Everybody wants excitement from an NFL Draft and, thus, everybody wants the Steelers to trade up for the next Troy Polamalu or Santonio Holmes.
If I'm wrong on either of those, stop right here. The rest won't be of interest.
OK, everybody still reading?
Ha! Thought so!
It's fine. I'm no different. If anything, it's fueled all the further by one of those players becoming an iconic figure in franchise history and the other catching a slightly clutch touchdown in the Super Bowl. It feels like a move up in the first round almost mandates some magical windfall.
Hey, I won't lie: Right up until the club's formally on the clock late Thursday night, I'll be leaning forward through every other pick, particularly when anyone suggests a trade might be afoot. And if it turns out that way, and one of the two already locally fabled Devins -- inside linebackers Devin Bush of Michigan and Devin White of LSU -- falls into their grasp ... yeah, I'll be writing the column everybody might expect.
That said, honestly, I'd be cooler still with the Steelers staying right where they are.
Infinitely more important, it sure sounds like they are, too, upon listening to Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert at their annual pre-draft press conference Monday at the Rooney Complex.
"Roughly we’ll be picking one every 20 picks throughout the draft which is very encouraging," Colbert would say, referencing their 10 total picks through seven rounds. "We’ll see how it breaks down. We'll always get asked about questions with trade-up or trade-down. We’re always going to be open to either."
Four reasons to support status quo, in ascending order of importance:
4. They don't have a hard need.
I know, I know ... don't snap. I'm applying need in the more literal sense. They want to have elite talent at inside linebacker, cornerback and wide receiver -- at all positions, actually -- but need is a far different matter.
There's nothing to dislike about the recent free-agent signings of Mark Barron at inside linebacker, Steven Nelson at corner and Donte Moncrief at receiver. All were NFL starters last season, all did some things well. Barron will turn 30 in October, but he's got the ability and athleticism to drop into coverage and, through that, complement Vince Williams. Nelson had four picks for the Chiefs, which, when measured in Steelers-cornerback metrics, is kind of like having a dozen. And Moncrief, more than any of the three, could blossom when finally paired with a bona fide NFL quarterback again.
They aren't stars. None of them. But these were smart moves, all comfortably within a still-tight cap.
I asked Colbert to what degree those signings might have strengthened the resolve to pretty much draft whoever they please:
"It makes it a little less urgent," he confirmed, while also acknowledging the obvious that the signings "won't preclude" the Steelers from choosing an inside linebacker, corner or receiver.
He's right. From that awful night in Cincinnati when Ryan Shazier went down, inside linebacker has been lacking. Part of that, I'm sure, is because Shazier himself is missed on the field. He was a special player and, as we've seen more powerfully than ever since his injury, a special person.
As a result, even after Barron's signing, I sense there's this community clinging to the concept of inside linebacker as still lacking. It's not ideal. It definitely lacks depth, with Tyler Matakevich next in line. But it's no longer reasonable to classify the position as standing out in some glaring way from several others. It's just another position of want.
And the same applies to corner and even receiver in Antonio Brown's absence. That's not to suggest Moncrief is half the player AB is. But it is to suggest that, beyond JuJu Smith-Schuster being poised for superstardom, James Washington needs to take the next stride. As Tomlin strikingly worded it, "We’ve got some guys that need to be guys who are ascending, specifically James Washington. But you know the climate that we create for all second year players when we’ve had similar discussions about James Conner a year ago. We expect great things from James Washington, among others, and we’re excited about watching those guys starting to deliver."
3. They don't want to play this kid.
Meaning whoever they draft.
"The people that we draft, the longer we can keep them off the field, the better, historically," Colbert stated before going way, way back for examples of exceptions. "Maurkice Pouncey, first-year starter, great player. Ben Roethlisberger was forced to play because Tommy Maddox got hurt and, obviously, the results were great. But you really want to go in with these players and delay them getting on the field as long as you can because, over time, I think Coach would get comfortable with what they can do. But to have them have to step out and play, more often than not, I think, it's more detrimental to the player. If he loses his confidence early, it’s usually not returnable."
Not sure I'd ever heard Colbert state that so authoritatively.
Also not sure he's right. Shazier played right away. So did T.J. Watt. And Terrell Edmunds, for the matter, just last season.
What about Edmunds?
"Edmunds played more than I think we predicted and, throughout the fall, he got better," Colbert said. "Was he ready for that? I don’t think so. Coach can address that, as well, but by the end of the season, we felt more comfortable. But had he been in a backup situation, I think it would’ve been more beneficial."
Tomlin jumped right in, saying, "His play was above the line, but it wasn’t born out of an opportunity earned. It was really just out of the lack of availability for others, so you're less comfortable with that."
That sound like two guys eager to find immediate help?
2. They might get what they want.
Let's suppose that the latest of the draft's unending mood swings -- that the Steelers could be focusing on a corner -- plays out. Not necessarily for the position but maybe just for the player. There's a chance that the top prospect at that position, Washington's Byron Murphy or LSU's Greedy Williams, will be there at 20.
Why mess with that?
The going rate to slide up even a little in the first round is a No. 3 and 4. And if a No. 2 is involved, that's crossing into crazy territory in a draft that, as Colbert himself brought up here, looks outstanding between the second and third rounds.
What if, even though Murphy is 5-11 and is seen as having superior technique, while Williams is 6-2 and can fly, the Steelers don't value them all that differently?
Why pay anything at all?
Reading between the lines at a press conference like this is fraught with peril. Neither man has anything to gain from showing even a fraction of a card and, in fact, they're more likely to willfully misdirect. In the same breath, it sure didn't feel like there was some burning urgency, either, and maybe that was real.
1. Lots of picks ... that's nice.
Whether or not the organization's reached one end of the window or the opening of the next, no harm can come from a significant infusion of young potential. And maybe it's past time to start thinking of it that way rather than annually fussing over when Ben, Maurkice or anyone else might walk away.
Just add more talent.
Here, I'll phrase that it an ugly way: First snap of the season in Foxborough, someone falls on Ben's leg, he crumples back, and he's done. The season, I'm fairly certain we can all agree, is blown to smithereens. Josh Dobbs and/or Mason Rudolph might have an additional chance to mature, but nothing more than 8-8 or 7-9 will come of it, at best.
What then?
And why shouldn't the Steelers, carved from consistency since the day Joe Greene showed up for work, be braced for all possibilities, including that one?
So let's swing back to those 10 total picks. Or, as Colbert laid it out, "We have four in the top 83, we have 10 in the top 219. ... We really believe every year we're picking from about 150 players, even though we talked about over 400 in detail." And within that prism, he added, they believe they'll get 10 of the 150 players they like most.
One of every 15.
They won't all make it, naturally. A couple won't even survive Saint Vincent. But if it's three-quarters making the roster, and if even three or four of those can bring impact -- not necessarily in 2019, but soon -- that's a hell of a thing.
So hey, get all geeked up Thursday. Crack a beer, put the feet up, flick on the TV screen big enough to contain Mel Kiper's hair, and prepare ... to wait through the whole weekend for the first real evaluation of what's happened.
I loved this from Colbert: "Drafting for need has never built a winning franchise. And I can say that without ever really having studied it, because I don’t know what other teams' philosophies are. This team’s philosophy has been that, since Chuck Noll and Art Rooney Jr. put this organization on a different level, and I know how they did it and why they did it. Bill Cowher and myself and Coach Tomlin, we've always built it the same way. And Coach Tomlin and I are still going to value better players. Of course you’re going to take a player here and there who might be a better fit, but they'd better be close. If not, it’s a mistake that will get you."
I loved this all the more, also from Colbert, on how he responds when it's suggested he trades up: "We always try to put a name to the pick. If we say, 'Well, throw in a seventh,' ... well, wait a minute, you’re throwing in Brett Keisel. We’ve got to be careful about that. Kelvin Beachum. We try to maintain some sanity about it. So when you put picks together, you’ve got to put maybe what's worked for you in the past, but you’ve also got to say we might not be able to get that player that we like down low."
Go get 'em. All 10.
