I love Colbert, but...

[CKSteeler]

This draft shows that it's very, very much time for him to go. And that the team needs new blood in the FO. 

Pickett, for whatever he may become, was a guy they could have probably drafted a round or two later than they did. They did nothing to hide their obvious and clear intent to draft a QB in R1...just like they made it painfully obvious where they were going with their pick last year. The only reason they got their man both years is because they were completely out of sync with the scouting the rest of the league had done and general trends league wide with regards to the RB position. Harris is going to be a plus runner, but he sure aint anything special like the team is desperately trying to make him out to be. I've already given some of my thoughts on Pickett in the draft thread.

The only thing more obvious than their clear intent to take a QB in R1, value be damned, was that at some point in this draft they were going to draft Heyward's kid brother. Tomlin can proclaim it had nothing to do with who his brother was all he wants, we all know that's nonsense. If this was a one off thing, you might be able to forgive it. But it isn't. This is a team that is filled with nepotism from the FO to the roster. They routinely add the siblings of players already on the roster, none of whom have ever really contributed anything. Art's son is a scout. When it comes time to hire a coach, they pretty much always promote from within passing over or ignoring far more qualified candidates in the process. They are, as I have said repeatedly over the last few months, a group of guys who at this point seem to love the smell of their own farts. They believe their own hype and think that there's something special about how they do things, and that nothing ever needs to really change. They can pay the occasional lip service to the contrary, but all of their actions show that they are just fine with status quo across the board. They truly believe, despite all evidence, that this is a team close to winning it all.

I'd also just love to give a quick shout out to the drafting of yet another 5'7 speedster who will likely break upon first contact with an actual NFL defender. Maybe this guy, the third such gadget guy they've drafted, will finally be the one after the failures that were Chris Rainey and Dri Archer. But I suspect not.

I like one pick from this draft, the WR in the 2nd round who seems to have fallen because he's yet another head case. But at least he seems to have some legitimate talent. A guy who legitimately could be special.

Finally, I'll go back around to what I started this post off with. It's just time for Colbert to go. I love him. He's been pretty damn great. But the entire organization is stale. I'd be a bit more optimistic, though, if I didn't know that Art is just going to hire a Colbert lackey to take over. Because this is a team, from top to bottom, that does what they do. They will not be going with an outside hire. I'll be shocked if I'm wrong here.

So, goodbye, Kevin. Thank you for the two Lombardis. But when you sat there at your press conference and said you won't answer whether you left the team in a better spot than you found it, let me answer that one for you...no, no you did not.

[mwalker]

Couldn't agree with all of this more.
I'm left very lukewarm by what feels like an uninspired draft.

 

[Raidersfan1]

Has my mind been incepted in my sleep? Was it you, Leo, or that damn freak? (Any freak would suffice)

Would you have taken Willis in the 3rd round? This is a legitimate question. Sure, we have Kenny tears knowing there's a big dog behind him. And some sort of media element knowing we have created a circus...

I'm not even saying Willis is good. But if you were looking at a project that would have seemed like a prudent move.

And I say this.. when if I switch DeMarvin Leal and Kenny Pickett. Suddenly, I'll give them an 86/100

 

[Raidersfan1]

(I didn't even see they drafted Oladokun)

[armsteeld]

I didn't want Pickett but I'm cool with it. 

Pickens will be a stud. Love it! Already the 2nd best route runner on the team.

Leal has that great P word. He is a spotty player but has insane quickness. I liked him better when he played at 290ish.

Archer & Rainey were nowhere close to being the receiver that Austin is. Austin has lightning fast releases off the LoS, runs good routes, gets easy separation, & makes combat catches. Excellent return skills. Oh yeah, Austin III also ran a 4.01 at the combine. Should have been a record. Here's Austin vs Sauce Gardner..

 

Heyward is a football player. He is a match-up player. 

Mark Robinson will be the steal of the draft. Dude is super smart (instinctive) and plays with a powerful base. He's a younger faster version of Vince Williams. Crazy thing is he only played LB this season so his ceiling is up there.

Oladukon....camp arm.

[VigilantZombie]

Kevin Colbert did say he wasn't retiring without a QBOTF b3ing on the team. 

That 1st round pick was going to be a QB and it wouldn't have mattered if Aiden Hutchinson l, Travon Walker, and Kayvon Thibodeaux were all available imo.

Pickens was a good pick. No disrespect to Connor Heyward but he could've probably waited until the 7th round and I can't say I understand doubling up on QBs.

Calvin Austin and George Pickens were the only selections I really liked tbh.

Leal was about Tuitt insurance and it also says a lot imo about what they think of Loudermilk, Davis, and all the other 'high potential' DEs on the roster. 

This, frankly, was a lazy draft by Colbert.

[warfelg]

Oh the irony after 3 years of backing Colbert blindy that this is the thread...

[jebrick]

22 minutes ago, warfelg said:

Oh the irony after 3 years of backing Colbert blindy that this is the thread...

As with all drafts, we will see.  Right now there is anger with the Steelers NOT TAKING WHO I THINK THEY SHOULD TAKE!!!!! That will last through camp.

Do I think the Steelers need fresh perspectives in the GM/Scouting office?  I have been saying it for years.  Do I have confidence that they will hire outside the organization?  Nope.

[warfelg]

7 minutes ago, jebrick said:

As with all drafts, we will see.  Right now there is anger with the Steelers NOT TAKING WHO I THINK THEY SHOULD TAKE!!!!! That will last through camp.

Do I think the Steelers need fresh perspectives in the GM/Scouting office?  I have been saying it for years.  Do I have confidence that they will hire outside the organization?  Nope.

I'm mocking the OP for ripping me the last 3-4 years that it was Tomlin's fault not Colbert's because the picks were Tomlin's anyways.

[MOSteelers56]

2 hours ago, wwhickok said:

Leal was about Tuitt insurance and it also says a lot imo about what they think of Loudermilk, Davis, and all the other 'high potential' DEs on the roster. 

I really don't think this is the case. Everyone was moaning and wailing that we needed D-line depth, then we take one, then people complain. Heyward, Alualu, and Tuitt are old or unreliable. Loudermilk slots in as depth behind one, Leal behind another, and Adams behind the third. If this says anything, it's that Wormely won't be back next year. 

[warfelg]

12 minutes ago, MOSteelers56 said:

I really don't think this is the case. Everyone was moaning and wailing that we needed D-line depth, then we take one, then people complain. Heyward, Alualu, and Tuitt are old or unreliable. Loudermilk slots in as depth behind one, Leal behind another, and Adams behind the third. If this says anything, it's that Wormely won't be back next year. 

We need to define DL depth.  Tomlin has said that he's comfortable with Wormely starting, Loudermilk being rotational.  Most of us were concerned about NT because when Alualu went down the run D really suffered deeply.  We did not address that at all, and we went for a guy who's more of a pass rusher in Leal than a run stopper, adding to our group of more pass rushing DE's outside of Loudermilk.

[Steeler Hitman]

On 5/1/2022 at 12:20 AM, CKSteeler said:

This draft shows that it's very, very much time for him to go. And that the team needs new blood in the FO. 

First off, I will say well written post. I don't agree with everything that the team did or what some think they should have done, but that is the draft. As I always say, it is an art and not an exact science as we make it out be. 

Pickett, for whatever he may become, was a guy they could have probably drafted a round or two later than they did.

That is very hard to speculate.  Teams adjust their board, interest, etc. as players come off the board. 

I will also say that I am not sure that Kenny Pickett would have been the pick if Kyle Hamilton, Jordan Davis, or another highly ranked player were available.  I am more disturbed that the rumor came out that they tried to trade up to get Pickett.  I would have hated to see them lose draft pick or player resources to get him. 

They did nothing to hide their obvious and clear intent to draft a QB in R1...just like they made it painfully obvious where they were going with their pick last year. The only reason they got their man both years is because they were completely out of sync with the scouting the rest of the league had done and general trends league wide with regards to the RB position.

I am not so sure about this. The draft has been built up to get fans and media interested. Anyone who truly knows their football team can typically guess what direction their team will go and what premium players that they like. Most everyone had them taking Malik Willis. I didn't see it in round one or like the value. Kenny Pickett was the only QB who had a first round grade. While he may have been ideally suited to be nabbed at 27 or so, the value is not that far off.  I am not so sure that Lamar Jackson would have gone before Pickett if in the same draft class. We know the results after the act, but as a prospect, most would have probably said that Pickett is a more NFL ready QB than even Lamar at the same points. 

Quote

Harris is going to be a plus runner, but he sure ain't anything special like the team is desperately trying to make him out to be.

I definitely disagree with you there. I think that if Najee had some blocking he would have put up far better numbers than e did. He has shown a lot as a rookie and has shown me (at least) to be the exception to the rule. I have been saying since 2017 that the OL needs to transition to more mauling and aggressive run blocking. One of my biggest draft disappointments is that they did not address the OL. I would have loved to see another OT drafted to develop. I think Najee is already a top five NFL RB and is trending towards being #1. I still would like to see a veteran signed to give him some rest and a change of pace style. 

The only thing more obvious than their clear intent to take a QB in R1, value be damned, was that at some point in this draft they were going to draft Heyward's kid brother. Tomlin can proclaim it had nothing to do with who his brother was all he wants, we all know that's nonsense. If this was a one off thing, you might be able to forgive it. But it isn't. This is a team that is filled with nepotism from the FO to the roster. They routinely add the siblings of players already on the roster, none of whom have ever really contributed anything. Art's son is a scout. When it comes time to hire a coach, they pretty much always promote from within passing over or ignoring far more qualified candidates in the process. They are, as I have said repeatedly over the last few months, a group of guys who at this point seem to love the smell of their own farts. They believe their own hype and think that there's something special about how they do things, and that nothing ever needs to really change. They can pay the occasional lip service to the contrary, but all of their actions show that they are just fine with status quo across the board. They truly believe, despite all evidence, that this is a team close to winning it all.

I agree with some what you are saying. I don't know if it is that cut and dry, but you make some valid points. I am big on developing talent within your organization, but I agree that you also have to be open to the success around you. It is copycat, so when you see success elsewhere, it is a good idea to embrace things that work outside of your organization. It doesn't mean that you are going against the Steelers Way. 

The Big Ben era closed without a championship. They are now transitioning to a new era. Fortunately, they are trying to regroup as opposed to a complete rebuild.  

I'd also just love to give a quick shout out to the drafting of yet another 5'7 speedster who will likely break upon first contact with an actual NFL defender. Maybe this guy, the third such gadget guy they've drafted, will finally be the one after the failures that were Chris Rainey and Dri Archer. But I suspect not.

They seem fascinated with these type of players. I think they could have looked in some other directions as far positions. They are looking at him as a slot guy.  Rainey and Archer were woefully undersized RB's.  He does at least have a WR pedigree. 

I like one pick from this draft, the WR in the 2nd round who seems to have fallen because he's yet another head case. But at least he seems to have some legitimate talent. A guy who legitimately could be special.

He is a high ceiling guy.  Maybe this will finally make his Picken's dad a Steelers fan and he can officially squash the riff with Rod Woodson. 😁

Finally, I'll go back around to what I started this post off with. It's just time for Colbert to go. I love him. He's been pretty damn great. But the entire organization is stale. I'd be a bit more optimistic, though, if I didn't know that Art is just going to hire a Colbert lackey to take over. Because this is a team, from top to bottom, that does what they do. They will not be going with an outside hire. I'll be shocked if I'm wrong here.

I still believe that the team wants to win, but I think that they have to look at how they have done things versus how they may need to change and modify some things. A different perspective does not always have to come from the outside. Believe me, there are often those within those walls who want to do differently, but are not in position to have the final say. Just hire the best candidate. I give the team credit for at least talking to a lot of people. 

So, goodbye, Kevin. Thank you for the two Lombardi's. But when you sat there at your press conference and said you won't answer whether you left the team in a better spot than you found it, let me answer that one for you...no, no you did not.

I think we have to give Mr. Colbert some credit there. It is a bit of a trick question. Did he do better than the team that Chuck Noll and company built between 1969 and 1979? No.  That team won four SB's in six years. I think they blew a golden opportunity in 1982 because of the strike. That was one of their best offensive teams, but the defense was aging and the passing game and rules had passed them up. From 1979 - 1995, the team had not played in a SB and during that time  was still a notch below teams like the 49'ers, Giants, Cowboys, Packers, The team formally known as Red+#@#, and Bills.

Chuck Noll heard cries of the game passing him by. He and the Steelers tried to rebuild the Steelers around another mammoth  DL named Gabe Rivera instead of with a hometown future HOF franchise QB named Dan Marino. They then fluttered through free agency  by drafting and developing  players only to allow others to pay them after the Steelers developed them. They also would not sign premium free agents from elsewhere. 

In 2000 Mr. Colbert came to the Steelers and they played in three SB's and won two between 2005 and 2010. He tried to get the franchise jump started by adding a franchise QB in 2004 named Big Ben. He added a franchise RB named Leveon Bell and found a WR talent (who if he did not implode) would have probably gone down as the second best WR of all time to the GOAT Jerry Rice. That trio had the potential to do what the Cowboys triplets did in Dallas.  Big Ben took a beating and age caught up. Bell wanted  to change the RB world at the bargaining table instead of on the field. And unfortunately  AB had personal issues and look at the right now versus the legacy that he could have had as a HOF NFL player and all time best Steelers WR. Everyone lost there. That is what probably hurt the opportunity for Mr. Colbert to add one or two more Lombardi's.  The Steelers sometimes beat themselves and the other times the Patriots did. 

I am thankful.  Change is inevitable. The Steelers need to follow the Marine Corp mantra of improvise, adapt, and overcome. Hopefully the new era will do that. Your franchise is not built solely on one draft. He wanted to get the team a franchise QB. He got the cream of crop in a somewhat weaker QB class year. It should be easier for the next regime to build around. If the team is competitive, they won't be in position to draft a top QB. Something lost is that typically the Steelers have drafted in the mid to late 20's and early 30's. Some years you don't have that many blue or red chip prospects. 

[MOSteelers56]

25 minutes ago, warfelg said:

We need to define DL depth.  Tomlin has said that he's comfortable with Wormely starting, Loudermilk being rotational.  Most of us were concerned about NT because when Alualu went down the run D really suffered deeply.  We did not address that at all, and we went for a guy who's more of a pass rusher in Leal than a run stopper, adding to our group of more pass rushing DE's outside of Loudermilk.

I think them not addressing the NT might be an indication of them liking Adams and Loudermilk's offseason progression. I could see Loudermilk especially taking a big step forward this year. He improved as a run stuffer on a game to game basis last year. 

[Steelers22]

I'm surprised that anybody would come out of this draft feeling uninspired. My feelings are quite the opposite. Your notion that they could have gotten their QB a round or two later is both speculative and monday morning quarterbacking. There is no way to know that in general and no way to know that in the moment. This team badly needed a QB and if you can get your QB1 at pick 20, without trading up, then why not? The opportunity cost is great there. We'll see if he pans out but you can't argue the process.

The past two drafts have built an exciting young core on offense. The steelers have earned the benefit of the doubt on all WR picks as they are as good as it gets in that department. Najee, while overdrafted, looks like a good player and Pat is a hit as well. 

I'm in wait and see mode with Pickett, but I always find it somewhat comical that people who just read other people's scouting reports two months prior to the draft have such confidence in their evaluation of players. Greg Cosell, for example, seemed to belive Pickett was a top 5-10 prospect and he's about as good as it gets in the media. You can find an opinion that supports your pre-coneived notion of the player regardless of which side of the fence you're on. 

All in all, I think Colbert left this team in good shape moving forward. The only terrible move, imo, would've been trading draft capital to acquire one of these guys but they didn't do that so what is there to complain about? Were you really dying to take a safety (dax hill or cine) rather than take a shot on one of the QB's?

 

Edited May 2, 2022 by Steelers22

[CKSteeler]

12 hours ago, Steelers22 said:

I'm surprised that anybody would come out of this draft feeling uninspired. My feelings are quite the opposite. Your notion that they could have gotten their QB a round or two later is both speculative and monday morning quarterbacking. There is no way to know that in general and no way to know that in the moment. This team badly needed a QB and if you can get your QB1 at pick 20, without trading up, then why not? The opportunity cost is great there. We'll see if he pans out but you can't argue the process.

No one will ever really know, but no other team felt compelled to trade up to get Pickett despite it being obvious the Steelers were going QB. No team felt the need to take the next QB until the middle of the third round. The Steelers, reportedly, had first round grades on THREE QB prospects. Not a single other team was willing to take that gamble until R3, despite the need existing as it always does for many franchises.

 

14 hours ago, warfelg said:

Oh the irony after 3 years of backing Colbert blindy that this is the thread...

Tomlin looked happier than a pig in **** to get Pickett. It's as clear as day to anyone watching. Yea, no, it isn't ironic because Colbert assembled a great deal of talent squandered by your hero. The last two years have been uninspiring, and Tomlin's hands are all over that, as well. Let it be said that Colbert assembled a roster so great that it could carry Marvin Tomlin to a Super Bowl.

On 5/1/2022 at 9:40 PM, armsteeld said:

Heyward is a football player. He is a match-up player. 

Who is Heyward creating match-ups against, exactly? The team already has two FB's who are younger brothers of defenders who they don't use. They don't take Harris off the field. Even if Heyward can play, I don't even see where he fits on the roster.