Pre Senior bowl and combine / Pro day mock draft
Pre Senior bowl and combine / Pro day mock draft
Steelers send Brown to San Fransico in exchange for their #2 overall pick. This gives the Steelers the option to trading the pick if another team is smitten by QB Dwayne Haskins or picking an impact defender. Of course all of the picks in this mock draft can quickly change with a bad workout, an injury, a failed drug test or character red flags!
Round 1. ( #2 OVERALL ) OLB Josh Allen. An athletic powerhouse with no significant injuries. A deluxe pass rusher who can win with speed, power or length, physical forcer of fumbles, talented enough to play in coverage too. SEC battle tested. I think Allen has Pro Bowl ability.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/josh-allen-6.html
Round one. Pick 20. ILB Devin White. Inside linebacker is traditionally undervalued in round one. There has been a rise in the quarterbacks for the draft, which could push White down a bit. Christmas in April happens as he falls to us. White is all over the field, complete with sideline to sideline speed, solid tackling, the ability to be an asset in coverage, make plays behind the line of scrimmage, and force fumbles.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/devin-white-1.html
Round two: WR Marquise Brown. I don't care if he's just 5'10" tall 168 pounds. This man has road runner type speed and acceleration and is capable of buring guys deep, or taking short passes to the house. Paired with Ben, and excellent deep passer, Brown would make an excellent complement for Ju-Ju, and give our offense something we lack. A respected deep threat. Brown could upgrade our kickoff units too. While he did play vs. some weaker defenses and he is small, I see no major injuries. I think Brown could be an option at pick #20, depending on who is on the board. Admittedly I need to look at more film on him, but he seems to be good at tracking the deep ball and catches it cleanly.
Watch him work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNtZOpfqXao
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/marquise-brown-1.html
Round three: DB Isaiah Johnson. Johnson is very tall and rangy. He might not be ready to play as a rookie, but he could make a nice free safety. Sean Davis, in my opinion, is anything but a good tackler and ball hawk. Coolie would approve of Johnson replacing him.
Round 4: Nose Tackle. PJ Johnson. To run a 3-4 you need 2 good OLB's and one ILB who can cover, which this draft has provided. Now its time to get a true Nose Tackle. Johnson is huge, a father of two ( which is why he's entering the draft ) , and has the ability to hold his ground, shed tackles, and make a fair amount of plays. Out depth at Interior line is very thin. If he works out well, he's going earlier. The good news is he only had one season at Arizona so he's true value could be under rated.
Round 6 (1 of 2): Cornerback. Jordan Brown. A productive small school corner, Brown has good size, decent speed, and made a lot of plays on the ball. If he does well at the senior bowl, he won't last this long.
Round 6 (2 of 2): Kicker. Matt Gay. We need a reliable kicker, which Boswell is not. Gay has a strong leg and is capable of converting field goals 56 yards or more ( He made two at that range. ) He is 85 for 85 on extra points and has a career accuracy of 86.2% on field goals. He would likely be an upgrade on kickoffs. He's also about 4 million cheaper on the cap for several seasons.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/matt-gay-2.html
Round 7: Punter Mitch Wishnowsky. Matt Gay's teamate has a big-time leg. He also a fine last man defender with 5 solo tackles, and has run trick play value as a runner. Berry is a tier 3 NFL punter and costs 1.9 million on the cap last season.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/mitch-wishnowsky-1.html
*** What would a draft like this do for the Steelers? ***
Rebuild a 3-4 or nickel defense, add deep speed to the offense, give us a chess peice for situational defense and upgrade K, P, and the return game for special teams. I'd use the free agency money on a quality cornerback and depth for OL.
