Free Agents for next season!!!

[MDSteel15]

If we don't draft safety Eric Reid of LSU in the 1st round, there are a couple of guys that look good and could come a bit cheaper than some high priced safeties out there:

• Seahawks S Kam Chancellor: Chancellor might be the best shutdown safety in the game, one of the hardest-hitting players in the league.

• Bills S Jairus Byrd: Buffalo invested a ton of money in its defense, but it didn't take care of its biggest defensive playmaker. After a rookie season littered with fortunate passes thrown directly his way, Byrd's interception totals have normalized. Whereas the interceptions are no longer coming in bunches, Byrd has improved his game in other areas to become one of the league's better safeties. With great range and anticipatory skills in center field, Byrd is reliable free safety capable of forcing quarterbacks to hold the ball and double check his position on the field before throwing the deep ball. In a pass-heavy league, one of the best young safeties in the game should be high on the Bills' priority list this season.

Quarterback is REALLY thin! Especially for backups.

• Colts QB Drew Stanton: In limited playing time, Stanton displayed leadership and enough playmaking skills to warrant serious looks as a back-up. With mobility and the arm talent to make NFL-level throws, he can lead an offense to points. There is definite interest in Stanton around the league after initially signing with the Jets and being traded to the Colts only after their move for Tim Tebow.

[cbrunn]

Jarius Byrd would be a STEAL ... but there is no way Buffalo lets him walk, unless he wants out

Chancellor no way Seahawks let him go

these are 2 of the best safeties in the game and young no way there teams would let them go

Backup QB is a need as I don't think this QB class is good enough to get a decent backup in the 6 or 7th ...and D needs to much work to spend a higher round pick on a QB

anyway I'm not sure about if he'll be available or not but I really like Chad Henne as a backup...

[tarasovic2]

A better backup QB for sure -- whomever that might be. Henne would certainly fit the bill.

[MDSteel15]

Originally Posted by cbrunn

Jarius Byrd would be a STEAL ... but there is no way Buffalo lets him walk, unless he wants out

Chancellor no way Seahawks let him go

these are 2 of the best safeties in the game and young no way there teams would let them go

Backup QB is a need as I don't think this QB class is good enough to get a decent backup in the 6 or 7th ...and D needs to much work to spend a higher round pick on a QB

anyway I'm not sure about if he'll be available or not but I really like Chad Henne as a backup...

We need safeties and backup D-lineman! We can afford a mid-round QB if it's the right one!

[67 calsteel]

What about Louis Delmas from detroit?

[teegre]

I truly think that they get a safety (or two) in the draft. This is going to be the "draft of the safety" (much like 1983 & 2012 were the "drafts of the QB").


Eric Reid
Robert Lester
TJ McDonald
Matt Elam
Tony Jeffseron
Bacarri Rambo
Kenny Vaccaro
Tyrann Mathieu... uh...

[SteelersCanada]

I think if they address Safety in round 2 by grabbing a guy like Jefferson or Lester, our problems are solved in the short term. But, this means drafting another safety high up in the 2014 draft, too. One draft isn't going to fix our situation with Clark and Polamalu. If we're serious about drafting their "replacements" (using that word kind of fast and loose here) our draft has to look something like this:

RD 2 - TJ Jefferson
RD 3 - Baccari Rambo / Robert Lester

[teegre]

Originally Posted by SteelersCanada

I think if they address Safety in round 2 by grabbing a guy like Jefferson or Lester, our problems are solved in the short term. But, this means drafting another safety high up in the 2014 draft, too. One draft isn't going to fix our situation with Clark and Polamalu. If we're serious about drafting their "replacements" (using that word kind of fast and loose here) our draft has to look something like this:

RD 2 - TJ Jefferson
RD 3 - Baccari Rambo / Robert Lester

I hear you, and wouldn't mind that... but, I see this:

R1 - NT
Casey is getting older (& fatter). McClendon seems decent. And, Ta'amu... well... who knows what will happen with Ta'amu. (John Jenkins seems like a possibility... or, if he is gone by 32, Jesse Williams).

R2 - S
Some safety (my hope would be Elam).

Those two rounds are pretty solid in my mind. Then, in R3 & R4, it gets a little tricky.

R3 - ILB or OLB
Depth, youth, competition. Harrison is aging fast; Woodley can't stay healthy; Worilds seems decent... and that's it. Timmons is a rock, Spence showed promise, and Foote is old. I see both positions being strengthened. (Shayne Skov would be my choice.)

R4 - OLB or ILB
See round 3. (Nico Johnson)

A SECOND SAFETY in R3 or R4
I see your point, but I think that they will go with Troy for at least one more season, and thus, Yes, safety would need to be addressed again in the 2014 draft. Then again, either of the LB positions "could" be used on a second safety. Make sense?

[SteelersCanada]

Originally Posted by teegre

I hear you, and wouldn't mind that... but, I see this:

R1 - NT
Casey is getting older (& fatter). McClendon seems decent. And, Ta'amu... well... who knows what will happen with Ta'amu. (John Jenkins seems like a possibility... or, if he is gone by 32, Jesse Williams).

R2 - S
Some safety (my hope would be Elam).

A SECOND SAFETY in R3 or R4
I see your point, but I think that they will go with Troy for at least one more season, and thus, Yes, safety would need to be addressed again in the 2014 draft. Then again, either of the LB positions "could" be used on a second safety. Make sense?

I would bet my life on the fact the Steelers don't go NT in the first round. I'd also be willing to bet very large sums of money they don't go NT at all. Why? They wouldn't have kept around Ta'amu if they felt they could just replace him in the next draft - they think they have something with him. You also mentioned McClendon - and if he's able to play with any consistency from the flashes of brilliance he's shown, we'll be good at NT for a long, long time.

I love Matt Elam in the second round. That being said, he's a top 40 pick and we'd have to trade up to grab him. He plays a lot like Polamalu and I think other teams are seeing this fact, sadly.

While I disagree that we should keep Troy around, I think you're absolutely right in the fact that they keep him. However, even if they do, I'm not sold - and neither is Pittsburgh - on Will Allen being anything more than a spot-starter. We absolutely need to address Safety in the first two rounds - preferably the second. Grabbing an OLB in the first with all the talent in this draft to replace a guy like Harrison just makes sense at this point.

In this mock, we're picking at 21 based on Power Rankings. I know, Power Rankings mean absolute dick - I'd have us going at 32 which completely changes the dynamic of the draft. Anyway, here we go.

RD 1 - Dion Jordan / DE (ROLB for us) - Oregon

RD 2 - TJ McDonald / FS - USC

RD 3 - Robert Lester / SS - 'Bama

RD 4 - Nico Johnson / ILB - 'Bama

... and I haven't decided on the later rounds yet. Grabbing an OLB to me in the first round has to be priority. Worilds hasn't shown he can do anything as the weak side linebacker and we need to address it before it becomes a glaring hole. Woodley has had to fight through double - sometimes triple - teams this year and grabbing Jordan would ensure Woodley gets to the quarterback.

Other than our differing opinions on the first round, I think we're mostly together on what we need to address. I really like the Nico Johnson pick, too in the fourth round. If we end up with this kind of draft - look out. All of these kids could start week 1 next year, and we'd have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL from one draft.

[cbrunn]

Originally Posted by SteelersCanada

I would bet my life on the fact the Steelers don't go NT in the first round. I'd also be willing to bet very large sums of money they don't go NT at all. Why? They wouldn't have kept around Ta'amu if they felt they could just replace him in the next draft - they think they have something with him. You also mentioned McClendon - and if he's able to play with any consistency from the flashes of brilliance he's shown, we'll be good at NT for a long, long time.

I love Matt Elam in the second round. That being said, he's a top 40 pick and we'd have to trade up to grab him. He plays a lot like Polamalu and I think other teams are seeing this fact, sadly.

While I disagree that we should keep Troy around, I think you're absolutely right in the fact that they keep him. However, even if they do, I'm not sold - and neither is Pittsburgh - on Will Allen being anything more than a spot-starter. We absolutely need to address Safety in the first two rounds - preferably the second. Grabbing an OLB in the first with all the talent in this draft to replace a guy like Harrison just makes sense at this point.

In this mock, we're picking at 21 based on Power Rankings. I know, Power Rankings mean absolute dick - I'd have us going at 32 which completely changes the dynamic of the draft. Anyway, here we go.

RD 1 - Dion Jordan / DE (ROLB for us) - Oregon

RD 2 - TJ McDonald / FS - USC

RD 3 - Robert Lester / SS - 'Bama

RD 4 - Nico Johnson / ILB - 'Bama

... and I haven't decided on the later rounds yet. Grabbing an OLB to me in the first round has to be priority. Worilds hasn't shown he can do anything as the weak side linebacker and we need to address it before it becomes a glaring hole. Woodley has had to fight through double - sometimes triple - teams this year and grabbing Jordan would ensure Woodley gets to the quarterback.

Other than our differing opinions on the first round, I think we're mostly together on what we need to address. I really like the Nico Johnson pick, too in the fourth round. If we end up with this kind of draft - look out. All of these kids could start week 1 next year, and we'd have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL from one draft.

I just don't see us taking Dion Jordan ... and please no TJ Mcdonald ... I could see them taking Anthony Barr OLB -UCLA or Brandon Jenkins OLB- FSU in the 2nd...

right now I could see it gone ...

Matt Elam - FS - Flordia/ Eric Reid - FS - LSU
Anthony Barr - OLB- UCLA / Brandon Jenkins - OLB - FSU
Phillip Thomas - SS - Fresno State / Duke Williams - SS - Nevada
Kevin Reddick , ILB, North Carolina / Omoregie Uzzi - OG - Georgia Tech

by the way I would put Rambo at 3rd but I just don't think he's there