First call: the roughing expert gives us “almost the perfect Steeler”; Al Villanueva impacted by franchise tags

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An NFL draft expert has two perfect cuts for the Steelers. Fallout from Franchise Labels. And a curious quote from Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel.

All of this in Wednesday’s “first call”.

Perfect in Pittsburgh

Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network and NFL.com draft analyst, held his annual pre-draft media conference call to examine potential team needs and college prospects that would fill them.

Via NFL.com, Jeremiah has listed two specific prospects that he deems to be perfect for the Steelers. The first is a possible replacement at center for Maurkice Pouncey, Landon Dickerson of Alabama.

“He’s almost the perfect Steeler. He is physical and mean. It is fun to watch. He’s fast, ”Jeremiah said. “He’s a taller guy (6-foot-6), but we saw the Steelers have a really good run here with a big cross (Maurkice Pouncey).

Winner of the 2020 Rimington Trophy as the best center in the NCAA, the only problem with Dickerson’s story is health. He tore an ACL during his freshman year at Florida state. Then he suffered another knee injury in the 2020 SEC title game which also required surgery.

The other “good fit” for Pittsburgh that Jeremiah mentioned is North Carolina running back Javonte Williams (5-10, 220lbs).

As our Joe Rutter sums it up, Jeremiah compares former Tar Heel to Cleveland Browns star runner Nick Chubb.

Impact for Al

The Steelers have not franchised offensive tackle Al Villanueva. It wasn’t planned either.

However, two teams have made tackles in the franchise and that is having an impact on the free agency landscape for Villanueva, assuming he doesn’t stay in Pittsburgh.

The Carolina Panthers put the tag on Taylor Moton. The Jacksonville Jaguars did the same with Cam Robinson. The hit against the salary cap is expected to be between $ 13 million and $ 14 million for both players.

While that means the Jaguars and Panthers will now likely be out of the race for Villanueva’s services, it also means that two other contenders are out of the mix for the rest of the league when it comes to bidding on. big dollars.

Pro Football Focus ranked Villanueva as the fourth best tackle available behind Trent Williams (San Francisco), Moton and Caroline teammate Russell Okung. Robinson was five places behind Villanueva in their ratings.

Something to watch

Carl Lawson did not get a franchise tag from the Cincinnati Bengals.

The defensive end has had a checkered career with the Bengals. In his first year, he totaled 8.5 sacks and was part of the PWFA All-Rookie team.

But in his sophomore year, Lawson had just one sack in seven games due to a torn ACL. He came back with five sacks in 12 games in his third year and 5.5 more last season.

But his game has matured. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin spoke to him ahead of both games against Cincy. And it turns out that was wise. Lawson had 12 hits from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger in those two games, plus a sack and a forced fumble.

So it would be nice for the Steelers to see him hit the open market and maybe get picked up by someone outside of AFC North.

The Auburn product is ranked by CBS Sports as the 18th best free agent available. And the website suggests the Bengals may still be working on a long-term deal.

I’m sure Roethlisberger would prefer that not to happen.

Capel quote

Pitt coach Jeff Capel had a curious quote after his team’s loss to the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday afternoon.

The Hurricanes beat the Panthers 79-73 in the first round of the ACC tournament.

After the loss, Capel said: “I wish we could have spent a little more time with this group… I think we could have turned into something that could be pretty good.”

By ‘this group’ I guess Capel meant how the squad was built after the transfers from Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney. They had both left on February 25. And the Panthers lost three out of four in the home stretch, only beating the humble Wake Forest (6-15).

So I’m not entirely sure what gave it that vibe, as the team limped in February and March for a third straight year to finish 10-12.

It’s not like the Panthers are totally devoid of talent. If Justin Champagnie, Nike Sibande (who has said he will return for the NCAA Free Eligibility Year), Femi Odukale and Ithiel Horton all return to the squad, it’s not a bad start to the season. next. But it wasn’t going to freeze so quickly this year. It will take a full offseason to develop and perfect.

But it’s time to stop with the lazy and overly simple “everything’s fine.” Jeff Capel took them in the right direction! “

Is he? Really? I mean, if the “direction” is a direction more distant from the days of Kevin Stallings, I guess that’s true. But Panthers fans might want to check out their GPS systems.

Because going from 2 to 10 to end the season is not the right direction. Neither the defections of Toney and Johnson during the season, nor that of Trey McGowens after last season. And certainly, a three-year record of 7-28 in February and March is entirely in the wrong direction.

Tim Benz is a staff writer for Tribune-Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication, unless otherwise specified.

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Sports | Steelers / NFL | Breakfast with Benz



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