The Steelers made their 2016 draft class official on Friday by signing their third round pick to a four-year contract.
The Steelers selected defensive tackle Javon Hargrave out of South Carolina State in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Hargrave comes from a small school but was a huge standout and basically dominated every game of his senior year finishing with 59 tackles and 13.5 sacks in 11 games.
The Steelers have made a habit lately of going with not necessarily questionable picks in the third round but definitely debatable going back to the Dri Archer pick in the third round in 2014.
With the departures of Steve McLendon and Cam Thomas to free agency the Steelers were thin on the defensive line for depth behind Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt.
The talk so far is that Hargrave could give competition to defensive tackle Daniel McCullers, who has seen limited play time since he was drafted last year.
The defensive line benefits in the event these two are in a competition and if they both succeed. Last season the pass rush got a boost from the defensive line in Keith Butler’s scheme as his first year as defensive coordinator. As a result Heyward and Tuitt had standout years and only look to improve with the help Hargrave and McCullers can provide.
Teresa Varley has Hargrave’s comments about his eagerness to contribute to the team.
"“Nobody is coming here to just sit around. Of course I am coming here to learn quickly and be out there with those guys and contribute. All my life that is all I did. In high school I played both ways. I played all snaps. Coming from South Carolina State, they didn’t take me off the field. I was an every down player.” – Javon Hargrave"
Hargrave also admitted that he grew up a Steelers fan and felt like it was a dream come true to be drafted by Pittsburgh. With his signing the entire 2016 Steelers draft class is now under contract.
Next: Steelers sign Artie Burns
The Steelers just wrapped OTAs on Thursday and will have mandatory minicamp from June 14-16 before they’re off for the summer. They’ll report to training camp in Latrobe on July 28th.