View topic - Just thinking......

[Snockered Pedestrian Profile]

Since the draft is a week away, how about the following for your perusal:

1) Attempt to trade down, out of R1
Most of the mocks have the FO considering Mack; if he's still on the board at 1.32 and, say,
someone in the top 10 of R2 wants to get a promising center......trade the pick for at least two picks in the top 100.

2) Since there are some teams switching to the 3-4, and Big Snack is in his walk year, and the
team needs to get fresher along the DL, then possibly try to trade Hampton, allow Hoke to start
at NT (he did a creditable job when Hampton was injured) and try to draft his replacement.

3) Use a walk-year player (or three) or lower-round picks to maneuver if there is a player that is desired.

[indysteel Profile]

I like the idea of trading Hampton to pick up extra picks. What one would get for him is a guess, but I can't imagine it would be too much. Perhaps a 3rd round (or 2nd at best).

I can't see them taking Mack at 1.32 unless they consider him the BPA at that time. It's just too easy to get good centers later in the draft so there really is no need to go for one at 1.32.

I guess trading out of 1.32 to pick up two picks in the first 100 slots is an interesting concept; however, I would lean more towards that idea if we were flush with talent with no glaring needs. That, IMO, is not the case. Not only do the Steelers have some obvious needs to fill, they also have depth issues. While they would get an extra pick (whichi is what you need in their situation), they have to believe they can get the right players and not pass on talent by sliding out of 1.32.

On the other hand, they may do so if they think this draft class has siginficant talent drop off after the top players come off the board. In other words, it starts to get "blurry" between say, the talent at 1.32 and anywhere in the 2nd round.

Snockered I believe that is what your thinking by your idea.

[SteelTank Profile]

Hoke is too old to be a starter... He'll be 33 when the season starts and the 3-4 D needs to be strong at the NT position to be effective. So, we need to have the Hampton/Hoke combo around at least one more year to make another run at the Super Bowl.

But, this underscores the problem - the Steelers made a mistake by not drafting a D-line and O-line prospect last year with the first two picks. Maybe they can trade Mendy or Fast Willie. I don't think we need both with Moore playing as well as does in the third down back role. We could also draft a servicible RB in the 4th or 5th of this years draft.

We've gotta get young and deep on both lines fast.