It's time we talked about how to help Ben Roethlisberger and the offense with the 2019 NFL Draft. The defense has been the priority here for the past month, but adding ammunition to an offense that lost Antonio Brown this offseason and hasn't had Le'Veon Bell since 2017 is still a major concern.
This is a collection of reasonable targets the Steelers could look to draft who could bring significant boosts to what Randy Ficthner has been doing with the offense:
When I graded Roethlisberger, my main takeaway was that he needed to spread the ball more. Some of that will need to come from an improved running game. Not forcing him to lead the league in attempts would help lower his interception total from 16 and give him a more balanced system to work around. Dale Lolley wrote yesterday on some running back prospects that could interest Kevin Colbert.
While James Conner does need a good partner in the backfield, this is not a position the Steelers should draft any higher than the latter of their two third round picks. That knocks out Alabama's Joshua Jacobs, Penn State's Miles Sanders and most likely Iowa State's David Montgomery. But the players I looked at in this draft class were contrasts to Conner's power-run style and were closer to the speed/elusive runners available in the middle rounds.
At the top of that list, I put Darrell Henderson of Memphis. Though smaller at 5-foot-8, 208 lbs., Henderson's ability to make people miss in space and utilize his 4.49 40-yard dash time proved a good combination in the AAC. When Henderson has the ball his feet are always chopping while his head remains up, searching for the next defender in his path.
Watch one of his more impressive runs against Connecticut last season as he shakes off three different defenders and still had the gas to finish the play:
Another top candidate I took a deeper dive on was Oklahoma State's Justice Hill. He was the fastest running back at the NFL Combine with a 4.40 40-yard dash and one of the Big 12's more electric runners. His production dropped in 2018 with only 930 yards on 158 carries, but that was after the offense saw its two best weapons drafted by the Steelers in 2017 — James Washington and Mason Rudolph. In 2017, Hill ran for 1,467 yards and 15 touchdowns, a much better example of what he could do in a complete offense.
Behind the Steelers' line and with Roethlisberger, Hill could get one-on-one opportunities to beat opponents and explode with his speed for big plays. Here he was against Oklahoma in 2017, making a man miss in the hole and turning one missed tackle into 18 yards:
I put Hill behind Henderson because his vision needs to improve, and I also see Hill as less of a creator in space. Other running backs worth the Steelers look in later rounds would be Mike Weber of Ohio State with his 4.47 speed, Washington's Myles Gaskin or Miami's Travis Homer as a 6th round receiving back with 4.48 speed.
While the running game is important, everyone wants to know who the Steelers will add at receiver to replace Brown. I already broke down why the signing of Donte Moncrief should not be relied upon to fix the receiving corps, so this is a position I could see the Steelers address in the early or middle rounds.
My top prospect is Iowa State's Hakeem Butler. He has good 4.48 speed with a huge 6-foot-6, 225 lb. frame, solid footwork in and out of his breaks, and he is confident high-pointing the ball in traffic. He's also pretty good after the catch, as he showed in one of his biggest plays last season against Oklahoma. Watch how he goes up in between defenders, sheds off two tacklers and runs hard enough to finish the play for a touchdown:
But Butler is most likely a first-round receiver — only Mississippi's D.K. Metcalf is ranked ahead of him on most big boards — and the Steelers will most likely draft defense with their first pick. A guy the Steelers could get in the second round or with the early third-round pick from the Raiders is Stanford's JJ Arcega-Whiteside. He's a redshirt junior at 6-foot-2, 225 lbs. who combines polished routes with great hands and wins in traffic. The biggest question was his speed, but a solid 4.49 time in his pro day showed he's fast enough for the NFL.
Watch how cleanly he beats this press against Oregon to force the cornerback to give up inside leverage. Not only that, but you can see how he catches the ball with his hands in stride, never letting the ball get to his body until he cradles it:
That kind of talent should interest the Steelers as he won plenty of battles outside the numbers. This would allow JuJu Smith-Schuster to remain in the slot more often. Because of that, I mainly looked at bigger and faster players that can beat press coverage outside the numbers, get behind defenders and win combat catches. Keep your eyes on Metcalf's teammate at Ole Miss A.J. Brown, Riley Ridley of Georgia, and both Terry McLaurin and Parris Campbell of Ohio State as potential second or third round picks. Dale Lolley likes both Ohio State receivers, as he shared in his feature on wide receivers.
Last, but not least, are tight ends, which are unusually deep in this class. Dale and I addressed why they shouldn't draft a tight end too early in Tuesday's Morning Java, so we're looking at prospects projected for later rounds.
While Texas A&M's Jace Sternberger would be a steal if he fell to the third round, the Steelers should look at more middle round prospects like Josh Oliver of San Jose State, Dax Raymond of Utah State and my personal favorite, Foster Moreau of LSU. Moreau offers the combination of blocking and receiving skills that would give the Steelers a solid second option behind Vance McDonald.
Moreau is comfortable making the underneath catches and fighting for extra yards. Watch how he makes one guy miss, turns, breaks a tackle and carries tacklers for 14 yards after the catch:
Adding Moreau or another comparable tight end would give the Steelers more options with '12 personnel' formations, those being with one running back and two tight ends. It would also allow them to keep defenses on their toes about the ground game while not surrendering too many receiving threats from the field.
Roethlisberger still has good teammates on offense to work with in 2019, but just a few middle round picks and maybe one splash at wide receiver could make the offense scary, even without Brown or Bell being the focal point. Bringing a balanced attack will be what can make or break this team's 2019 campaign.
