Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

With the 232nd pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Baron Batch, a 5’9″, 200 lb. running back from Texas Tech.

7th round draft picks are highly unlikely to make most NFL rosters.  This is particularly true for a veteran-laden team like the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are coming off of a Super Bowl appearance.  But writing off Baron Batch would be a mistake.

Batch played at Texas Tech, which is a pass-happy team.  Because of that, he got lots of opportunities to catch the ball coming out of the backfield.  It’s this skill that may allow Batch to make it in the NFL.  But if he does stick with a team, he’ll likely only be used as a 3rd down back.

Some might question why the Steelers would waste a pick on a guy who will likely play such a limited role on the team.  But you have to remember that the Steelers have kept a guy on the roster for just that role.  His name is Mewelde Moore.  And he’s a free agent.  Moreover, he’s an aging veteran player who is entering his 8th year in the NFL.  His experience level means that he’s not cheap.  So it may be time to replace him with a younger (or more importantly, cheaper) alternative.

Batch could be just the alternative that the Steelers are looking for.  He was a very productive runner and receiver for Texas Tech.  He accumulated 816 yards rushing in 2010 (4.6 yards per carry), and caught 32 passes for 226 yards (7.1 yards per catch).  2010 was actually his worst season receiving since becoming a starter.  In 2009 he had 57 catches, and in 2008 he had 45 catches.  So as you can see, he has a lot of experience catching the ball out of the backfield.

As a runner, Batch is nothing special.  He has decent speed, and runs with surprising power for such a small back (think Ray Rice, only not as elusive).  He’s unlikely to be used very often as a pure runner.  Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, and perhaps Jonathan Dwyer have that covered already.

He will have to make the adjustment of playing in an NFL offense.  In college, Texas Tech ran a pass-oriented spread offense.  So once Batch caught the ball, he had huge lanes to run down.  That’s why he was able to average 10 yards per catch in 2008, 6.9 in 2009, and 7.1 in 2010.  NFL teams don’t use college-style spread offenses, and the defenders are much faster.  Batch will have to adjust to these differences.

Batch’s diminutive size may actually help him in the NFL.  Shorter running backs like Ray Rice and Maurice Jones-Drew are often hard for the defense to pick up behind the larger offensive linemen.  So don’t assume that because he’s only 5’9″, Batch has no chance of making it in the NFL.

The one concern that I do have about Batch is his injury history.  He’s been injured quite a bit, and the NFL is significantly more physical than college football.  He had a broken ankle that ended his season as a freshman (2006).  He then had staph infections that required him to have 7 surgeries, and robbed him of his entire 2007 season.  He had an elbow injury in 2009, but didn’t miss any games.  Then he had surgery for a sports hernia prior to the 2010 season, but he didn’t miss any games.

Some might argue that the Steeler should have spent their 7th round pick on another offensive lineman or cornerback.  But I believe that the team now has enough bodies at those positions to make the competition in training camp interesting.  It made sense to go in another direction with their final pick.

This pick isn’t likely to make anyone overly excited, but it definitely fills a team need.

Analysis of all 2011 Steelers Draft picks:

Round 1 – Cameron Heyward

Round 2 – Marcus Gilbert

Round 3 – Curtis Brown

Round 4 – Cortez Allen

Round 5 – Chris Carter

Round 6 – Keith Williams

Round 7 – Baron Batch

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With the 196th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Keith Williams, a 6’4″, 318 lb. guard from Nebraska.

The Steelers are a team that always selects the best player available.  Because of this, their picks sometimes leave me scratching my head.  But I’m noticing a trend this year.  The Steelers are clearly drafting based on need.  They had 3 key needs coming into this draft, cornerback, offensive line, and defensive line, and through the first 6 rounds, the Steelers have focused all of their picks on those needs.  That may sound like common sense, but it’s actually very atypical for the Steelers.

Having already selected a tackle in this years draft, the Steelers now select a guard.  So offensive line coach Sean Kugler should be a very happy man.

Keith Williams is a good selection for so late in the draft.  He comes from an excellent Nebraska program that was the 9th ranked rushing team in the country last year.  Williams played left guard on that team, and was a 3-year starter.

The most telling thing about the 2010 Cornhuskers is that they had 10 games where they rushed for over 200 yards.  That right, 200 yards rushing!  They even had two games in which they had 300 rushing yards.  When you run for that many yards, your offensive linemen are definitely doing something right.

Williams looks like an NFL guard.  He’s thick and has a very wide upper body.  He has excellent strength, and can move most offensive linemen due to his sheer bulk.  He definitely fits the description of a “road grader”.

Besides being big and strong, Williams also plays with a nasty temperament.  He’s mean and physical.  He doesn’t ease up on the man he’s blocking until the whistle blows.  He’s both a mauler and a brawler.

The one thing that I don’t like about him is that he’s not as athletic as some guards.  Florida guard Mike Pouncey, for example, is not as physical as Williams, but he’s got the athleticism to pull and block linebackers at the second level.  Williams did okay at getting to blockers in the second level in college, but I’m not sure if he’s going to be quick enough to do it at the next level.  He’s much more similar to Chris Kemoeatu than he is to Alan Faneca.  That’s not necessarily bad.  They’re just different types of players.  The two current Steelers linemen that he reminds me of most are Kemoeatu and Willie Colon.

Williams is definitely more comfortable in run blocking than he is in pass protection.  But that makes sense, since Nebraska had such a high powered rushing attack.  Run blocking plays to his strengths.  He’s much more comfortable pushing his man forward than he is moving backwards.

Some have questioned his work ethic.  There have also been rumors that he’s a little hard-headed and tough to coach.  But the Steelers obviously think that they can get the best out of him, or they wouldn’t have selected him.

Williams is definitely going to need some coaching and development from Sean Kugler.  But he’s a big, mean, guy who plays with an aggressive attitude.  That’s a pretty good thing to acquire with a 6th round pick.

Analysis of all 2011 Steelers Draft picks:

Round 1 – Cameron Heyward

Round 2 – Marcus Gilbert

Round 3 – Curtis Brown

Round 4 – Cortez Allen

Round 5 – Chris Carter

Round 6 – Keith Williams

Round 7 – Baron Batch

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With the 162nd pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Chris Carter, a 6’1″, 248 lb. outside linebacker from Fresno State.

This is an excellent pick by the Steelers.  Like LaMarr Woodley and many other past Steelers outside linbackers,  Chris Carter was a defensive end in college.  But in the Steelers’ 3-4 defense, he is going to be converted to a rush linebacker.

If it had been based only on his production, Carter would have been drafted much earlier than this.  He had a highly productive college career.  He had 5 sacks and 13 tackles for a loss as a junior, and then surpassed that by accumulating 11 sacks and 16.5 tackles for a loss as a senior.  Von Miller, the first linebacker selected in this year’s draft (and the 2nd overall pick) had very similar numbers.  He had 10.5 sacks, and 17.5 tackles for a loss.  Those are almost identical numbers.  To further illustrate the point, Akeem Ayers, the second linebacker drafted in this year’s draft had 4 sacks, and 10 tackles for a loss.  Bruce Carter, the third linebacker drafted had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss.

So since Carter’s statistics were as good or better than the aforementioned linebackers, why did they all go in the 1st or 2nd rounds, while Carter lasted until the 5th round?  The answer is simple.  Carter is only 6’1″ tall.  Most teams view that as being too short for a linebacker in the NFL.  Fortunately, the Steelers have a guy named James Harrison who happens to be 6’0″.  As far as I can tell, that hasn’t hurt Harrison very much.

I’m not saying that Chris Carter is going to be the next James Harrison.  I’m merely saying that he is being penalized too severely for his height.

Carter was really a one trick pony in college.  But that trick is a very good trick.  He specialized in getting to the quarterback.  He reminds me a lot of Jason Worilds when he came out of college.  Both are very fast rushers, and their picks make it clear that defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau wants to put pressure on the quarterback.

Carter has great explosion off the line.  He’s a strong, muscular player, and he tackles well.    However, because he played defensive end in college, he’s going to have to learn a lot of new skills.  He’s used to playing with a hand on the ground.  He’ll have to change that.  He also has no experience dropping into coverage.  That’s always a difficult adjustment for players who aren’t used to doing it.  Both James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley struggled with dropping into coverage initially, but they’ve both become very effective at it.

He did tend to rely too much on his fantastic speed in college, and so he didn’t develop a full array of moves.  He’s going to need to develop those if he wants to beat NFL offensive tackles.  He’s also going to have to improve his run stopping capabilities.

While Carter’s height clearly hurt him, I believe that the Steelers probably played more attention to what he showed on film.  For example, he absolutely abused Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi (a first round pick in this year’s draft) when Fresno State played Wisconsin in 2009.   In addition to his very productive college career, he had a great performance at the East-West Shrine Game.  He also ran a 1.59 10-yard split at the NFL Scouting Combine.  I usually don’t pay much attention to workout performances at the Combine, but in this case, it does indicate that he has the potential to get to the quarterback pretty quickly.

Chris Carter is a relentless player whose motor never stops.  He will do whatever is necessary to get to the quarterback.  He’s also a great character guy.

Overall, Chris Carter is unlikely to get any playing time this year at linebacker.  His contribution (if he makes any) is going to be on special teams.  But based on what he does on special teams, he can earn an opportunity to show the Steelers what he can do at linebacker.  That worked out pretty well for guys like James Harrison, Keyaron Fox, and Stevenson Sylvester who all worked themselves into the linebacker rotation after first distinguishing themselves on special teams.

Analysis of all 2011 Steelers Draft picks:

Round 1 – Cameron Heyward

Round 2 – Marcus Gilbert

Round 3 – Curtis Brown

Round 4 – Cortez Allen

Round 5 – Chris Carter

Round 6 – Keith Williams

Round 7 – Baron Batch

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With the 128th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Cortez Allen, a 6’1″, 197 lb. cornerback from The Citadel.

Cortez Allen has to be considered a project for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  He played at a smaller program, and doesn’t have the experience of playing against top-tier talent like players from more prestigious football programs do.  However, there are a few things about Allen that stand out.

The first thing that stands out to me is that Allen attended The Citadel, a military school.  In my opinion, that immediately eliminates any doubt as to whether he’s going to be disciplined, or if he’s going to work hard.  You don’t graduate from the Citadel without lots of hard work and discipline.

The second thing that stands out is the fact that he was team captain.  It’s always an honor to be named a captain for any football program.  But receiving such an honor at a military academy speaks volumes about what Allen’s coaches and teammates thought about him.

As we have come to expect with Pittsburgh Steelers’ draft picks, Allen has good character.  He’ll fit in well with the Steelers, and his work ethic should endear him to Steeler Nation.

It’s telling that the Steelers took a 6’0″ cornerback in the 3rd round, and then followed that pick up with the 6’1″ Allen in the 4th round.  They obviously think that the team needs more big guys who can cover the taller receivers that are becoming so common in the NFL.  The 5’9″ cornerbacks who used to be prominent are now at a distinct disadvantage against receivers like Calvin Johnson or incoming rookie A.J. Green.

In addition to his height, Allen is a good athlete.  He’d not a track star, but he has both speed and quickness.  Moreover, he recorded the best broad jump of any of the cornerbacks at the NFL Scouting Combine.  Not bad for a kid from a small school.

Allen has good coverage skills.  He played primarily in man coverage, and he lacks experience in zone.  The Steelers play a lot of zone coverage, so he’ll have to be coached in that area.  But he has good football smarts, and he should pick up zone coverage pretty quickly.

Allen did tear his ACL in 2007 and had to be redshirted his freshman year.  But he’s shown no lasting effects from  the injury, and it shouldn’t be a concern.

Steelers’ defensive backs coach Carnell Lake commented that players who attend The Citadel don’t have the opportunity to work on their game like players who go to more traditional football schools.  He acknowledges that Allen is raw, and has not had the opportunity to fully master his craft.  However, he loves Allen’s size and athleticism, and is excited about what Allen can become once he has the opportunity to place his full focus on football.

Cortez Allen is not likely to contribute this year.  However, his size and athleticism made him worth drafting and developing for the future.

Analysis of all 2011 Steelers Draft picks:

Round 1 – Cameron Heyward

Round 2 – Marcus Gilbert

Round 3 – Curtis Brown

Round 4 – Cortez Allen

Round 5 – Chris Carter

Round 6 – Keith Williams

Round 7 – Baron Batch

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With the 95th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Curtis Brown, a 6’0″, 185 lb. cornerback from Texas.

I hate to brag, but I actually called this pick.  If you click on the link below and read my comment dated April 23rd, you’ll see that I said that I wanted the Steelers to take Curtis Brown in the 3rd round of the draft.  Click the link to read my exact comment.

http://steelerstoday.com/?p=8495#comments

Okay, now that I’m done bragging, let’s evaluate this pick.

First of all, I like this pick.  It meets an important team need, and Brown is a very good player.

Curtis Brown is undoubtedly one of the top 10 cornerbacks in this year’s draft class.  Some scouts even had him rated higher than Aaron Williams, his teammate at Texas.

Everyone knows that the Steelers were interested in Aaron Williams.  Brown and Williams are approximately the same height, but Williams weighs almost 20 lbs more than Brown.  But Brown is actually a better athlete than Williams.  Brown is faster, closes on the ball better in coverage, and recorded the highest vertical jump (39.5 inches) of any cornerback in this year’s draft at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Brown is good in both man and zone coverage.  He has quick feet, and changes directions well.  He has the speed to run with most receivers.  Moreover, his 6’0″ height and his 39.5 inch vertical leap allows him to challenge tall receivers as well.  His athletic ability allows him to be extremely confident in his coverage abilities.

Brown played wide receiver in high school, so he understands the receiver position.  This helps him when he’s defending wide receivers.  He stays close to his man, and seldom bites on double moves.  is as good at starting and stopping as any cornerback in this year’s draft.

He tended to play a bit far off his man at the line of scrimmage, but that’s actually how Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau tends to have his cornerbacks play the position (as opposed to playing them close at the line of scrimmage and jamming them on the snap), so that shouldn’t prove to be a problem.

Most importantly, Brown is a willing participant in run support.  That’s mandatory if he ever hopes to get on the field for the Steelers.  Brown is an aggressive tackler, and he’s willing to throw his body around.  Unfortunately, his small frame (185 lbs.) prevents him from being a punishing tackler.  He uses cut tackles to offset his lack of bulk.  It would probably be fair to categorize him as “aggressive”, but not “physical”.

Besides his lack of bulk, Brown is also going to have to improve his backpedal.  He has good closing speed, and mirror’s receivers well, but his backpedal isn’t fundamentally sound.  Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake is going to have to work with him on that.

Brown was also used as a punt returner at Texas.  This may help him to get on the field as a rookie, since few rookie defenders ever break into the starting lineup in Dick LeBeau’s defense.

Overall, there really isn’t much to dislike about Curtis Brown.  People who want to nitpick his game will probably point out that he only had 2 career interceptions at Texas.  But he showed great hands at the NFL Scouting Combine, and I don’t think this is a concern for most teams that scouted him.  I see Brown as a future #2 cornerback.  He probably doesn’t have the pure physical talents of an Ike Taylor, but he’s probably better than Bryant McFadden or William Gay right now.   He merely has to learn the Steelers’ defense, which should take him at least a year to master.

Analysis of all 2011 Steelers Draft picks:

Round 1 – Cameron Heyward

Round 2 – Marcus Gilbert

Round 3 – Curtis Brown

Round 4 – Cortez Allen

Round 5 – Chris Carter

Round 6 – Keith Williams

Round 7 – Baron Batch

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