Apologize for the very uncreative title. Couldn’t think of anything better. I have mentioned a lot of this before but wanted to create a new, dedicated post to all the players who fit my criteria in the several draft studies over the past couple weeks. The catalyst behind this is there are a few players overlooked in my lists that I want to include here and clear things up once and for all.
So we’re going to walk through this by position and then by a rough estimate of draft status with some final thoughts to round things out. Sound good?
Trevor Davis
Josh Doctson
Malcolm Mitchell
Marquez North
Caleb Benenoch
Le’Raven Clark
Jack Conklin
Tyler Johnstone
Alex Lewis
Brandon Shell
Jason Spriggs
Halapoulivaati Vaitai
Stephen Nembot
John Theus
Vadal Alexander
Germain Ifedi
Connor McGovern
Matt Skura
Landon Turner
Joel Heath
Chris Jones
Ufomba Kamalu
Robert Nkemdiche
Kyler Fackrell
Leonard Floyd
Jordan Jenkins
Charles Tapper
Stephen Weatherly
Inside Linebacker
Blake Martinez
Nick Vigil
Briean Boddy-Calhoun
James Bradberry
Maurice Canady
Sean Davis
DeAndre Elliott
Eric Murray
Jalem Ramsey
LeShaun Sims
The new, or more accurately, previously overlooked names on this list are: Charles Tapper and Jordan Jenkins.
Now let’s rack him up in a rough draft projection. We are keeping it broad, so we don’t quibble over whether someone is going in round two or round three.
Day One
Josh Doctson/WR
Jason Spriggs/OT
Jalen Ramsey/CB
Leonard Floyd/OLB
Day TwoÂ
Le’Raven Clark/OT
Jack Conklin/OT
Germain Ifedi/OG
Connor McGovern/OG
Landon Turner/OG
Chris Jones/DL
Robert Nkemdiche/DL
Jordan Jenkins/OLB
Charles Tapper/OLB
Sean Davis/CB
Rounds Four-Five
Malcolm Mitchell/WR
Kyler Fackrell/OLB
Nick Vigil/ILB
Maurice Canady/CB
James Bradberry/CB
Eric Murray/CB
John Theus/OT
Vadal Alexander/OG
Rounds Six-Seven
Trevor Davis/WR
Marquez North/WR
Caleb Benenoch/OT
Tyler Johnstone/OT
Alex Lewis/OT
Brandon Shell/OT
Matt Skura/OG
Joel Heath/DE
Ufomba Kamalu/DE
Stephen Weatherly/OLB
Blake Martinez/ILB
LeShaun Sims/CB
Briean Boddy-Calhoun/CB
DeAndre Elliott/CB
UDFA
Halapoulivaati Vaitai/OT
Stephen Nembot/OT
Of the 38 players listed, here are the ones the Steelers have expressed known interest in.
Brandon Shell/OT
Jason Spriggs/OT
DeAndre Elliott/CB
Let’s look at the players at positions we’ve studied the Steelers have brought in for visits and see how they stack up with the criteria.
CB Jonathan Jones: Misses arm length category. Weighed in with 30 1/4. Criteria is 31.
CB Ryan Smith: Misses arm length category. Measured in at 30 1/2. Criteria is 31.
CB Tavon Young: Misses weight and arm length categories. Weighed in at 183 and 30 5/8. Criteria is 185 and 31.
CB D.J. White: Misses vertical, broad, and short shuttle categories. Jumped 34 inches, 9’10” and 4.33. Criteria is 35, 10’0″, and 4.25.
OT Jerald Hawkins: Misses ten split, three cone, and vertical. Ran 1.88, 8.19, and 23.5. Criteria is 1.85, 7.8, and 27.
The safeties weren’t looked at in the study and will not be evaluated. Jatavis Brown was not invited to the Combine.
To review the above. Hawkins misses the criteria pretty badly. But the corners all come very close. Jones, Smith, and Young only miss because of minor physical shortcomings. White misses a couple more but comes close in vertical and broad. It makes me feel pretty confident in knowing what corners the team will target. More than any other position.
Parting thought on corner. Knowing they drafted Senquez Golson and Doran Grant, each who have had sub 31 inch arms, the Steelers could be more open to taking our stubby secondary pals.
And to finish things out, a couple of reasons and examples of why some players didn’t make the cut.
WR Leonte Carroo: 35.5 inch vertical and a DNP in agility drills. Vertical cutoff is 36.
WR Charone Peake: 35.5 inch vertical and 4.46 short shuttle. Vertical cutoff is 36, short shuttle is 4.3.
WR Chris Moore: 4.53 40. Cut off is 4.50.
OLB Shilique Calhoun: 4.82 40. Cut off is 4.8.
OLB Yannick Ngakoue: 4.50 short shuttle, 7.35 three cone. Cutoff is 4.35 and 7.00.
ILB Nick Kwiatkoski: 19 bench reps. Cutoff is 20.
OT Taylor Decker: 22 bench reps. Cutoff is 25.
OG Josh Garnett: 9 7/8 inch hands. Cutoff is 10.
DT Andrew Billings: Measured in at 6’0/1. Cutoff is 6’3.
If there is anyone still left on this list, please let me know. And that I am eternally sorry. Lots of names to sift through.
