Selecting corner in 1st round overdue
Abundant crop puts Steelers in good spot
When NFL analysts say it’s time the Steelers select a cornerback in the first round of the draft, they’re not exaggerating. It has been 18 years since the Steelers chose Chad Scott out of Maryland with the No. 24 overall pick of the 1997 draft.
From 1998-2014, 65 cornerbacks were drafted in the first round. The Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs were the only teams that did not select at least one cornerback in the first round in that span.
The San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders selected five cornerbacks in the first round in those 17 years. AFC North Division rival Cincinnati and Buffalo selected four, Baltimore and a number of others selected three.
The question is whether the Steelers have neglected the position, or do they simply not value the position as much as other teams do?
“I think it’s a combination of both,” said Dane Brugler, a draft analyst for nfldraftscout.com and CBS. “Some teams will not draft a running back in the first round no
matter what. Other teams won’t take a receiver in the top 10. I think it goes back to the philosophy of the front office. The Steelers have had two coaches in that span. So maybe it just has played out that way. It just might have come down to who was available.”
The Steelers were going to take cornerback Justin Gilbert a year ago if he was available when they chose at No. 15. Instead, the Cleveland Browns drafted him with the No. 8 overall pick, and the Steelers took the best player on their board when their time came, inside linebacker Ryan Shazier.
It’s also no secret the Steelers believe the pass rush is more important than coverage in their defense.
Since Mike Tomlin has been head coach, the Steelers have invested a first- or second-round pick in an edge rusher three times, most recently on Jarvis Jones, the No. 17 overall pick in 2013. They have not drafted a cornerback in either the first or second round in Tomlin’s tenure.
But it’s not just the draft history that suggests the Steelers finally could address the position in the first round next week. No less an authority than team president Art Rooney II said in January the Steelers had to add depth to the secondary through the draft.
“I think obviously on the back end [of the defense], we need to add some players,” Rooney said. “We are going to need to add some people in the draft.”
If the Steelers want to select a cornerback in the first round this year, they are in luck. This year is stocked with quality cornerbacks throughout the draft. As many as five or six could get drafted in the first round.
Assuming Trae Waynes of Michigan State, the top cornerback prospect, is gone by the time the Steelers select at No. 22 overall, they could have the option to draft Kevin Johnson of Wake Forest, Marcus Peters of Washington, Byron Jones of Connecticut or Jalen Collins from LSU.
Johnson and Peters are the second and third-ranked cornerbacks by CBS, and the Steelers have shown interest in both. General manager Kevin Colbert attended Wake Forest’s pro day and had a dinner meeting with Johnson. Defensive backs coach Carnell Lake attended Washington’s pro day, and the Steelers had Peters in for a visit. Tomlin also met with Collins at LSU.
Of the three, Peters is the most-talented player, but he was kicked off Washington’s team in the middle of the 2014 season. Johnson is considered the safest pick. Collins, who started for just one season at LSU, might have the most potential with his size and athletic skills.
“Peters is more talented, and he is the more physical player,” said Rob Rang, another draft analyst for CBS. “He fits in more with the AFC North better than Johnson does. If they felt confident with the off-the-field stuff, he’s probably the guy they should take.”
There has been more to the problems in the Steelers secondary than not drafting cornerbacks in the first or second round. Since Tomlin became coach in 2007, they haven’t invested much in the position at all, a strange happenstance considering Tomlin’s background as a defensive backs coach before his arrival in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers have drafted nine cornerbacks since 2007, but six have been selected in the fifth round or lower. The other three were drafted in the third or fourth round.
Keenan Lewis was a third-round pick in 2009. He started for one season for the Steelers before hitting it big in free agency with New Orleans. The other two were drafted in 2011. Curtis Brown came in the third round and Cortez Allen came in the fourth.
Of all the cornerbacks selected in Tomlin’s tenure here, only Lewis and William Gay, who came in the fifth round in 2007, can be considered successful picks. Brown, the highest pick of the bunch, played three seasons for the Steelers and never started a game. Allen, given a four-year, $24.6 million deal before the 2014 season, has started 15 games over the past two seasons, but he has been benched for ineffective play both years.
The others — Joe Burnett, Crezdon Butler, Terrence Frederick, Terry Hawthorne and Shaquille Richardson — never made an impact. Hawthorne and Richardson, fifth-round picks the past two years, did not make the 53-man roster out of training camp.
If the Steelers draft a position player other than cornerback in the first round, the class is deep enough that the Steelers could wait until the second round to get a quality one. Some of the options in the second round likely would include P.J. Williams of Florida State, Quentin Rollins of Miami of Ohio, Eric Rowe of Utah and Steven Nelson of Oregon State.