Steelers draft SC State DT day two
The Steelers continued to address their defensive needs with the selection of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave from South Carolina State in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft on Friday.
Heading into the draft, Pittsburgh’s needs on defense were arguably cornerback first, followed by safety and then defensive line. If that was the front-office’s thinking, the first three rounds fell into place quite nicely.
After selecting cornerback Artie Burns in the first round on Thursday and corner/safety Sean Davis in the second round on Friday, the Steelers addressed their need along the defensive line with the drafting of Hargrave. It’s true that in defensive ends Cam Heyward and Stephon Tuitt, Pittsburgh has two bona fide player-makers up front. But what about depth? What about the nose tackle spot?
There’s virtually no proven depth behind either Heyward and Tuitt. And after the free-agent departure of nose tackle Steve McLendon, there isn’t a proven starter or even backup at that position. As of now, Dan McCullers, the 6’7” 352 pound third-year man out of Tennessee, is listed as the starting nose tackle, but that could be in name only, as he’s started just one game in two years and has recorded just five tackles.
South Carolina State is a division-1 AA school, but like Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said in his post-draft press-conference on Saturday, Hargrave did what he needed to do at that level: he totally dominated the competition.
As per the Steelers official website, Hargrave was named both the SBN Sports Mel Blount Defensive Player of the Year and MEAC Defensive Player the Year in 2014 and again in 2015.
AROUND COVER32
NFL Draft 2016: Recapping all seven rounds
NFL Draft 2016: Grading each first round pick
New Steelers DT stats
In 2015, Hargrave recorded 22 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks in 11 games.
All-in-all, Hargrave posted 62.5 tackles for loss and 37 sacks in four seasons at South Carolina State.
Listed at 6’1” and 309 pounds, Hargrave is described as having “Surprising foot quickness with an adequate spin move” on his NFL.com draft profile. Therefore, it’s easy to see why he was able to find himself in his opponents’ backfield so often during his college career.
Will his athleticism translate to the pro-level, and will he be able to compete at a high-level sooner rather than later?
That remains to be seen, but there’s a lot of like about the Steelers selection of Javon Hargrave.
The post Steelers draft SC State DT day two appeared first on Cover32.
