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Steelers 2015 Draft: Don’t Expect Trading Up

By Craig Gottschalk

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The Steelers have their work cut out for them in this year’s NFL draft.

The debate about the team selecting a cornerback or outside (‘EDGE’) pass rusher rages on and on.

Our friends over at Behind The Steel Curtain wrote in interesting piece on Friday as to why the Steelers should trade up in the draft from 22nd to an undisclosed higher selection – my guess would be at least 15th or better.

While the argument was compelling, I would have to disagree.

Believe it or not, the Steelers have it pretty good for the first round. The debate surrounds Winston vs. Mariota. The defensive linemen are strong this year, and a few teams will look for that and some top offensive firepower.

At 22nd the Steelers should… should… have their run at either a very good corner or edge rusher – whether that’s a traditional OLB or an undersized DL who can convert.

When the family is starving, steak or salmon looks just as good as the other.

The only way the Steelers really move up is if through the first 10 rounds, the top three corners and the top two linebackers are gone. Kevin Colber would need to become extremely aggressive at that point to ensure that they don’t lose out on either another corner or a top pass rusher.

That’s not a good situation because it would mean losing a selection or two later on in the draft unless they were to promise a future year’s draft pick. Not likely.

Based on the team needs from 1-21, it doesn’t look like they will need to do so.

While it would be great to have someone like Waynes, who has been talked about as the best cornerback in this draft, I would say the Steelers would rather get the next BPA at either CB or OLB/DL and continue to keep the volume of draft picks they currently have.

While they may have traded up in years past to get someone like Troy Polamalu, Colbert and Tomlin will be patient in that first round and wait to see how the cards fall. There’s no one in this draft worth jumping like that for the Steelers.

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