Steelers draft superlatives for an intriguing rookie class

Best bromance:

And the winner of the best bromance, or most irrational love for a player, is Antoine Brooks.

After watching his tape, I am pulling for Brooks to make this roster. While he has few defining traits and lacks a natural position in the NFL, his tape just screams “Steeler” to me. While he shined at Maryland as a hybrid player, his road to anything but special teams is a longshot.

Even if he achieves his ceiling (becoming a starting dime backer), it is unlikely he ever becomes a full-time starter anywhere on the field. That said the Steelers should get a lot of dedication as a special team’s player while he works on developing. Even then, the hope I have for him seems unjustified due to his strengths and his upside.

I’ll keep rooting for Brooks though as he works his way onto an NFL roster. I’ll keep telling myself he can shift to LB if need be to succeed (even though he is a little small for that role). No matter how he plays, I’ll still be in his corner for some reason.

With the draft finally finished, looking over the highs and lows of a class is informative. Yes, it is way too early to give any definitive grades, which is why I’m hoping this superlative system does a better job. Join me for the class reunion a year from now to see how this draft class initially grades out.