The need came on defense, particularly at cornerback and outside linebacker, and the Steelers dived right in and tried to fill those needs for all they were worth.
Six of their eight draft picks came on defense over the past three days and of those, two were cornerbacks and two more were outside linebackers. Clearly, they recognized the only way to improve the 27th-ranked pass defense in the NFL was to pour more young talent into it.
It was their plan, and they stuck to it. The rest will be up to the rookies they selected
“We knew we had more holes to fill defensively when you just look at our roster,” general manager Kevin Colbert said. “We thought it was going to be a 6-2 ratio [defense-offense] and if it was close we were going to favor the defense.”
It is the first time since they went to a seven-round draft in 1994 the Steelers selected as many as six defensive players.
“We can’t ignore players who can make your team,” Colbert explained. “If you have an especially deep position, you’re probably not going to draft that position.”
They picked right back up Saturday where they left off, selecting their second cornerback of their draft class, Ohio State’s Doran Grant in the fourth round. After drafting Penn State tight end Jesse James of South Allegheny High School in the fifth round, they went defense again with their two picks in the sixth round — end L.T. Walton of Central Michigan and Anthony Chickillo, who played defensive end at Miami but will play outside linebacker with the Steelers.
It all ended when they added a third defensive back, safety Gerod Holliman of Louisville in the seventh round. Holliman led Division I-A with 14 interceptions in 2014.
“Obviously we had a desire to improve the competition and play-making ability in our secondary,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.
Colbert hammered home the long-held myth that the Steelers draft the best available player on their board.
“It was always going to be a defensive-priority draft,” Colbert said.
He even said that, contrary to reports, they were determined to draft a cornerback in the second round no matter what, not even if tight end Maxx Williams had not been taken Friday night by the Baltimore Ravens one pick before them. They ended up drafting 5-8½ cornerback Senquez Golson with the second round’s 24th pick.
“Senquez was going to be picked in the second round,” Colbert insisted. “We were going to come out of that round with a corner. We tried to trade up to secure Senquez Golson.”
Golson had 10 interceptions in 2014 and Grant five to go with the 14 by Holliman. The Steelers have been plagued by a lack of interceptions the past three seasons (10-10-11) and would like to change that.
The secondary alone lost three starters after the season — safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor retired and cornerback Brice McCain signed with Miami as a free agent.
“There is a concern when you have so many starters leave you at once,” secondary coach Carnell Lake said. “You want to make sure you replace them and replace them with quality plahyers.”
Lake feels a lot better about the position today.
“Yes, absolutely. We have some holes that we are starting to fill and the Steelers have been aggressive in trying to do that.”
The two cornerbacks were productive in college despite their lack of height. Second-rounder Golson is 5-8½, and fourth-rounder Doran Grant of Ohio State is 5-10.
“If you can get the player that has everything, you have to be pretty high up in the draft to get that guy,” Lake reasoned. “You are hoping that you can get most of the things that you want from a corner and that is what we are doing right now.”
Colbert said that there wasn’t much room to fit new players on the roster — unless they beat out some old players.
“I think we got eight players who will help us be a better team going forward. We have 47 guys back from last year’s team. Add DeAngelo Williams, 48. We really don’t have a lot of spots unless we get competition for guys on our team.”
