By Matt Papiernik, @Matt_Papiernik on Twitter
SteelerNation.com
Well, that was awkward. Between Roger Goodell looking like a robot, who then turned into a drunk robot, and having one of Mike Vrabel's sons caught on the thrown, the entire 2020 NFL Draft was bizarre to say the least. Also, why does ESPN feel the need to bring up every heartache a selected player has ever felt in their life?
Back to the actual players now. The Pittsburgh Steelers had six selections entering the 2020 NFL Draft, and unlike many other teams, they kept the same six picks throughout the entire draft. These selections included:
Some names definitely stand out of this group. Both Chase Claypool and Alex Highsmith were common players mocked to the Steelers throughout the pre-draft process, and many people were happy to see them selected.
Overall, how do these players compare to the Steeler Nation rankings? Both CJ Lester and myself released big boards leading up to the draft, and CJ's was even featured on Fanspeak.com to utilize with their mock draft simulator.
Let's start at the top. Chase Claypool, the wide receiver the Steelers selected with their first pick this year at #49. Claypool is someone people initially thought could transition to tight end in the NFL. He stands in at 6'4" tall, while weighing 238lbs. That is insane size for a wide receiver. However, his combine performance put the tight end rumors to rest, for now. He ran a 4.42s 40-yard dash, which was one of the best marks during the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine.
As for where CJ and myself had him ranked? I had him ranked 67th, while CJ had him ranked 92nd, which had him come in at our #72 overall prospect. These rankings make him seem like a reach. However, when you take into consideration what positions the Steelers would consider with their first pick, it isn't much of a reach at all. The more I watch Claypool's film, the more I like how he fits with their team and I think he will be an immediate impact in the red zone and on special teams.
Next is the small school outside linebacker, Alex Highsmith. Highsmith had an eye-popping 15 sacks last season, which I am sure caught the eye of the Steelers. They love players who are able to turn their athleticism into results in college. Highsmith was taken with the 102nd overall pick, which is basically right where I had him (he missed my top 100 by 3 spots at 103). CJ on the other hand had him a little lower at 139. So he was selected right around the area both CJ and I had him ranked.
Anthony McFarland. A speedster and dynamic player out of Maryland, who has had some injury issues throughout his career. He should be a nice compliment to James Conner, as he possesses a 2nd gear that most running backs don't. I had McFarland ranked down in the 170's (primarily due to injury concerns), while CJ had him ranked at 131. As long as McFarland is over his injuries that hampered him last year, this is a solid pick. It also fits what the Steelers needed to add to their backfield in addition to potentially getting a prospect slightly lower than he could've been selected.
Steelers GM, Kevin Colbert shocked a lot of people when he selected the first player that wasn't invited to the NFL Scouting Combine in the 2020 NFL Draft. That player was Kevin Dotson. He wasn't invited because he lacked talent, he wasn't invited because of where he played football. He played football at Louisiana-Lafayette, and being that the Ragin' Cajuns are a member of the Sun Belt, they often can get overlooked. Dotson was ranked number 213 overall by CJ, and number 168 by myself. If it was purely based on run blocking, he would've been selected potentially a round or two earlier. However, Dotson does have some work to do in pass protection which pushed him down some boards. Solid value pick overall for a team needing to improve their running game.
The Steelers do love drafting players out of Maryland (they have multiple connections to the school on their staff), and they continue that trend here with Antoine Brooks Jr. Brooks Jr. is a big safety at 220lbs, and will likely be mostly a special teams player early on in his career. He has potential to develop into a dime linebacker for the Steelers defense, which is a position they have been trying to fill long term since the retirement of Troy Polamalu. I had Brooks Jr. ranked at 178, while CJ had him ranked at 177. So this pick definitely has some good value, especially this late in the draft, and this is one late round prospect that both CJ and I had very similar opinions on.
Last but not least, the Steelers finally decided to attempt and address their nose tackle position with the selection of Carlos Davis. Davis is a very good athlete for his size, as he ran his 40-yard dash in 4.82 seconds at 300+lbs. Davis should be able to rotate in on early downs as a run stuffing nose tackle, but likely won't be on the field for many passing downs any time soon. He has shown some flashes getting after the QB, but most of those have been using his burst to beat offensive lineman off the snap, which won't be as easy at the next level. CJ had Davis ranked at a decent amount higher than myself at 170, while at had him at 248. The value is pretty good in the 7th round, especially since it fills a need. This is the pick that CJ and myself had the largest difference in opinion in ranking.
Overall, the Steelers didn't have any egregious reaches in the draft, but they weren't able to snag any prospects torpedoing in the draft either.
Let us know what you think below about how the Steelers did compared to our rankings!
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