NFL Draft thread 2012

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Julio Riddols

Cinci gets Burfict in the only scenario I would have accepted, total win-win situation if he turns out to be able to mature quickly.

If Zim can get his head screwed on straight, Burfict is the steal of the draft.

[Julio Riddols]

I had totally expected a team like Baltimore or New England to take a late flyer on him, but I'm willing to give him a shot in Cinci until he fucks up once. After that, they better drop him quick.

[Suburban Rhythm]

Originally Posted by stevew

Tomlin made it sound like Adams really wanted to play for the Steelers and his agent was able to meet the criteria whereby we would bring him in. Apparently he was contrite.

Collier: Adams a risk Steelers were willing to take - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Suspended for taking improper benefits in the scandal that felled coach Jim Tressel at Ohio State, Adams failed a drug test at the Indianapolis scouting combine after telling the Steelers he never smoked weed.
"We were point-blank with him," Colbert said, "We said, 'Mike, you've off our board.' "
And having said that, they found a way to get him back on.
"He sought us out," Colbert went on. "He requested a face-to-face with me, Art Rooney and Mike Tomlin, and we presented it to him: These are the stipulations that you have to accomplish for consideration for us to draft you, which the young man did. He met our criteria, met our stipulations."
Colbert wouldn't say what they were, but you would presume Adams had to do more than just open a Costco membership and move Tomlin's weights up to the attic.
It's unusual for the Steelers to crawl that far out on a limb for a second-round talent, but even more unusual for them to be so candid about their concerns.
"Those are usually offenses that we are not going to forgive," Colbert said. "Still, we're comfortable in selecting him, but it's a day-to-day process."
While that process unfolds, the Steelers will be comforted by all of the Mike Adams that meets the eye, which is the kid who's 6 feet 7 and 323 pounds with 34-inch arms.
"Adams did have a first-round grade," offensive line coach Sean Kugler said. "He has great size and long arms for a guy his size, a lot of length and that's important at the tackle position. He's got things to work on in his entire game. You wouldn't say he's a finished product, but he's a willing worker."

And Rainey is He Hate Me's younger brother. I like him even more now.[/quote]

I'm ready to order a custom Yinz Hate Me jersey

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Polk and Molk are still there. I know Dominic is only 33, but I would have thought a 7th rounder was worth it for a guy who just won the award as the best C in college football.

I got off my arm chair QB butt and saw the Lions have a young C. Molk I assume
would be better but most teams aren't willing to carry three centers either. At least with LB and DBs you can get special teams value out of them. Centers, well...

[Swaggs]

I know a lot of folks weren't impressed by Seattle taking Bruce Irvin in the first, but (for whatever it is worth) this "source" indicates that the Jets were poised to take him with the next pick and that the Ravens and 49ers would have also taken him in the first:Did the Seahawks overreach for Bruce Irvin or not?

Tampa Bay signed another WVU player, long snapper Cody Nutter, as an undrafted free agent. He's a West Virginian kid that came in as a walk on and earned a scholarship after a few years in the program. Probably just a camp body, but glad to see him make it this far.

[ColtCrazy]

In the end, very happy with the Colts draft. They have a lot of needs and did a good job of getting players at different positions to help out. The two tight ends should make us have a better-than-you-think offense to go with Wayne, Collie, and a decent RB group. Still worried about the o-line though. Defensively, if the bam a kid can stay healthy, I like our defense. Nothing spectacular, but it'll look better than we've seen at Indy for sometime. I still would have traded Freeney though. I see Mathis becoming a killer OLB in the 3-4....don't see that as much in Freeney. Hope I'm wrong.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Blackadar

Why is Adams a head scratcher? Late 1st/Early 2nd round talent with LT capabilities...plus, we needed our obligatory Ohio State pick.

Yes, first round capabilities, and yes, we have major needs at that position. However, we've been down this road with injury prone offensive linemen, and he has missed tons of time over the past couple seasons. Plus, he brings a pretty good bit of baggage, and some immaturity, lack of drive, and a low commitment to football. Just not someone that would typically be picked by the Steelers.

Looking at who we ended up with, we got a lot of leaders, and guys who contribute big time off the field and in the locker room. Guys who are committed to the team concept which gets me excited. I'm glad we finally addressed the offensive line. And who can't love a big Samoan plugging up the NT spot?

I'd say we scored damn near an A or higher in this draft.

[JPhillips]

After watching tOSU I wouldn't be happy with any of their linemen.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

I know a lot of folks weren't impressed by Seattle taking Bruce Irvin in the first, but (for whatever it is worth) this "source" indicates that the Jets were poised to take him with the next pick and that the Ravens and 49ers would have also taken him in the first:Did the Seahawks overreach for Bruce Irvin or not?

Tampa Bay signed another WVU player, long snapper Cody Nutter, as an undrafted free agent. He's a West Virginian kid that came in as a walk on and earned a scholarship after a few years in the program. Probably just a camp body, but glad to see him make it this far.

Mike Florio reported that at least 7 teams had him in the top 15 on their board. The 49ers were the team rumored to have given him the 1st round promise I mentioned earlier in the thread.

It's nice to see Tandy and Goode drafted. What Goode managed to do as a walk on at WVU is impressive and I'm sure you remember the heat Tandy took from the fans early in his career. I was hoping the Bears would grab Tandy as I think he has the potential to be a solid cover-2 corner.

[Swaggs]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Mike Florio reported that at least 7 teams had him in the top 15 on their board. The 49ers were the team rumored to have given him the 1st round promise I mentioned earlier in the thread.

It's nice to see Tandy and Goode drafted. What Goode managed to do as a walk on at WVU is impressive and I'm sure you remember the heat Tandy took from the fans early in his career. I was hoping the Bears would grab Tandy as I think he has the potential to be a solid cover-2 corner.

I always thought Tandy was a little underrated. I know he had a bunch of INTs his Junior year, but he was always tough and physical against the run. Seemed like he stayed out of trouble and was a good kid. I can see him having a long career in the NFL.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

In the end, very happy with the Colts draft. They have a lot of needs and did a good job of getting players at different positions to help out. The two tight ends should make us have a better-than-you-think offense to go with Wayne, Collie, and a decent RB group.

One aspect that smoothed over the two TE thing for me is the system Luck played at Stanford. He's probably more comfortable at using TEs than any QB in the draft.

No real clue on Chapman, but as good as 'Bama's D was, there was a significant difference in its ability to stop the run during the games he didn't play. He also finished the season playing for weeks on a torn ACL so he tough as hell.

But the guys they did get could help, especially if the tough-minded Chapman is healthy. He helped anchor one of the nation’s best defenses last season despite tearing the ACL in his left knee Oct. 1. Chapman put off surgery until eight days after the BCS national championship game, a move that took a toll on his draft stock.

“I was told that I could have surgery or keep on playing the season,” Chapman said. “I knew I had ability with my left knee and I wanted to win a championship. I had to do what I had to do.”

Chapman said the doctors have told him he should be ready for the start of training camp. If he is, it could give the Colts a third-day steal.

[Racer]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

In the end, very happy with the Colts draft. They have a lot of needs and did a good job of getting players at different positions to help out. The two tight ends should make us have a better-than-you-think offense to go with Wayne, Collie, and a decent RB group. Still worried about the o-line though. Defensively, if the bam a kid can stay healthy, I like our defense. Nothing spectacular, but it'll look better than we've seen at Indy for sometime. I still would have traded Freeney though. I see Mathis becoming a killer OLB in the 3-4....don't see that as much in Freeney. Hope I'm wrong.

I think it will take a bit of time for the the TEs to develop. Gronk and Hernandez weren't what they were this year as rookies last year. I think it's unlikely that Fleener and Allen become as good as that pair (because that's an awfully high bar) but you never know. They should at least become a solid tandem that complement each other well.

I think it's going to take a couple of years for our defense to come around though.

Overall, I think 4-12 to 6-10 is reasonable expectations for the Colts next year. The team should promise with Dan Orlovsky as QB the last few games. I have a hard time believing Luck won't be at least somewhat better then what Orlovsky was last year.

What we lost outside of Peyton Manning has been overstated. Aside from Pierre Garcon and Jeff Saturday, it seems like the players we lost or cut were either ineffective/sucked last year (Dallas Clark for example) or were injured (i.e. Addai, Bullitt, and Brackett). Those four guys did not make a positive contribution to our team last year.

As far as the offensive line goes, we did sign Sam Satele from the Raiders. I'm guessing he'll do okay for us at center. I'm not sure we've really replaced Ryan Diem at RT though.

Our division might be the worst is football though so you never know. I think it's unlikely but we could always end up making a 9-7 or 10-6 run next year. The team wasn't completely void of talent prior to the draft.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Feel really bad for Polk. It was such a pleasure watching him play for my university for 3 years.

Just a really strange situation. Obviously all of the team got into a collective groupthink about his health and were scared off, but then I read this and wonder if they weren't all being overly paranoid:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/b...-injury-rumors

When Polk began hearing that teams were concerned about his shoulder, he had it checked by well-known orthopedic surgeon James Andrews. According to team sources, Andrews wrote a letter stating that Polk had some scarring from the surgery, but there was nothing that should prevent him from being drafted or playing football. However, some team medical staffs still labeled the shoulder problem as either "chronic" or "degenerative."

Andrews disagreed, telling one source close to Polk, "if I thought Chris had a problem that needed fixing, I would have operated, but there was not a problem."

[Izulde]

UNLV WR Phillip Payne signs with the Chargers as an UDFA. Probably the best WR in Runnin' Rebels history, though that's like saying best hitter ever in a Little League team's history.

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Yes, first round capabilities, and yes, we have major needs at that position. However, we've been down this road with injury prone offensive linemen, and he has missed tons of time over the past couple seasons. Plus, he brings a pretty good bit of baggage, and some immaturity, lack of drive, and a low commitment to football. Just not someone that would typically be picked by the Steelers.

That sounds like the same book on Max Starks when he came out of college. Gilbert had some of the same baggage. I guess that's a theme of Steeler tackles coming out of college.

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Looking at who we ended up with, we got a lot of leaders, and guys who contribute big time off the field and in the locker room. Guys who are committed to the team concept which gets me excited. I'm glad we finally addressed the offensive line. And who can't love a big Samoan plugging up the NT spot?

I'd say we scored damn near an A or higher in this draft.

I hate to score a draft so soon because no one can guarantee at this stage who will turn out to be a good player. But no one can say that the Steelers didn't do an excellent job of drafting to fill holes *and* get excellent value while doing so. DeCastro, Adams and Ta'amu were all value picks when they were selected and major needs for the team. So yeah, it was a pretty awesome draft.

Provided these picks pan out, the Steelers have their OL and DL covered for the next 5-7 years. Ziggy, Heyward, Ta'amu on the DL are all 25 or under and Gilbert, Foster, Pouncey, Adams and DeCastro on the OL are the same. Heck, even Willie Colon is only 29. I suppose we'll see a lot of CBs and safeties drafted next year.

[Lathum]

Polk didn't last long as a free agent, signed with the Eagles.

Yuck

[Matthean]

Lions pick up Moore. They needed a 3rd QB anyway. His lack of arm won't be as much of an issue playing indoors.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Lions pick up Moore. They needed a 3rd QB anyway. His lack of arm won't be as much of an issue playing indoors.

this and throwing to the giant WR that is Megatron if Moore gets in a game.

[tucker rocky]

How's this for a kicker name, Long Ding.

[k0ruptr]

Off the crossbar.