I talked about Texas cornerback Curtis Brown the other day and today wanted to focus in on another Texas cornerback, Aaron Williams, in relation to the Steelers. Back in late December, Williams announced his decision to skip his senior season at Texas to enter the 2011 NFL Draft and since then the biggest questions that surround him is if he is best suited as a corner or free safety at the next level. Williams certainly has the measurables of a coveted first round cornerback outside of his 40 time. At the NFL Combine in February, Williams ran in the low 4.5 range, but recently improved that number Read more [...]

Since the 2011 NFL Combine, I have spent hours pouring through draft prospect profiles and game clips on as many top ranked draft hopefuls that match the needs that the Steelers have. My second Steelers mock draft reflects that work, but one player in that mock has caught my eye more than any other. That player is Texas cornerback Curtis Brown. Brown also carries two nicknames, "Turkey" and "Jordan". While at Texas, Brown made 28 starts and played in 52 games while wearing a Longhorn uniform. He intercepted two passes, had 32 pass unofficial pass break ups, forced one fumble and registered 3 thrown Read more [...]

I was looking at the top cornerbacks in 2010 according Pro Football Focus and wanted to break down where the top 20 were drafted and have a look at their height, weight, 40 times and vertical jumps from either their combine or pro day. I was looking for any keys to a particular size of a corner drafted early that stands to have success. No such thing really. Let me say that all 40 times are pretty misleading as in my opinion, a player really does not have an official 40 time, they have a range. Ranges meaning he was a 4.3, 4.4 or 4.5 guy. As far as the measurables go, it is doubtful a player Read more [...]

It has been about a month since I released my 2011 Steelers Mock Draft 1.0 and it is now time for version 2 of the mock draft after some of the pro days have been completed and I have had more time to look at the draft hopefuls more in depth. A few of the names have changed, while my overall number one pick of Derek Sherrod has not. Also a carry over from my first mock is Notre Dame nose tackle Ian Williams and Richmond cornerback Justin Rogers. Onward we go. I will likely do a few more of these as more of the pre-draft visits take place. Round 1: T Derek Sherrod (Mississippi State) - Depending Read more [...]

After every NFL Combine is over, everyone immediately starts looking to the combine results as a form of measurement of future success. We have seen time and time again how these numbers are often forced to hold too much water in measuring the potential success. With the Steelers certainly having a need at the cornerback position early in the 2011 NFL draft, I thought it would be good to research how the current top cornerbacks performed during their combine or pro days to sort of debunk just looking at these results. I started by first looking at the top 20 all-around cornerbacks from 2010 Read more [...]

It is the Friday after the 2011 NFL Combine has wrapped up and time to get a starting point for the Steelers 2011 mock draft series. Below is what I deem to be a starting point for players I think the Steelers will have a shot at drafting in each round and their combine numbers. From now until draft day I will probably do several more versions of these as free agency shakes out and players draft stock rises and falls. I wrote about the Steelers 2011 draft needs here and will have a newer version of that as we get closer to draft and free agency hopefully takes place. Enjoy and feel free to bitch, Read more [...]

We have been able to compile a small list of players the Steelers met and had interviews with at the 2011 NFL Combine from sources like Steel City Insider, KFFL, Twitter, Facebook and various other blogs and media outlets. While this list should not serve for anything more than what it is and that is a list of reported meetings. The Steelers were permitted to meet with 60 players at the combine for 15 minutes at a time according to reports. Sort of like speed dating. Players were not obligated to reveal who they met with and many teams will ask that they not reveal it, but of course some players Read more [...]

The 2011 NFL Scouting Combine is underway in Indianapolis, Indiana at the Lucas Oil Stadium and we are starting to compile the 2011 NFL Combine Results. The scouting combine is an invitation only event, open only to invited college players and NFL team officials. The testing and evaluations include: physical measurements, injury evaluation, drug screen, cybex test, wonderlic test, interviews, 40 yard dash, 225 lb bench press, vertical jump, broad jump, 20-yard shuttle, 60-yard shuttle, three-cone drill and position-specific drills. Below are links to each specific player position grouping. The Read more [...]