2024 Hindsight Draft

[tbsteel]

Okay guys, given the magical power of hindsight, who would you have drafted in the spots the Steelers drafted this past weekend? My choices:

1.20: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
2.51: Zach Frazier, C, West Virginia
3.84: Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
3.98: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech
4.119: Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville
6.178: Travis Glover, T, Georgia State
6.195: Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa

I loved our draft, but my main worry is Fautanu. I just don't see any LTs that are as... busy as he is. And I don't know if that's a good thing. Maybe he's an outlier, but part of me thinks he's a over-aged tweener who rightly was falling and may not work in the NFL.

Links for past years:

2023: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21648 - Not too bad. Nolan Smith looks like a whiff based on year one, but I loved Sam LaPorta and he looks like a top 5 TE in the NFL, and Dawand Jones looks like a real find at RT as long as he doesn't eat himself out of the league.

2022: Can't find? Maybe forgot to do it that year. If anyone finds it lemme know. I'm pretty sure Pickett would not have been the pick though lol.

2021: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19216 - Not good. I actually stood by drafting Najee at the time (which is funny in hindsight as I'm a certifiable hater), but overall he's been a fine first rounder I suppose. A big year this year would help. The rest though? Oh man, not good. I mean, at least these guys are still in the league? Otherwise,none of them are playing.

2020: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17707 - Much better this year. Jeremy Chinn at least has flashed. Kevin Dotson was the one Steelers player who I kept and he has been a stud. James Robinson in the seventh would've been a home run pick.

Edit from 8/12/24: I just want to say, I LOVED Graham Barton before the draft and was hoping he'd be our next center the next decade +. Probably got a little cute here pushing the WR and sticking with Frazier. I also loved the idea of Jermaine Burton as a mid round WR if not going WR early, but we'll see how it goes.

[bradshaw2ben]

I love Troy Fautanu as a fit for this offense... at LT. With a current RT who apparently can only be fulfilled by playing LT, I would have swung for the outside WR as wel. I chose Lautu over Khristian Boyd or Phildarius Payne because Lautu is more the Logan Lee/5-tech type they think they need:

1.20: WR Brian Thomas Jr., LSU
2.51: CB Renardo Green, Florida State
3.84: LB Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
3.98: OT Giovanni Manu, British Columbia
4.119: C/G Mason McCormick, South Dakota State
6.178: OL Travis Glover, Georgia State
6.195: DT Jonah Laulu, Oklahoma

[Mick]

Looking back, my hindsight draft last year was pretty boring. ‘Pretty much what the steelers did’. I’m okay with having taken Christian Barmore over Najee in 2021.

1.20 Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Toledo
2.51 Patrick Paul, OT, Houston
3.84 Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon
3.98 Payton Wilson, LB, NC St
4.119 Mason McCormick, OG, SDS
6.178 Malik Washington, WR, Virginia
6.195 Bryan Hudson, OC, Louisville

[zeke5123]

Okay guys, given the magical power of hindsight, who would you have drafted in the spots the Steelers drafted this past weekend? My choices:

1.20: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
2.51: Zach Frazier, C, West Virginia
3.84: Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
3.98: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech
4.119: Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville
6.178: Travis Glover, T, Georgia State
6.195: Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa

I loved our draft, but my main worry is Fautanu. I just don't see any LTs that are as... busy as he is. And I don't know if that's a good thing. Maybe he's an outlier, but part of me thinks he's a over-aged tweener who rightly was falling and may not work in the NFL.

Links for past years:

2023: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21648 - Not too bad. Nolan Smith looks like a whiff based on year one, but I loved Sam LaPorta and he looks like a top 5 TE in the NFL, and Dawand Jones looks like a real find at RT as long as he doesn't eat himself out of the league.

2022: Can't find? Maybe forgot to do it that year. If anyone finds it lemme know. I'm pretty sure Pickett would not have been the pick though lol.

2021: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19216 - Not good. I actually stood by drafting Najee at the time (which is funny in hindsight as I'm a certifiable hater), but overall he's been a fine first rounder I suppose. A big year this year would help. The rest though? Oh man, not good. I mean, at least these guys are still in the league? Otherwise,none of them are playing.

2020: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17707 - Much better this year. Jeremy Chinn at least has flashed. Kevin Dotson was the one Steelers player who I kept and he has been a stud. James Robinson in the seventh would've been a home run pick.

I said it then night Najee was drafted—a RB in the first needs to be a top five back in the NFL to justify a first round pick. Najee isn’t even the best running back on his team.

[Deebo]

Okay guys, given the magical power of hindsight, who would you have drafted in the spots the Steelers drafted this past weekend? My choices:

1.20: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
2.51: Zach Frazier, C, West Virginia
3.84: Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
3.98: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech
4.119: Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville
6.178: Travis Glover, T, Georgia State
6.195: Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa

I loved our draft, but my main worry is Fautanu. I just don't see any LTs that are as... busy as he is. And I don't know if that's a good thing. Maybe he's an outlier, but part of me thinks he's a over-aged tweener who rightly was falling and may not work in the NFL.

Links for past years:

2023: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21648 - Not too bad. Nolan Smith looks like a whiff based on year one, but I loved Sam LaPorta and he looks like a top 5 TE in the NFL, and Dawand Jones looks like a real find at RT as long as he doesn't eat himself out of the league.

2022: Can't find? Maybe forgot to do it that year. If anyone finds it lemme know. I'm pretty sure Pickett would not have been the pick though lol.

2021: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19216 - Not good. I actually stood by drafting Najee at the time (which is funny in hindsight as I'm a certifiable hater), but overall he's been a fine first rounder I suppose. A big year this year would help. The rest though? Oh man, not good. I mean, at least these guys are still in the league? Otherwise,none of them are playing.

2020: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17707 - Much better this year. Jeremy Chinn at least has flashed. Kevin Dotson was the one Steelers player who I kept and he has been a stud. James Robinson in the seventh would've been a home run pick.

I said it then night Najee was drafted—a RB in the first needs to be a top five back in the NFL to justify a first round pick. Najee isn’t even the best running back on his team.

Yup- he's not generational in any respect. Misuse of draft capital.

[Steel Ubaldo]

Okay guys, given the magical power of hindsight, who would you have drafted in the spots the Steelers drafted this past weekend? My choices:

1.20: Brian Thomas Jr., WR, LSU
2.51: Zach Frazier, C, West Virginia
3.84: Payton Wilson, LB, NC State
3.98: Dadrion Taylor-Demerson, S, Texas Tech
4.119: Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville
6.178: Travis Glover, T, Georgia State
6.195: Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa

I loved our draft, but my main worry is Fautanu. I just don't see any LTs that are as... busy as he is. And I don't know if that's a good thing. Maybe he's an outlier, but part of me thinks he's a over-aged tweener who rightly was falling and may not work in the NFL.

Links for past years:

2023: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21648 - Not too bad. Nolan Smith looks like a whiff based on year one, but I loved Sam LaPorta and he looks like a top 5 TE in the NFL, and Dawand Jones looks like a real find at RT as long as he doesn't eat himself out of the league.

2022: Can't find? Maybe forgot to do it that year. If anyone finds it lemme know. I'm pretty sure Pickett would not have been the pick though lol.

2021: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=19216 - Not good. I actually stood by drafting Najee at the time (which is funny in hindsight as I'm a certifiable hater), but overall he's been a fine first rounder I suppose. A big year this year would help. The rest though? Oh man, not good. I mean, at least these guys are still in the league? Otherwise,none of them are playing.

2020: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=17707 - Much better this year. Jeremy Chinn at least has flashed. Kevin Dotson was the one Steelers player who I kept and he has been a stud. James Robinson in the seventh would've been a home run pick.

I said it then night Najee was drafted—a RB in the first needs to be a top five back in the NFL to justify a first round pick. Najee isn’t even the best running back on his team.

I completely agree on Najee. I said it at the time that it was a mistake to draft him and my opinion was certainly in the minority. I didn’t want to be right.

Nevertheless, this draft played out quite well for the Steelers. I really can’t complain much about it…hell even Kiper loved it… which is probably the only bad thing about it right now.

[Steelafan77]

1. 20 Quinyon Mitchell CB 6’0 195 Toledo
2. 51 Blake Fisher RT 6’6 310 Notre Dame
3. 84 Payton Wilson ILB 6’4 238 N.C. State
3. 98 Luke McCaffrey WR 6’2 198 Rice
4. 119 Mason McCormick LG 6’4 309 South Dakota State
6. 178 Jaden Crumedy DT 6’4 304 Mississippi State
6. 195 Beaux Limmer OC 6’5 305 Arkansas

[Scunge]

I understand the premise of a hindsight draft but to me it doesn't make much sense.

If you take a Brian Thomas JR at WR in round 1 (20), doesn't that make the whole complexion of the draft change moving after??

Do we really see Zach Frazier still there at 51? Or Roman Wilson at 84? Or Payton Wilson at 98?? Or McCormick at 119??

Nah, the dominos end up falling differently. We take Thomas Jr at 20 and Jax takes somebody different, and then the teams after probably have their picks deviate some too.

Okay, okay, I will play but mine is different in what we do before the draft. We don't trade Dionate Johnson, so we have a WR crew of Pickens, DJ and Roman Wilson and instead of picking McCormick at 119 I take TJ Tampa to play CB opposite of Joey Porter JR and then I package some 2025 picks to move up into round 5 to get my slot CB, either Kris Abrams-Draine or Jarvis Brownlee.

So, my hindsight draft covers all the bases, all the needs. We still have a #2 WR in DJ, have a #3 slot in Roman Wilson, found a starter opposite of Porter in TJ Tampa and also found a slot in Draine or Brownlee.

But as it is we have no slot CB, we have no true #2 WR.

Maybe Khan can resign Cam Sutton and find a #2 WR to trade for but it looks daunting. If you go and look at WRs that are going to be free agents in 2025, the list isn't very good. One would think that there are teams that have WRs entering the last year of their contract, that they know they won't resign and maybe they would like to move on from them, do a trade. But the 2021 WR draft class was top heavy, those guys are going nowhere in trade and some of the gems in later rounds are going nowhere either, Nico Collins, etc.

This was a misstep by Khan, in my opinion, getting rid of Dionate Johnson was not a good move, he was a very good #2 WR, would have made this offense better this year with him than without him.

[LakecrestSteeler]

I can’t get over that most Furians still pick Payton Wilson!

He must be the second coming of Lambert!

Good sign I hope. Thought he would have dropped off the hindsight view because of medical concerns.

[Who Dee Knee]

I think Omar has some tricks up his sleeve. I expect a WR and slot corner still to be added.

[jebrick]

I can’t get over that most Furians still pick Payton Wilson!

He must be the second coming of Lambert!

Good sign I hope. Thought he would have dropped off the hindsight view because of medical concerns.

Medical concerns and age but unanimous All-American. He also earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and the Butkus (nation’s top linebacker) and Bednarik (nation’s top defensive player) awards. I would take a risk on him at that point. He maybe the 2nd coming of Shazier without the helmet first tackling issues.

[Mick]

I understand the premise of a hindsight draft but to me it doesn't make much sense.

If you take a Brian Thomas JR at WR in round 1 (20), doesn't that make the whole complexion of the draft change moving after??

Do we really see Zach Frazier still there at 51? Or Roman Wilson at 84? Or Payton Wilson at 98?? Or McCormick at 119??

Nah, the dominos end up falling differently. We take Thomas Jr at 20 and Jax takes somebody different, and then the teams after probably have their picks deviate some too.

Okay, okay, I will play but mine is different in what we do before the draft. We don't trade Dionate Johnson, so we have a WR crew of Pickens, DJ and Roman Wilson and instead of picking McCormick at 119 I take TJ Tampa to play CB opposite of Joey Porter JR and then I package some 2025 picks to move up into round 5 to get my slot CB, either Kris Abrams-Draine or Jarvis Brownlee.

So, my hindsight draft covers all the bases, all the needs. We still have a #2 WR in DJ, have a #3 slot in Roman Wilson, found a starter opposite of Porter in TJ Tampa and also found a slot in Draine or Brownlee.

But as it is we have no slot CB, we have no true #2 WR.

Maybe Khan can resign Cam Sutton and find a #2 WR to trade for but it looks daunting. If you go and look at WRs that are going to be free agents in 2025, the list isn't very good. One would think that there are teams that have WRs entering the last year of their contract, that they know they won't resign and maybe they would like to move on from them, do a trade. But the 2021 WR draft class was top heavy, those guys are going nowhere in trade and some of the gems in later rounds are going nowhere either, Nico Collins, etc.

This was a misstep by Khan, in my opinion, getting rid of Dionate Johnson was not a good move, he was a very good #2 WR, would have made this offense better this year with him than without him.

it’s certainly possible that if we had taken someone different early, the board would have looked differently later. That said, we know who was on the board for our first, and i doubt that us leaving an extra top oline player on the board in the first somehow leaves us with a worse board for oline in the 2nd round.

I will say that it’s a big advantage to us hindsighters to know who is going to be available later; if we have some players about equally ranked at a key position, knowing one of them will still be there the next round lets you go with a different position you know is about to dry up.

That said, this year at least my version corresponds to what i think i would have done in the limited information scenario: while i wouldn’t have expected Payton Wilson to still be there at 98, i would have been targeting My Guy Cedric Gray there, with Tyrice Knight as backup plan. I wouldn’t have expected Troy Franklin at 84, but certainly expected there would still be strong options. Etc.

[lifelongsteel]

So, we're taking the Steelers draft, which had the highest average grade of any team, and looking to replace most of the picks with better ones?

It's good content for sure, but you have to admit that it's a little funny.

[bradshaw2ben]

Think about how bad the draft grade would have been for the Steelers' 1974 Draft and then see why the grades the draft received have little to do with attempting to come up with different options.

Even if you largely liked the Steelers draft, as I did, the strategy of passing WR at 20 and 51 is a huge problem to overcome if they can't sign a DJ Chark or make a very expensive trade for better. Probably a bigger problem than dealing with a lesser OT than Fautanu or lesser OC than Frazier.

[bradshaw2ben]

Think about how bad the draft grade would have been for the Steelers' 1974 Draft and then see why the grades the draft received have little to do with attempting to come up with different options.

Even if you largely liked the Steelers draft, as I did, the strategy of passing WR at 20 and 51 is a huge problem to overcome if they can't sign a DJ Chark or make a very expensive trade for better. Probably a bigger problem than dealing with a lesser OT than Fautanu or lesser OC than Frazier.

Like:

Barton
Corley
Manu

or

Fautanu
Mitchell
Nourzad

or

BTJ
Frazier
Baker