Early mocks have Steelers seeking an edge; No update on Le’Veon Bell
PITTSBURGH 鈥� It鈥檚 the third week of February and that can only mean one thing.
Valentine鈥檚 Day? Presidents Day? Spring is right around the corner?
All good guesses, to be sure, but for anyone who follows the Steelers, it means that the NFL Draft is nearly upon us. And by 鈥渘early鈥� we mean just over two months away.
Over the next 71 days the internet, the twitterverse and message boards will be filled with mock drafts, big boards and many a hot take about college players that almost no one knows much about. Sure, most of these projections are almost always wrong, but that isn鈥檛 about to stop anyone鈥檚 fun. It all begins with the NFL Combine which gets under way in Indianapolis later this month.
The Steelers, tentatively, hold the 30th overall pick. According to most early mocks, the Steelers are expected to take an edge rusher to replace pending free agents Jarvis Jones and James Harrison. Jones isn鈥檛 expected to be re-signed while Harrison should be back but will be 39 when the 2017 season starts.
The good news for the Steelers is that this year鈥檚 draft is believed to be filled with quality edge rushers who should be available to them late in the first round. In fact, most mocks have Cleveland taking Texas A&M edge rusher Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall pick.
Here鈥檚 a look at some of the early mocks and who the Steelers could be targeting. Between now and the draft, we鈥檒l update accordingly on the OT Blog.
Chad Reuter, NFL.com, Draft analyst: Takkarist McKinley, DE/OLB, UCLA
Charley Casserly, NFL.com, NFL media analyst: Taco Charlton, OLB, Michigan
WalterFootball.com: Takkarist McKinley, DE/OLB, UCLA
DraftSite.com: Takkarist McKinley, DE/OLB, UCLA
Brent Sobleski, Bleacher Report: Takkarist McKinley, DE/OLB, UCLA
Nick Klopsis, Newsday: Carl Lawson, DE/OLB, Auburn
Steve Palozzolo, Pro Football Focus: Desmond King, CB, Iowa
Drafttek.com: Demarcus Walker, OLB, Florida State
Dane Brugler, NFLDraftScout.com: Takkarist McKinley, DE/OLB, UCLA
DraftBlaster.com: Raekwon McMillan, ILB, Ohio State
SportingNews.com: Jordan Willis, DE/OLB, Kansas State
In other Steelers news, Wednesday was the first day that NFL teams could designate franchise or transition players. It鈥檚 been widely speculated that the Steelers could place their franchise tag on star running back Le鈥橵eon Bell. If they choose to do so, Bell could be in line for a pay day of about $12.5 million for the 2017 season (that is based on the top five salaries for a player at his position).
Bell is averaging 128.7 scrimmage yards per game in his four-year career, most of any player in NFL history (with a minimum of 25 games) but he鈥檚 yet to start and finish a season either due to injury or suspension.
The 25-year-old served a three-game suspension for missed/failed drug tests to start the 2016 season and suffered a groin injury during the Steelers鈥� playoff run, eventually pulling himself out of Pittsburgh鈥檚 loss at New England in the AFC Championship. Bell said during Super Bowl week that he was seeking a third opinion on his injury and that surgery was an option.
Even if he undergoes surgery, Bell should be healthy for the start of training camp.
At least the Steelers shouldn鈥檛 be docked a draft pick for not listing Bell on the team鈥檚 injury report leading up to the New England game. On Tuesday, the league said it would not discipline the Seattle Seahawks, who similarly didn鈥檛 list cornerback Richard Sherman鈥檚 knee injury on their practice report in the postseason.