WesDawg
'Burghapologist
There's a fine line between "need" and "luxury". Pittsburgh's only glaring "need" coming into the draft is obviously the O-line. I needed to replace Jeff Hartings from 2 years ago (retirement) and Faneca from last year (Free Agency) because the Steelers never addressed either loss adequately. Those are 2 HOF-caliber interior linemen, so that's where I went with the first 2 picks. I would've taken a tackle with the 2nd round pick had there been one available with decent value, but I felt Levitre was the top lineman available at that point, by far.
I also needed to offset the loss of Bryant McFadden because he was a starter at the end of the season, plus I wanted to upgrade the corps we already had in place. I did that perfectly (in my opinion) with 2 rookies who could both start sooner rather than later in Martin and Smith.
I feel that the analysis is mostly based on the fact that I didn't get a DE yet. First off, this would fall more into the "luxury" category due to the fact that our 2 starters are returning and neither has health or productivity issues. Yes, they're aging and I was planning to address D-Line depth with the remaining picks, but I would classify it as the #3 "need" at this point, and I didn't see any with value at my respective picks. In the 3-4 zone blitz scheme, the DE's are almost an extension of the DT in that their main job is to clog up the opposing O-lineman to let the LB's run free to blitz and make plays, so they're a little harder to find in the college ranks.
WR would also fall into the "luxury" category since we only suffered one loss (Washington) and have Sweed to step into the #3 spot. Again, there is alot of depth at WR this year and I easily could snag a guy in the 5th or 6th round who could fill a #4 WR/ST role.
I guess my point is, a defending SB champion isn't usually drafting for needs so much as building depth and developing replacements, but the 2 needs I had identified as priorities were filled with really good players. The depth can come in the middle to late rounds, as it should.
I also needed to offset the loss of Bryant McFadden because he was a starter at the end of the season, plus I wanted to upgrade the corps we already had in place. I did that perfectly (in my opinion) with 2 rookies who could both start sooner rather than later in Martin and Smith.
I feel that the analysis is mostly based on the fact that I didn't get a DE yet. First off, this would fall more into the "luxury" category due to the fact that our 2 starters are returning and neither has health or productivity issues. Yes, they're aging and I was planning to address D-Line depth with the remaining picks, but I would classify it as the #3 "need" at this point, and I didn't see any with value at my respective picks. In the 3-4 zone blitz scheme, the DE's are almost an extension of the DT in that their main job is to clog up the opposing O-lineman to let the LB's run free to blitz and make plays, so they're a little harder to find in the college ranks.
WR would also fall into the "luxury" category since we only suffered one loss (Washington) and have Sweed to step into the #3 spot. Again, there is alot of depth at WR this year and I easily could snag a guy in the 5th or 6th round who could fill a #4 WR/ST role.
I guess my point is, a defending SB champion isn't usually drafting for needs so much as building depth and developing replacements, but the 2 needs I had identified as priorities were filled with really good players. The depth can come in the middle to late rounds, as it should.
