Steelers Draft Grades & Round 2 NBA Playoff X-factors!
Chapter 46 (What happened to Shadeur over the draft weekend was nasty, and I hope he proves the NFL wrong)
What’s going on guys, welcome back to the YourFavoriteCasual newsletter! I hope you’re ready because I have some really fun topics for you guys today! With the NFL Draft and the first round of the NBA playoffs in the rearview, I’m going to give my initial thoughts on the Pittsburgh Steelers draft class and give you guys my top X-Factors for each team remaining in the NBA playoffs. With that out the way, let’s get right into it!
Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Grades:
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve revisited the Pittsburgh Steelers on this blog, but when you give up 300 rushing yards and find yourself down 21-0 at halftime of the first round of the NFL playoffs, that’s hard to forget (and hard to write about as a fan).
Fortunately, I’m not the only one who didn’t forget the message that was sent by the Baltimore Ravens last year in the playoffs, and it seems the Steelers got the message loud and clear with how they decided to attack the NFL draft, so let’s get into it.
*Click the player names to see their college football season highlights*
Round 1 (pick 21): Derrick Harmon || DT || Oregon || 6’4 || 311lbs
I love this pick. Aside from quarterback the Steelers biggest need was arguably along the defensive line. With some aging pieces and a lack of depth in the interior throughout the season, I think the Steelers took the best defensive lineman available and added a legit steppingstone on the path towards rebuilding the interior of the defensive line (it doesn’t hurt to be immediately mentored by future Hall of Famer Cam Heyward either).
Grade: A-
Round 3 (pick 83): Kaleb Johnson || RB || Iowa || 6’1 || 225lbs
Pittsburgh didn’t have a second round pick because of their offseason trade to acquire Pro-Bowl WR D.K. Metcalf (a big time move for a team without a QB lol), but the Steelers followed up with another strong selection in round 3. After losing Najee Harris to free agency the Steelers had a hole at running back to fill and they took advantage of a deep running back class by waiting patiently for the right guy to fall into their lap.
Johnson and Harris have almost identical frames (height & weight), but they are completely different runners with the football. Johnson is extremely fluid for his size and should fit nicely into the Steelers zone run scheme, which emphasizes finding the right gaps to attack. He combines this fluidity with breakaway speed that allows him to break off runs for big gains, which is something Najee unfortunately struggled with in his time as a Steeler. I think this pick has the potential to be a home run, and I love the thought process here.
Grade: A
Round 4 (pick 123): Jack Sawyer || OLB || Ohio State || 6’4 || 260lbs
I can understand what the Steelers are trying to do here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Sawyer had a great college career at Ohio State and managed to lead the Defense as a captain and 5th year senior to a national championship. I can understand why the front office felt strongly about a player with his character and intensity, I just don’t trust his tools to become a consistent pass rusher, and he doesn’t project as a player that can move to inside linebacker either.
I believe the plan for Sawyer to contribute to the defense will be to set the edges for the run defense on early downs while letting our more talented pass rushers get rest between plays, but if he cannot do this at the next level, he’ll quickly become limited as a career special teams guy. That’s not exactly a bad thing, but I just felt there was more value in other places at this selection, and an opportunity to wait another round or two to take a guy like Sawyer.
Grade: D
Round 5 (pick 164): Yahya Black || DT || Iowa || 6’5 || 317lbs
I’ve seen a lot of varying opinions on this pick, but I can only respect the Steelers’ intentionality in rebuilding their interior on defense in this year’s draft.
Black is a large presence at the line of scrimmage, and I think he immediately becomes a nice complement to the undersized Keanu Benton, who has had a good start to his career, but he is significantly better at pass rushing from the inside than protecting the run. Black will be able to contribute immediately as an early down run stuffer with the opportunity to develop his pass rushing tools to become a more complete player, but this late in the draft, it’s a strong selection in my opinion.
Grade: B-
Round 6 (pick 185): Will Howard || QB || Ohio State || 6’4 || 236lbs
There’s a lot to like about this pick. Howard was one of the more underrated QBs during this draft process, as a lot of Howard’s success this season during his national championship run was attributed to the overwhelming talent of the team and much less to Howard’s efforts.
However, for the Steelers, Howard has all the tools to project as a long-term backup at the position (which does provide some sense of stability) and with his strong arm and sometimes overlooked rushing ability as a bigger athlete, he does have to potential to become something much better for Pittsburgh with time. In all, I think he’s a great talent to bet on this late in the draft.
Grade: B
Round 7 (pick 226): Carson Bruener || ILB || Washington || 6’2 || 227lbs
I don’t know much about Bruener, but I do know that inside linebacker is a position group the Steelers invested heavily in last year. Aside from him simply being a depth piece for this roster, I wouldn’t expect to see him on the field much outside of special-teams duties.
Grade: C-
Round 7 (pick 236): Donte Kent || CB || Central Michigan University || 5’11 || 194lbs
Clearly, adding players with physicality, size, and strength was the draft plan for the Steelers up until this final pick. I don’t know much about Kent as a prospect but he does fill a newly acquired need at the cornerback position as last year’s 6th round pick for the team Ryan Watts officially medically retired from the NFL after missing his entire rookie season with a neck injury.
Grade: C
Playoff X-Factors:
Now let’s dive back into the NBA playoff race. With round 2 on the horizon, let’s review one player on each remaining team that has the power to swing multiple games in their team’s favor as we get deeper into the playoffs.
For this exercise, I tried to keep the candidates exclusively off the bench, but for one team, that just wasn’t an option (I’m looking at you Thibs).
Also, I think I accidentally spoiled my conference finals picks with the image previews, but that’s okay, I wasn’t going to do a predictions segment anyway.
Eastern Conference:
(1) Cleveland Cavaliers: Ty Jerome
If you’ve been following along with this account, you’d know that I gave Ty Jerome the sixth man of the year award on my ballot for his efforts this season. Not only does Jerome have the full ability to impact how far the Cavs can go in the playoffs as their primary offensive engine off the bench, but Jerome has already significantly impacted two of their four first round games against the Miami Heat including sparking his own 24 point run (where he either scored or assisted on all Cavs baskets) in the 4th quarter of game 1 which became the difference in that game.
Jerome is set to become a free agent once this season is over, and he’s clearly putting himself in position to become paid like the best backup point guard in the NBA, but for now he remains Clevland’s “secret weapon”.
(2) Boston Celtics: Al Horford
Man, oh man, if Lebron James wasn’t already performing the way he is at 40 years old, Al Horford would be getting a lot more love for his stretch of longevity in the NBA. The 38-year-old 17-year NBA vet is entering the playoffs once again, playing some of the best basketball of his career.
The stat sheet will never tell the full story for big Al at this point in his career, but remaining a reliable volume 3 point shooter (38%), an underrated shot blocker, and with a newly found ability to guard players on the perimeter and move his feet better than some players 10+ years younger than him, Horford has become the perfect backup big man for Boston and his on court versatility allows the Celtics to use Horford by himself as the only big or with another big man and take advantage of possible “double big” lineups which have been very successful across the NBA this season (we’ll be talking about this “phenomenon” later).
(3) New York Knicks: Mikal Bridges
Fitting that the only non-bench player on this list belongs to Tom Thibodeau’s New York Knicks. For those that don’t know, Thibs is known across the NBA for relying on his starting 5’s, let’s just say a little too much. Luckily for Thibs, he’s found a starting 5 with the Knicks that is fully prepared to play all 48 minutes of basketball for him every night.
Bridges is only 28 and just two years removed from averaging 26 points per game for the Brooklyn Nets but finds himself scoring only 17 a night this year. This drop off is expected joining a team with Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony Towns, but if the Knicks want to shock the basketball world and beat Boston en route to a Finals run they’ll need the aggressive version of Bridges to give teams key matchup advantages while taking the load off of Brunson and KAT as well.
(4) Indiana Pacers: T.J. McConnell
Pittsburgh, Pa basketball legend T.J. McConnell has somehow made a 10-year career in the NBA as an undersized point guard that can’t shoot 3’s, but he’s truly made a home in Indiana where he’s served as Tyrese Haliburton’s backup for a few years now and this role is absolutely perfect for him.
McConnell has always been an underrated point of attack defender throughout his career (especially in Philadelphia), and offensively, he’s encouraged to keep the pace of the game fast and hectic and to attack the paint off the dribble as much as possible. Surrounding McConnell with shooters and cutters allows him to let loose in his bench minutes and spread the ball to open players when he inevitably forces the defense to collapse trying to thwart his driving abilities. If he’s able to let loose against Cleveland too, watch out for a possible upset in the East and a 2nd consecutive conference finals appearance for Indiana.
Western Conference:
(1) Oklahoma City Thunder: Alex Caruso
The OKC Thunder may be the deepest team in the NBA this season, but the most important piece off the bench for this team is probably for NBA champion Alex Caruso. Caruso has provided key intangibles for this Thunder team on and off the court, and the impact has only heightened once the playoffs began.
Not only has the impact from Caruso increased, but his minutes per game have increased too, as he’s found himself too important to leave off the court in the closing minutes of tight playoff games. Caruso is still one of the best defenders in the NBA, and he slots in perfectly with this Thunder team as another versatile wing that can take on any challenge depending on the opponent. If OKC wants to convince the world that the team isn’t too young to see playoff success and make a real run this year, Caruso will have to be a major piece of that puzzle.
(4) Denver Nuggets: Russell Westbrook
“The Russell Westbrook experience” has been a narrative about his playstyle that has followed Westbrook his entire career and showed out in the Nuggets first-round series win against the LA Clippers. This “experience” truly is unquantifiable, but there’s a reason Westbrook is currently long past his prime and still one of the most watched, beloved, scrutinized, and questioned players in the NBA. If you’re still confused, Westbrook tries his best to explain this phenomenon in his game 7 presser from this weekend, but it really is something you have to watch play out during a game with the effort he puts in on every single play.
Regardless of how you feel about Westbrook at this point in his career, though, it’s now clear that if the Nuggets want to pull the impossible and beat the 68-win Thunder in round 2, they’ll need all the Westbrook they can get (good and bad). The chaos he causes on the court alone might be enough to make the Thunder uncomfortable and no one has described Westbrook’s role in Denver better than himself after he said last week “My job is to simply come in and F*** S*** Up” and if Denver wants to go back to the NBA Finals it seems they’re going to need Westbrook to continue doing his job at a high level to make it happen.
(6) Minnesota Timberwolves: Naz Reid
It’s no surprise that Minnesota fan favorite Reid finds himself as the choice here. At 7-feet tall, Reid’s versatility on offense and defense allows him to serve as a stretch big man or an oversized forward, as he allows the Timberwolves to get away with different types of lineups depending on what their opponent shows.
Reid can shoot the 3 with consistency, dribble the ball and create his own shot to take advantage of mismatches (shooting over small defenders and driving past bigger ones), and he’s able to defend the paint and perimeter with his size and athleticism, but the most impressive part of Reid’s game this playoff has been his clutch gene. Through the first 4 games of round 1, Reid accounted for 26 4th quarter points while only missing one shot total (9-10) and making all of his 3-point attempts (6-6). I’m not sure Reid will be able to keep this pace up for the rest of the postseason, but Minnesota will need him to try because the threats he presents for opposing teams when he’s playing well are something that not many teams are equipped to stop.
(7) Golden State Warriors: Brandin Podziemski
The Warriors are constantly looking for scoring help outside of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler, and one player who’s found the confidence to step up is Podziemski, or Podz for short. He’s been inconsistent in providing scoring punch in his short career and even in this postseason, but during the games where he is shooting the ball well, the Warriors can feel unstoppable.
Podz has found himself as a key member of this year’s iteration of the Golden State Warriors, who are on a mission to get Curry his 5th career championship. If they intend to succeed in this endeavor, they’re going to need much more consistency from Podz, especially as they’re opponents moving forward are going to be much better offensively than their round 1 opponents, the Houston Rockets.
Outro:
And that’s it. Thank you all so much for the continued support, especially if you consistently make it to this paragraph right here, I really do appreciate it. I don’t have anything else for you guys this week, just make sure to continue to tune into the NBA playoffs (you already know I will).
Let me know in the comment section below if you disagree with any of my draft grades or have any other X-factors remaining in the playoffs that need to be identified, but with that, I’ll leave y’all to it. Thank you again, and as always, stay safe, and until next time…
-YourFavoriteCasual