Round 1 Draft Pick (POLL)

[jonzr]

I wonder how many will pick quarterback now?  Haha!  A good defensive back would come in handy but Big Snack won't play forever and I'm inclined to say that Ben deserves the line he has now, ahem, uh, that the line can still improve.

[SCacalaki]

Earl Thomas

[pensodyssey]

DAFT NDAMKNIGHTKLINGON SUE!!!!!!!!!11

[The Emperor]

is not NDAMKNIGHTKLINGON SUE! !1!!! is Nadakongo suops!!!1!! Stoopdid adios.  but eye agry he is the bestt rite tikle in the drafts and;; ( culd be beter then that >>> mass staRs guy we hvae know111

[sage]

Iuapati.  Nuff said.

[Brinker]

Experts Mock...


After trading one of Ben Roethlisberger's biggest weapons away, Pitt needs to do something to help its troubled QB.

I still have visions of Justin Hartwig getting pushed back into the end zone in the Super Bowl, something that won't happen to Maurkice Pouncey.

If not a lineman, the Steelers should grab a CB to help their pass D.

John Lorge - Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

Mel Kiper - Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

Todd McShay - Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

Daniel Jeremiah - Mike Iupati, G, Idaho

Rob Rang (CBS) - Joe Haden, CB, Florida

Chad Reuter (CBS) - Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

Pete Prisco (CBS) - Mike Iupati, G, Idaho

Clark Judge (CBS) - Maurkice Pouncey, C, Florida

Ourlads - Mike Iupati, G, Idaho

Walter Football - Rolando McClain, LB, Alabama

Shutdown Corner - Kyle Wilson, CB, Boise State

National Football Post - Mike Iupati, G, Idaho

[vinman3]

I think they need to DARFT the best available OL, DL, or CB. Although, WR is making a pretty good case to being in the top 3 now.

[Finnegans Wake]

I think you draft the BPA, with areas of need informing but not constraining that.  For example, there is no QB at 1.18 that fits our value, even if Clausen or Bradford fall, even with all that is going on with Ben.  (In a weird-case scenario, if the Rooneys would bend to the masses with pitchforks and trade Ben, best value would dictate bringing in a vet to compete with Dixon and looking to 2011 for better QB value, IMO.)  TE and FB are not on the radar.  Positions such as OG and C, not generally mid-R1 values, have skewed upward in drafts of late (as S did earlier in the decade, slightly).  That might mean Iupati or Pouncey would be justified even without a trade-down; to my mind, not.  OT would absolutely be a target, but the players likely to be at 1.18 all have caveats (Davis, want-to; Campbell, can-do; Brown, frame).

WR is very solid value in the R2-4 range this year, but 1.18 figures Bryant, possibly, who might be DND on any number of teams' boards for diva attitude.  To my mind, better value exists (again) in a trade-down for Benn, Tate, or Damian Williams, in that order IMO.  Also Carlton Mitchell and Andre Roberts at R3.  Past that, you can wait until R5-ish and see if Decker falls, medical, or Webb is there, conversion project; Easley, measurables, is another pet of mine.  A large number of overrateds otherwise, IMO.

If McClain falls, or we really like Weatherspoon, ILB could figure at 1.18.  Most don't see ILB as exigent, what with Farrior (old), Foote (slow), Timmons, and Fox (backup) in the fold.  A year or two out, that group will likely be Timmons and Fox and no one.  So that's a possible target, as is OLB.  Again, no need with Woodley and Harrison (age) and Frazier (JAG) and Bailey (JASTG), right?  Two years out, could be Woodley and some guys or Woodley and Harrison and some guys, but which?  So Woodley II, Brandon Graham, is worth the get; Jerry Hughes might be better in a trade-down.

DB is tricky.  Huge R2/R3 CB cluster, but at least 3 guys who are getting rich due to positional inflation (Kyle Wilson, Devin McCourty, Kareem Jackson), all good in their own rights, none worth a R1, absolutley none worth 1.18.  Less dropoff to R2 from even a trade-down to get one of those three, so pass, IMO.  Haden won't fall now, but if he did, he's a 1.18 no question.  FS Earl Thomas is whispered as a CB, but hasn't played the spot, and I'd take him for FS anyway, where Clark is spackle until a real playmaker on the order of Troy arrives.  No other S is worth 1.18 or R1/2 cusp.

RB and DL feature one player who could be worth a 1.18, CJ Spiller, based on versatility (RB, KR, WR); Odrick looks solid, but again, more a trade-down value.  Problem is, both positions are deep in this draft.  RB almost always is anyway, but DL is very, very deep this year. 

TE is almost as silly as FB or K in R1.

In short, trading back yields the most options, but by sheer numbers LB and OL have the most targets.  DB may have the best (Haden, maybe, and Thomas).  DL and RB seem unlikely, having just gone there recently with Mendy and Hood; LB might seem so with Timmons and, R2, Woodley, but we also run 4 LBs so that's no argument.

Off-the-head mock, based on value cluster, visits, and implied positional interest off visits, with no trades.  Not necessarily my druthers, moreso what I think they like, roughly construed (NFLDS rank in parens):

1.18 OG/RT Mike Iupati (19)
2.52 NT Linval Joseph (60)
3.82 CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (69)
4.116 S Kam Chancellor (123)
5.151 WR Joe Webb (149)
5.155 RB Lonyae Miller (158)
5.164 ILB Phillip Dillard (156)
5.166 DE Mike Neal (166)
6.188 OLB Adrian Tracy (200)
7.224 OT Ramon Harewood (230)
7.242 QB Sean Canfield (281)

Notes: AOA is likely gone, but there are numerous other CB possibilities; Walter Thurmond should be the injury waiver to gamble on.  Chancellor is apparently a Tomlin guy, more SS than FS IMO, but some positional flex.  Lonyae Miller replaces LeGarrette Blount, as the FO has had enough of anything even resembling character issues.  We swap Santonio for "Dragnet" Joe Webb: Wallace has the speed and clutch characteristics, but has to grow into the starting job; meanwhile Webb is the newest QB-to-WR experiment, but with 6'3" size and 4.46 speed.

[KeystoneKC]

Off-the-head mock, based on value cluster, visits, and implied positional interest off visits, with no trades.  Not necessarily my druthers, moreso what I think they like, roughly construed (NFLDS rank in parens):

1.18 OG/RT Mike Iupati (19)
2.52 NT Linval Joseph (60)
3.82 CB Akwasi Owusu-Ansah (69)
4.116 S Kam Chancellor (123)
5.151 WR Joe Webb (149)
5.155 RB Lonyae Miller (158)
5.164 ILB Phillip Dillard (156)
5.166 DE Mike Neal (166)
6.188 OLB Adrian Tracy (200)
7.224 OT Ramon Harewood (230)
7.242 QB Sean Canfield (281)

Likin' it Brother.  Did Colbert take your call?  Especially like your 3rd Rounder.
http://maximumgrilledsteelers.com/index.php?topic=18028.0

[Finnegans Wake]

Colbert's busy shopping Ben right now.  He's gotten teams down to a ham sandwich and a six of Pabst.