{"id":2209,"date":"2016-04-27T01:54:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T01:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2016-04-27T01:54:52","modified_gmt":"2016-04-27T01:54:52","slug":"the-2016-nfl-draft-is-upon-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/?p=2209","title":{"rendered":"The 2016 NFL Draft is upon us!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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With a successful season\u00a0long gone\u00a0in the rearview mirror, the NFL draft is upon us again! The draft has a cult following and has taken on a life of its own. The NFL now sells tickets and it even has it’s own line of products. I will be attending a baseball game so will miss the beginning\u00a0(LI DUCKS) and then will be headed home for the Steelers pick.<\/p>\n

That being said, I am very excited for this year\u2019s draft. What’s on the menu, for Beer We Go Steelers, first and foremost we are not doing a mock draft. Both the Captain and I HATE mock drafts. So forget that! However, we have some analysis.<\/p>\n

The Steelers: First Pick (25), Total Picks (7),<\/span><\/strong> Roughly 47 years ago the Steelers made the draft the center piece of their talent building\u2026they have never looked back, whether it was drafting four Hall Of Famers in the 1974 draft or stealing Antonio Brown in the 6th<\/sup> round, the Steelers have built a foundation through the draft and this year will be no different. The glaring needs are help in the defensive backfield, a \u201cclogger\u201d in the defensive line, Offensive tackle depth and a young QB and then depth all over.<\/p>\n

Biggest Needs: Is either a Safety or a Cornerback and that has to be the number one pick. The Steelers have had very few misses in the draft, however the defensive backfield has been one of them. Several CB\u2019s have washed out and the Steelers haven\u2019t done much better on safety. They need an impact player, preferably two or three in the first five picks.<\/p>\n

The front seven is still one of the best in football, however the depth was seriously drained. The Steelers need a BIG, BIG man in the middle to backup Mt. McCullers and they need some outside linebacker help.<\/p>\n

As for offense, depth at the tackle spot is a serious concern. Lastly, if the right steal is sitting there, they need to look at a Quarterback. While Ben has plenty of tread left on the tires, it would be prudent to look at a \u201cproject\u201d guy to develop.<\/p>\n

Steelers Draft Capsule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best 1st<\/sup> rounder of the last ten years: Cam Heyward, DE, 20011 Draft, (31st<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Bust: Jamian Stephens, T, 1996 Draft, (29th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Steal: (TIE) Mike Webster, C, 1974 Draft, (125th<\/sup> Overall) \/ Antonio Brown, WR, 2010 Draft (195th <\/sup>Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greatest Draft Pick: Joe Greene, DT, 1969 Draft, (4th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beer We Go division analysis:<\/p>\n

Baltimore Ravens: First pick (6), Total Picks (9)<\/strong>,\u00a0The Ratbirds are in a strange position for them of picking in the top ten after a terrible season. Ozzie Newsome in this spot scares me, they rarely miss in the first\u00a0round and they should make a significant impact in this spot. They also stockpiled fourth round picks,\u00a0so look for some movement. There\u00a0biggest need is a playmaker outside, a WR, but they have several holes including O-Line, and the defense which has been there calling card, is very leaky.<\/p>\n

The Ravens Draft Capsule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best 1st<\/sup> rounder of the last ten years: Joe Flacco, QB, 2008 Draft, (18th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Bust: Kyle Boller, QB, 2003 Draft, (19th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Steal: Adalius Thomas, LB, 2000 Draft, (186th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greatest Draft Pick: Ray Lewis, LB, 1996 Draft, (26th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals: First pick (24), Total Picks (6)<\/strong>, The Bengals have become perennial contenders after being the laughing stock of football for nearly 20 years. What they need is coaching and better discipline, but that isn’t something that will be on their board. This should be a minimum impact draft and they will draft for depth. Historically, they have done a good job getting value picks….albeit with questionable smarts. (Vontaze that’s for you.) They need help up front in the NFL’s toughest division. Look for the Defensive line and Linebacker, to be the target. Also don’t be surprised if you see a QB get snatched if it falls in their lap.<\/p>\n

The Bengals Draft Capsule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best 1st<\/sup> rounder of the last ten years: A.J. Green, WR, 20011 Draft, (4th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Bust: Akili Smith, QB, 1999 Draft, (3rd<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Steal: Lemur Parrish, CB, 1970 Draft, (163rd<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greatest Draft Pick: Anthony Munoz, LT, 1986 Draft, (3rd<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns: First pick (8), Total Picks (a whopping 12)<\/strong>, The Browns are in the enviable position, that they are ALWAYS in this time of year, plenty of early quality picks. The draft should be named, Cleveland Browns\u00a0Day!!!\u00a0They traded with the Eagles and still\u00a0stayed in the top 10. Sonny Weaver Jr. pulled off a stunner…wait that was only a movie, but none the less here we are!<\/p>\n

The Browns front office is now trying a more scientific approach, having\u00a0recruited Paul DePodesta away from the Mets. DePodesta was one of the central figures in \u201cMoneyball\u201d.\u00a0That move was panned by many people, I am not one of them. The Browns will be using actual analytics and real life statistics\u00a0compared to using the Twister Wheel and Ouija Board to make their picks.\u00a0Whatever his shortcomings DePodesta is a Harvard Graduate with a football background and this might be the beginning of something for the Browns as well as the NFL, AKA read money ball!<\/p>\n

Giving the Browns\u00a0first\u00a0round picks is very similar to giving monkeys fire, while it is a great tool, it is wasted and pretty damn dangerous if you don’t know how to use it. As for needs, well I can copy last year’s blog post\u00a0verbatim, they need a QB more than just about anyone in the world. RGIII was a great pickup but he is not who they will build around, they also need playmakers, so look for an impact WR right away. After that they need EVERYTHING else. I am very interested to see the Ricciardi experiment!<\/p>\n

The Browns Draft Capsule:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best 1st<\/sup> rounder of the last ten years: Joe Haden, CB, 2010 Draft, (7th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Bust: Seriously? Pick \u2018em! Although the Johnny Manziel stink must seem like Chernobyl.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biggest Draft Steal: Leroy Kelly, RB, 1964 Draft, (110th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Greatest Draft Pick: Jim Brown, RB, 1957 Draft, (6th<\/sup> Overall)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a successful season\u00a0long gone\u00a0in the rearview mirror, the NFL draft is upon us again! The draft has a cult following and has taken on a life of its own. The NFL now sells tickets and it even has it’s own line of products. I will be attending a baseball game so will miss the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bwg-gr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2209"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2213,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions\/2213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bwgsteelers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}