BlitzburghRockCity
04-29-2006, 11:37 PM
http://media3.steelers.com/article/63778/
The plan that came together
Saturday, April 29, 2006
By BOB LABRIOLA
Steelers.com
At the professional level, football indeed is all about the preparation, but success often comes down to the ability to adjust. Despite the best-laid plans, despite coaches' attempts to control as much as possible, there definitely is a place in the NFL for flying by the seat of your pants.
Except, apparently, for the Pittsburgh Steelers on draft day, especially the first day of the 2006 NFL Draft.
Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert and Coach Bill Cowher preside over the team's preparations for the draft, and the last part of that is always the mock drafts. The Steelers go through the first round and make a best effort to figure out how the picks above them will go so that they can be prepared for some of the contingencies they might face during their 15 minutes on the clock in the first round.
As the day began, the Steelers knew their 10 draft picks exceeded the potential openings they expect to have on their 53-man roster for the 2006 seasons, and rather than draft players to cut them, one idea was to use them as collateral to make trades to get a fewer number of players but guys who have a chance to make an impact.
In the first round, the Steelers had identified Ohio State receiver Santonio Holmes as the only player they saw as worth trading up to get, and in Colbert's wildest dreams he probably never saw it working out so well.
By most projections, Holmes was the top receiver in a draft unusually thin at the position, and the odds of a team owning the 32nd pick in the first round coming away with the best receiver prospect in the pool were long. The Steelers figured that if Holmes still were on the board when it came time for Kansas City to make the 20th pick of the round, they were going to starting working the phones hard. To get Holmes, they were prepared to give their picks in the first, third and fourth rounds.
That may sound like a steep price, but when the team trading the picks is making them at the very end of the round, well, the value just isn't as high. Because teams cannot trade compensatory picks, a package of their first, third and fourth picks was going to be the Steelers' best offer.
For that to be good enough, the Steelers figured Holmes was going to have to get to the Chiefs at least, and as the first round picked up momentum, some obvious potholes were going to have to be avoided. The first of those was Philadelphia and its pick 14th overall. The Eagles perceived themselves to be needy enough at wide receiver that the team once went into business with Terrell Owens, but when Philadelphia used its No. 1 pick on defensive lineman Broderick Bunkley, that was a break for the Steelers.
"Once he got past the middle, you're saying, maybe he will (fall to us)," said Colbert. "Until that point it's a little unrealistic to think that you'll be able to go up. Once you get into that range then it's a possibility. The further it goes, the more probable it became."
Denver also was thought to have interest in a first-round wide receiver, but the Broncos traded up and took quarterback Jay Cutler three slots before the Eagles and then got their receiver by trading for Green Bay's Javon Walker. After San Diego took cornerback Antonio Cromartie, and Kansas City was on the clock, the Steelers went at the phones hard.
At one point while the Chiefs were on the clock, there was a buzz in the Steelers offices because Kansas City seemed to show genuine interest. But then the Chiefs decided instead of pick defensive end Tamba Hali, and the Steelers went back to work.
A receiver was a possibility for New England, because the Patriots had lost David Givens in free agency, but Bill Belichick went for running back Laurence Maroney instead. San Francisco was another possible destination for a receiver to go with second-year quarterback Alex Smith, but the 49ers opted for pass rusher Manny Lawson from North Carolina State.
The Bengals were up next and not likely to pick a receiver, and then the New York Giants were at No. 25 overall and a prime trading partner because that was a team looking for more than the six picks it had coming into this draft.
Marvin Lewis chose cornerback John athan Joseph, and the Steelers made Giants GM Ernie Accorsi the same proposal they made to Chiefs president Carl Peterson. Accorsi accepted, and the Steelers needed only seconds to get the car with Holmes' name on it to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for the announcement.
"When you have a player of certain value, what you're saying is that you're willing to pick him at No. 25," said Colbert. "Really, it's a matter of securing that player. You never know. You can look at the teams that are in front of you. You can guess what they want but there are also teams, like Buffalo, coming up from the second round. You can't guess. What you have to do is say, 'Would you be willing to take this guy at No. 25 and what are you willing to do to get there?' So really, it wasn't a matter of worrying about another team but just wanting to make that pick for our team."
In this instance, the Steelers got exactly what they wanted.
The plan that came together
Saturday, April 29, 2006
By BOB LABRIOLA
Steelers.com
At the professional level, football indeed is all about the preparation, but success often comes down to the ability to adjust. Despite the best-laid plans, despite coaches' attempts to control as much as possible, there definitely is a place in the NFL for flying by the seat of your pants.
Except, apparently, for the Pittsburgh Steelers on draft day, especially the first day of the 2006 NFL Draft.
Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert and Coach Bill Cowher preside over the team's preparations for the draft, and the last part of that is always the mock drafts. The Steelers go through the first round and make a best effort to figure out how the picks above them will go so that they can be prepared for some of the contingencies they might face during their 15 minutes on the clock in the first round.
As the day began, the Steelers knew their 10 draft picks exceeded the potential openings they expect to have on their 53-man roster for the 2006 seasons, and rather than draft players to cut them, one idea was to use them as collateral to make trades to get a fewer number of players but guys who have a chance to make an impact.
In the first round, the Steelers had identified Ohio State receiver Santonio Holmes as the only player they saw as worth trading up to get, and in Colbert's wildest dreams he probably never saw it working out so well.
By most projections, Holmes was the top receiver in a draft unusually thin at the position, and the odds of a team owning the 32nd pick in the first round coming away with the best receiver prospect in the pool were long. The Steelers figured that if Holmes still were on the board when it came time for Kansas City to make the 20th pick of the round, they were going to starting working the phones hard. To get Holmes, they were prepared to give their picks in the first, third and fourth rounds.
That may sound like a steep price, but when the team trading the picks is making them at the very end of the round, well, the value just isn't as high. Because teams cannot trade compensatory picks, a package of their first, third and fourth picks was going to be the Steelers' best offer.
For that to be good enough, the Steelers figured Holmes was going to have to get to the Chiefs at least, and as the first round picked up momentum, some obvious potholes were going to have to be avoided. The first of those was Philadelphia and its pick 14th overall. The Eagles perceived themselves to be needy enough at wide receiver that the team once went into business with Terrell Owens, but when Philadelphia used its No. 1 pick on defensive lineman Broderick Bunkley, that was a break for the Steelers.
"Once he got past the middle, you're saying, maybe he will (fall to us)," said Colbert. "Until that point it's a little unrealistic to think that you'll be able to go up. Once you get into that range then it's a possibility. The further it goes, the more probable it became."
Denver also was thought to have interest in a first-round wide receiver, but the Broncos traded up and took quarterback Jay Cutler three slots before the Eagles and then got their receiver by trading for Green Bay's Javon Walker. After San Diego took cornerback Antonio Cromartie, and Kansas City was on the clock, the Steelers went at the phones hard.
At one point while the Chiefs were on the clock, there was a buzz in the Steelers offices because Kansas City seemed to show genuine interest. But then the Chiefs decided instead of pick defensive end Tamba Hali, and the Steelers went back to work.
A receiver was a possibility for New England, because the Patriots had lost David Givens in free agency, but Bill Belichick went for running back Laurence Maroney instead. San Francisco was another possible destination for a receiver to go with second-year quarterback Alex Smith, but the 49ers opted for pass rusher Manny Lawson from North Carolina State.
The Bengals were up next and not likely to pick a receiver, and then the New York Giants were at No. 25 overall and a prime trading partner because that was a team looking for more than the six picks it had coming into this draft.
Marvin Lewis chose cornerback John athan Joseph, and the Steelers made Giants GM Ernie Accorsi the same proposal they made to Chiefs president Carl Peterson. Accorsi accepted, and the Steelers needed only seconds to get the car with Holmes' name on it to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue for the announcement.
"When you have a player of certain value, what you're saying is that you're willing to pick him at No. 25," said Colbert. "Really, it's a matter of securing that player. You never know. You can look at the teams that are in front of you. You can guess what they want but there are also teams, like Buffalo, coming up from the second round. You can't guess. What you have to do is say, 'Would you be willing to take this guy at No. 25 and what are you willing to do to get there?' So really, it wasn't a matter of worrying about another team but just wanting to make that pick for our team."
In this instance, the Steelers got exactly what they wanted.