2005 NFL Draft - Steelers Review

April 25, 2005 by Steel Haven

This was the best draft for value the Steelers front office has had in quite awhile. Nothing spectacular happened like having Ben Roethlisberger fall into their laps. There was no packaging together of multiple picks for a targeted player like Troy Polamalu, Ricardo Colclough or Kendrell Bell. The front office just played things conservatively, let the draft come to them and tried to fill positions of need with players at or near the top of their draft board. This seems to have been the right strategy with a late pick in a deep draft that didn't have much talent at the top. The Steelers even drafted productive football players with upside on the second day. That hasn't usually been the case in recent years when Kevin Colbert seemed more interested in gambling on long term projects. The question now is how well the scouts did in their player evaluation. There won't be an answer for several years.

1.30 TE Heath Miller - Virginia This pick was basically made when the Jets decided to trade out of the first round to acquire Doug Jolley and a mid-second rounder. Miller was a top twenty talent that slid because he was unable to work out in the post season due to surgery for a sports hernia. The reason this selection was made is simple and fits the profile of the Steelers under Colbert and Bill Cowher. Miller is the only player available that has a real chance to start as a rookie given the Steelers current depth chart. He is the player at a position of immediate need that provides the biggest short term upgrade. All the other possibilities at this pick would have been backups at the start of their career. Shaun Cody would have backed up Kimo von Oelhoffen barring injury and not had a real chance until 2006. Same for David Baas behind Jeff Hartings and Kendall Simmons. Reggie Brown would have been the fourth receiver and maybe not had a chance to make a major impact until 2007. Any one of those picks would have provided long term value. None would have seen as much playing time in 2005 as Miller.

There are now two major issues. The first is how quickly Miller will recover from his injury. Cowher in his post selection comments seemed convinced that the injury will not be a problem although Miller might not be ready for the first mini-camp in early May. Lets hope the Steelers medical staff is right in their assessment. The second and most important issue is whether Ken Whisenhunt is willing to utilize the tight end position in the passing game. The Steelers have not had a tight end catch 20 passes in a season since 1995. Last year the five tight ends on the roster that saw playing time combined for a grand total of 22 receptions. There could be some hope that Miller will be utilized as more than a third tackle. Last year was Whisenhunt's first as coordinator and he really didn't have a tight end worth integrating into the passing game. So while I fear the worst, for now I will put aside my normal pessimism and hope for the best. 2.62 CB Bryant McFadden - Florida St Much as the first pick appeared predestined to be Miller, the second pick was almost assuredly going to be a cornerback. There was expected to be great value remaining at the position in the late second round and depth was needed despite the resigning of Willie Williams. The Steelers got lucky that McFadden fell this far. McFadden seemed to be moving up draft boards and even slipped into the first round of the ESPN interactive mock draft done on Thursday, June 21st. Pittsburgh reportedly considered him a first round fallback selection had Miller not been available. A series of mid-second round reaches on projects Ronald Bartell, Nick Collins, Darrent Williams and Kelvin Hayden really helped. Had the consensus second round prospects like McFadden, Eric Green and Stanley Wilson been taken instead the Steelers might have had to change their plans and look at a different position.

McFadden is a big corner that is proficient in run support and did not allow a touchdown through the air in his last two season. Cowher was at the Florida State pro day when he ran a solid 4.50 forty on what was admittedly a fast track. The main issue with McFadden's game is his propensity for batting down passes instead of going for the interception. Hopefully that can be worked on by Darren Perry and Ray Horton. McFadden actually seems like a fairly similar player to Chad Scott when he first came out of Maryland. I don't mean that in a bad way. Remember, McFadden was a second rounder and Scott was a first rounder. Scott also was still developing when a torn ACL took away a step that he simply could not afford to lose. DeShea Townsend, Colclough and Williams do not provide much of a physical presence at corner. McFadden should be able to find a niche in the rotation immediately and barring any kind of catastrophic leg injury develop into a solid starter. 3.93 T/G Trai Essex - Northwestern This pick both did and didn't come out of left field. Essex was barely a blip on the radar screen in the weeks and months leading up to the draft. Most analysts and draftniks listed him as a late round pick or maybe even an undrafted free agent. That appeared to change a bit in the last week before the draft. Essex surprisingly found a place in Rich Gosselin's top 100 which is a fairly strong indicator that a player will actually be drafted on the first day. He had visited Pittsburgh and the Steelers seemed interested.

Essex is an athletic former tight end that started 37 straight games at left tackle. Northwestern was 25th in total offense among all division I-A programs and allowed only 12 sacks in his senior season so something had to be going right on the offensive line. What sets Essex apart is versatility. The Steelers feel that at worst he will be an adequate backup at every offensive line position except center. The main knock on Essex in most draft previews is that he does not work hard enough. The Steelers strongly refute that claim. This was easily the most controversial pick of the first day and probably the whole draft. Essex was picked over players the Steelers reportedly felt were more one dimensional such as Ray Willis, David Stewart and most surprisingly Elton Brown. Only time will tell whether or not this was the right call. 4.131 WR Fred Gibson - Georgia The second day started out on a high note. The Steelers got their big receiver by taking Gibson a full round later than he was expected to be picked. Heading into the season Gibson was considered a better prospect than teamate Reggie Brown. Brown ended up getting taken with the 35th pick by the Eagles. The knocks on Gibson are his thin build and maddening inconsistency. He needs to add bulk to his 6'4" frame to reach his potential. He also needs to work on improving his concentration. Gibson should have plenty of time to refine his game behind Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle El and Cedric Wilson. While there are no guarantees, his upside was definitely worth a late fourth round flier if not a day one pick. 5.166 LB Rian Wallace - Temple Wallace was really flying under the radar screen after coming out early from Temple. He is an intense, instinctive, high motor player that should immediately provide depth behind Larry Foote and allow James Harrison to concentrate on competing with Clark Haggans on the outside. Wallace was all Big East as a sophomore and junior. He was actually better as a sophomore. He did manage 101 tackles last season even after being suspended for the Pitt game because of a fight with a teammate. Wallace had a total of 249 tackles in the last two years. He is big and physical with the speed to make plays from sideline-to-sideline. Wallace's main weakness is in the passing game. In the worst case scenario he could end up being a two down run stuffer which would actually be alright given when he was selected. This was another solid value pick on a player that should be a very good fit in the defensive scheme. 6.204 OG Chris Kemoeatu - Utah The hits just keep on coming. Kemoeatu was viewed by many as a late day one pick. Projected anywhere on most prospect lists as the sixth to eighth best offensive guard in the draft. He is a mauler with surprising agility for his size. A force inside that can dominate in the running game and be at least adequate in the passing game as long as he isn't left alone in space. Kemoeatu brings the brawling mentality of a defensive lineman to the offensive side of the ball. His brother Maake is a defensive tackle on the Ravens. During the draft the ESPN commentators even suggested that he could be tried at nose tackle. That is unlikely at this point. Kemoeatu needs to control his anger on the field and play under control. He probably dropped this far because of being thrown out of successive games for kicking a prone opponent. The Steelers seem convinced that he will be OK. The risk being taken on him this late in the draft is certainly minimal. 7.228 DE Shaun Nua - BYU Nua is the yearly defensive line project. At 6'5" and 270 pounds he needs to add at least 25 pounds to be of any use to the Steelers. He will likely spend the season on the practice squad bulking up if he can't be stashed on injured reserve. Nua basically came out of nowhere to have a solid senior campaign. He led BYU with 8 sacks after redshirting the previous season due to a torn ACL. Nua was a junior college transfer that served as a backup in his only year in Provo before the injury. The Steelers were evidently afraid that he would be tough to sign as a priority free agent with more teams switching to the 3-4. Nua along with Brett Keisel and Chris Hoke gives the Steelers three defensive line reserves from BYU. That has to be some kind of a record. 7.244 RB Noah Herron - Northwestern Although I would have preferred a free safety or outside linebacker project be taken with this pick, Herron does provide value this late in the seventh round. He rushed for over 1300 yards as a senior after serving as a part time fullback and backup to Jason Wright for three seasons. He is a versatile back that can block and catch the ball out of the backfield. He almost seems like another Verron Haynes. Herron is a hard worker with a reputation as a team leader that could also provide help on special teams. His main liability is a lack of top speed. To be honest that isn't much of an issue in the offensive scheme employed by the Steelers. Herron could really be of some use in 2006 with Duce Staley a year older and Jerome Bettis retired. How he makes the roster this year is the question. It is hard to envision him beating out Willie Parker as the fourth halfback. Maybe Cowher plans on experimenting with Essex as a tight end in short yardage situations and believes Herron can serve as undersized depth at fullback this year. That could spell the end of Matt Cushing and allow the Steelers to keep a sixth runningback instead of a fourth tight end. Of course like Nua the practice squad is a legitimate possibility. Rookie Free Agent Signings WR Tavaris Capers - Central Florida
OT Morgan Davis - Wisconsin
LB Andre Frazier - Cincinnati
DT Elliott Harris - Arkansas
LB Arnold Harrison - Georgia
RB John Kuhn - Shippensburg
LB Ronald Stanley - Michigan State
K Shaun Suisham - Bowling Green
FB Zach Tuiasosopo - Washington
OG Jake Verstraete - Northern Illinois
LS Greg Warren - North Carolina
WR Nate Washington - Tiffin

Tuiasosopo was listed by some as the top FB entering the season. A broken leg and some off the field problems with alcohol hurt his value. The Steelers are very deep in the backfield so his chances appear minimal even though he has a reputation as a powerful lead blocker. Capers is an undersized blazer. He could get a look as a return man. Verstraete or Morgan could legitimately compete for a roster spot on the thin offensive line. Verstraete was an All-MAC selection that could have slipped into the later rounds. Morgan is a road grater in the Wisconsin tradition. Stanley was a multi-year starter at middle linebacker with a reputation as a team leader. He lacks top measurables. Harrison sort of got caught in a numbers game at Georgia. He has tremendous physical upside, but needs to work harder. Frazier is a 3-4 OLB prospect that was invited to the combine. He was a walk-on that worked hard and developed into a productive collegian. There is probably room for one of the free agent linebackers to stick. Harris would have to do something spectacular to earn a roster spot as the ninth defensive lineman on the depth chart. Warren is competition for veteran Mike Schneck. If he sticks the Steelers could probably save about a half of a million dollars against the cap.

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