Senior Bowl Buzz: Dickerson, Odrick, Brown impress

Senior Bowl Buzz: Dickerson, Odrick, Brown impress

12:58am - Thursday, January 28th, 2010 by DePaoli

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was front and center on the sidelines for the past two days of practices at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama.

The Steelers met with a number of players this week, including Idaho offensive lineman Mike Iupati on Monday, who the team is very high on and will likely get a look from Pittsburgh early in the draft.

While the Steelers have months of scouting to do before Arpil's draft, Pitt WR Dorin Dickerson and Penn State DE Jared Odrick have drawn rave reviews as the stock of both players is on the rise.

Odrick is already regarded as a potential late first round pick, while Dickerson has tremendous talent but must find a position.

Dickerson spent all three practices at wide receiver but indicated that he will work out as a tight end at the Scouting Combine next month.

Dickerson met with the Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Rams, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, and the Chicago Bears this week, sources indicate.

Meanwhile, West Virginia quarterback Jarrett Brown has been regarded by many as the best quarterback through three sets of practices.

Tony Pauline of SI.com, runs a top of line draft website and is among the draft guru's who came away very impressed with Dickerson and Odrick this week.

Tuesday Practice Notes on Dorin Dickerson via DraftInsider.net: "Really looked good all day. Spent a lot of time lining up at wide receiver and showed speed and terrific hands. Battled hard to make the reception and usually came away with the ball."

Wednesday Practice Notes on Dorin Dickerson via DraftInsider.net: "In a nutshell, wow! He is fast and was able to beat cornerbacks down the field. He is also a terrific pass catcher with strong, reliable hands."

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Comments

jeffed

At this point I think Iupati has to be the pick, if he's even there at 18.

01/28/2010 9:48am

seabs926

The problem with Iupati is that, right now, he's an OG. OG isn't a need. Kemo's play improved this year and Foster showed some promise. We have an unkown commodity in Urbik, but the FO thought enough of him to spend a pretty high pick on him. Some think Iupati can play OT. That's fine, but you're taking a big chance by spending the 18th pick on him.

01/28/2010 9:51am

jeffed

Iupati can make up for the weakness at center IMO. They can move Kemo over to RG, and have Iupati at LG. This guy is a Kemo clone when it comes to attitude and mean streak but he's much more skilled. Those two at RG and LG would be a force to be reckoned with in the run game for sure.

01/28/2010 9:58am

seabs926

If you're drafting Iupati strictly as an LG then it's a stupid pick. As I said, OG isn't a need so the value just isn't there. C is probably the 2nd most important position behind LT on the OL. It's a lot harder to hide Hartwig than you are implying. Now, if you think he can at least be a RT as soon as year 2 then he's someone you would consider at 18.

01/28/2010 10:43am

BillCitro

Foster, Essex, Stapleton and Foster? Yes, these are serviceable players, but if you beleive Iupati is a Faneca-type guard you take him without thinking twice about not starting those players. Until Urbik shows something, he doesn't merit consideration either. He can be the top backup if he makes big strides or compete at center.

01/28/2010 10:55am

jeffed

Foster is slow as hell, there's a reason why he wasn't drafted. Essex is a back up swing tackle at the very best. Stapleton is in line to become the next center maybe, I hope not. I'm a fan of Legursky but I'm not sure if he can hold up and be a regular starter.

01/28/2010 11:01am

jeffed

Why would picking an almost can't pick along the interior line a dumb pick? They don't have a RG that can play.

01/28/2010 11:02am

jeffed

*almost can't miss pick*

01/28/2010 11:02am

jeffed

Urbik was inactive with a bunch of no one's ahead of him. I understand he was a rookie but I don't see him taking over that RG spot this year either.

01/28/2010 11:02am

seabs926

When Foster started he was our best player along the OL. Now obviously we don't have an all-world OL, but that is quite the accomplishment. Go back and watch the first Ravens game when Ben was out. He was the only guy getting a consistent push in the run game. He's a lot better than you make him out to be. I know Foster struggled when pulling, but that was because he was playing LG. We don't pull nearly as often with the RG. He's almost a perfect fit at RG. I say it's not a good pick because there's about 5 or 6 other positions that should be upgraded before we should try to upgrade OG. My point about Urbik is that we're likely to give him a chance before we deem to be a waste of a pick. I'm not against Iupati as long as the FO and coaching staff has plans to play him at OT.

01/28/2010 11:28am

jeffed

The only way there's a spot on the OL at T is if they don't extend Colon, which I would be shocked if they didn't. Foster was alright at RG, I just remember him sticking out like a sore thumb at LG.

01/28/2010 11:57am

seabs926

jeffed, you just proved to me that you didn't watch Foster at any point during the season. He didn't play a single snap at RG. Essex started all 16 games and the few plays he was injured they brought in Legursky. Kemo was injured for 4 games and those were the only starts Foster got. He absolutely did not stick out like a sore thumb at LG. He more than held his own at the LOS. As I said, the only times he didn't look good was when he was trying to block on the move. He wouldn't have to do that very much at RG. He was excellent in pass protection as well.

01/28/2010 12:17pm

jeffed

He played RG during the preseason buddy. I watched every play of this miserable season. Essex is terrible at RG, he's at best a back up swing tackle. When Foster played LG he was only good when asked to go straight ahead, that's not what is asked of the LG in the Steelers offense. I have no problem with Foster at RG since he won't be asked to move as much as an LG but he's still very easily upgraded.

01/28/2010 12:26pm

deesh138

I thought the line did pretty well overall, and I'm not sure the Steelers go that direction with their first pick. The biggest need is at center, and centers don't get picked that high. Even Mangold, who everybody thought would be great, went end of the first.

01/28/2010 12:26pm

deesh138

I wouldn't mind having Odrick, dude's an animal.

01/28/2010 12:27pm

jeffed

I'm not sure if they will go OL at 18 either if they do it will be Iupati (if he's there) or Brian Baluga IMO.

01/28/2010 12:30pm

seabs926

jeffed, so now your basing your opinion of him in the preseason when he had zero nfl experience? Even though the Steelers pull the LG more than the RG, it's not like they're pullling the LG on every play, or even half the plays. I didn't doubt that you watched the games, but it's totally different than watching specific matchups and players. Foster, overall, was very good when he started. Kemo at RG is not an upgrade over Foster. They both get a pretty good push in the run game, Kemo commits more penalties, and Foster is much better in the passing game. So there in lies another problem. It would likely be Iupati at LG and Foster at RG. We'd then be wasting several millions paying Kemo.

01/28/2010 12:34pm

jeffed

How the hell else would I base him at RG? FYI - Kemo's deal only involved $4mm in gaurantees. I don't have any idea why he signed such a deal but he did, if the Steelers wanted to get rid of him they could at any moment.

01/28/2010 12:42pm

jeffed

They don't pull the LG as much as they used to because they don't have Faneca over there.

01/28/2010 12:43pm

jeffed

Iupati won't even be there at 18 I don't think so what's the point.

01/28/2010 12:48pm

mwalluk

Not to mention, they haven't filled a need the last 2 yrs, when they should have focused on the lines.

01/28/2010 12:52pm

seabs926

Base it on the fact that he made 4 starts as a rookie. Base it on the fact that he gets the best push in the run game out of any of our OL, stones his man in one on one pass pro, picks up stunts like he's a veteran, and didn't commit a single penalty in 4 starts. Why cut Kemo when he's a solid player. I know you can upgrade most positions and that Iupati would be an upgrade, but there's more important positions to upgrade. OG is one of the least important positions.

01/28/2010 12:55pm

↑ previous comments ↑

jeffed

I don't want them to cut Kemo, you said they'd be wasting millions of dollars but they wouldn't considering his contract.

01/28/2010 2:27pm

jeffed

I think that there are more important positions to upgrade as well. The only other position where you may get some value at 18 is safety if Earl Thomas falls to them. I don't see a CB that will be there and provide value at 18 (barring anything out of the ordinary that happens).

01/28/2010 2:28pm

seabs926

Kemo signed a 5 year, 20 M deal with 4M guaranteed. So his base salary is at least 2 M and maybe around 3. So they would wasting 3M if he is sitting on the bench. We still have a long way to go before the draft. Dan Williams could be a possibility if for some stupid reason the Steelers don't at least franchise Hampton. You always see at least 1 CB climb up the rankings to become a 1st rounder.

01/28/2010 2:33pm

deesh138

Jeffed, I admit that I've never seen Mike Lapati play, so I can't offer an opinion of his play one way or another, but there hasn't been an offensive guard drafted by the 18th pick since Steve Hutchinson in 2001. Same goes for center. Those players just aren't valued as highly as other positions. So, if you think they want one, I would bet on trading down.

01/28/2010 4:57pm

tj1015

Any idea where Myron Rolle is projected and if the Steelers are high on him? Saw him on PTI today and him seems like a PR homerun! Seemed solid at FSU.

01/28/2010 10:35pm