The Steelers got the biggest steal of the draft in David DeCastro. He's one of these guys who's a day one starter and will be a perennial Pro Bowler for the next decade. He's a definite blue chipper and will remind Steeler fans of Alan Faneca. Their 2nd round pick may prove to be a steal as well, depending of course on whether or not Mike Adams gets his head straight. Adams is a guy with top 20 talent whose poor character and work ethic caused him to drop into the Steelers lap at 56th. From what I'm getting, he sounds sincere about getting his life together and if so, the Steelers may have gotten two Pro Bowlers for their (once) porous line with back-to-back pics. Hopefully he can be groomed to play the blindside because I have my doubts about Gilbert, who I think is better served on the right. The Steelers finally seem to have gotten serious about protecting Ben. In the last 3 years they've taken four linemen with their first and second round picks. Pouncey, Gilbert, and now DeCastro and Adams could make up one of the best young lines in football.
Sean Spence in the 3rd round wasn't a pick I had seen coming, but it makes sense in retrospect. He's very athletic, plays with a high motor and possesses good game speed. He is supposed to have great instincts so my only concern becomes his lack of size. He isn't big enough to play the BUCK next to Timmons, so either he was simply a depth pick or Butler is planning on moving Timmons over from the MACK. Foote will still be the day one starter, but Spence has the potential to take that away once he learns the system.
4th round, the Steelers traded up for Alameda Ta'amu which was a fantastic move in the sense that the value and need matched up quite well. Most saw him as a 2nd to early 3rd round prospect, but he slipped to the 4th where the Steelers jumped up, having not expected him to still be available. He is massive, at 348 lbs. and should be able to learn behind Hampton for a year before becoming the long term starter. I was a huge fan of Josh Chapman but if Ta'amu plays to his potential, he could prove to be a gem this late with the capability of becoming a red chip player..
Chris Rainey, as has been pointed out by most of Steeler Nation at this point, is similar to Dexter McCluster, whom Todd Haley loved while in Kansas City. If he serves a similar role he'll be a useful receiving threat on 3rd down but his pass blocking will need to improve drastically. Look for him to relieve Antonio Brown of his return duties this season.
In the trade up for Ta'amu we forfeited our 6th round selection to the Redskins. That pick would have been 193rd overall. Two of my favorite prospects in this class were receivers Marvin McNutt out of Iowa and Tommy Streeter out of Miami. They were drafted 194th (Eagles) and 198th (Ravens), respectively. I suppose then that I'll always wonder whether we wouldn't have been able to land Ta'amu without the trade so we might have kept our 6th round pick and drafted one of them. Still, we got another receiver I like in the 7th, in Toney Clemons. He is a local product who went to Colorado but grew up in New Kensington and graduated from Valley High School. He has the size at 6'2" and speed (4.43 40) to be dangerous if he can develop. He went through 4 different coaches in college so hopefully with some stability, he can improve and become the 5th receiver on game day.
With their remaining three 7th round picks they got TE David Paulson out of Oregon, Texas A&M CB Terrence Frederick, and Kelvin Beachum, a guard from SMU. The Steelers had Paulson in for a visit, but given the fact that Heath Miller, David Johnson, Weslye Saunders (once his suspension is up) and the newly signed Leonard Pope are all currently ahead of him, he'd need one hell of a training camp to see much action on Sundays. Frederick will be fighting for the 5th corner spot at best, and even that might be hoping for too much. He'll be a body for camp but I doubt he's more than practice squad this year. Beachum played tackle in college but he's slightly undersized so expect him to transition inside. I liked this pick more than the other two. Beachum started every game for SMU the last 4 years and if he can bulk up and show that he can handle the physicality of the pro game, he might end up being a good value. Probably practice squad, but with all the injuries the Steelers seem to deal with every year on the offensive line, he might get some time at some point this season.
Ultimately this has the potential to be one of the best drafts in the Colbert era. If Adams pans out, and something tells me he will, the Steelers could get 2-3 Pro Bowl caliber players out of this class. For now I'll give it an A-.
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