We represented the Pittsburgh Steelers in Bloguin’s 2011 Mock NFL Draft. If you follow me on Twitter at all, you know that before the draft even began I was dead set on choosing a CB. With the league’s rules making passing offense the dominant facet of the game more and more every season, I now consider cornerback to be the most important position outside of quarterback, especially for the Steelers.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen the Steelers defense victimized through the air time and time again. Tom Brady and the Pats laid out a blueprint in the early 2000s that still works against Pittsburgh’s stellar defense and it is similar to what the Packers did against the Steelers in last season’s Super Bowl. The offensive line, despite having numerous backups in, played good enough for the Steelers to be world champions. So did the defensive line. What cost the Steelers at least one ring in recent years was the lack of cornerbacks who can play man-to-man coverage in big time situations.
With that in mind, I chose Texas defensive back Aaron Williams with the 31st pick of the 2011 Bloguin Mock NFL Draft.
Williams has been linked to the Steelers in numerous mock drafts and is widely viewed as the 3rd to 5th best cornerback prospect depending on who you ask. Interestingly enough, Ed Bouchette just penned a column last weekend that Williams is a terrible fit for the Steelers and not the player they need.
Admittedly, I haven’t watched extensive video footage or interviewed his college coaches, but I disagree. The big knock on Williams seems to be his speed – 4.56 in the 40 yard dash. Putting up a sexy time in the 40 yard dash makes scouts drool, but it doesn’t make a football player. The majority of scouts will say that Williams has great coverage skills and he loves to tackle. He’s also a great blitzer.
His “poor” 40 time and above-average size have a lot of people penciling Williams in as a safety in a few years. While Bouchette and others look at this as a big time red flag, I disagree. Safety is another area of need for the Steelers, especially a few years down the road. If Williams settles in to safety after a couple of seasons I would be totally fine with that. Bouchette also writes about how much of a gamble cornerbacks are in the first round, as if drafting one in a later round is a surer thing. Any pick is a gamble.
The Steelers could wait until a later round to draft a cornerback and that might be the wisest thing to do if they don’t really like Williams or the other secondary prospects who will be on the board at 1.31. But I tend to think that Williams is a more likely to bring an impact to the team’s biggest position of need than another cornerback will be in round three or four. I’m fine with the Steelers drafting more than one cornerback, even.
If I’m Kevin Colbert or Mike Tomlin, I’d be more than happy to call Aaron Williams name in round one on draft day.
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