OT: The Pittsburgher Thread: Post Draft - Still dont need no QB

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[Zirakzigil]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/25191286-mike-tomlins-son-dino-reportedly-participate-bucs-rookie-minicamp

those seem like pretty decent combine scores?

Yeah, that's also a good way to look at it. And I think you're right about what teams won't trade up. If they suck and they're there they don't have good reasons to ignore good QBs, but they won't feel the need if they're picking 14 or so.

The bad news is that going by O/U, this is the predicted draft order list for next year

Browns
___
Saints
Raiders
Giants
Jets
Titans
___
Panthers
Colts
Jags
---
Falcons
Pats

And then you get into the 8.5 win teams.

Gonna need a lot of teams to outperform their odds because right now all those won't trade up teams are predicted to not need to.

It’s funny. Was very worried about KP’s arm strength/zip when we took him based on college tape

Then when actually he showed up and we got to see him in NFL game action I always thought it was pretty solid. Not Josh Allen ofc.

I feel like it is likely he has a bigger arm than Howard does.

Yeah it wasn’t anything special, but I always thought Pickett’s physical talent was a bit underrated. The guy just had negative pocket presence.

I think Klubnik is going to measure very small. Has good tools but nothing elite. Like Baker was tiny but had a gun for an arm.

as a result it’ll be interesting to see where he’s taken if he has the big year people think he can have. I’d imagine he crushes interviews

Clemson’s team should be absolutely stacked this year so I’d imagine we’ll get to see Klubnik go on a playoff run.

NFL Draft Buzz actually just updated their 2026 QB rankings and Klubnik shot up to the #2 ranked QB for the 2026 draft, with being a projected top-10 pick. Seems like my "legit mid/late 1st round talent" may be outdated anyway

Gonna be the same with Howard. He struggles with reads, pressure and intermediate accuracy.

Interestingly, he rarely threw to the middle of the field. Where have we heard that before?

You have way more faith in the OL than I do.





There's a couple of back foot/moving 50-60 yard throws with what seems to be decent velocity on his tape. I certainly like his velocity on shorter throws. I'm not sure his arm is elite, but it might be the next best thing which seems to be the case for his mobility too - maybe not elite, but really good. He reminds me a little of JJ McCarthy in that respect.

Throws a pretty sweet back shoulder boundary ball too.



They love him. Real high on him. And Greg McElroy from ESPN just named him QB1 in college football.

That said, the mocks I've seen so far aren't as high. Manning/Sellers/Nussmeier/Allar seem to be the top four currently getting touted.

Huh? With the media freakout over the Steelers QB situation, I would have assumed their over/under would have been set at 0.5.

In all seriousness, I don't follow other teams closely enough to know, but I'm surprised they have the Saints, Raiders, and Jets that low again. Saints and Jets really weren't THAT bad and lost a lot of close games and the Raiders improved the most at QB.

I guess I don't know which teams could potentially take their spot at the top of the draft other than hopefully the Steelers.

Not including size…If Mahomes is a 9.8 and Josh Allen is a 10/10 on tools… (my sister goes to Clemson so actually caught a live game this year. Think I will this year too) I would call Klubnik a 6/10 on tools. His arm is good/above average but I think he will let it hang on deep balls here and there and can’t absolutely rip the lower, driving 30, 40 yard balls the guys with elite tools can. But he can still hit that one and all the other throws. Not a burner on the ground but good runner.

So I’d call it a non issue in the NFL. But then couple it with him coming in at say 6’0 3/4 and 195… does that guy still go top 5, top 10 or is he more top 20-32.

Officially he's 6'2" 210/205. I'm guessing you think that's a no way measurement. And who else you putting in that 6/10 range?



Yeah, I don't follow close enough to know for sure either. Still, someone's got to lose, and I can't say I was looking at a list of the 8/9/10 win teams and thinking "well they're gonna plummet".

Yeah I think it’s very unlikely he’s that tall and that heavy. But maybe it’s a TV illusion. Stranger things have happened.

His RB Mafah was 6’0 5/8 and 234 according to MockDraftable. At least on cam and from the bleachers they looked equivalent in height and Mafah looks way more filled out comparatively.

Here’s a vid with some good angles of them side by side in the backfield



On 2) Hard for me to say. This was first year in a long time I was really big into CFB and less so NFL. So I’ll just compare to more established guys. I feel like Burrow is like a 6.5-7? He’s less mobile but slightly better arm? I feel like Kyler Murray has a worse arm than Klubnik but also has special acceleration/quicks. Baker overall is like a 7? Cannon arm but not a real run threat. I feel like Klubnik reasonably triangulates somewhere to equal/slightly below those guys on pure tools as of today.

Like idk. He’s got more to work with than Tua, Rudolph. He’s kinda like a KP on steroids haha. I would call Tua like a 3-4/10 prob. Mason Rudolph a 4-5? KP a 4.5-5?

Idk. Not exactly scientific but there you go. Kid is 21 and could get stronger with time.

Thank you. This is all uncharted waters for me so all info is good info. I can see working around Mayfield as a comp. What you said about Pickett on steroids isn't all that wrong (except Pickett was a lot thicker, not that it's done him any good on the injury front) either. Some of the back shoulder throws did make me think of Pickett tbh (the one thing he did very well).

I do think whether he can pack on some extra muscle is going to matter a bit if he doesn't take a mega jump in processing/accuracy. Also Leavitt, Nussmeier, Iamaleava if he comes out, and probably a few others. Not sure I'd anticipate it. Just naturally a bit skinny.

I watched the first three minutes of the All-22 and feel you can easily nitpick some of the ball placement. Not leading his guys into slants, one up high ball that made the dude stretch. Couple of nice escapes from the pocket though.

Yeah I guess my thought with Klubnik is that he’s got enough juice in the tools dept where I don’t see him going in Round 4-5 like the guys who slid this year. (Assuming he has decent season. Obv anything can happen if he’s terrible)

But add his size, conference and lack of truly elite tools — I can see him being more mid-late 1st, early 2nd if this is truly a deep class.

Yeah he could be next year Dart

Imo Klubnik would have gone before Dart last year. I saw a few 2nd day grades on him as was, and his tape pops more. Dart has more strength in his body and moxie (maybe) but that's about it.

I think for now I'm gonna keep seeing McCarthy in Klubnik, so I'm still seeing the tools for top half and not second half (and guys with plenty worse tools than both have sneaked in recently *coughNixcough*). But he has a lot to prove to live up to them.



Thinking about it, after watching a lot more QB tape than I have before, Pickett's arm was weird in that his zip and arm strength was pretty good to about 30 yards and then just died a death very quickly after. I don't think I've seen another QB like that.

But yeah. Pocket presence just didn't happen (among other things). Probably a big part of why I value it so much now.

Klubnik is already better than Dart.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Kinda wish we would have been in on Dobbins or Alexendar.

RB Dobbins receives rare UFA tender from Bolts

Running back J.K. Dobbins and wide receiver Elijah Moore received the seldom-used unrestricted free agent tender from the Chargers and Browns, respectively.

www.espn.com

Source: Possible Alexander remains with Packers

A source tells ESPN that all options are on the table for the Packers and All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander, including a possible return to Green Bay next season.

www.espn.com

 

[JTG]

Dobbins and Alexander would have basically sealed up all of our big holes aside from QB.

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Both are still available…..,,

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Dobbins and Alexander would have basically sealed up all of our big holes aside from QB.

Yup and while I hope nothing but success for the guys we did pick, we could have went a different route and grabbed an OT or safety with those picks. Heck even backup Center is concerning to me.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Dude needs extreme help

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Yup and while I hope nothing but success for the guys we did pick, we could have went a different route and grabbed an OT or safety with those picks. Heck even backup Center is concerning to me.

The safety from Iowa who was udfa as a real good chance to make the team. Mccloum filled in nicely at center last year.
Definitely believe they will sign a vet swing Ot

 

[bigdaddyk88]

Dobbins and Alexander would have basically sealed up all of our big holes aside from QB.

Both guys are hurt often

 

[Goalie_Bob]

Yup and while I hope nothing but success for the guys we did pick, we could have went a different route and grabbed an OT or safety with those picks. Heck even backup Center is concerning to me.

Castro fills the safety need. He was a well rated player who fell due to combine stats.

Dobbins wasn't needed at all with Warren and Gainwell. I am much happier with Kaleb Johnson than Dobbins.

Alexander can't stay healthy and is still under contract with the Packers. If they release him, sure they should look into him. I'd even talk to them about trading for him, but only with a late round pick. But they already have Slay.

The OT class was mediocre at best this draft. Especially the guys in the middle to late rounds. They picked up the kid from UM-Duluth who can be a OG.

They can still supplement with camp released players as well.

In general, I am loving the Steelers' draft, they leaned into the draft strengths and didn't reach for a QB. While also filling massive needs along the DL and at RB, while not using a premium pick on a RB.

 

[Peat]

In general, I am loving the Steelers' draft, they leaned into the draft strengths and didn't reach for a QB. While also filling massive needs along the DL and at RB, while not using a premium pick on a RB.

This. Maybe you could argue that it wasn't the ideal draft in terms of getting positions the team needed - I'm not sure I'd agree, but I'm listening - but in terms of what the draft was offering, I think they did solid.




Looked at some Nussmeier tape today. Should be a pretty interesting study in whether one of my favourite QB archetypes - high anticipation, high accuracy, stays out of trouble pocket QB - comes good or whether you can have too much of a good thing (cos he forces a lot of throws to stay in the pocket and stay unsacked rather taking the easy run or taking a sack over a pick).

 

[WickedWrister]

 

[Peat]

This tweet I just saw seems appropriate

 

[Coastal Kev]

As an SC fan, Lanoris at 9 is sketch... very sketch

 

[WickedWrister]

This tweet I just saw seems appropriate

Some of these are just lazy uninformed mocks for sure, but honestly the recruiting industry is huge and a pretty good indicator of future success.

Like just looking at the 2022 class out of the top 10:

1st round picks-Hunter, Nolen, Starks, Mykel Williams, Conerly, and Shemar Stewart

Allar is probably going to be a 1st rounder next year, Can't speak about Perkins or Evan Stewart though they're top 30ish guys in the tweet I posted but even 7/10 is an insane hit rate.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah I ended up very happy with the Steelers draft, they wnet logical picks on pretty much all of them and they got some really good value between Johnson in round 3, Sawyer in round 4 and Howard in round 6. I wouldn't want to give up Johnson in round 3 to sign a UFA RB and draft an OL.

Like I've said a few times, the only pick that I didn't fully get was Sawyer in round 4, but that's simply a BPA pick and it doesn't take too much thought to see how OLB could become a need in the next couple of years.

 

[Pens1566]

Allar is just gonna be such a f***ing bust of a pick.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

The grades on this draft are meaningless. Oh wow, so and so gave it a B+, who cares. They haven't gotten enough out of their drafts since Watt 8 years ago. They've drafted 2 pro bowlers since then - Najee and DJ who aren't even on the team. That's really bad. Look at Baltimore during that same time frame - nine different pro bowlers. Yikes. I've liked the past couple drafts on paper but at some point a couple of these guys needs to start performing. Until that happens I'm skeptical anyone on this staff has a clue.

 

[JTG]

Looks good!

 

[JTG]

Publishing a 3 round mock draft for 2026 right now may be the worst use of time ever

 

[JTG]

The grades on this draft are meaningless. Oh wow, so and so gave it a B+, who cares. They haven't gotten enough out of their drafts since Watt 8 years ago. They've drafted 2 pro bowlers since then - Najee and DJ who aren't even on the team. That's really bad. Look at Baltimore during that same time frame - nine different pro bowlers. Yikes. I've liked the past couple drafts on paper but at some point a couple of these guys needs to start performing. Until that happens I'm skeptical anyone on this staff has a clue.

You nailed it.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

The grades on this draft are meaningless. Oh wow, so and so gave it a B+, who cares. They haven't gotten enough out of their drafts since Watt 8 years ago. They've drafted 2 pro bowlers since then - Najee and DJ who aren't even on the team. That's really bad. Look at Baltimore during that same time frame - nine different pro bowlers. Yikes. I've liked the past couple drafts on paper but at some point a couple of these guys needs to start performing. Until that happens I'm skeptical anyone on this staff has a clue.

Keep telling everyone that there's a big time development problem for the past decade plus. There's a reason we're in mediocre purgatory.