Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Outlook

Steeler Fans!!

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Enjoy the draft, Steeler fans! Below is a project I traditionally do... from hours upon hours of research, paying attention, and some educated guessing sprinkled in, here are 60 names that could play a part in the Steeler draft plans. Some have been visitors to the team's South Side Facility and others have passed the long process of video-watching and eye-ball testing to match them as a potential selection. A few names will end up matching up and others will look downright silly, that's just how it goes. Below the list of '60' is also a mock draft projection involving the how the Steeler draft slate could turn out. (key emphasis on 'could') I look for a trade-back unless a top 20 player unexpectedly falls to #31. I do not anticipate a trade up because the team does not have as many picks this year as they're accustomed to. If they're smart, they'll gain asset (extra pick[s]) and then use that fire-power to go target defensive backs they really like in the mid-rounds. The OT/G taken here at the top, Orlando Franklin, is a mean and nasty guy that would come in and start at RG in 2011 before slipping to RT to replace Flozell Adams in 2012. I really, really like him as a fit for this team and have only decided now to let my honesty out about him. Happy Draft Week, Steeler Nation!

Steeler Site

"The Steeler 60"

(6)

Round	One	DE Cameron Heyward, Ohio State	FS/CB Aaron Williams, Texas	CB Brandon Harris, Miami
		DE Muhammad Wilkerson, Temple	OT Nate Solder, Colorado	OT Derek Sherrod, Miss. St.
			(13)
Round	Two	OG/T Orlando Franklin, Miami	CB Curtis Brown, Texas	OG/T James Carpenter, Alabama
		OG Rodney Hudson, Florida St.	OG Marcus Cannon, TCU	OG/T Marcus Gilbert, Florida
		CB Ras-l Dowling, Virginia	FS Rahim Moore, UCLA	TE Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin
		OG Stefen Wisniewski, Penn St.	DE Jarvis Jenkins, Clemson	DE Allen Bailey, Miami
		WR Leonard Hankerson, Miami
			(21)
Mid -	Round	CB Curtis Marsh, Utah State	CB Johnny Patrick, Louisville	CB Davon House, New Mex. St.
(3rd/4th/5th)		WR Tandon Doss, Indiana	WR Austin Pettis, Boise State	WR Edmond Gates, Abilene Chr.
		RB Taiwan Jones, Eastern Wash.	OG Will Rackley, Lehigh	CB Chimdi Chekwa, Ohio State
		CB Buster Skrine, Tenn-Chat.	CB Rashad Carmichael, Vir. Tech	ILB Kelvin Sheppard, LSU
		DL/NT Terrell McClain, South Fla.	TE Virgil Green, Nevada	TE D.J. Williams, Arkansas
		ILB Mario Harvey, Marshall	DE Pernell McPhee, Missip.St.	OT Jah Reid, Central Florida
		OG Jordan Moffitt, Wisconsin	RB Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh	OT Joe Barksdale, LSU
			(20)
Late -	Round	RB Da'Rel Scott, Maryland	CB Cortez Allen, The Citadel	WR Terrance Tolliver, LSU
(6th/7th/FA)		NT Frank Kearse, Alabama A&M	K Alex Henery, Nebraska	TE Julius Thomas, Portland St.
		WR Denarius Moore, Tennessee	WR Vincent Brown, San Diego St.	WR Darvin Adams, Auburn
		NT/DE Zach Clayton, Auburn	OG Keith Williams, Nebraska	NT Anthony Gray, Southern Miss.
		RB Brandon Saine, Ohio State	RB Jamie Harper, Clemson	SS Davon Morgan, Virginia Tech
		DE Corbin Bryant, Northwestern	OLB Monte Simmons, Kent State	NT Cory Grant, TCU
		K Josh Jasper, LSU	K Kai Forbath, UCLA

		DraftBoardGuru.com
		STEELER MOCK DRAFT
		Steelers Trade #31 to Cardinals
		for # 38 and #103 (4th rounder)	One Back-up Name:
Rd. 2	#38	Orlando Franklin, G/T, Miami	TE Lance Kendricks, Wisconsin
Rd. 2	#63	Curtis Brown, CB, Texas	WR Leonard Hankerson, Miami
		Steelers Trade Up in Rd. 3
		#95/#103 to S.F. for #76
Rd. 3	#76	Chimdi Chekwa, CB, Ohio State	RB Taiwan Jones, Eastern Wash.
Rd. 4	#128	Denarius Moore, WR, Tennessee	TE Virgil Green, Nevada
Rd. 5	#162	Alex Henery, K, Nebraska	RB Dion Lewis, Pittsburgh
Rd. 6	#196	Frank Kearse, NT/DE, Alabama A&M	RB Da'Rel Scott, Maryland
Rd. 7	#232	Brandon Saine, RB, Ohio State	TE Julius Thomas, Portland State

		Five Defensive Players to keep
		in mind for UDFA period:
		NT Cory Grant, TCU
		DE Corbin Bryant, Northwestern
		DE Lazarius 'Pep' Levingston, LSU
		DE Zach Clayton, Auburn
		LB Monte Simmons, Kent State

Log of Official Team Visits to Steeler South Side Facility:

Round 1 Talent (4)

- FS/CB Aaron Williams, Texas - NT Phil Taylor, Baylor - 3-4 DE Cameron Jordan, California - CB Curtis Brown, Texas -

Round 2 Talent (5)

- OT/OG James Carpenter, Alabama - OG/C Rodney Hudson, Florida State - CB Ras-l Dowling, Virginia -

- 3-4 DE Kendrick Ellis, Hampton - OT/OG Marcus Cannon, TCU -

Round 3/4 Talent (7)

- CB Johnny Patrick, Louisville - CB Curtis Marsh, Utah State - CB Buster Skrine, Tennesee-Chat -

- WR Austin Pettis, Boise State - WR Edmund Gates, Abilene Christian - OT Marcus Gilbert, Florida -

- RB Taiwan Jones, Eastern Washington -

Late-Round & Free Agents (14)

- WR Vincent Brown, San Diego State - OT Jarriel King, South Carolina - RB Da'Rel Scott, Maryland -

- TE Weslye Saunders, South Carolina- WR Denarius Moore, Tennessee - CB Cortez Allen, The Citadel -
- ILB Mario Harvey, Marshall - NT Anthony Gray, Mississippi State - NT/3-4 DE Frank Kearse, Alabama A&T -

- TE Julius Thomas, Portland State - - DT Zach Clayton, Auburn - DT Corbin Bryant, Northwestern -

- S Davon Morgan, Virginia Tech - OG Keith Williams, Nebraska -

Two workouts that the Steelers recently attended/gave attention to (late in the process):

- WR Tyler Beiler, Bridgewater - QB/WR Dwight Dasher, Middle Tenn.St.

Notes:

* All official team visits appear to be accounted for. (err, at least as close as one can attempt)...

* All University of Pittsburgh players were visited by team officials, but this does not count against the count of 30 (allowable) official team visits due to geographical radius. Some Pitt players could be of interest to the Steelers in this years draft. In particular, RB Dion Lewis would make a fine 5th/6th round selection to add competent depth to the Steeler backfield.

Pro-Day Visits By Steeler "Upper" Management:

Where did Mike Tomlin and/or Kevin Colbert go this year? Here's five pro-day locations to look heavy at when considering whom the team might select early in the draft: LSU, Ohio State, Miami, Wisconsin, and Texas.

What players stick out from those five institutions? Consider: OT Gabe Carimi, TE Lance Kendricks, and DE J.J. Watt from Wisconsin... CB Curtis Brown and CB/FS Aaron Williams of Texas.... CB Brandon Harris (and OT Franklin and WR Hankerson as 2nd rounders) of Miami....DE Cameron Heyward of The Ohio State University.... and from LSU 3rd round ILB Kelvin Sheppard and plenty of mid/late round guys, such as OT Joe Barksdale.

There's no guarantee that the eventual top pick will have anything to do with one of these five schools, but at least this is a starting point to look for direction.... in quite a few occasions the Steelers have actually paid attention, and not necessarily tried to hide the attention, to the prospects they covet. They don't make a big deal out of the names of interest, but they don't shy away from attending pro days and bringing the players to town for further investigation.