well, his KEI was 11th best overall.

Jon Bostic- Okay call me a nutjob, I like him over Te'o. Very under-rated ILB from the SEC who looked adequate in the drills, but his top end speed will allow him to go sideline to sideline and prevent big plays.

JJ Wilcox- looked very fundamentally sound in the drills, and I like the way he caught the ball, looked natural. He has been on a steady climb since the Senoir Bowl.

Cornelius Washington- I think he has a lot of value for either a 3-4 or 4-3 team, overshadowed by Jones and Ogletree, he proved his has the tools to become an nfl starter. Benchmark numbers in the 40, vertical, and long jump are making teams take a second look.

Earl Wolff- his backpedal as a safety is impressive, and his 40 time will help him cover deep middle.  I liked him all along, he is a riser because of the way he looked at the combine. Overall a very solid safety that will make a roster, I compare him to Ryan Clark, I think he develops into a nfl starter within a year or two. Like Amerson he had some bad games, but I like his hitting ability and his cover skillset.


Fallers:

Oday Oboushi-  this cat puts the S in suck. in late November he was an early second round pick and a top 5 OT on draftscout. I wouldn't even touch this kid until day 3, late with a comp pick.


Bjoern Werner- Looks stiff, not as explosive as advertised, once a top 3 pick, now more like a top 15 pick.

Star Lotulelei- heart condition, lots of question marks, his tape and measurables are impressive but is a GM going to shell out 20M to a kid who could end up being the next Len Bias?  I like the player, I think he is similar to Steve McClendon, only even more talented. You could line him up at NT or DE, but the medical is looming very large and he has to fall down out of the top 5.

Kenny Vaccaro- I thought he looked awful in the drills, sorry being honest here. His downfield speed is not the greatest. But something else popped up, he has some red flags for character, so he has to drop at least on my board.

Sam Montgomery- his comments alone have to drop him, I took off plays, I was part of a bounty program. His combine numbers did not wow anyone either.

Alec Ogletree- first it was pot brownies, theft, and now a DUI. All world talent on the field, but off the field nightmares.

Johnathon Banks- he does not have that gear needed to stay stride for stride with the likes of some of the faster NFL WR.  He also looked skinny to me, maybe wiry. Looks good on tape, but I am scared he is going to get smoked or out-muscled in the NFL.

Kenny Vaccaro- I thought he looked awful in the drills, sorry being honest here. His downfield speed is not the greatest. But something else popped up, he has some red flags for character, so he has to drop at least on my board.

Heard some chatter about Vaccaro being hurt at the combine. If it's true it speaks to his competitiveness. Not sure what to believe from some of these GMs and scouts but he looked a heckuva lot more athletic and fluid on tape. I saw him in coverage in the slot pretty often and he moved like a CB. Who knows.

Star Lotulelei- heart condition, lots of question marks, his tape and measurables are impressive but is a GM going to shell out 20M to a kid who could end up being the next Len Bias?  I like the player, I think he is similar to Steve McClendon, only even more talented. You could line him up at NT or DE, but the medical is looming very large and he has to fall down out of the top 5.

Catch 22 here. If he falls then teams have legitimate questions. If he's healthy he probably doesn't fall. But could you pass on this kid if he's there at 17? The guy is an azz kicker and could play right away in our D.

As I mentioned before....Im a huge FSU fan and Werner needs to b a 4-3 DE.  He is not capable of playing OLB full time and being successful.  He may fall cause a lot of the early teams r 3-4, but he is a beast.  Oak could use him, but I think Miami grabs him at 12

Catch 22 here. If he falls then teams have legitimate questions. If he's healthy he probably doesn't fall. But could you pass on this kid if he's there at 17? The guy is an azz kicker and could play right away in our D.

There's an outside chance Lotulelei or Jarvis Jones could fall to 17 but it's unlikily. The question is if they did fall which one would help the Steelers more? I personally don't think the Steelers would take Lotulelei if his health doesn't check, but what do I know.

The more tape I watch of Ziggy Ansah the more I think he could be a perfect fit for the Steelers. He could be brought on slowly as a situational pass rusher and he gives you the versitilty to line up as an olb or in the 5 technique. It's mouthwatering to think what dick Lebeau can do with a guy like Ansah, this guy will make plays and help get turnovers.

I'll go as far as to say I think Ansah may end up being the best defensive player in the draft once he gets more experience behind him and If he lasts to 17 he would be my choice even if J Jones or Lotulelei are on the board. 

I recently did a 1st round, ppost combine mock on the main board, and I had you all taking Ogletree figuring that his character issues would have him drop to 17 and the Steelers would snap'em up to bolster their linebacking corp.  

To this point I had Mingo, Moore and Jarvis Jones off the board for LBs which is the position I think the Steelers will target early in the draft. 

Fauk,

I posted on your thread. I think the Steelers would take Lane Johnson or Kenny Vaccaro over Ogletree and his off the field indescretions, Johnson was BPA when I looked at your mock and may fit the new zone blocking scheme.

nyb

Steelersdepot mock draft

1. Jonathan Cooper
2. DeAndre Hopkins
3. Shawn Williams
4. Knile Davis
5. Trevardo Williams (nyb)
6. Michael Mauti
7. Joe Kruger (oh the irony)
8. Zach Sudfeld*

*-They believe this pick will be a 7th for Gay

Cooper is not my first choice but I certainly would take him. My favorite pick is Hopkins, he is a more polished than Mike Wallace was as a rookie and that runs better routes. 

Michael Mauti is a guy I would bet ends up on the Steelers because he fits perfectly into their situation. Draft him in the 6th and let him take a redshirt year while Foote starts (any rookie would have that redshirt year anyway) and let him and Spence fight for the spot in 2014. 

Knile Davis red flags for characterIMHO Franklin is a better kid. Trevardo Williams won't last until mid 5th

Yeah give me Franklin or Gillisie.

Mauti, I believe had 3 knee surgeries in his career so far, I don't know if we chance this, our main problem last year was depth in the ILB position, foote got tired and looked it at the end of the season. Spence went down, sylvester was hurt all year again, so know we want to draft a guy who went down early last year with a knee injury, his third? why even tempt fate?

roc,

I hear you, on our board multiple knee operations and character concerns. 

anyone interested in a fun competition on this draft?  No prizes, just pride and slamming Kiper continuously.

you start with 100 points and get a point taken away with each numberr you are off per question. In other words if your answer is 45 and the result is 56 you lose 11 pts. Let's see how good we are.

1. How many Offensive Linemen will be taken in the first round.   ______
2. When will Manit Te'o come off the board, at pick #  _________
3. How many RB's will be taken in the third round________
4. How many QB's will be taken in the second round.
5. Name the player that will be the 50t overall pick_________ (if he goes 75th you lose 25 pts.)
6. How many trades in round one? ________
7. How many WR will be taken by pick 62?
8. How many CB will be taken by pick 62?
9. Which round will have the most LB's taken?
10. How many times will Mel Kiper mention a fraction of an inch when describing a player's height in the first round.  (someone else can count, I will be watching NFL network, we'll take your word for it. )

sorry for the jumblemess, how the heck do you stop the keyboard from erasing the letters you already typed that follow a correction. I hate when that happens, never really figured it out..

ny

sorry the rest of my first statemtent got erased, that typing and erasing thing took over.... arrrrghh.

What I was trying to say is that a guy with 3 knee operations, or heavy character concerns can be on the board, but they have to be at least 30% give or take lower than draftscout or draftek.  Say Ogletree is 30th on the general board, he could be no higher than 39 on ours.  The same with Mauti, if he is 120th, then on our board he should be around 156, give or take. Some sort of penalty for red flags. My best example is going back to my collaborative draft. I was all set to take Christine Michael, then Mayock brought up the character things, I dug deeper and found he was not a team guy. I then took another look at Franklin and Jim Mora had nothing but positive things to say about the young man as a person and a player. IN that regards he moves up on  my board for sure. We don't get much information on the good, just more of the bad, and really do not have any idea on how the interviews went.

But I can tell you that MIke Mayock will never endorse a player he does not like by meeting him. He had nothing but positive things to say about a  couple of LB's, the kid from Howard, Pugh, and the kid from Rutgers, Kasheem Greene. I also like how he was honest about UConn and gave those kids props. Mayock is one of the better evaluators of talent on tv, he played and was in NFL locker rooms, plain and simple. Mel Kiper Jr. went to Junior College where he lettered in tennis, and no I am not making this up. Todd McShay was a college QB, not a very good one, and an even worse talent evaluator.

I know it's only the combine, but that kid Jamie Collins has some explosion to him, right now he is ranked 71st overall, he started at Southern Miss playing Safety, so I have no problems with him transitioning into a drop and cover LB, he's done it before. The Glorified track meet to burghball is just that, but like Mayock preaches, it makes you go back and look at tape. S. Miss had an awful year, and Collins really sat out most of the Senior Bowl with a hammy, maybe that's a good thing.

One more, don't like John Harbaugh much, but I lightend up a little after some of his interviews and the look on his face after Manti Fail plodded down the track, was just priceless. I am convinced it was not a poker face, he looked like he was thinking, NO EFF'N way do we take this slug at 32.  The other thing to consider is although it's just the bench, which kids prepared? Jamie Collins prepared, The UConn kids prepared, Cornelius Washington prepared, Jon Bostic prepared, but Mingo, Montgomery, and D. Moore either ran slow, or were weak on the bench. They've had two months to prepare for this interview and how took adavantage and who assumed thier athletic ability would carry them into the top part of the draft. I will say Mingo looked good in the LB drills, ran well, but if you watch him vs. good OT's he gets washed out. You would think he would work hard to beef up to take on the blockers, looks like he is "satisfied" with his speed and quickness and probably won't ever bull rush a OL or a TE. .. One man's opinon.  I don't like Mingo, MOntgomery or D. Moore at 17, they are not top 25 players. They may have the talent, but not the work ethic Colber is going to look for.

We are going to be blessed, lucky, whatever if Cooper or Johnson is there at 17, who are the top players in the draft, most of them are OL guys.  It will be interesting to see the EKG on Star Lotulelei and his pro day workout-numbers, I am following this closely and like DeCastro and Mendenhall, sometimes the Steelers get lucky.

how the heck do you stop the keyboard from erasing the letters you already typed that follow a correction. I hate when that happens, never really figured it out

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