It doesn't happen often, but during the Pittsburgh Steelers second preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers added to an already loaded front seven when the team acquired LB Joe Schobert from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
A former fourth round pick of the Cleveland Browns, Schobert has been a solid middle linebacker at the NFL level, tallying over 100 combined tackles over the past four seasons in Cleveland and Jacksonville and was a Pro Bowler for Cleveland in the 2017-2018 season as a replacement for Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier. Schobert of course comes with a price tag after he signed a five year, 53-million dollar contract with the Jaguars but Urban Meyer and the new staff elected to move on from Schobert. The need for depth at inside linebacker became more important with the retirement of veteran and long-time Steeler Vince Williams prior to the preseason, so the move to acquire Schobert will give linebacker Devin Bush a new partner up the middle in the Steelers strong 3-4 front seven. The terms of the trade were released this morning, with the Steelers sending a late-compensation pick to the Jaguars. Something of note, the Steelers have turned the release of guard David Decastro and his contract into guard Trai Turner, outside linebacker Melvin Ingram and now Schobert, a very solid package considering Decastro's injury history may see him not end up on a team this season. For the Steelers, the front seven was already stout, but now the rich get richer and Mike Tomlin and company filled a huge need that the team can still focus on for two more preseason games before facing Buffalo in week one.
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"Why did the Steelers not go offensive line in the first round? They need it more than a running back!"
That is the call many Steelers fans took when the team selected Najee Harris with the 24th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. The Steelers then selected a tight end and went offensive line in the third round with Kendrick Green, who has the potential to fulfill the role of replacing Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey. Well, the Steelers don't appear to be done adding to arguably their biggest weakness, as five-time Pro-Bowl offensive lineman Trai Turner wrapped up a visit with the Steelers on Friday. Turner has released by the Chargers after nine starts in 2020, but there is not doubt he still possesses some talent on the offensive line if the Steelers are bringing him in for a visit. Protecting Ben Roethlisberger has to be at the top of priorities heading into the 2021 NFL season, and by adding Turner, the line would likely formulate with a five of Okorafor/Turner/Green/Decastro/Banner making out the line with capable backups BJ Finney, Kevin Dotson and Dan Moore being able to slot in if needed. Turner may not be among the best interior offensive linemen in football anymore, but what he gives the Steelers is more options along the front and the ability to mix and match their attack with Matt Canada taking over as the offensive coordinator this offseason. This also benefits the already mentioned Harris, who would strongly benefit from the addition of Turner, who has been regarded as a very solid run blocker and pass protector across his career. It would only help Harris reach his full abilities in the backfield, which of course will help aid Roethlisberger from having to throw 45+ times a game week-in and week-out. Well, the NFL Draft has definitely has some surprises, but the Pittsburgh Steelers did not overthink one of their biggest needs at pick 24 with a ton of player available and selected the best running back in the class in Najee Harris.
The Steelers had plenty of options at 24 with how the board fell, featuring players like LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, OT Tevin Jenkins and even C Landon Dickerson, but Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert raved about Harris for weeks and opted to take the best running back in the draft out of Alabama. Harris is the first running back to be drafted by Pittsburgh since 2008 when the team selected Rashard Mendenhall from Illinois and after finishing dead last in the NFL in rushing, the Steelers front office went running back to fix that problem immediately with Harris. Now the Steelers of course have needs at the offensive line, but with major tackles and interior linemen being available still, the Steelers have options in the later rounds to address that need and give Harris a good line to run behind. As for his collegiate career, Harris was one of the best running back to come out of Alabama, leaving Tuscaloosa as the all-time leader in touchdowns with 57 and rushing touchdowns with 46, passing Heisman trophy winners Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry who have both had good NFL careers in their own right. Along with that, Harris also leaves Alabama leading in rushing yards with 3,843 after winning the Doak Walker Award in 2020 for being the best running back in college football and helping lead the Crimson Tide to another National Championship over Ohio State. As far as how Harris will help the Steelers offense, he is an exceptional runner with not so elite speed but good awareness of blocking schemes and an efficient way of breaking tackles in open space. Harris can also catch the ball well out of the backfield, something the Steelers utilized well when they had Le'Veon Bell and can use to not only improve the passing game but set up the play action as well, something quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has done well throughout his career. Now of course the pick may not be welcomed by some of Steelers nation, but the offensive line class still features names like Brady Christiansen, Jalen Mayfield, Samuel Cosmi, Liam Eichenberg and Wyatt Davis, so the Steelers have plenty of options on day two of the NFL Draft to address the offensive line or some other needs. I love the pick at Harris at 24, but let me know how you feel on Twitter @mvp_EtHaN! Welcome back to ESSportsTalk everyone! It's been awhile, but I am back with my independent blog and of course with the NFL Draft this upcoming Thursday, I have to release my final edition of my 2021 Steelers Mock Draft in my return and I am only doing the first four rounds. Thank you all for coming back and here is my final 2021 Steelers Mock Draft! First Round, Pick 24 - RB Najee Harris, Alabama At this point in my evaluation of the Steelers draft plans from what I have seen and read on various websites, it appears the Pittsburgh Steelers are locked in on Najee Harris at pick 24. I know this pick will be welcoming to some and some will hate it, but not many running backs like Harris come around often. Taking into account that Harris stands at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds and runs a 4.45 40-yard dash, he sounds and plays like the typical Steelers running back. With a balance of power and versatility, Harris can run in between and outside the tackles and does both very well and although he doesn't have big-play speed like Travis Etienne, but his pace on drives is what the Steelers need and his ability to get in the end zone will no doubt help the Steelers finish drives in the redzone. Now of course the Steelers need offensive line help, and pretty badly, but this draft is sneaky deep with offensive tackles and guards, so the Steelers in this scenario can address those needs later, but adding Harris should help fix a lackluster run game that was a bottom dweller in the league last season. With Ben Roethlisberger likely going into his last season, a strong running game should help the Steelers attempt to give him the Super Bowl send-off he deserves. Second Round, Pick 55 - OT Jalen Mayfield, Michigan Remember when I said the tackle class was deeper then some think, well the Steelers nearly had two options in the scenario, but offensive tackle Brady Christiansen from BYU went right before this pick, so the Steelers select Jalen Mayfield from Michigan as a solid consolation prize. Mayfield is younger then Christiansen, which may be why some teams value him over the Cougars tackle, but I also value him over Christiansen for a variety of reasons. Standing 6-foot-5 and 319 pounds, Mayfield is a bruising tackle who can play with the best edge rushers in this draft and past, as he faced star defensive end Chase Young in his college career in 2019 and held his own. Young had 16.5 sacks in 2019 before being a top-five draft pick in 2020, and Mayfield held Young to zero tackles, tackles for loss or sacks, the only time Young didn't have a sack or tackle in the entire 2019 campaign. Mayfield is a much better pass protector than run blocker, but protecting Roethlisberger has to be key, and although Mayfield lacks stellar athleticism, he has the physical tools to contend against pass-rushers at the NFL level, and he has already faced plenty of them from the Big Ten. Third Round, Pick 87 - IOL Josh Myers, Ohio State When you lose Maurkice Pouncey, Matt Feiler and Alejandro Villaneuva in the same offseason, spending two of your top three picks on offensive linemen isn't a stretch. The Steelers take this approach here and add another underrated lineman in interior offensive lineman Josh Myers from Ohio State. Myers served as the center for the Buckeyes and Justin Fields in 2020, but he also has the capability to slide to guard if needed. What I like most about Myers is how he moves laterally, meaning he slides along the line of scrimmage very well to help blocking against strong defensive tackles and offering help against tougher defensive ends. Now Myers does struggle with downfield blocking, but if the Steelers add Harris, who is phenomenal at creating his own yards, it can give Myers time to build that into his craft. I would grade Myers as a midlevel starter at the center position in the NFL, but for the Steelers, their list of all-time centers runs deep, so developing Myers behind BJ Finney may be in the cards, but Myers has the potential to secede Maurkice Pouncey as the next strong Steelers center. Fourth Round, Pick 128 - CB Shaun Wade, Ohio State This one was a no doubter for me if Shaun Wade is available in the fourth round. The Steelers got hit hard with losing cornerbacks this offseason, losing top Pro Football Focus corner Steven Nelson along with Mike Hilton and now Justin Layne more than likely after his felony gun charge. After those developments, the Steelers stay in Ohio and select Wade, and the Steelers have a solid track record with defensive players from Ohio State, most prominent being Ryan Shazier and Cameron Heyward. Back to Wade though, he had a very up and down career for the Buckeyes. As a freshman, he looked as if he would follow Jeff Okudah as another Ohio State corner to go early in the draft, but after his sophomore year, Wade fell off a cliff, struggling a ton on the outside, but after losing Hilton to the Bengals, I could see Wade as a tremendous fit inside as a nickel corner at the next level. With Terrell Edmunds struggling as well, some scouts have even flirted with the idea of sliding Wade to strong safety, so he would add some versatility to the Steelers secondary, and maybe a strong pass rush would help Wade get back to his strong form he had in his first two years with the Buckeyes. Fourth Round, Pick 140 - EDGE Dayo Odeyingbo, Vanderbilt
After going offensively in the first three rounds, the Steelers don't have a ton of defensive needs to fill, but edge could be one after losing Bud Dupree and the Steelers add some depth and a potential fringe starter to the mix in Vanderbilt's Dayo Odeyingbo. Odeyingbo played everyone for the Commodores, slotting outside as an edge rusher and even as a nose tackle inside at times, allowing him to learn plenty of different positions along the line. He of course who be a 3-4 OLB for the Steelers at the next level but if he added weight, he could follow behind Tyson Alualu as a future nose tackle for Pittsburgh. Odeyingbo's pass rush of course needs refinement, but his blend of speed and athleticism will help him along the way, especially learning from the likes of TJ Watt, Cameron Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and others. Let me know what you all think of these picks ahead of Thursday's draft on my Twitter page, @mvp_EtHaN! If one thing is constant in life, it is change. We change every year, every week and everyday. Sports is not different, and for the Pittsburgh Steelers, they are at a crossroads that many teams before them have been at, what now?
For the Steelers fans that had the pleasure of watching the team win four Super Bowls in the 1970s, the team was led by a stout defense and a Hall of Fame quarterback in the form of Terry Bradshaw, but once his career came to a close, the team saw a decade and a half of subpar football until the late 90s and early 2000s. We are now into 2021, and future Hall of Fame quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may have played his final NFL game after a 48-37 loss to the Cleveland Browns, a team that Roethlisberger was 24-2-1 in his career before entering their Wild Card matchup Sunday night. The game was never in the Steelers hands from the very start, and no blame needs to be placed on one singular coach or player, this effort was the product of everyone on the field and in the organization just not being ready when it mattered. About two months ago, the Steelers were riding high at 11-0 and Roethlisberger was even being talked about as an MVP candidate. Now Roethlisberger and the Steelers lost five of their last six and the 41 million dollar cap hit that Roethlisberger has in 2021 seems even more of a liability on the team's long term plans heading into the offseason. Juju Smith-Schuster, James Conner, Alejandro Villanueva, Mike Hilton and Bud Dupree are all slated to head to free agency with the Steelers cap situation looking dire, so that cap hit will definitely not help things for Kevin Colbert and company and even Colbert has been labeled as a possibility to leave the GM role in Pittsburgh to head to Detroit as his contract has expired. Again, the Steelers are at a crossroads. Tomlin will enter 2021 in his final year of his contract, having only one a playoff game in four of his 14 seasons, but the likelihood he stays is high. For offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner, he is likely seeing his way out of Pittsburgh with an expiring contract and a subpar season offensively for Pittsburgh. This leads me to my point. The Steelers have no money to work with in free agency and a late draft pick. For starters, even if Ben stays, the Steelers need to draft their quarterback of the future, be it Kyle Trask, Mac Jones or Trey Lance to name a few, and they need to draft or bring in another running back to establish a run game next season for Ben or a rookie to not have to throw a whopping 68 times in a playoff game. As most teams, the Steelers have plenty more questions than answers heading into the offseason and beyond, but change needs to happen. Does it need to be drastic? No, of course not. But changes to the coaching staff, a potential new quarterback, a rehashing of the offensive line and establishing the future are definitely some things that should be in order. Change is coming and the puzzle pieces are laid out on the table which poses the question, which puzzle will the Steelers decide to put together? |
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