Mike Tomlin, along with Steelers' owners the Rooneys, help Colbert guide "Steeler Football"

This is Part 2 of Lance Zierlein's "The Steelers Project". Read Part 1 here »

Player Elimination

In following the Steelers draft process, I decided to take an older version of my Top 120 players and work from there.

The order of the players is inconsequential at this point as I'm merely using this list to begin scratching players off who don't fit what the profile for what the Steelers look for.

I'm not going to spell out the profiles I gathered for each position, but as you can see below, I did give you reasons next to each player I scratched as to why I was taking them off the board.

(You can also see my current Top 150 Overall Prospects here »)

View All 120 »

Stacking the Board

You would be blown away at how different a team's draft board is from what you're used to seeing on draft sites.

Now it is time to "stack the board" at each position. I tried as best I could to assign a round grade for each player at each position that I have listed for the Steelers. The reality is, however, that you would be blown away if you found out just how differently a team's draft board may look from what you are used to seeing on draft sites.

One team will have a second round grade on a player while another team has him as a "reject" and not even on their draft board because they don't think he can play. Personally, I'm just trying to get in the general ballpark with my board based on traits the Steelers look for at each position while keeping in mind where they tend to value that position on draft day.

I am not including the CENTER position as the Steelers will not draft a center-only player this year.

Stacking for Draft Day

Finally, it is time to follow the Steelers' method of stacking the board player-by-player with no consideration for what other teams might do in the draft. In doing so, the Steelers can check players off their list as each player is drafted. Once it gets to their draft spot, they can draft the next player on their list or they may deviate slightly based on what has happened ahead of them.

It is my understanding that the Steelers order their first two rounds based on the players they like the best and they take into consideration their needs when ordering these player.

However, it is worth noting that Pittsburgh is not a slave to need and will stay true to their concept of finding great football players rather than players who just fit needs.  If they can merge highly rated player and need position, all the better.

Armed with my understanding of their draft needs, my understanding of where they tend to draft certain positions, and my "Stacked Positions" board that I created, I was able to create an ordering of prospects over the course of two rounds that the Steelers could follow on draft day.

I understand that the Steelers may look for a backup quarterback in this draft (which is why I kept quarterback ratings in my "Stacked Positions") but I decided to leave Andrew Luck and RG3 out of the ordering as I have no idea how the Steelers would handle them within this exercise.

Draft Board Variability

Pittsburgh will stay true finding great football players rather than players who just fit needs.

While this project was time consuming, it was also a great deal of fun for me to put together (even if Kevin Colbert may chuckle at much of my board). It was also for only one team. All teams make free agency, salary cap and draft decisions every year based on fit, locker room character and salary distribution per position every year. The Tennessee Titans' draft board will look entirely different than the Green Bay Packers' based on their differing philosophies on both sides of the ball.

With that in mind, I wonder if football fans realize how silly it is to put so much stock into the "Big Boards" that everyone puts out.  With so many moving parts, why would anyone pretend to know if a team hit or missed on their draft without understanding the variables that went into stacking their boards?

« Head back and read Part 1