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As the Pittsburgh Steelers continue to shape their 2021 roster, some things become a little more clear as others still have plenty of questions. Looking specifically at the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers have added two players with NFL experience since the last update. After adding defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson, the Steelers have brought back linebacker Vince Williams a month after he was a salary cap casualty.
While the upcoming NFL draft will help fill out the various needs, let’s look at the Steelers defensive depth chart by position in order to give a better grasp on where the Steelers need to add pieces. Although the Steelers retained a large portion of their practice squad and signed others to Reserve/Futures contracts, we will be focusing for now on just those players who spent significant time on the Steelers 53-man roster in 2020 and anyone added from other teams who has appeared in NFL games.
Triple Mock Draft Time
Tuesday Draft Day! Alright gang this is my first shot at a mock draft this off season. Full disclosure: 1) I used walk the mock but tried really hard to avoid picks that, through research, I deemed unrealistic and 2) my personal preferences played a role in avoiding any QB not named Zac Wilson or Trevor Lawrence and I refuse to draft a position in round 1 where I get a shelf life of 5-7 years (RB’s), and 3) I tried to draft like Pitt, with a healthy balance of Offensive and Defensive players. I relied on multiple websites for information, but predominately on Steelers Depot Big Board. I also made three separate drafts based on top tier players that were available in each round. Also, no trades since Pitt doesn t typically and I don t blame them. This draft will go through the first four rounds (picks 24-55-87-128-140) since everything after that is, essentially, a crap-shoot.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers made a decision at the start of the 2021 new NFL league year, and that decision was to release veteran Vince Williams and retain Exclusive Rights Free Agent (ERFA) Robert Spillane.
It seemed like a simple transaction, and one which many might have expected, but the question which remains was this about more than salary cap savings? Was this more than the front office working financials? Or was this about the Steelers believing Spillane, paired with Devin Bush, could improve the interior of the defense?
Spillane and Bush haven’t played much together in a regular season setting, not after Bush tore his ACL in the Week 5 blowout over the Cleveland Browns at Heinz Field, but Spillane, speaking with reporters via Zoom, said he doesn’t think their lack of on-field experience together is a big deal.
I logged onto the Internet on Friday morning to check out the latest mock drafts.
The first one that caught my eye was published by NFL.com’s Adam Rank. I don’t really know who Rank is, but the theme of his latest mock draft was what he thought every team SHOULD do, not what they will do. Since this particular draft was published on April 1, I was immediately on the look-out for some April Fool’s shenanigans. However, since I don’t fully invest in the annual NFL Draft to the point that I think my opinion is worth a ton, I quickly assessed that Rank’s suggestions were on the up-and-up.