Supplemental draft

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by xXTheSteelKingsXx

LITP do you see Pittsburgh taking anyone in the supplementary draf? I feel that they are happy with their current draft picks and the only thing I could see them adding is maybe a corner.

To be honest, no I don't.

I think OL is bigger need than the DB corps so Jared Gaither springs to mind, but this is a guy who failed to get his grades at school but does have good athleticism.

I guess it depends how low some of these guys fall - Paul Oliver will probably be taken in the 4th round and allegedly has a skill set suited to a cover 2 - he has very good size but less than amazing speed.

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Originally Posted by Livinginthe past

To be honest, no I don't.

I think OL is bigger need than the DB corps so Jared Gaither springs to mind, but this is a guy who failed to get his grades at school but does have good athleticism.

I guess it depends how low some of these guys fall - Paul Oliver will probably be taken in the 4th round and allegedly has a skill set suited to a cover 2 - he has very good size but less than amazing speed.

I agree with you LITP...I like the two OT's that have declared...and wouldnt be upset if we pulled the trigger on wither of them....but I doubt if the Steelers go after eithre of them. If we do...it may be a bigger indication about the state of our O-line than we have known this far.

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by lamberts-lost-tooth

I agree with you LITP...I like the two OT's that have declared...and wouldnt be upset if we pulled the trigger on wither of them....but I doubt if the Steelers go after eithre of them. If we do...it may be a bigger indication about the state of our O-line than we have known this far.

What is the maximum draft pick value would you assign to Gaither and/or Oliver if the Steelers were making the pick?

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Originally Posted by Livinginthe past

What is the maximum draft pick value would you assign to Gaither and/or Oliver if the Steelers were making the pick?

Had they been in the draft Gaither should have been late 2nd or early third...ranked pretty close to Tony Ugoh..and before James Martin.

Oliver is harder to predict...he was considered a premier pick in next years draft but only ran a 4.56 40 at his pro-day when he decided to go into the supplental draft. So he probably would have been 3rd rounder, somehere before or near where Eric Wright was drafted.

However, in the supplemental draft.....I would drop those values by one round.

[Livinginthe past]

Originally Posted by lamberts-lost-tooth

Had they been in the draft Gaither should have been late 2nd or early third...ranked pretty close to Tony Ugoh..and before James Martin.

Oliver is harder to predict...he was considered a premier pick in next years draft but only ran a 4.56 40 at his pro-day when he decided to go into the supplental draft. So he probably would have been 3rd rounder, somehere before or near where Eric Wright was drafted.

However, in the supplemental draft.....I would drop those values by one round.

That seems to be the consensus opinion I have been reading - that Gaither was looked at as a 2nd/3rd rounder.

I think Oliver will be suited to a cover-2 due to his lack of speed, and that is (allegedly) what Tomlin wants to install in Pittsburgh.

As you say, dropping a round seems typical for the supplemental.

[tony hipchest]

howard balzer and pat kirwan have spent alot of time discussing the supplimental draft. there opinion is that no more than 3 are even draftworthy (with gaither and oliver being the best prospects).

they discussed if gaither would even be able to make a roster and you dont wanna spend one of next years pick on a guy just to see him get plucked off the practice squad. typically your left tackes are 4 year players in college and they go to the senior bowl. they are usually relatively intelligent players. here we have a guy dropping out (flunking out) of school. he hasnt been on a field in months, and will be possibly stepping into a training camp in about 2 weeks. hes gonna be so far behind the curve is he gonna knock even the 10th lineman off the roster?

then there was his workout. 324- 6'8 3/4". he didnt lift to well because of a sore shoulder from prepping for his work out, however strength is the easiest thing to fix. he ran a 4.98 and a 5.02 wich is great but even more importantly a 4.5 in the shuttle cone. like kirwan said a man that big doesnt do that drill in that time if he cant bend his knees and ankles. his old scout he worked with woulda pushed for a 5th on these measuables alone. kiwan said he would probably meet in the middle and offer a 6th. but the line coach would have to be involved in the decision and pretty much guarantee the player wasnt going to be cut.

very interesting look at how teams negotiate within themselves, and do a risk/reward and cost analysis.

[lamberts-lost-tooth]

Supplemental draft is tommorrow...what do we think we should do?..AND what do you think we WILL do....should we take noone ?...take Gather..or Take Oliver?

By John Murphy, Yahoo! Sports
July 10, 2007

Since our initial preview, six other prospects have received special eligibility for Thursday's NFL supplemental draft. The latest group includes several unknowns and Maryland offensive tackle Jared Gaither, who figures to generate heavy interest.

The possibility of adding a potential starting left tackle without using a first- or second-round choice will likely secure Gaither the highest bid of any player available over cornerback Paul Oliver. There are at least six teams believed to be highly interested in selecting him.

Here's a snapshot of the 11 available prospects for Thursday afternoon's draft:

Jared Gaither
A former prep basketball player that played defensive tackle at first, Gaither moved to offense where he started 17 games at left or right tackle. He has long arms (36 to 37 inches) and has hit the 36-inch mark on the vertical in the past. He moves his feet well for a big man and has the body type to further develop if he decides to focus on workouts. He plays with good balance, shows some explosiveness and bends at the knees. He will drop off at times, get moody and slides off defenders instead of riding them out of the play. He is also just average as a run blocker overall.

He had an on-campus workout on Monday with most of his 40 times ranging between 5.02 and 5.18, but with several watches catching him at 4.94/4.98 on one of his efforts. He had a 31.5-inch vertical, 4.52 short shuttle, 7.18 3-cone, 9-3 broad jump and 15 bench reps of 225 pounds.

Gaither, suspended twice last season for violating team rules, entered the supplemental draft after being ruled academically eligible for the upcoming season. Two former teammates have commented that he is not a troublemaker, but that he is immature and easily influenced. He also tends to baby some nagging injuries, but at more than 6-foot-8?, 324 pounds, his attitude and aggressiveness could improve with the right coaching. The 2008 draft looks solid for offensive tackle prospects, so Gaither could slide to the third round of the supplemental draft if he fails to impress at his workout.

Eric McCain
The wide receiver was an Honorable Mention NJCAA selection at Glendale (Ariz.) Community College. He had 40 catches for 759 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.

After two years of community college, he failed to land at a four-year school and sat out all of last season. He is a long, lanky prospect that has long arms, but seems to build up to top-end speed. I would estimate him in the 4.55-4.60 range off of two tapes.

Aaron Turner
The East Central (Okla.) offensive lineman has very good natural size at roughly 6-4?, 340, but lacks ideal footwork and conditioning to remain at offensive tackle for the pros. He has good upper-body strength and can create problems when he latches onto defenders off the snap. He's slow to recover if beaten off the ball and his weight could be an issue down the road as staff members say he has been more than 350 pounds at times.

Brian Soi
The Utah State defensive tackle could be one of the most interesting prospects in the supplemental draft as he had a very good freshman campaign and possesses the size/strength to receive a make-it grade if he can improve his technique and off-field efforts. After posting 31 tackles, 7? tackles for a loss, 4? sacks and one forced fumble in 2005, he missed last season for unspecified reasons. He is roughly 6-2?, 298, and shows good strength, and plays with leverage at the point of attack. He also shows a few flashes of quickness off the ball in pass-rush situations.

RoShawn Marshall
The Central Missouri cornerback/return man is a former JC All-American and very talented return man. At roughly 5-9?, 190, Marshall has been timed in the 4.38/4.45 range during his JC days. He averaged more than 23 yards per punt as a junior in 2005. He spent time last season on the practice roster of the CFL's Calgary Stampeders.

Clifton Dickson
The former Florida State defensive tackle has been a tease. He missed the 2005 season because of academics and than failed to produce results at Tallahassee CC, so he jumped to the supplemental draft this summer. He had 17 tackles, six tackles for loss and 2? sacks as a sophomore, but it mostly was in reserve/backup time. He shows some quickness and up-field moves for a player with good size and some talent as an interior pass rusher.

Dickson weighs in at 6-3 7/8, 320, but his weight has varied between 305 and 320 over his career. He's estimated by coaching staff at 5.10 in the 40-yard dash at around 310 pounds.

Paul Oliver
The All-SEC defender displayed very good footwork, quickness and ball skills, but he led to overwhelm evaluators with his 40-yard times (4.50 range) and vertical jump (33.5 vertical) during his workout last month. However, he did shut down wide receiver Calvin Johnson, taken No. 2 overall by the Detroit Lions during the NFL draft in April, during the Bulldogs' win over Georgia Tech last season.

He had 57 tackles, three interceptions and showed ideal size (5-11, 195 pounds), while also being able to run stride for stride with most of the top SEC pass catchers. Oliver has long arms and shows the ability to time his leaps to keep taller receivers from gaining an advantage on him while the ball is in the air.

His game film would seem to show that he has better game speed than 40 times, which offers him the chance to help out in nickel and dime packages for the team that decides to add him through the draft. He has had private workouts with at least the Atlanta Falcons and the San Diego Chargers.

Oliver could have conceivably entered his senior campaign with a first-round grade. However, his early entry into the NFL because of his failure to keep up with his academics means that he'll likely be targeted by teams holding an extra third- or fourth-round pick in 2008 or franchises which were unable to secure a top-rated cornerback in the regular draft.

Chris Patrick
Patrick is an interesting prospect that began to show signs of becoming another in the long line of talented Cornhuskers' blockers last season. He recorded times in the 5.20-5.30 range, although a few watches showed times just under 5.20. His 31 bench reps of 225 pounds show that he has the weight room strength to be a worthwhile long-range prospect, although there was a split between whether he should remain at tackle or move inside to guard.

At 6-4 5/8, 303, he ran 4.50 in the short shuttle, and recorded a 7.60 3-cone and 27" vertical. He moved well for a player of his size, but was a little stiff in certain drills. But according to his agent Joe Linta, who represents a number of offensive linemen in the NFL, most teams attending his workout (12 overall) said they had a sixth- to seventh-round grade on him.

Robert Armstrong
Armstrong, a former Maryland transfer and potential sleeper of this group, has the necessary size (6-4, 318) and has flashed both quickness off the ball and pass rush skills for an interior lineman. He had three sacks in a contest against Norfolk State. One stumbling block though is an old back injury which will be reviewed by team officials.

He can get a little heavy at times, lose focus and take off some reps when he wears down. He's not bad as a big-bodied kid to bring in if you use a rotation-based, 4-3 scheme and need some fresh legs for camp.

Donta Moore
Moore, though a much better defender in the box than when asked to drop into deep coverage, played out of position at outside linebacker as he is built ideally for strong safety. He has been timed in the 4.50 range and showed great tenacity last season as he played the final eight games of the year with a broken arm. If he can flash the type of workout numbers (37" vertical, 10'4" broad jump) to go along with the fact that he had 16 tackles against West Virginia and 12 tackles, including 6? tackles for loss against Wake Forest, it could get him a solid free agent look. Keep an eye on the Green Bay Packers since their scouting director, John Dorsey, is a former Hall of Fame member of the Huskies football team.

Mark Washington
Washington is an interesting athlete who, at roughly 6-3, 245, has been timed in the 4.55-4.60 range and transferred to Texas State from Arizona State. He was miscast in the role of being a very undersized defensive tackle but also failed to reach certain academic and team standards in the offseason.

[xXTheSteelKingsXx]

I dont see us taking anyone because I think that we where pretty satisfied with this years draft.

[Preacher]

I could see us taking a shot with the sixth or seventh round at a OT or a Return man...

but that is just a what if...

[Livinginthe past]

I believe that if you select a guy in the supplemental draft you have to find him a roster spot or that you are tied into him in some way.

Im sure I read that somewhere.

Once it gets to the 6th/7th round most teams will probbaly wait for him to become a UDFA and then they can do what they want with the player.