For all the championship teams in NFL history the draft is where the journey begins. Teams address needs and hopefully select players that wind up being game changers.
The Pittsburgh Steelers probably more than any team know the importance of a good draft because the draft has played a major role in their six Super Bowl Championships. That being said let’s take a look at the action from rounds 4-7.
The Steelers focus in this year’s draft was on the defensive side of the football. The Steelers have a long history of great and even legendary defenses. However, their defense has been on a downward slide since their last Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2010 season.
To help address their defensive issues the Steelers kicked off the final day of the draft by selecting cornerback Doran Grant in the fourth round. Grant played for the Ohio State Buckeyes last year and really faced some solid opponents on the team’s path to the championship. Grant fits really well into a zone scheme and many scouts love his intellect on the field due to the fact that he is rarely fooled. Grant also is good at stopping the run and gets to the ball quickly to make tackles. The only downside with Grant is the fact that many consider him to be too small to cover a receiver on the outside and may struggle against big time receivers as a result.
The Steelers added depth and youth to their tight end position by selecting Jesse James out of Penn State in round five. With Heath Miller getting up there in years the team needed to add a young tight end to the roster to learn from Miller and at the very least compete for his job once Miller retires. James has great size, he’s 6-foot-7 and this will make him a big target for Ben Roethlisberger especially in redzone situations. Another attribute that makes him a great fit in this offense is his desire to continuously move during a play and never give up. With Roethlisberger throwing him the ball that is a great trait to have because you never know what’s going to happen on any given play.
The two big knocks on James are he struggles to create separation and his run blocking ability isn’t very good and needs work.
The Steelers bolstered their front seven in round six of the draft by drafting defensive tackle Leterrius Walton and defensive end Anthony Chickillo.
Walton was a solid lineman for Central Michigan, he was a durable player who was great at stopping the run and showed signs of pass rushing ability. Walton’s size also enables the Steelers to use him as an interior lineman and an end due to the fact that he’s stocky and long. One knock on him is that he’s way too inconsistent at breaking off blocks and penetrating the line.
Chickillo played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. Even though he played defensive end in college, the Steelers have stated that they consider him an outside linebacker especially once he gets down to the right weight. Chickillo was consistent at Miami and is considered by many scouts as a very technically sound player. However the knocks on him are his lack of explosiveness when it comes to pass rushing and that he didn’t show any signs of progression at Miami.
With their last pick in the NFL draft the Steelers decided to draft safety Gerod Holliman. Holliman was the third defensive back selected by the Steelers in an attempt to rebuild their biggest weakness on defense. Holliman played college ball at Louisville and even though he only started one year he definitely made it count. The reigning Thorpe Award winner has great ability and instincts when it comes to reading quarterbacks. He has a great play making ability and is considered an aggressive game changer. The knocks on him include a lack of discipline; he seems to always want to make the big play and struggles to make the sure play at times as a result.
Overall in rounds four through seven the Steelers kept their focus on their defense. Four out of the five players selected in these rounds were defensive players. They also addressed their tight end situation by selecting one in the fifth round. Overall I would have to give the Steelers a B+ in the second half of their draft. They added a lot of young prospects in areas of need to their team and hopefully they will all pan out. That being said this is the draft aka the NFL’s version of a “crap shoot”.
Photo Credit: Central Michigan
