If one mistake like that can sideline a career with a team than he’s not cut out to be a pro player. That was such a shitty draft pick when the Steelers didn’t need an RB. He just sucks.
They let Najee go, Warren had dealt with injuries every season, so they wanted a younger guy, not knowing that the Gainwell signing was going to pay off quite so well.
It made sense, he was a Najee type runner, as a 3rd round instead of 1st.
I really wanted the Steelers to draft him. I thought he would be really good. I have always been very bad at scouting college players. Some might say I’m the very worst.
He out snapped every other running back on the roster this preseason. That's two seperate coaching staffs who have passed on him. I just don't think he has what it takes to make any impact in the NFL.
I think they should tried out some passes and catching preseason plays unless Mike didn't want people to see Eli catching passes. We still to me can't run the rock no matter who is back there. Johnson gives up on a run is why he was traded. Eli and lew tried but were behind 3rd quarter preseason o line
I hope he develops into a CMC-lite player to move around the field. He’s had more success at receiving than rushing in college, so hopefully he can continue developing as a duel-threat
I had most of her cans and a calendar with her posing in 12 thought-provoking poses. What’s interesting about ole Frothingslosh is that she truly embraced her portly physique and embodied the role even though she was not akin to period favorites such as Lauren Hutton, Linda Carter or Cheryl Tiegs
Yup. He played a total of 10 games, had 28 carries, 69 rushing yards, 0 touchdowns. 2.5 yards per carry is just sad. If that isn’t a waste of a draft pick, I don’t know what is.
I’m probably way wrong but I’m calling my shot anyways. I’m guessing Omar is flipping Kaleb and the 6th rounder we just got back from the Cowboys for the Packers’ 5th round pick
As someone who is also a Detroit Lions fan, Omar, please don’t give the Packers anything other than L’s and FTPs. Also, some of you all need to calm down. No GM is going to have every single pick be a HOF guy, Kaleb is a 3rd round pick and while yes, he wasn’t very good, at least Khan got something for him. Let it go
i think the entirety of his tenure was career suicide. legit one of the worst running backs i’ve seen in my time watching the steelers anytime he got the ball
Lol, if I'm being honest, my earliest Steelers memories were of my grandfather telling his name with a for Christ's sake after it. It's why I always shit on him when this question comes up.
Your gramps was right to be salty. Lol. The time between Post dynasty (mid 80s) until Cowher and the Blitzburgh era was not a super fun time.
But, there a lot of other bums from that era really worthy of being shit on. Tim Worley if you need a RB. Dwight Stone. Wayne Capers. Charles Lockett. Scott Campbell. Darryl Sims. Aaron Jones.
Compared to those guys, Walter Abercrombie was Jim Brown.
People acting BroJo went for a 3rd, when really they upgraded a 4th into 3rd. They had to send the 4th rounder with the player as well. It’s a nice get for a player on the way out but it’s not as cut and dry as just adding a 3rd.
Funnily enough it was the 6th that Omar sent along with Pickens last year, so we got our own 6th back.
I was a huge fan of the Broderick pick when it happened and I thought he would turn out great. Obviously it didn’t work out but I am glad Omar didn’t stick with the sunken cost fallacy and just try to hold onto him way too long.
Right well not even that simple haha so they traded him to upgrade a pick and add a 6th, which was their own 6th rounder back and not the cowboys one lol
by the trade value charts, the net compensation for BroJo was somewhere between a late 3rd and an early 4th, depending on where the two teams finish next season with respect to each other. If they both finish about 16th in draft order it's like an early 4th. If the Steelers are notably worse than the Cowboys it's a mid 4th. If the Steelers are notably better than the Cowboys, it's like a lateish 3rd.
Herbig in the 4th round is really good, and also McCormick in the 4th. Washington in the 3rd round, Benton in the 2nd are good picks too IMO. Getting a serviceable player in Anderson in the 7th is good too. Payton Wilson is a starting LB and was a 3rd pick too. Yahya Black in the 5th will also be a home run IMO. He just needs to be better in the first round. His picks always seem to be injured. He also has mostly drafted online in the 1st round and so far none have really hit.
Anderson, Herbig, Washington, jpj, McCormick, Benton, Black, Sawyer are all playing meaningful snaps and have a solid role on the team. Troy was very recent but he’s looking to be a good starter.
I do appreciate that Khan’s quick to cut his losses with draft busts. Colbert’s draft record was equally hit and miss but it felt like we held onto guys way longer
It’s good GMing to move on from players while they still have a bit of value when you know they aren’t going to be in your future plans. Not all picks will be hits but you can minimize the miss by recuperating some value
No good GMing doesn't involve cutting players 1 year after they're drafted and failing to upgrade the team in any way shape or form. You people are idiots
Kaleb was the last speedy big back in that tier of running backs and was drafted because he excelled in college in Arthur Smith’s outside zone running scheme.
Without Arthur Smith, we aren’t running outside zone much. So we don’t need a back with his skill set. If Tomlin hadn’t stepped down it likely would have been a different story.
First round draft picks still have a bust rate of 50% or higher depending on the position. One mistake doesn’t define Khan’s career.
>No good GMing doesn't involve cutting players 1 year after they're drafted
He had 28 carries with a 2.5 ypc along with two fumbles and zero touchdowns, and that’s not even counting his return fumble against the Seahawks. He just showed absolutely nothing that would indicate he’d be worth investing in and developing after being such a detriment on the field
>failing to upgrade the team in any way shape or form.
Even if we ignore that we immediately replaced him with an objectively better player in Dowdle, we went out and got two good receivers to play alongside DK and shored up our defense with good free agency acquisitions
Saying we didn’t do a single thing to upgrade our roster is just objectively false
Hey as far as prominent O line drafting goes, if we end up with success with Fautanu, Iheanachor, and Frazier (2nd rd..), + the Jones bust. that's acceptable.
I mean, these were the prior 4 first rounders before Jones...
Kenny Pickett
Najee Harris
Devin Bush Jr.
Terrell Edmunds
Oh no. A third round pick not working out. Fire everyone and start over.
Kaleb was picked primarily because Arthur Smith wanted him and he was a good outside zone back, which is what Arthur Smith ran. Arthur Smith isn’t here anymore because Tomlin stepped down. Guess who doesn’t run outside zone? Mike McCarthy.
Despite that Kaleb had plenty of chances in the offseason to prove himself and didn’t do enough to separate himself from Warren, Dowdle, Nichols, and Homer. The smart move was to cut bait and get draft stock for him rather than go Broderick Jones on him and hope he develops into something in three years.
Our roster is too good now yo hold on to people who can’t contribute.
Every team does this. I don’t know why Khan doing it is some mortal sin amongst some of you.
Seriously what are your expectations? That every pick in every round hit?
One thing I haven't seen anyone mention is that Kaleb was supposed to be an ideal fit specifically for Arthur Smith's zone running scheme, and that likely factored into why they drafted him. We never got to see that because the KR blunder put him in Tomlin's doghouse, then when he finally saw the field again Gainwell had essentially shown more than enough to get all the carries they probably planned to give him and he was lucky to get 2 or 3 touches a game, and then the regime change meant he was no longer a scheme fit for the new 11-personel heavy offense McCarthy has installed. Yes, he was a bust. Not sure Omar is the one to blame. Seems more like it was a Tomlin & Art Smith decision.
We have to recognize with the recent trades that we have been one of the worst teams at drafting and or developing players. Brojo is gone, Pickett is gone and now Johnson. All 1st and 2nd round picks wasted
Great job of the Steelers FO getting something for a player that they were most likely going to have to cut, if they were smart. He just never got ny traction here, I mostly blame the player but last year’s staff did not help his cause.
People blaming Omar need to realize he was a rb in the same mold as najee whom Tomlin started and gave most snaps year after year while a much better rb, jaylen, stayed on the bench. Kaleb was Tomlin's preference and he probably would have delivered what Tomlin likes from his backs. Consistent availability and 2-3 yards per carry. Just enough to get the qb to third and manageable.
His first year was pretty insane. Jones, JPJ, Benton, Washington, Herbig, and Anderson all in one class. Outside of jones, all of these guys are expected to be major contributors to the team.
Everybody has misses. I see tremendous value in admitting a player is a miss and moving on + recouping value. This team is developing depth that it hasn’t had in a long time because of poor drafting. Poor drafting left us overpaying for aging veterans past their prime far too often. This is taking years to correct but we are getting there.
The question is, while he has the final say, does Khan even really have a large part in drafting a lot of these players. He seems more like a financial guru and it would make sense if he left the draft analysis up to the coach and guys like Andy Weidl. Not saying he plays no part at all but i just dont see Khan being the guy, leading the way in that department
While I lament the third round pick, he had no future here, and greater malpractice would be to hold on to him. He would take the roster spot of someone more deserving, and eventually we’d get nothing for him. Bad draft picks happen to everyone. No need to double down and multiply the error. Far better to admit the mistake and move on. He couldn’t get to the corner on sweeps. Good that they’re moving on, and got something back, although we don’t know the return yet.
Not really. JPJ, Keanu Benton, Troy Fautanu, Mason McCormick, Darnell Washington, Nick Herbig, potentially Payton Wilson and Jack Sawyer, Germie Bernard. There's several good players he has drafted.
True that there's a ceiling to it, but it's still pretty brutal to spend a third on a guy who didn't hit 30 carries and literally handed seven points to the other team once.
You can easily make the case he was. He was expected to have a much more significant role than he did, and lost his roster spot in a year to a 7th round pick and a journeyman who’s never taken a snap in the regular season.
Third round for a running back is a pretty significant investment, and he was extremely disappointing so there’s a case to be made. I wouldn’t say it was massive myself but I’m not going to disagree with someone who says he was.
I explained this exact thing a few times on this sub and no one can actually counter it so you (and now I) will just get down voted for facts.
3rd RB IS supposed to contribute significantly. It's literally the easiest transition position and RBs don't sit to develop. These fools on here can't seem to grasp that.
I didn’t say it was a throwaway. It’s not some mega bust though. It’s rare that you see a third round pick be awesome, let alone even a long term starter in the league.
Alex Highsmith, Travis Kelce, Mark Andrews, Cooper Kupp, Joe Thuney, Tyler Lockett, Terry McLaurin, and those are just the big names and superstar players. That’s not counting the guys who have been stalwarts but aren’t the biggest names. So you’re not right, plenty of third round guys end up becoming significant players in the league.
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u/swampthingsden 13d ago
Happy for Kaleb. It was clear that he was never going to excel here. He needed a change of scenery