Our good buddy Doug Farrar of Shutdown Corner has a weekly podcast with NFL Films’ Greg Cosell. In the latest episode, they recount the AFC North draft haul and because I know many of you are among the laziest people on Earth, I transcribed the Steelers-related bits.
You can listen to the entire podcast here, and the Steelers talk starts around the 52-minute mark. Also worth noting: Farrar loves David DeCastro. Cosell likes him too, but was also a fan of Kevin Zeitler, the guy the Bengals took with their second first-rounder after passing on DeCastro with their first first-rounder (Cincy took CB Dre Kirpatrick instead).
On Mike Adams
Cosell: To me, he fits anywhere because I believe he’s the most athletic left tackle in the draft. Was he the best left tackle? I think there are games you put on with Mike Adams where you say that he was the best left tackle in this draft. There were other games — and I guess I didn’t see those games because, you know, you can’t watch every game and I don’t work for a team — where I was told that he was not quite as competitive snap after snap, where some flaws came out, some people, I guess, pointed to a game he played not this year but last year against Marshall and Vinny Curry apparently ate him up.
Are there flaws and some concerns? Absolutely. But as a pure athletic left tackle, I thought he was the best in this draft. … Athletic-ability-wise, he’s fine. There’s not an issue. … There’s one thing about linemen that goes beyond Xs and Os: you gotta compete in the NFL to play offensive line. It’s a ‘compete’ position. You’re gonna get beat, you’re gonna get your ass kicked at times.
(Note: Max Starks hasn’t heard from the Steelers and doesn’t expect to. Make of this what you will.)
On Sean Spence:
Cosell: This is my opinion, this is not something … Mike Tomlin called me and told me. I think they see Sean Spence playing inside in their 3-4, and I think they see Lawrence Timmons, who athletically could be dynamite as an outside linebacker in a 3-4, ultimately moving there.
On Alameda Ta’amu
Farrar: He played a lot of one-game at Washington. I think he’s a better two-gap guy.
Cosell: It’s funny you say that because after I watched him, here’s my line: best transitions to the NFL as a 3-4 nose tackle base personnel player. … For people who talk about where guys get drafted, I think he’s a perfect value. I think he can become the successor to Casey Hampton, either two-down or base personnel. … And I think he fits perfectly in that role.
Farrar: I believe that if you’re a team in need of an absolute two-gap, hole-plugging nose guy … — not a Haloti Ngata, who’s just a freak from another planet, but that traditional 3-4 nose — he’s a perfect fit there.
On Chris Rainey
Cosell: I love the pick of Chris Rainey. … I like Rainey more than Dexter McCluster and McCluster was a second-round pick of the Chiefs. … The reason he’s a fifth-round pick is because he is what he is: he’s not a feature back, he plays 12 or 15 or 20 snaps … but this guy can score from anywhere on the field. He was so smooth changing direction … he was so fluid doing that. … I think Rainey is faster (than McCluster). I think McCluster is more lateral. … Rainey did not dance, Rainey was a downhill guy with incredible hips.
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