Steelers First Round Pick – Linebacker Ryan Shazier?
Huh. I certainly didn’t see that coming…
In the 2007 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers were widely projected to take former Pitt Panthers cornerback Darrelle Revis with the fifteenth overall pick. Fans knew it, draftniks knew it, and everybody in the NFL evidently knew it because the New York Jets swung a last second deal with Carolina to leapfrog the Black and Gold and snatch Revis out from under us. With their coveted prospect gone, the Steelers threw up their hands and took a flier on the best athlete left on the board. That athlete wound up being a linebacker out of Florida State named Lawrence Timmons.
Fast forward seven years later and the 2014 NFL Draft. Everybody and their mother predicted the Steelers would take either a playmaking wide receiver or a cornerback capable of stepping in to start for their beleaguered secondary. By the time pick #15 rolled around, all three of the draft’s most explosive playmakers were long gone. So was top CB prospect Justin Gilbert and, one pick before the Steelers, fast rising #2 option Kyle Fuller. What did the Steelers do? Threw up their hands and took a flier on the best athlete left on the board.
Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier is your newest member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.Read More »Steelers First Round Pick – Linebacker Ryan Shazier?