Happy Friday to all of you and welcome to the 2017 scouting combine weekend.
Alex Korora and I will be buried in our televisions and spreadsheets through Monday in order to bring you all of the results. In case you didn’t know already, you can view the results here.
On Friday the offensive linemen, running backs and specialists all took part in the on-field events of the underwear olympics and Alex has recapped the day for you here. After the combine wraps up on Monday, the start of free agency will quickly follow and that means next Friday we might just have a new Pittsburgh Steelers player to talk about if the team makes another early splash like they last year with tight end Ladarius Green.
It’s been quite an eventful week for Steelers fans to say the least and I’m so glad the offseason is moving along quickly.
Personally, I’ve had a tough few days as I found out on Wednesday that my my internet buddy Alan Gifford passed away last weekend. Alan was a huge Pittsburgh sports fan and did several small projects for the site. I certainly will miss him. He really had a kind heart and was always willing to help out.
As usual, I have five questions for all of you to answer in the comments below and a several are related to the Steelers.
Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting the site this week.
1 – How much of the combine do you watch every year?
2 – Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey had a solid performance on Friday that included him registering the fifth-fastest 40 time this year at his position and the second-fastest 3-cone time of all-time. With that noted, do you think McCaffrey is overrated or underrated as we sit here in early March?
3 – Cornerback Ross Cockrell recently received an original round restricted tender from the Steelers. Will you be surprised if he signs an offer sheet with another team prior to the deadline?
4 – Running back Le’Veon Bell claimed Friday on First Take that the Steelers would have beaten the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game if he had stayed healthy. Are you buying that?
5 – Name the next soon-to-be Steelers unrestricted free agent who will be re-signed either before or after the start of the new league year on March 9. Choices: (Lawrence Timmons, Landry Jones, DeAngelo Williams, Ricardo Mathews, Jarvis Jones, Markus Wheaton, Shamarko Thomas, Cody Wallace, None of them)
Last Friday’s results via David:
Friday Night Questions Recap
Last week, 23 players were listed that respondents felt would be a good fit for the Steelers and should be profiled. Several have already been covered:
Ben Boulware
John Ross – Alex discussed
T.J. Watt
Dawuane Smoot
Adam Shaheen
Elijah McGuire – profiled 27 February
Brady Gustafson
Javancy Jones
Xavier Woods
Obi Melifonwu
Tanoh Kpassagnon – profiled 27 February
Nathan Gerry
Trey Hendrickson
Christian McCafferey
Dede Westbrook
Rasul Douglas
Brandon Bell
Chris Godwin
Malik Hooker
Shane Falco
Jabrill Peppers – profiled 3 March
Jake Butt
JuJu Smith–Schuster
Not sure how many of these will get a full profile but many have already been mentioned in mock drafts and other articles.
Most people felt that the 3rd round compensatory would not dramatically alter the Steelers approach to the draft but did provide flexibility. Several people mentioned picking an additional edge rusher, a tight end or using the pick to trade up for a coveted player.
Near unanimity that the combine provides players an opportunity to impact their value. Mostly by exceeding or not meeting expectations in their performance.
The consensus was that the Steelers would pick a tight end some citing the additional pick. Several were emphatic in saying no since this would be an admission that the Ladarius Green transaction had been a mistake.
