Way too early 2025 draft talk

[bigben07MVP]

@jebrick I may have to capitulate on your guy Cam Ward. The turnovers still scare me but he impressed me against UF week 1. The mobility is better than I thought as well.

[warfelg]

10 minutes ago, bigben07MVP said:

against UF week 1.

I'm not saying this to diss Ward, but rather say this - I think UF is trash this year and by the end of the year we're not going to be looking at them as the quality win most think it was.

[VigilantZombie]

I'm not necessarily someone who tracks college players much, more so I learn about them as we get closer to the draft.

I hope we add to Roman Wilson and Pickens in the draft. 

I think, a successor to Cam needs to be looked at, but I also worry that OT may still be an issue.

[jebrick]

19 minutes ago, warfelg said:

I'm not saying this to diss Ward, but rather say this - I think UF is trash this year and by the end of the year we're not going to be looking at them as the quality win most think it was.

I care less about the win then about how Ward looked passing.  Arm, accuracy, make reads.  I also liked Greyson McCall from NC St.  His arm has fully recovered.

[warfelg]

2 minutes ago, jebrick said:

I care less about the win then about how Ward looked passing.  Arm, accuracy, make reads.  I also liked Greyson McCall from NC St.  His arm has fully recovered.

I didn’t watch enough of the MIA/UF game to know this (I did PSU though) but when it’s a lot of the plays they should make, like clean pocket, WR open more than two yards, no safety rotating; I compare it to an NBA player shooting in a pickup game. 

Like it reminds me of when Brian “White Mamba” Scalibrini was almost 40, some mid-level D1 guys at an open gym roasted him as the worst NBA player and then he cooked them in 5 straight one on one games winning by a total of 55-1. 

The few highlights of that game I did saw looked like the usual Cam Ward ride of some wild throws bad and the ho-hum play he should make. 

Personally he’s low on my list because of those wild throws. You’ll need to be a team who can live with that and has all the other parts in place that will cut down on those happening. I see Seattle, Dallas, and maybe LV as landing spots. 

[jebrick]

Like with a lot of QBs, you can't help that their team is good or their opposition is bad.  The dig I heard on Beck is that he has a clean pocket most of the time.  So did Stroud.  Ward makes the occasional bone headed throw.  So did Big Ben.  So do all QBs.  Can they make accurate throws from the pocket and throw the WR open?  

 

Draftniks are going to talk up Milroe and Taylen Green and Noah Fifita because they run around.  I am more impressed if they have to move and keep their eyes down the field and make an accurate throw when they are off platform then if they get 100 yards rushing. Sanders really impressed me with this last game.  Best game he has played in college.  The NFL game is not the spread offense and QBs that run around can have shorter careers.

[warfelg]

Ward makes the occasional bone headed throw? He was 12th in turnover worthy plays last year. His only game last year without a turnover worthy play was Stanford who was TERRIBLE on defense.

An interesting one with this is typically Turnover Worthy Plays go up from NCAA to NFL. Take a player some see as turnover prone in like Justin Fields.

Fields NCAA - 1.8%

Fields NFL - 3.5%

Ward NCAA - 3.5%

 

I guess it comes down in a difference of how we're watching and assessing. I do care if a QB has a clean pocket and hitting open WR's on the regular and when those things don't happen it creates a turnover worthy play. Heck it doesn't even need to be that, sometimes QBs throws a ball where you go "where was he going, there's not even a defender there". So those plays of clean pocket, WR beat their man off the line, hitting that guy checks a box that every QB should check if you hope to even be on a practice squad.

I'll say with comparing Stroud, to even the QB prior in Fields, the difference between them to me was Fields made all the check the box throws, made the occasional 'oh that's something' throw to me. Stroud made the check the box and regularly throw the ball before he knew his guy was going to be open. That's what matters to me.

I dunno. Ward is a high RD2/late RD1 guy to me.

I mean - I don't mind disagreeing on the QB stuff this year. This is a solid class of QB's where you should take one of they fall, but for a lot of teams that "need" more than a QB I can come up with really good reasoning as to why they should go a different direction.

[warfelg]

Some matchups I'm looking forward to today:

Will Johnson (Mich DB) vs Isaiah Bond (WR Tex) and Quinn Ewers (QB Tex)

Talk about contrasting styles. Isaiah is smaller and shifty with some speed while Will is a big strong physical corner who looks to beat up guys. Will Johnson's size is going to be a great test for them, especially Quinn who's ball placement going that way will need to be near perfect since Johnson has the length to make that throw challenging. I feel like it's rare to see a matchup with this many 1st round picks in a prime time matchup like this.

Steelers notes - Johnson and Ewers would be guys I expect to trade up for but I think Bond could be very much in play for us.

Jayden Higgins (WR Iowa St) vs Sebastian Castro (CB Iowa)

Another matchup of early picks going here, though not nearly as high as the matchup above. I like this matchup because of just how different they are size wise. Jayden is 6'4" and Sebastian is 5'11", so it will be a test of how well does Castro bat above his weight class so to speak, while Higgins is tested in beating a player with size. Later this year Higgins will be tested against size too.

Steelers notes - Both would be day 2 picks. Higgins would bring more size and speed aspect like some recent WR's we've drafted. Castro seems to be very much the mold of run stuffing/blitzing slot corners we have targeted so I would very much like to see us finally spend a pick on.

Boise State at Oregon

There's no direct matchups in this game but there's a good number of players to watch in this one for me.

Boise States RB Ashton Jeanty is a game breaker out of the backfield. Though he's smaller at 5'9" which will hurt his draft stock, he's very stocky and quick. I feel like he's too much of another Jaylen Warren to make a ton of sense for us, but he's still on my radar.

Oregon has a few guys who are mid round prospects I got my eyes on. Evan Stewart looks like he could be a nice complement WR. He's unlikely to be someone who could lead a NFL team but as a SWR complement I like his prospects. OT Josh Conerly Jr is someone I have tagged for moving inside at the NFL level as his run blocking is decent but he's not great at the play in space. QB Dillon Gabriel is a developmental guy but he's got tools.

OTHER RANDOM PLAYERS I'M WATCHING:

Dontay Corleone IDL Cincinnati - First play since coming back from blood clots.

Shavon Revel CB ECU - HIDDEN GEM ALERT He is BIG and LONG and will be an exciting prospect to watch come draft season.

Landon Jackson DL Arkansas - I like him and he is a BIG guy at 6'7". He's rather raw for a Sr but he's got some interesting skills.

 

 

[jebrick]

3 hours ago, warfelg said:

Landon Jackson DL Arkansas - I like him and he is a BIG guy at 6'7". He's rather raw for a Sr but he's got some interesting skills.

He is on my list as well.

Walker Nolen (Ole Miss) and Dani Dennis-Sutton(Penn St) get a look for day 2 DT/DE that fit the Steeler style

[Magnus-Viktor]

A little update on some RBs.  Watching the OK State - K State game.  My top 2 RBs going head to head.  Both looking good early on, with Ollie running wild especially.  He has some serious, serious power.  Runs violent like Marshawn almost, except Marshawn was all leg drive after contact which I don't see here.  Giddens runs just like LeVeon Bell.  He had a nice catch on a pass that was a hair behind him....caught it in stride and kept going for YAC.  I'd take both of them over what we currently have, especially if you take into account cap space/opportunity cost.  

The K State QB looks good too.  I watched one of K State's earlier games a couple weeks ago and was really impressed with him.  He has that WOW type athleticism, but looked like a really good passer too.  Usually I'm not a big fan of the athletic QBs, but he's got that wow-factor to him.  4.4 speed from the looks of it.  I literally said "WOW that dude is fast" to my wife when I first watched him play a few weeks ago.  I just googled him and found an article where he said he runs 22 mph, and in the article it mentions a 4.3.  Other places I saw 4.52.  6'2 or 6'3" (depending on source - the roster lists him at 6'2") and 195 lbs.  Only 19 years old.

[mwalker]

I love the Michigan studs CB W.Johnson and DL M.Graham.
T.McMillan, WR from Arizona is a gamer.
Georgia's M.Starks in our secondary would be exciting.
All likely top 10 picks.

RB A.Jeanty has some Barry Sanders in him.
Not saying he's that good, but kid is explosive and fun to watch.
Would love that kind of explosiveness as an added dimension to our plodding offense. 

 

[jebrick]

RB is the other very deep position in this draft.  We got to see why Najee is not a feature back vs the Colts.  He could not attack the outside like the Texans and Packers did.

I was impressed with Jarquez Hunter from Auburn this weekend and he is considered a day 3 pick.

[VigilantZombie]

I think its pretty obvious WR has to be up there unless we sign someone in the offseason or trade before the deadline for one. But even then, it could still be up there within the first 3 rounds. That's not dismissing Roman Wilson, it's just a position we absolutely have to build on.

[armsteeld]

QB Cam Ward has some skills but he isn't the most accurate QB or maybe it's ball placement that worries me. His receivers have to make some amazing 180 and other acrobatic catches. He is productive and competitive so I like that.

QB Shedeur Sanders is still the best QB in college football for me. Pipe dream for the Steelers. His leadership & football IQ is off the charts. Reminds me of Kurt Warner as he isn't the most mobile QB but he excels at throwing his guys open & also hitting his guys in stride allowing for easy rac.

ILB Nikhai Green-Hill is the biggest hitter in college football. This guy explodes through ball carriers and blockers. He plays violently and with an attitude. He's a faster more agile Elandon Roberts.

3-5 OLB Tyler Barron is an explosive strong edge defender. Relentless pass rushers who plays the run well.

WR Tre Harris is a productive strong run after the catch guy with strong hands. Not blazing fast but is a subtle route runner who knows how to get separation.

DL Deone Walker is a bigger Chris Jones. Dude is an amazing athlete. Once he gets better at staying low through the double teams, he will be a bigger menace to offenses. He can play wide 9/DE and be a mismatch vs the tackles he's facing. 

 

 

[rlon]

9 hours ago, armsteeld said:

DL Deone Walker is a bigger Chris Jones. Dude is an amazing athlete. Once he gets better at staying low through the double teams, he will be a bigger menace to offenses. He can play wide 9/DE and be a mismatch vs the tackles he's facing. 

 

Think he goes a bit later than expected for any reason?