Jury still out on draft decisions
There’s nothing fans like more than secondguessing the general manager of their favorite team when things go awry. And Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert has been getting his share of the blame for the early season woes.
The reason: his handling of the offensive line and, specifically, how he approached the draft.
Colbert didn’t ignore one of the team’s biggest needs entering the draft. He selected center Kendrick Green in the third round and tackle Dan Moore in the fourth round, but he is getting ripped for not addressing the position earlier.
In the spring, Colbert knew he had to draft a center because longtime center Maurkice Pouncey retired after last season. He also knew he had to draft a tackle because Alejandro Villanueva left in free agency, and there was little proven depth behind him.
The projected starting right tackle, Zach Banner, had two career starts on his resume, and his projected starting left tackle, Chuks Okorafor, had only had 19, most of them due to the fact that Banner missed the final 15 games last season after getting injured.
With Banner on injured reserve again and the running game last in the league (again), the decisions to draft running back Najee Harris in the first round and tight end Pat Freiermuth in the second round have been criticized in the wake of the offensive struggles that have marred the first month of the season.
Why didn’t the Steelers draft an offensive lineman in the first round?
The top linemen were off the board by the time the Steelers selected Harris at No. 24 overall. Penei Sewell, Rashawn Slater, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Alex Leatherwood and Christian Darrisaw were the first five linemen selected. Darrisaw, viewed by many as the final first-round tackle, was taken with the No. 23 pick by the Vikings, one pick before the Steelers.
We might never know if Darrisaw was an option, but Colbert made it clear the Steelers viewed Harris as a special player.
“When we went through our scenarios, it was an easy decision by us to say, ‘If Najee Harris is available, we will pick him,’” Colbert said on draft night.
The next offensive lineman selected was center Landon Dickerson with the fifth pick in the second round. That’s 12 selections between linemen, which signals that no one in the league believed there was another lineman worthy of being selected in Round 1.
Dickerson, who was taken by the Eagles with the No. 37 overall pick, was widely regarded as a firstround talent, but his injury history was a big concern. Many NFL teams didn’t think Dickerson would make it to a second NFL contract because of his knees.
Dickerson missed this year’s opener with a knee injury but has started the past two games for the Eagles. He might turn out to be a good player in the short term, but he wasn’t drafted in the first round because teams expect firstround picks to make it to second contracts.
Bottom line: the Steelers and other teams didn’t believe Dickerson’s injury history made him a viable option as Pouncey’s longterm replacement, at least not at No. 24.
Why didn’t the Steelers take a lineman in the second round?
This is where Colbert might be second-guessed with a little more authority.
After Dickerson was selected, seven more linemen were drafted, including five tackles, before the Steelers went on the clock with the No. 55 pick.
Freiermuth was the pick when two of the remaining top centers remained on the board — Creed Humphrey of Oklahoma and Josh Myers of Ohio State.
The Steelers took Freiermuth for a number of reasons, not the least of which was they had him higher on their board than Humphrey or Myers. But they also needed to solidify the tight end position with Eric Ebron entering the final year of his contract.
Was that the correct decision? It’s way too early to tell.
Freiermuth is already playing more snaps than Ebron, but the underachieving offensive line has reignited the draftnight discussion.
Humphrey and Myers are starters for the Chiefs and Packers, respectively. Green and Moore are starters, but they’ve become lightning rods for criticism. Green, who played mostly guard at Illinois, is learning on the job in the NFL. Moore, who was thrust into the starting lineup due to Banner’s injury, has endured his share of growing pains, as well, including giving up another sack to the Packers last week as Ben Roethlisberger’s blindside protector.
It’s also worth noting Colbert was on record saying he liked the depth of this year’s offensive line class. And it goes without saying that in recent years, tight end depth has been an issue every year in the draft.
“I think when we look at the board, we look at who’s available, regardless of the depth,” Colbert said at the conclusion of the draft. “If we really liked that player, we’re going to take them there. If we know there is good depth at two positions and two players are graded pretty close, we will take the player that has the least amount of depth as we look at the total picture.
“In that case, what I mean to say is if we like a guy, regardless of the depth, we’ll take him. But if it’s close and there’s more depth, we’ll probably take the position with the least depth.”
In other words, the Steelers didn’t believe there was a big enough difference between Humphrey, Myers or Green, who was the next center after Humphrey at No. 87 overall.
It’s too early to tell if the right decision was made, but the Steelers took this path for a reason.