The NFL Scouting Combine is getting underway and Kevin Colbert and his staff will begin evaluating prospects in depth for the next month and a half. Colbert had a few things to say on the subject this morning:
“[The 2014 draft] is as deep across the board as any draft I’ve seen in 30 years and it’s a record number of underclassmen who obviously enhanced it from a talent standpoint…. We’re also concerned about how many of those players came out prematurely and won’t be ready for this next challenge.”
There are obviously some concerns about the maturity level of underclassmen this year. I'm inclined to agree; jumping from college to the NFL is an enormous leap, especially when you consider how a lot of football players are constructed psychologically. Most of them are about 22 years old, which pretty much qualifies them as idiots (I know, because I am 22, and I don't know anything about anything important). Couple that with the fact that they've been handed so much, especially at the college level where they're highly recruited, don't pay tuition, and don't have to go to class (that last bit is based on my personal observations living next door to a bunch of football players at Pitt), it can be pretty jarring to suddenly be on the bottom rung of the professional ladder.
Obviously this is speculation because I'm not an NFL player (although I'm draft-eligible this year!) but the fact that Colbert is concerned about these players mentally says a lot. The Steelers have traditionally not started rookies and let them ease into the NFL gradually, a luxury that was afforded them by years of good drafting and few immediate needs on the field. That's not a luxury the Steelers have right now, and more rookies might be expected to step in and contribute. Colbert doesn't want to throw a player into the fire that's too young to handle it.
By the way, considering how much Colbert talked up the depth and talent of this draft, one bright reporter asked him how he felt about trading this year's 3rd to the Browns for the pick used for Shamarko Thomas last year. Predictably, Colbert said he'd make the same trade again in a heartbeat. Now, it's not like he's going to say he regrets it and wishes Thomas weren't on the team, but it's a little extra pressure for Thomas to step in and be a difference maker, probably as Ryan Clark's replacement.
The Steelers' roster has worn thin over the past few years. The 2014 draft will have to be a good one to push the team back into long-term contention. And by the sounds of it, Colbert is going to target and older player.
