When the Steelers spent their first round draft pick on Najee Harris – the consensus RB1 in the draft – it was hard to not like the pick. His speed, power and shiftiness jumped off the tape. Although I’d like to see him leave the hurdling back on the tape in his college days, the pick was inarguably sexy.
Pat Freiermuth wasn’t the best TE in the draft, but coming out of Penn State he was a guy a lot of Steelers fans cheered for in college, and “just feels like a Steeler.” He’s got a big body, great hands, and he’s already the best blocking TE on this roster. It was another big, sexy pick.
Two flashy, exciting, sizzle picks gave fans – and new offensive play caller Matt Canada – plenty to salivate over.
Meanwhile, the OLine room appeared to be taking seminars on thinning from Larry David’s hairline. Pouncey retired, Al defected to the Ravens, and DeCastro… Well, had the team known about that at the time, they may have drafted differently, but hindsight is unproductive. Fact is those three guys represented 26 years of tenure protecting Big Ben. That’s a big hole to fill in one offseason.
After going sizzle-sizzle in the first two rounds, they doubled-up on offensive line in the third and fourth rounds with Kendrick Green and Dan Moore. Green has shown growing pains in the early going of the preseason, and while Moore has flashed – mostly against backups – is the team comfortable entrusting Roethlisberger’s blind side to a rookie?
Free agent additions also underwhelmed. Trai Turner, a Pro Bowler in a past life, has yet to find his stride in black and gold and appears to be trying to squeeze into Avery Williamson’s old #51 jerseys. Rashaad Coward’s name has come up in camp notes; he figures to have an outside shot to deepen the depth of the unit.
That leaves a lot of weight on the shoulders of two mid-round rookies, in addition to expecting significant strides from Banner and Chuks. Finney and Hassenauer are back too, but we’ve seen their ceiling. Any way you slice it, three Pro Bowlers are gone, and every guy they’ve brought in can be characterized as “depth, with upside.”
The defense certainly has the meat and potatoes, with an elite pass rush supporting a much improved coverage unit (with the additions of Joe Schubert and a healthy Devin Bush). There’s plenty of starch on offense as well (too much, reportedly) but it remains to be seen what this line will look like against live, first-string NFL competition.
All in all, I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t like the picks. I will order a Freiermuth jersey the second they’re released on NFL Shop. But “like” is the enemy of “love,” and I would have loved Creed Humphrey.
CamBlackburnWrites 