Mel Kiper Jr. Has High Praise For Steelers' Draft
PITTSBURGH (93-7 The FAN) - With the 2014 NFL Draft in the books, every expert is weighing in with their opinion on how each team did. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., one of the more respected draft analysts out there, also gave his thoughts on the draft and had high praise for the Steelers.
As Scott Brown of ESPN.com writes, Kiper only gave five teams an "A" grade, and the Steelers were one of them coming in with an "A-." Despite the draft not going as many predicted with the Steelers not selecting a cornerback until the fifth round, Kiper liked the top picks of linebacker Ryan Shazier and defensive end Stephon Tuitt.
The reason for the "A-" would appear to be the Steelers not selecting a cornerback as Kiper suggests they could have done more for that position, but did everything else correct.
Even the late pick of cornerback makes sense when you dig a little deeper and see the relationship between cornerback coach Carnell Lake and the 157th selection of Shaquille Richardson. Lake helped recruit the speedy cornerback to UCLA when he was a coach there and has intimate knowledge of his strengths and weaknesses as outlined here.
Stay tuned to 93-7 The FAN for analysis of the 2014 Steelers draft class.
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