One NFL draft has two perfect fits for the Steelers. Franchise failure. And a weird quote from Jeff Capel, Pitt’s basketball coach.
All this in Wednesday’s “First Call”.
Perfect in Pittsburgh
NFL Network and Daniel Jeremiah, concept analyst at NFL.com, held their annual media conference before the draft to look at the potential needs of teams and prospects in college that will fill them.
Via NFL.com, Jeremiah showed two specific prospects that he says best fit the Steelers. The first is a possible replacement in center for Maurkice Pouncey, Landon Dickerson, Alabama.
‘He’s almost the perfect Steeler. He is physical and nasty. He’s nice to look at. He’s fast, ” Jeremiah said. “He’s a taller man (6-foot-6), but we’ve seen the Steelers get a pretty good run here with a long center (Maurkice Pouncey).”
A Rimington trophy winner in 2020 as the best center of the NCAA, the only problem with Dickerson’s history is health. He tore an ACL during his freshman year in Florida State. Then he had another knee injury in the 2020 SEC title game that also had to be operated on.
The other “good pass” for Pittsburgh that Jeremiah mentioned is Javonte Williams (North Carolina) (5 feet-10, 220 pounds) who sank back in North Carolina.
Hekkie
Truck stick
✅ Spin MoveCan’t stop watching this Javonte Williams run 😤 @TarHeelFootball pic.twitter.com/ZW9uHswr0J
– ACC Network (@accnetwork) 13 December 2020
As we summarize Joe Rutter, Jeremiah compares the former Tar Heel to Nick Chubb, star runner of the Cleveland Browns.
Impact for All
The Steelers did not make Al Villanueva offensive. This was also not expected.
However, two teams have made franchise attacks and this affects the landscape for free agency for Villanueva, if he accepts that he does not live in Pittsburgh.
The Carolina Panthers put the label on Taylor Moton. The Jacksonville Jaguars did the same with Cam Robinson. The hit against the salary cap for both players is expected to be between $ 13 and $ 14 million.
While that means Jaguars and Panthers are probably no longer available for Villanueva’s services, it also means two other candidates for the rest of the league are out of the spot when it comes to bidding big bucks.
Pro Football Focus cites Villanueva as the fourth best tackle behind Trent Williams (San Francisco), Moton and his Carolina teammate Russell Okung. Robinson was five places behind Villanueva in their evaluations.
Something to look at
Carl Lawson did not receive a franchise label from the Cincinnati Bengals.
The defensive end had a bit of an up and down career with the Bengals. In his first year, he scored 8.5 bags and made the PWFA All-Rookie team.
But in his second year, Lawson only had one bag in seven games due to a torn ACL. He returned his third year with five pockets in 12 games and 5.5 more this past season.
But his game lapsed. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spoke to him before both games against Cincy. And it turns out it was wise. Lawson had twelve hits from Ben Roethlisberger over those two games, plus a bag and a forced foul.
So it would be nice for the Steelers to see him enter the open market and maybe be sought out by someone outside the AFC North.
The Auburn product is considered by CBS Sports to be the 18th best free agent available. And on the website, it is suggested that the Bengals can still work on a long-term agreement.
I’m sure Roethlisberger would have preferred that this did not happen.
Capel quote
Pitt coach Jeff Capel had a strange quote after the team’s season discount against the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday afternoon.
The Hurricanes beat the Panthers 79-73 in the first round of the ACC tournament.
After the defeat, Capel said, “I wish we could have had a little more time with this group … I think we could have grown into something that could have been pretty good.”
By ‘this group’ I assume that Capel meant how the team was put together after the transfers of Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney. They were both gone on February 25th. And the Panthers lost three of four on the piece and beat only low Wake Forest (6-15).
So I’m not entirely sure what gave him the atmosphere, as the team limped through February and March for a third consecutive year to finish 10-12.
It’s not like the Panthers are talentless. If Justin Champagnie, Nike Sibande (who said he would return for the NCAA’s free year of eligibility), Femi Odukale and Ithiel Horton all get back on the team, it’s not a bad start for next season. But it would not gel so quickly this year. It will require a full off-season to develop and hone.
But it’s time to stop the lazy, overly simple analysis of ‘It’s OK. Jeff Capel is going in the right direction! ”
Does he? Is he really? I mean, if the “direction” is any direction further from the Kevin Stallings era, I assume it’s true. But Panthers fans may want to check their GPS systems.
Because closing 2-10 to end the season is not the right direction. The departures of Toney and Johnson were also not during the season, plus those of Trey McGowens after last season. And certainly, a three-year record of 7-28 in February and March is completely the wrong direction.
Tim Benz is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets can be re-posted. Unless otherwise stated, all emails are subject to publication.
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