Steelers 2013 Draft – DiMarino Early Round Pick Discussion

By Christopher DiMarino

Now that I\’ve covered which positions should be and shouldn\’t be in the conversation for the first round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I want to expand the scope to the first few rounds. I am going to focus in on the WR, OLB and S positions for this analysis. Matching the offer sheet that Emmanuel Sanders received from the New England Patriots leaves them still owning three middle area picks in the top three rounds. While I understand that it might be a CB or NT or OG, these are all best player available situations, and unorthodox ones at that. I will stick to the only reliable data to analyze which is need and logic based. First, I\’ve listed a group of guys who could be available at each selection. Don\’t get overly critical here, just the names I chose.

Now that we understand which players should be available, if the Steelers chose their position in a given round, it\’s easy to do run the top 3 round selection scenarios. Keep in mind, that some of the players listed above are reaches and some will likely be gone, but it’s all educated guesswork at this point.

The scenarios are numbered randomly and intended to be an exercise that forces me to consider all of the possible scenarios. It became quite clear when filling out these six scenarios, which position I liked to pick in each round (several and/or strong options) and which positions were tough to pick (only one option/ don\’t like any). If I had to pick a scenario that I liked, I would say that #4 would be my favorite. You get a great safety, a talented wide receiver and a solid if not slightly undersized pass rusher.

I will list below, some of the notes I made:

– I couldn\’t find an OLB that I felt comfortable picking in the 1st round

– Cordarrelle Patterson just doesn\’t seem to fit the Steelers mold and Keenan Allen might fall to the second round.

– Kenny Vaccaro might not be like Mark Barron, but he certainly would be a great Steeler.

– 2nd round OLBs are a bit scary. Outside of Alex Okafor, you really don\’t know what you\’re getting.

– There are almost too many options in the 2nd round at Safety, but none are clear favorites over the others.

– I think the 2nd round is a great spot for WR. Keenan Allen might drop, Robert Woods is a great option and Justin Hunter looks really exciting.

– Based on the indecision in the first 2 rounds, there is a need for an OLB in the 3rd and there are several interesting guys like Corey Lemonier and Sio Moore.

– Lots of depth at WR, and the 3rd should have few solid options too like. Chris Harper and Tavarres King are safe picks while Quinton Patton (if available) and Ryan Swope might be exceptional.

– By the 3rd round, there are options at S but they are clearly not in the same league as the better ones.