Steelers Pre-draft Visits Show That Defense Is Still A Priority

As the NFL's pre-draft visit period comes to a close, the total tally of the players entertained by the Pittsburgh Steelers tells a familiar tale. Back on January 8th, If It Ain't Steel wrote an article that said the fixing of the Steelers starts with defense. Apparently the Steelers themselves agree.

Each NFL team is allowed 30 pre-draft visits. The Steelers total of 24 is more heavily represented by the defensive side (17) of the ball than the offensive side (7) of it. While there are holes over the entirety of the roster, the defensive side of the ball is...(ahem) more experienced and mature. Three of the four starters in the defensive backfield alone carry an average age of 33 as of the 2013 season.

Aside from the array of pass rushers brought in (and I am a firm believer in the theory that you can't have too many players who can rush the passer), two things stand out when looking at the visiting players. The first being that the cornerbacks brought in indicate where the Steelers will be looking for that much needed youth and depth.

It is of interest that of the cornerbacks making visits - Florida State's Xavier Rhodes, Utah State's Will Davis (whose interesting story is linked here: http://tinyurl.com/cjh26ad), UConn's Blidi Wreh-Wilson (pictured above), LSU's Tharold Simon and William & Mary's B.J. Webb - all but one are mid-round prospects. Are the third through the fifth rounds where they will look to pull the trigger on the position?

The Steelers let unrestricted free agent CB Keenan Lewis walk via free agency, so that leaves Ike Taylor, Cortez Allen and William Gay as the only three who could be considered locks to make the 53-man roster next season. Bringing up the rear, as it were, behind them are Curtis Brown, DeMarcus Van Dyke, Josh Victorian, Isaiah Green and Justin King. Conventional wisdom dictates that only one or two of those five players make it onto the 53 man roster, and the odds favor only one if the Steelers invest a mid-round pick on another cornerback.

The other thing that stood out was the lack of true five-technique defensive linemen to make their way to the South Side. Although Steelers.com says Utah’s Star Lotulelei, Florida’s Sharrif Floyd, BYU’s Ziggy Ansah (who himself could also play OLB) and Florida State’s Bjoern Werner are the top defensive line prospects in this month's NFL Draft (and players the Steelers could potentially select), none of those were brought in. In fact, none of the defensive linemen brought in were true defensive lineman. - http://tinyurl.com/cywjc8r

Though Clemson's DE Malliciah Goodman was a pre-draft visitor, and though Georgia's DE Cornelius Washington has been linked to the Steelers as high as the second round and as low as the fifth round, the signing of Steve McLendon was likely an indication that any such pick would be in the lower rounds for depth and special teams purposes.

One such player to consider might be Utah's Joe Kruger who declared early for the draft following his junior season.

Per Gil Brandt of NFL.com, "Kruger - the younger brother of Paul Kruger, who was a member of the Super Bowl XLVII-champion Baltimore Ravens and just signed a lucrative free-agent contract with the Cleveland Browns - stood on all of his numbers from the combine. Kruger looked very good in the positional workouts." - http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1749704/joe-kruger

"Paul ran me through what this was like for him, what the experience was like, how to calm myself down when things get tense," Joe Kruger said. "Things are going well. I'm prepared for it. I've met a lot of good people."

Kruger, who led the team with six sacks, had two forced fumbles, an interception for a touchdown and blocked a field goal, has good size (6'6 3/8" 261 lbs.), quickness, and arm length. Has received plaudits for his effort and ability to bull-rush offensive linemen and he says he can play "all four positions on the defensive line."

The pre-draft visits on the whole were:
DE/OLB John Simon (3rd round prospect) - Ohio State;
RB Christine Michael (4th rd pros.) - Texas A&M;
ILB Vince Williams (7th rd pros.) - Florida State;
OLB Jarvis Jones (1st rd pros.) - Georgia;
OLB Jamie Collins (2-3 rd pros.) - Southern Mississippi;
OLB Khaseem Greene (2-3 rd pros.) - Rutgers;
SS Jonathan Meeks (7-FA rd pros.) - Clemson;
S Phillip Thomas (2-3 rd pros.) - Fresno State;
ILB Michael Mauti (5th rd pros.) - Penn State;
DE Malliciah Goodman (4th rd pros.) - Clemson;
WR Josh Boyce (2-3 rd pros.) - Texas Christian;
RB Johnathan Franklin (2nd rd pros.) - UCLA;
SS Shamarko Thomas (3rd rd pros.) - Syracuse;
CB Will Davis (5th rd pros.) - Utah State;
G Nic Embernate (6-7 rd pros.) - San Diego State;
CB Blidi Wreh-Wilson (3rd rd pros.) - Connecticut;
CB Xavier Rhodes (1st rd pros.) - FSU;
LB Sio Moore (4th rd pros.) - Connecticut.
CB Tharold Simon (4-5 rd pros.) - LSU;
CB B.W. Webb (4-5 rd pros.) - William & Mary;
SS Duke Williams (5-6 rd pros.) - UNR;
RB Eddie Lacy (1-2 rd pros.) - Alabama;
WR Justin Brown (7-FA pros.) - Oklahoma;
and WR Tavarres King (4-5 rd pros.) - Georgia.

(This list will be updated if any more pre-draft visits occur on Monday or Tuesday.)

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TIDBITS: "Heath (Miller) is working out and he looks great," Ben Roethlisberger said during an appearance on 102.5 WDVE. "He's walking without a limp. From what I saw I think he looked good." - http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/4/17/4235778/heath-miller-injury-update-looks-great

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Antonio Brown is grateful to have Emmanuel Sanders back. - http://tinyurl.com/c5uusqc

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In "the most unkindest cut of all," Ex-Steeler Harrison signs with the Cincinnati Bengals. Here's a photo of him with a Bengals teammate in their uniforms, and a link to the article detailing the signing.
- http://triblive.com/sports/steelers/3876184-74/harrison-contract-bengals#axzz2QwWOZoyt

Catching Up On Steelers Pro Day Visits

photo courtesy of SBNation

The Pittsburgh Steelers' brain trust has been seen at various Pro Days this month, and If It Ain't Steel decided to revisits the visits. We touched on some in previous blog posts, but not all. Therefore, we decided to catch up all involved on those we know about.

To begin, each university has a Pro Day where NFL scouts are allowed to come and watch players participate in the NFL Combine events at their own school. Many believe that players feel more comfortable in familiar surroundings, and should therefore perform better. Generally, the bigger the football university and the greater the quantity of NFL prospects, the greater interest from scouts and coaches generated.

That said:

According to AP.org, and as we brought to you before, the Auburn Pro Day took place on Tuesday, March 5th, and Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler was there and oversaw Corey Lemonier's linebacker drills. - http://ifitaintsteel.blogspot.com/2013/03/who-will-replace-james-harrison.html

What was Butler's assessment of the defensive end-turned-outside linebacker and third-round prospect?

"He said definitely I could play some linebacker," said Lemonier.

As reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Kent State Pro Day, also on the Wednesday, March 6th, was visited by Steelers offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, jr. He was there, along with three other teams' OLine coaches, to see Brian Winters and Josh Kline.

The 6'4", 320-pound Winters played both tackle and guard at Kent State and even made the All-MAC team. Kline is a 6'3", 310-pound left guard.

Reportedly, the Steelers sent their scouts to see the defensive backs at the Nebraska Pro Day on March 7th. They evidently also talked with safeties Daimion Stafford and P.J. Smith.

Stafford is 6'0", 211 lbs. and runs a 4.54/40. Smith is 6'1 1/2", 212-pound strong safety who runs a 4.89/40. Neither is highly touted, and will either be drafted in the last round or not at all. - http://tinyurl.com/dx8873g / http://tinyurl.com/bp3brjn

The Steelers' brass dined with Tyler Bray of Tennessee on Tuesday night, the night before his Pro Day Wednesday, March 20. - http://tinyurl.com/chpq9ka / http://www.govolsxtra.com/videos/detail/tyler-bray-on-uts-pro-day/

At the same time, though, this could actually be little more than a smokescreen. Remember that they did the same last year with Kirk Cousins of Michigan State. Could their reason for going down have been just as much for Cordarrelle Patterson? We don't think so, but time will tell.

Mike Tomlin was at the Georgia Pro Day on Thursday, March 21. There, outside linebacker Jarvis Jones was center stage. Reportedly, though, he had an unimpressive showing with a 4.9/40. The 6'3", 240-pound Jones didn't do well in the linebacker drills, either. - http://tinyurl.com/c2jy4e3

His draft stock has dropped because of the spinal stenosis with which he was diagnosed, though he has since claimed that he was misdiagnosed. Regardless, the addition of a quality outside linebacker is imperative now that, per Ed Bouchette and ESPN, the Steelers have closed the door on James Harrison's return. - http://tinyurl.com/d3txvml

Steelers quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner was at the Miami of Ohio Pro Day last Thursday to observe quarterback Zac Dysert, who draws comparisons to fellow alumnus Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And why shouldn't he?

"I've always looked up to Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers," the 6'4" 228-pound Dysert said at the NFL Combine. "He grew up 20 minutes from me. Ben was always a big name in our area. It would be exactly like following in his footsteps." - http://tinyurl.com/btp8lru

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert made an appearance Monday at the Ohio State Pro Day, a private audition for third-round prospect John Simon. Colbert was among representatives from "12 teams at Simon's workout, according to a report from NFL.com's Gil Brandt."

"The 6-1, 257-pound Simon starred as a defensive end for the Buckeyes but will likely have to make the transition to outside linebacker in the NFL." - http://tinyurl.com/c2ysege

Finally, as we touched on in our previous post, the Steelers will be at Tulane's Pro Day this week to observe yet another quarterback, the 6'4", 216-pound Ryan Griffin. That's three QB Pro Days now in a little over a week for a team who supposedly isn't in the market for drafting one.

The natural athlete, though, runs a 4.38/40, threw for 9,036 yards and 56 TDs on 836-of-1,396 attempts, and owns the school record for completions, completion percentage, attempts, and ranks second in passing yards and 300-yard games. - http://tinyurl.com/co6y4jl

That's what is known to this point on the private workout visits. If It Ain't Steel will update this post, or follow it up, if the Steelers attend many more Pro Days.

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UPDATE: Just hours after finishing this post, Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review tweeted this: "@MarkKaboly_Trib: #Steelers player development guy Ray Jackson was at Notre Dame's Pro Day today"

Tight end Tyler Eifert? Maybe.

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The Steelers were at the Texas Longhorns Pro day, presumably to observe the "Tavon Stopper"(refer to our "Playmakers" post). With the loss of free agent safety Will Allen to the DallasCowboys, drafting a quality safety (or two) is imperative since the only safeties on the roster with any real experience are Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark and Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith.
http://nflspinzone.com/2013/03/26/pittsburgh-steelers-at-texas-longhorns-pro-day-kenny-vaccaro-an-option/

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Another visit made this week was to the LSU Pro Day - the location of another safety, Eric Reid. Stay tuned.