SCU-2016-Draft-Preview.Pdf
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Player Position Date Visited Jeremy Cash S April 1 Page 5 Deon Bush S April 1 Page 6 David “D.J.” White CB April 1 Page 7 Jared Hawkins T April 1 Page 8 A’Shawn Robinson DT April 4 Page 9 Caleb Benenoch T/G April 6 Page 10 Keanu Neal S April 6 Page 11 Darian Thompson S April 6 Page 12 Tavon Young CB April 6 Page 13 Vonn Bell S April 7 Page 14 Jonathan Jones CB April 7 Page 15 T.J. Green S April 7 Page 16 Ryan Smith CB April 7 Page 17 Jatavis Brown LB April 7 Page 18 Quinton Jefferson * DT April 8 Page 19 Javon Hargrave DT April 8 Page 20 Dean Lowry DE April 8 Page 21 Demontrae Elston S April 8 Page 22 Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 2 Player Position Date Visited Ken Crawley CB April 11 Page 23 Cyrus Jones CB April 11 Page 24 Dadi Nicolas DE April 11 Page 25 Justin Simmons S April 11 Page 26 Sean Davis CB April 11 Page 27 Robert Nkemdiche DT April 11 Page 28 Karl Joseph S April 11 Page 29 Pharoh Cooper WR April 11 Page 30 Sterling Shepard WR April 12 Page 31 Jarrod Wilson S April 19 Page 32 Brandon Williams CB April 19 Page 33 Devontae Booker RB April 19 Page 34 Jayron Kearse Ŧ S Unconfirmed Page 35 Visitors By Position Notes Safety: 11 Offensive Line: 2 Ŧ Jayron Kearse said he visited, but is unconfirmed. Cornerback: 8 Wide Receiver: 2 * Quinton Jefferson is considered a local prospect. Clubs can invite local prospects to team facilities, without the visit Defensive Line: 6 Running Back: 1 counting against the NFL limit of 30 pre-draft visits. Linebacker: 1 Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 3 Welcome to the Steel City Underground Draft Preview Guide. Unlike other draft guides out there, we will focus on players who are having official visits with the Pittsburgh Steelers, rather than focus on speculative picks. Inside you will find bios on each of the players as they visit with the team. Typically, when the Steelers invite a player for a pre-draft visit, it's highly likely they are on the team's draft board... and if they are on the draft board, more often than not, they end up on the roster. (Not to say the Steelers will not select a player they do not visit with, but history tends to prove otherwise.) Some players that have had official visits in the past include: Senquez Golson Vince Williams Sammie Coates Kelvin Beachum Doran Grant Marcus Gilbert Ryan Shazier Maurkice Pouncey Stephon Tuitt Emmanuel Sanders Martavis Bryant Antonio Brown Jarvis Jones As you can see, Pittsburgh does their homework when interviewing players, casting a wide net around athletes chosen from round 1 (Shazier) through the end of the draft (Beachum.) Thus, it would not be a reach to expect one, or more, of the players on the following pages to have their name called by the Steelers on draft day. We hope you enjoy this guide, and be sure to follow us on social media for NFL Draft coverage. Last updated 4/26/2016 If you like this guide, we encourage you to subscribe to our Steel City Underground podcast on iTunes, YouTube, or Stitcher or follow us for updates on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 4 Position Safety Height 6'0" Weight 212 lbs. Arm Length 32 3/8” PRO DAY RESULTS Hands 10 1/2” Bench 13 reps @ 225 lbs. Year Redshirt Senior NFL COMPARISON Hometown Miami, FL T.J. Ward College Duke A three-star recruit out of high school, Cash committed to play at Ohio State, would only play with the Buckeyes for one year before transferring to Duke. Cash would start all 13 games in 2013, re- cording 121 tackles and intercepting 3 passes. In 2014 he would again start all 13 games, recording 111 tackles, 2 picks and registering 5.5 sacks. In 2015 Cash returned for his senior year, on way to being named ACC Defensive Player of the Year. He would record 101 tackles (18 for a loss, 33 for 2 yards or less) 2.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery in 12 games. He reached double figures in tackles five times, including season-high 12 against both Georgia Tech and Miami, and has over 300 career tackles, amassing 37 5+ tackle games. Cash was also a finalist for the Lott Impact Trophy, the Chuck Bed- narik Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Jim Thorpe Award. A three-time All-American, he would earn a unanimous first team choice his senior year. He's also a recipient of the ACC's Jim Tatum Award, as the top senior football student-athlete, and the Carmen Falcone Award, as Duke's MVP. Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 5 Position Safety Height 6'0" Weight 199 lbs. Arm Length 30 7/8” COMBINE RESULTS Hands 9 1/4” 40-Yard Dash 4.64 seconds Year Senior Bench 17 reps of 225 lbs. Hometown Miami, FL Vertical 36.0 inches College Miami (Florida) Broad Jump 123 inches Major Sports Administration PRO DAY RESULTS A four-star recruit out of high school, Bush chose Miami over 40-Yard Dash 4.52 seconds Florida, Florida State, Alabama and Auburn. A perennial All-ACC Honorable Mention 3 straight years (2013, 2014, 2015) Bush Vertical 39.5 inches would receive an All-ACC Third Team selection as a senior, start- ing 12 of 13 games. (Bush missed the first half of his only non- Broad Jump 10 feet, 3 inches start due to a targeting call in the previous game.) Cone Drill 6.91 seconds Bush ranked fifth on the Hurricanes with 50 total tackles, and second with 6 pass break-ups, while recording a single sack, sin- NFL COMPARISON gle interception and recovering two fumbles. He has 10 career tackles for a loss, with 5 sacks over a span of 32 starts in 45 Mo Alexander games. The American Football Coaches Association put Bush on their All -Good Works team. He also donated his per diem money from the Independence Bowl for Christmas gifts for homeless chil- dren. Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 6 Position Cornerback Height 5'11" Weight 193 lbs. Arm Length 31 1/2” COMBINE RESULTS Hands 9 1/4” 40-Yard Dash 4.49 seconds Year Senior Bench 17 reps of 225 lbs. Hometown McDonough, GA Vertical 33 inches College Georgia Tech Broad Jump 132.0 inches A three-star high school recruit, White was voted one of three Cone Drill 7.18 seconds team captains and was a three year starter. He started 11 games 20-Yard Shuttle 4.33 seconds in 2015, ranking sixth on his team with 41 tackles while adding 2 interceptions and 8 pass break-ups. PRO DAY RESULTS An All-ACC Honorable Mention in 2014, White started all 14 games, recording 66 tackles, with 2.5 for a loss, while adding a Vertical 34 inches team-high four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. White also had a team-best eight pass break-ups, NFL COMPARISON and a forced fumble that season. He would play in 13 games, starting in 9 of them, in 2013, on the Justin Bethel way to recording 50 tackles, forcing two fumbles and having one interception will breaking up 5 passes. Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 7 Position Offensive Tackle Height 6'6" Weight 305 lbs. Arm Length 34 1/4” COMBINE RESULTS Hands 9 5/8” 40-Yard Dash 5.23 seconds Year Junior Bench 23 reps of 225 lbs. Hometown Baldwin, LA Broad Jump 100.0 inches College Louisiana State Cone Drill 8.19 seconds Major Sports Administration 20-Yard Shuttle 4.89 seconds A three-year starter on the offensive line for LSU, Hawkins opted to skip his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. He has 37 career starts, PRO DAY RESULTS 25 at right tackle and 12 at left tackle, a position he moved to in 2015 (taking over for future Dallas Cowboy La'el Collins) and consistently Cone Drill 8.04 seconds played a top number of snaps among his peers. In 2013, Hawkins won the starting right tackle job as a redshirt fresh- NFL COMPARISON man. Hawkins also lead an offensive line that helped RB Leonard Four- nette gain over 1,000 yards in 2014. Hawkins’ best game that season Bobby Massie was against Ole Miss: behind his 12 knockdowns on 71 total plays, LSU gained 264 rushing yards against a defense which was only allowing 97 to that point. In his final year, Hawkins started 11 games, recording 38 knockdown blocks while playing a total of 754 offensive snaps, including every snap in 7 of those games. Extremely durable, Hawkins missed only one game in his career. He also lead the Tigers offense to a school bowl record 638 yards of offense in a win over Texas Tech. Hawkins was a key contributor to LSU's SEC leading 256.8 rushing yards per game, once again blocking for Fournette (who set the school's single season record for yards and rushing touchdowns.) Steel City Underground | 2016 Draft Preview | Page 8 Position Defensive Tackle Height 6'4" Weight 307 lbs. Arm Length 34 1/2” COMBINE RESULTS Hands 10 1/2” 40-Yard Dash 5.20 seconds Year Junior Bench 22 reps of 225 lbs.