This draft will be far more interesting than just about any in the past from a
scouting standpoint. Countless players opted out this past season and have no
recent film. Some of those were coming off injury which makes evaluating even
harder. Add to that the lack of combine , team visits and countless other
obstacles and this becomes a very difficult year.
Players who played in 2020 in many cases will get the edge on close calls, this
was even noted by Tomlin at one point. Not fair, but it is what it is. Some
teams are gonna get steals with the players who improved without playing
whereas some teams will draft based on 2019 film and might be disappointed by
lack of growth/improvement.
Another interesting area is the late rounds and UDFAs. The pool will be smaller
because of the players that are staying in college and taking advantage of the
added year of eligibility. It you are a 6-7/UDFA prospect why not stay another
year to try to improve your stock? Oddly enough I was thinking the opposite.
Many players who get contracts this year may not have in the past. Look at the
FAs the Steelers have been signing at Pro Days. Teams need to fill their
rosters and there might not be a huge pool of talent after the draft so why not
grab some guys from last year.
In the end I don't think it matters much for talent on day one and two, but the
question marks in the later rounds might lead teams to sign safer bets that
played the season and played in bigger programs.
Should be interesting either way. As usual I have some players I would love and
fully assume the Steelers will draft none. At this point Aside from QB almost
nothing will shock me and yes I want them to draft Pressley Harvin (Punter) in
the late rounds.
I just want it to be Thursday
Scott in Jersey