Comparing SCU’s Steelers mock drafts to the real thing
It takes a lot to admit you’re wrong. And it’s going to take much more to admit we were all (mostly) wrong about the Pittsburgh Steelers picks last weekend!
Okay, that was to be expected. After all, a mock draft is only that: a guess.
But how many of those guesses were good, and how many were way off?
Let’s find out!
Round 1, Pick 30 (No. 30 overall)
The Pick: T.J. Watt, LB, Wisconsin
Getting a few of the first rounders right wasn’t so bad. Takk McKinley went several picks before the Steelers slot at 30, to the Atlanta Falcons (picking 26th). Humphrey shockingly went even earlier to the Baltimore Ravens (pick 16) while White went to the Bill with pick 27.
Derek Rivers and Carl Lawson fell out of the first round.
As far as mocks go, you can’t control not getting the pick if the player never falls to the Steelers spot. I’ll still consider this first round a “win” even though no one got the pick correct!
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Takkarist McKinley | EDGE | UCLA |
| Brian Roach | Takkarist McKinley | EDGE | UCLA |
| Eric Herrmann | Marlon Humphrey | CB | Alabama |
| Joe Kuzma | Marlon Humphrey | CB | Alabama |
| Ron Lippock | Carl Lawson | EDGE | Auburn |
| Terry Fletcher | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
| Zac Celedonia | Quincy Wilson | CB | Florida |
| Christina Rivers | Takkarist McKinley | EDGE | UCLA |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Tre’Davious White | CB | LSU |
Round 2, Pick 30 (No. 62)
The Pick: JuJu Smith-Schuster, WR, USC
Everyone had Derek Rivers pegged here for the second round edge rusher, as most of the panel felt they’d pass on the position in the first. Terry correctly guessed that Pittsburgh would take T.J. Watt, but was a round later with her guess. (Flipping Rivers and Watt would’ve made her the only one to get one right!)
Lawson’s injury concerns continued his slide past the second round, while the Steelers would twice pass on Tankersley and Rivers.
They would never get a shot at Josh Jones, who went to the Green Bay Packers one pick before the Steelers, who opted for Smith-Schuster instead.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Josh Jones | S | NC State |
| Brian Roach | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
| Eric Herrmann | Carl Lawson | EDGE | Auburn |
| Joe Kuzma | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
| Ron Lippock | Cordrea Tankersley | CB | Clemson |
| Terry Fletcher | T.J. Watt | EDGE | Wisconsin |
| Zac Celedonia | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
| Christina Rivers | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Derek Rivers | EDGE | Youngstown State |
Round 3, Pick 30 (No. 94)
The Pick: Cameron Sutton, CB, Tennessee
Congrats to Nathaniel Bodnar for hitting the round and the player with Tennessee’s Cam Sutton!
Everyone else was hinting toward a cornerback or linebacker as well. Rasul Douglas would land 5 spots after the Steelers pick (99 to the Eagles) while Shaheen was already off of the board in the second round to the Bears (45 overall) as did Sidney Jones at 43 to the Eagles.
Peppers didn’t quite slide so far with his diluted drug test sample, with the Browns snatching him toward the end of the first round as well.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Rasul Douglas | CB | West Virginia |
| Brian Roach | Sidney Jones | CB | Washington |
| Eric Herrmann | Samaje Perine | RB | Oklahoma |
| Joe Kuzma | Alex Anazalone | LB | Florida |
| Ron Lippock | Blair Brown | LB | Ohio |
| Terry Fletcher | Jabrill Peppers | S | Michigan |
| Zac Celedonia | Adam Shaheen | TE | Ashland |
| Christina Rivers | Rasul Douglas | CB | West Virginia |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Cameron Sutton | CB | Tennessee |
Round 3, Pick 41 (No. 105)
The Pick: James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh
The pick was in for our writers, but earlier than expected. Nearly everyone had Pitt’s James Conner on their list somewhere below.
Josh Reynolds was on the Steelers radar and thus showed up in the lists below.
The Perine and Foreman picks nailed team needs, and the spot where they’d look to fill them.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Gerald Everett | TE | South Alabama |
| Brian Roach | D’Onta Foreman | RB | Texas |
| Eric Herrmann | Josh Reynolds | WR | Texas A&M |
| Joe Kuzma | Samaje Perine | RB | Oklahoma |
| Ron Lippock | Isaiah Ford | WR | Virginia Tech |
| Terry Fletcher | Javancy Jones | EDGE | Jackson State |
| Zac Celedonia | Montae Nicholson | S | Michigan State |
| Christina Rivers | Josh Jones | S | NC State |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Adam Shaheen | TE | Ashland |
Round 4, Pick 29 (No. 135)
The Pick: Joshua Dobbs – QB (Tennessee)
This is where Conner’s name starts to show up, along with Joshua Dobbs: who was successfully mocked by three of our writers. (Note: Golladay was a trade in Brian’s mock.)
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Marlon Mack | RB | South Florida |
| Brian Roach | Kenny Golladay* | WR | Northern Illinois |
| Eric Herrmann | Rayshawn Jenkins | S | Miami (FL) |
| Joe Kuzma | John Johnson | S | Boston College |
| Ron Lippock | James Conner | RB | Pittsburgh |
| Terry Fletcher | James Conner | RB | Pittsburgh |
| Zac Celedonia | Joshua Dobbs | QB | Tennessee |
| Christina Rivers | Joshua Dobbs | QB | Tennessee |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Joshua Dobbs | QB | Tennessee |
Round 5, Pick 30 (No. 173)
The Pick: Brian Allen – DB (Utah)
Conner shows up again in our fifth round mocks, as do some other names.
Blair Brown was already off of the board at pick 148 (Jaguars) as was Jeremy Sprinkle at pick 154 (Redskins).
The inclusion of Josh Reynolds here is again interesting and will be brought up in the next round. He would go to the Rams with pick 117 in the fourth round.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Blair Brown | LB | Ohio |
| Brian Roach | Damontae Kazee | CB | San Diego State |
| Eric Herrmann | Keion Adams | EDGE | W. Michigan |
| Joe Kuzma | Josh Reynolds | WR | Texas A&M |
| Ron Lippock | Jeremy Sprinkle | TE | Arkansas |
| Terry Fletcher | Sidney Jones | CB | Washington |
| Zac Celedonia | James Conner | RB | Pittsburgh |
| Christina Rivers | Josh Reynolds | WR | Texas A&M |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | James Conner | RB | Pittsburgh |
Round 6, Pick 30 (No. 213)
The Pick: Colin Holba – LS (Louisville)
No one saw a long snapper coming. In fact, most had a tight end mocked to the Steelers in the sixth round. However, Michael Roberts was long gone in the fourth, to the Lions with pick 127 (way before Josh Dobbs would be taken by the Steelers).
In much the same way, LB Samson Ebukam was already taken too, with pick 125 by the L.A. Rams.
The Rams took three consecutive players who were in our mock drafts: S John Johnson (third round, pick 91), WR Josh Reynolds (fourth round, pick 117) and Ebukam in the fourth as well (pick 125 as noted above).
TE Scott Orndoff from Pitt was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent following the draft.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Damore’ea Stringfellow | WR | Ole Miss |
| Brian Roach | Michael Roberts | TE | Toledo |
| Eric Herrmann | Scott Orndoff | TE | Pittsburgh |
| Joe Kuzma | Michael Roberts | TE | Toledo |
| Ron Lippock | Treston Decoud | CB | Oregon State |
| Terry Fletcher | Samson Ebukam | EDGE | E. Washington |
| Zac Celedonia | K.D. Cannon | WR | Baylor |
| Christina Rivers | Samson Ebukam | EDGE | E. Washington |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Javancy Jones | ILB | Jackson State |
Round 7, Pick 30 (No. 248)
The Pick: Keion Adams – DE (Western Michigan)
Eric Herrmann mocked Adams in the fifth to the Steelers, while several others thought that Ebukam could land in Pittsburgh in the later rounds.
Torgersen, as Jim Racalto mentions in his mock, went undrafted. He would sign with the Falcons.
Javancy Jones, a Division II standout, would also go unselected, and sign with the Arizona Cardinals following the draft.
| Writer | Pick | Pos | School |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Racalto | Alek Torgersen | QB | Penn |
| Brian Roach | Samson Ebukam | EDGE | E. Washington |
| Eric Herrmann | Javancy Jones | ILB | Jackson State |
| Joe Kuzma | Samson Ebukam | EDGE | E. Washington |
| Ron Lippock | Tony Conner | S | Ole Miss |
| Terry Fletcher | Jerod Evans | QB | Virginia Tech |
| Zac Celedonia | Joe Williams | RB | Utah |
| Christina Rivers | Jason Croom | TE | Tennessee |
| Nathaniel Bodnar | Elijah Lee | LB | Kansas State |
Conclusion
The fact we got any picks correct is quite astonishing. I’d say that deserves a pat on the back if anything!
Having some rounds mixed up for Conner, Watt and Adams is forgivable as well.
In all, the mock draft season is now over. It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?
(And no, we won’t be posting any mocks for 2018 anytime soon!)
