Former NFL general manager and current NFL Network draft analyst Charley Casserly released his second mock draft of 2018 on Tuesday and after previously having the Pittsburgh Steelers taking LSU running back Derrius Guice with the 28th overall selection in the first-round, he now has them picking Alabama linebacker Rashaan Evans, instead.
Casserly writes:
Evans fills the biggest need on the team. He’s a highly instinctive player.
Evans, who reportedly had a pre-draft visit with the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday, has recently come under fire for him failing to run the 40-yard-dash this offseason. Most recently, he chose last week not to run again at Alabama’s second pro day and that reportedly angered some teams who sent personnel to observe him. There are now reportedly some teams questioning his overall speed.
In Evans’ defense, somewhat, he did suffer through two groin injuries last season. Even so, many believe that he should be fully recovered from his groin injuries by now.
The Steelers sent a large group to the first Alabama pro day at the beginning of March and that included general manager Kevin Colbert, head coach Mike Tomlin, defensive coordinator Keith Butler, defensive line coach Karl Dunbar and inside linebacker coach Jerry Olsavsky. A pre-pro day dinner also reportedly took place the night before the event and Tomlin said recently he recalls there were about 8 former Alabama players present for it.
In his four season at Alabama, Evans played in 53 games and recorded 150 total tackles with 23.5 of them resulting in lost yardage. He also had 15 total sacks and was credited with 5 pass breakups and 2 forced fumbles. Evans was voted a team captain this past season, which was his first as a full-time starter.
At this year’s scouting combine in Indianapolis, Evans measured in at 6017, 232-pounds and while he didn’t run the 40-yard-dash while there, he did do everything else except for the 60-yard-shuttle, which several other participants also chose not run.
It will be interesting to see if Evans is ultimately brought to Pittsburgh for a pre-draft visit in the coming weeks.
