Interactive Mock Draft 2012 - Steelers are On the Clock

[DFlo]

Hey guys, I don't know if you may remember from last year or not when we ran the Interactive Mock Draft where the team forums of each team got to vote on which player their team should take.

Well we are doing it again this year, and the Steelers are on the clock. There's a lot of surprising options that are still available so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. I've also got 5 Steelers forums voting so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

You can cast your vote for who you want your team to pick here:

Interactive Mock Draft

And if you explain why with a brief short description, I will pick the best one and publish it along with the pick in the results section!

[bac151rum]

Pick is Dant'e Hightower, ILB, Alabama. The perfect blend of need and BPA. He will shore up the run game immedeately, and with Ray Rice and (potentially) Trent Richardson 4x a year, thats going to be valuable. Rule #1 in getting to the Super Bowl: win your division. And to win the AFC North, you have to stop the run. His work ethic, intelligence, and leadership ability are unquestionable. He will also add a dangerous up-the-middle blitzer on a team whose sack numbers were down last year.
Some of the other choices (Poe, Adams, Jenkins) may potentially be better players down the road, but may potentially be huge busts. Others (Konz, Zietler, Jones) would be overdrafting, as they should all go 29 or later. Worthy, Upshaw, and Merciless are good players, they just do not fill as immediate a need as Hightower.

[fujirama24]

Originally Posted by DFlo

Hey guys, I don't know if you may remember from last year or not when we ran the Interactive Mock Draft where the team forums of each team got to vote on which player their team should take.

Well we are doing it again this year, and the Steelers are on the clock. There's a lot of surprising options that are still available so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. I've also got 5 Steelers forums voting so it should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

You can cast your vote for who you want your team to pick here:

Interactive Mock Draft

And if you explain why with a brief short description, I will pick the best one and publish it along with the pick in the results section!

I can't see Hightower as the pick. He seems like a 2 down guy. He is too slow to cover guys and can't play 3rd down. We can take an ILB in the 3rd or forth round that can do better. Everything I have seen shows that decastro maybe dropping. And if so we have to move up to get him. If not we take an OT.

[DFlo]

Alright guys the pick is in, your results are updated. You can see who your team selected here:

Interactive Mock Draft Results

Feel free to bookmark that page and continue voting daily. We will do one team every day until the draft

[bac151rum]

He picked me, he picked me!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel loved.

[MDSteel15]

It had to be Hightower, DeCastro was gone...

[Dalarin]

Originally Posted by bac151rum

Pick is Dant'e Hightower, ILB, Alabama. The perfect blend of need and BPA. He will shore up the run game immedeately, and with Ray Rice and (potentially) Trent Richardson 4x a year, thats going to be valuable. Rule #1 in getting to the Super Bowl: win your division. And to win the AFC North, you have to stop the run. His work ethic, intelligence, and leadership ability are unquestionable. He will also add a dangerous up-the-middle blitzer on a team whose sack numbers were down last year.
Some of the other choices (Poe, Adams, Jenkins) may potentially be better players down the road, but may potentially be huge busts. Others (Konz, Zietler, Jones) would be overdrafting, as they should all go 29 or later. Worthy, Upshaw, and Merciless are good players, they just do not fill as immediate a need as Hightower.

I expect Cincinnati to get Miller and the Ravens already have Rice and a run outside the tackles would kill Hightower. You think that will help?

[bac151rum]

Originally Posted by Dalarin

I expect Cincinnati to get Miller and the Ravens already have Rice and a run outside the tackles would kill Hightower. You think that will help?

What exactly do you want from a ILB? I've got news for you: with a fake into the middle, and an untouched running backrunning off tackle, theres not an ILB in the league thats going to stop those guys, so if that's your "well, he can't do that" moment, then I don't buy it. Runs outside the tackle are what we pay outside linebackers for, isn't it?
I like Hightower, and I won't make any bones about it. If we draft him, I'll be happy. If he goes before our pick, then I'll be unhappy. If we pass on him and he's there, then I'll believe that the Steelers front office has a lot of faith in Sylvester, and they don't see that as as much of a need. I can live with that. Thats why they get paid to make those decisions, and why the Steelers are in the playoffs almost every year.
I understand why people want o-line. And I consider Cordy Glenn a great choice (he was already taken), Jonathon Martin a good choice (he was already taken). I don't consider Zietler a first round talent. And people who want him, or Silotulu, or Konz, or whomever, are placing need over BPA way more than the Steelers will. And Adams has potential bust written all over him.

[Dalarin]

Originally Posted by bac151rum

What exactly do you want from a ILB? I've got news for you: with a fake into the middle, and an untouched running backrunning off tackle, theres not an ILB in the league thats going to stop those guys, so if that's your "well, he can't do that" moment, then I don't buy it. Runs outside the tackle are what we pay outside linebackers for, isn't it?
I like Hightower, and I won't make any bones about it. If we draft him, I'll be happy. If he goes before our pick, then I'll be unhappy. If we pass on him and he's there, then I'll believe that the Steelers front office has a lot of faith in Sylvester, and they don't see that as as much of a need. I can live with that. Thats why they get paid to make those decisions, and why the Steelers are in the playoffs almost every year.
I understand why people want o-line. And I consider Cordy Glenn a great choice (he was already taken), Jonathon Martin a good choice (he was already taken). I don't consider Zietler a first round talent. And people who want him, or Silotulu, or Konz, or whomever, are placing need over BPA way more than the Steelers will. And Adams has potential bust written all over him.

Of that's the case double team an outside linebacker and its basically the safeties you have to beat and I don't like those chances polamalu or not. I want a linebacker who can make plays outside the box and not one who is limited to 3 gaps. Better linebackers on the board in the 3rd I promise.