mesaSteeler
04-26-2011, 07:10 PM
Secondary decisions
By Mark Kaboly
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The Steelers said Monday they will approach this week's NFL Draft assuming their top cornerback, Ike Taylor, won't be back for the 2011 season.
"We are going to draft on the basis of the team that we know we have at this point," director of football operations Kevin Colbert said Monday. "The guys that we have are the guys that we have."
Taylor is an unrestricted free agent, and the sides were unable to come to an agreement last month before the lockout shut down NFL operations. The Steelers opted not to place a transition tag on Taylor that would have paid him the average of the top 10 salaries at his position ($8.1 million for one year).
It's possible the Steelers could sign Taylor to a long-term deal, but the organization cannot count on that.
"We are going to pick based on our team as it currently stands," Colbert said.
The Steelers hold the 31st pick in the draft, which begins Thursday, and could use that selection to choose Taylor's long-term replacement. They haven't selected a cornerback that high since 1997, when they took Chad Scott 24th overall.
None of the team's corners last season -- Keenan Lewis, Crezdon Butler, Donovan Warren and unrestricted free agents Taylor, Anthony Madison and William Gay -- were selected higher than the second round.
McFadden was taken in the second, Lewis the third, Taylor the fourth, and Gay and Butler the fifth. Madison and Warren were not drafted.
Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said this might be the ideal year for a team needing a cornerback but not wanting to use a first-round selection to get one.
"It is one of the deepest positions in this draft," Kiper said. "You are going to get some guys, for a variety of reasons, in the second and third rounds. It is a very intriguing cornerback group from top to bottom."
LSU's Patrick Peterson, Nebraska's Prince Amukamara and Colorado's Jimmy Smith will be off the board by the time the Steelers pick, leaving the organization a decision of whether it could get better value selecting a cornerback in a later round.
"They don't have to pick one in the first round," Kiper said. "Ike Taylor wasn't a first- or second-round pick. You think about Ike Taylor and even some of the other corners in the NFL, and a lot of them weren't taken in the first round."
Philadelphia's Asante Samuel was taken in the fourth round, Tennessee's Cortland Finnegan in the seventh and New Orleans' Jabari Greer was undrafted. They are considered among the top corners in the NFL.
Kiper points toward a couple of cornerbacks he had high on his draft board but since have dropped who the Steelers could take in later rounds.
Miami's Brandon Harris, Utah's Brandon Burton and Virginia's Ras-I Dowling could be steals as second- or third-round picks.
"A lot of teams have been very effective getting corners that weren't early picks," Kiper said. "It doesn't have to be the first round. I just say that corner has to be a draft pick, (but) it doesn't have to be with the 31st pick."
Mark Kaboly can be reached at mkaboly@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.
Read more: Secondary decisions - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/print_733947.html#ixzz1Kg4VnFan
By Mark Kaboly
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The Steelers said Monday they will approach this week's NFL Draft assuming their top cornerback, Ike Taylor, won't be back for the 2011 season.
"We are going to draft on the basis of the team that we know we have at this point," director of football operations Kevin Colbert said Monday. "The guys that we have are the guys that we have."
Taylor is an unrestricted free agent, and the sides were unable to come to an agreement last month before the lockout shut down NFL operations. The Steelers opted not to place a transition tag on Taylor that would have paid him the average of the top 10 salaries at his position ($8.1 million for one year).
It's possible the Steelers could sign Taylor to a long-term deal, but the organization cannot count on that.
"We are going to pick based on our team as it currently stands," Colbert said.
The Steelers hold the 31st pick in the draft, which begins Thursday, and could use that selection to choose Taylor's long-term replacement. They haven't selected a cornerback that high since 1997, when they took Chad Scott 24th overall.
None of the team's corners last season -- Keenan Lewis, Crezdon Butler, Donovan Warren and unrestricted free agents Taylor, Anthony Madison and William Gay -- were selected higher than the second round.
McFadden was taken in the second, Lewis the third, Taylor the fourth, and Gay and Butler the fifth. Madison and Warren were not drafted.
Draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. said this might be the ideal year for a team needing a cornerback but not wanting to use a first-round selection to get one.
"It is one of the deepest positions in this draft," Kiper said. "You are going to get some guys, for a variety of reasons, in the second and third rounds. It is a very intriguing cornerback group from top to bottom."
LSU's Patrick Peterson, Nebraska's Prince Amukamara and Colorado's Jimmy Smith will be off the board by the time the Steelers pick, leaving the organization a decision of whether it could get better value selecting a cornerback in a later round.
"They don't have to pick one in the first round," Kiper said. "Ike Taylor wasn't a first- or second-round pick. You think about Ike Taylor and even some of the other corners in the NFL, and a lot of them weren't taken in the first round."
Philadelphia's Asante Samuel was taken in the fourth round, Tennessee's Cortland Finnegan in the seventh and New Orleans' Jabari Greer was undrafted. They are considered among the top corners in the NFL.
Kiper points toward a couple of cornerbacks he had high on his draft board but since have dropped who the Steelers could take in later rounds.
Miami's Brandon Harris, Utah's Brandon Burton and Virginia's Ras-I Dowling could be steals as second- or third-round picks.
"A lot of teams have been very effective getting corners that weren't early picks," Kiper said. "It doesn't have to be the first round. I just say that corner has to be a draft pick, (but) it doesn't have to be with the 31st pick."
Mark Kaboly can be reached at mkaboly@dailynewsemail.com or 412-664-9161.
Read more: Secondary decisions - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/steelers/print_733947.html#ixzz1Kg4VnFan