The Steelers and The Draft

Have you all been anxiously awaiting to hear what The Grandstander has to say about how the Steelers "did in the draft", including instant assessments and letter grades for each of the players selected?  Well, if that's the case, you're crazy, because I know as much about that as all the others who have been offering such expert analysis, which is to say, I don't know nothin'.

I've told this story before, but way back when, my dad ran into Steelers player Ben Magee, one of the few good players that the Steelers had back in the pre-Chuck Noll days (you have to be pushing age seventy to remember him), at some lunch counter in downtown Pittsburgh.  It was right about the time of the draft and Frank asked him "Ben, whaddya think of the guys they drafted?"  Magee looks at him and says "Won't know nothin' about them 'til you get them in camp."  It's a story I've always remembered and it always causes me to temper enthusiasm over anybody that any team drafts until they actually play against real life NFL football players.

That said, I always prefer to be optimistic on Draft Day, and just looking at film clips of Notre Dame's Chase Claypool certainly makes you imagine great things for him and the Steelers in the years ahead.  He's big, 6-4, 240, and fast, and he certainly could - COULD - become a major force with which to be reckoned in the NFL.  Looking at the clips made you think of a monster wide out like Michael Irvin or Calvin Johnson.  If he turns out like that, great.  He could also be the second coming of Limas Sweed, but, like I say, on Draft Day, let's all be optimistic.

In this 2020 Draft, what Steelers Fans will forever refer to as the "Chase Claypool Draft", the Steelers took six players.  A wide receiver, a linebacker, a running back, a guard, a safety, and a defensive tackle.  All positions of need for the team.  If a couple of them become pro bowl caliber players, that would be fantastic. If three or four of them become solid starters over a six to eight year time period, I am sure that Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert will consider that the Steelers "did good in the draft", but that is a question that will take years to answer.

Future Steelers Hall of Famer?