INDIANAPOLIS -- With the linebackers and receivers having completed their on-field workouts in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine Saturday and Sunday, the defensive backs will take center stage Monday.
There's a good chance the player the Steelers will select with the 20th pick in the first round will have taken the field either Sunday or Monday.
Let's take a look at what we've learned this weekend as NFL teams get their first opportunity to not only get a look at these draft prospects in workouts, but, perhaps more importantly, have also gotten a chance to sit down with these guys for one-on-one interviews.
THE LINEBACKERS
LSU's Devin White was everything we thought he would be in his on-field workouts. He ran a blazing 4.42-second 40 yard dash at 6-foot and 237 pounds. And that's on what is considered a slow track at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Remember, Ryan Shazier was timed at 4.37 seconds in that drill at his on-campus workout at Ohio State in 2015 -- he didn't run at the Combine -- so it wouldn't be surprising if White can better that time at his pro day if he chooses to run again.
Devin White is fast. #NFLCombinepic.twitter.com/DCreK7KPxM
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPghSports) March 3, 2019
When you combine that with White's 39.5-inch vertical jump and his game tape from the past season, the Steelers are obviously interested in White -- they had an official meeting with him. But it's highly unlikely he falls to the 20th pick.
But White is hardly the only inside linebacker who is in that conversation. While the Steelers didn't have an official meeting with Michigan's Devin Bush at the Combine, that could simply be subterfuge given that his college coach, Jim Harbaugh, happens to be the brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. The Steelers might not want one Harbaugh getting inside information on what they're thinking from his brother.
Bush measured in at 5-foot-11 on the nose -- one inch shorter than White -- but he showed himself to be every bit the athlete. Bush ran a 4.43-second 40, then showed off an explosive 40.5-inch vertical jump.
#Michigan LB Devin Bush’s 41” vertical is currently the 3rd highest mark at the #NFLCombine just edging out WR D.K. Metcalf. #GoBlue | #ProBlue pic.twitter.com/RBXpS71dL7
— Michigan Sports News (@SportsGuyMI) March 3, 2019
Like White, if you watch his game tape, you'll see a linebacker who is all over the field. He can be a bit of a hothead, but he's sideline-to-sideline on every play. And as Greg Cosell of NFL Films told me earlier in the week, the one thing the Steelers need to do is improve their speed in the middle of the field at linebacker.
White or Bush would do that in a heartbeat.
That being said, the Combine drills are only a small part of the equation. When the workouts look good, as they did for those two players, it's great. It's affirmation of their on-field play.
However, that can work differently, as well. For example, New Mexico State's Terrill Hanks is considered a great coverage linebacker. But after he was timed at 4.98 seconds in the 40, teams are going to have to go back and look at the tape again. Is he really that slow, which his tape would not suggest, or did he just have a bad day?
Conversely, players such as Gary Johnson of Texas, who ran a 4.43-second 40, or Ben Burr-Kirven, who tested well across the board and was bigger than expected at 230 pounds, might have improved their draft stock by a round or two.
The Steelers also met with Alabama's Mack Wilson here, but Wilson didn't do any on-field workouts.
The inside linebackers were hardly the only stars Sunday. This was considered a great year to be in the market for pass rushers before the Combine. And the players did nothing to change any opinions of that.
Mississippi State's Montez Sweat set a Combine record for fastest 40 turned in by a player 250 pounds or heavier, running in 4.42 seconds.
But a player such as Chase Winovich, who played at Michigan after a stellar career at Thomas Jefferson High School in suburban Pittsburgh, helped himself greatly Sunday. Winovich, whose tape at Michigan is great, ran a 4.59-second 40 at 256 pounds.
Speed was a major concern for Winovich, but he took care of any fears about that by also testing well in the three-cone and short shuttle drills.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Plenty of people were buzzing about Mississippi's DK Metcalf after he ran a 4.33-second 40 at 6-foot-3 and 228 pounds. And while that, along with his 27 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press and 40.5-inch vertical jump, were impressive, his change of direction was not great.
In fact, his three-cone and 20-yard short shuttle times were among the worst for receivers at the Combine. When you add in the fact Metcalf had just 67 receptions in his college career and had a serious neck injury in 2018, it could give some teams cause to pause on him despite the buzz.
He might be a bigger, stronger version of Martavis Bryant, a guy who simply runs fly patterns and isn't a complete NFL route runner.
Certainly there is a place for that kind of player. After all, Metcalf had 14 touchdowns on his 67 catches and averaged 18.3 yards per reception, but Metcalf is far from a complete player.
And Metcalf was hardly the only receiver to run fast. In fact, 20 receivers were timed at 4.50 seconds or faster in the 40-yard dash. There were plenty of guys who ran fast in a straight line.
For example, a player such as Notre Dame's Miles Boykin had similar production to Metcalf in college -- 77 receptions, 1,206 yards and 11 scores -- and is actually bigger at 6-foot-3 and 3/4ths, 230 pounds. But he timed at 4.42 seconds in the 40 -- which is still plenty fast -- while also showing off a 43.5-inch vertical and ranking among the best players at the position in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle. He's not only big and fast, but he's explosive and changes direction well.
However, instead of taking Metcalf in the first round, teams could take a similar style of player in Boykin in the second or third round at a greater value.
The Steelers showed an obvious interest in receivers this weekend, as news of official meetings with Mississippi's Metcalf and A.J. Brown, Oklahoma's Marquise Brown, Georgia's Riley Ridley and South Carolina's Deebo Samuel have trickled out.
It's doubtful the Steelers will take any of those players in the first round -- unless they acquire a second first-round pick via trade for Antonio Brown -- but any could be targets in the second round if still available.
DEFENSIVE BACKS
As mentioned above, defensive backs will take the field Monday, and the Steelers will have an obvious interest there, as well.
The Steelers already have an official meeting scheduled with LSU's Greedy Williams, who measured in at nearly 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds, but he'll hardly be the only guy they'll look at.
Washington's Byron Murphy also came in at nearly 5-foot-10 3/4 and 185 pounds and is a much more willing tackler than Williams.
Keep an eye on Vanderbilt's Joejuan Williams in drills Monday, as well. Williams measured in over 6-foot-3 and 211 pounds on Sunday. Williams had four interceptions and 13 pass breakups last season for Vanderbilt and players his size catch the attention of teams if they test well.