In defense of the Dri Archer Draft Pick

Nobody should be surprised that the first three draft picks will start for the Steelers. To start the season.

Ryan Shazier starts. Stephon Tuitt starts. Dri Archer starts. 

Yes, even Dri Archer. He starts. General Manager Kevin Colbert said so. 

Selected with the 33rd pick in the third round, Archer will start as a kick returner (kickoffs and punts). He will also get a significant number of snaps at both running back and as a receiver, presumably in the slot, mostly, but also some on the outside. As a kick returner, he should certainly help improve field position, which was a trouble-spot for the Steelers last year because of their mostly lackluster kick-return game.

If Shazier, Tuitt and Archer don't start immediately for a team coming off consecutive 8-8 seasons, something will have gone drastically wrong between now and the start of the regular season.

People have questioned the Archer draft pick in particular. Archer's selection immediately raised howls of protest from some Steeler fans, bloggers and media types. Many called him a "luxury pick" and said the Steelers could have gotten him with their fourth-round choice ... that they should have taken a "tall" wide receiver instead in the third round -- say, for example, Martavis Bryant, whom the Steelers took with their next pick anyway, in the fourth round at No. 118 overall.

How the next 20 picks shook out ...

Well, we're always interested to see who else was available in situations like this, so let's take a look.  

Immediately after the Steelers drafted Archer, the next two picks, also compensatory selections that closed out the third round, were tight ends:  Richard Rodgers, 6'4", 257, from Cal, to the Packers; and Crockett Gillmore, 6'6", 260, Coloroado State, to the Ravens. With the final, 36th pick of the third round, No. 100 overall, the 49ers selected Brandon Thomas, OT, 6'6", 317, Clemson. Those weren't necessarily the kind of guys the Steelers were looking for at the point they took Archer. They wanted an immediate playmaker, so they went with Archer.

Twenty players went off the board between Archer and pick No. 118, when the Steelers selected their 6'4" receiver, Martavis Bryant, Clemson.

Two small running backs ... 

In the run-up to Bryant, the first 17 selections selections in the fourth round included five cornerbacks, one strong safety, three running backs: Devonta Freeman, 5'8", 206, Florida St., to the Falcons; Andre Williams, 5'11", 230, Boston College, to the Giants; and Carey Ka'Deem, 5'9", 207, Arizona, to the Bears with pick No. 117, immediately before the Steelers took Martavis Bryant at No. 118.

Two of the three running backs, Freeman and Ka'Deem, are notable because they are diminutive and fast, like Archer, and project to fit more or less the same type of role, although not exactly, If Archer had still been on the board, it's reasonable to think the Falcons and Bears would have considered him instead of Freeman or Ka'Deem. Archer may well not have been available for the Steelers at No. 118.

And two small receivers ...

The other interesting part of what happened in those first 17 picks of the fourth round was the type of wide receivers taken. Not one of the three was a "tall" receiver (6'3" or taller). In fact, the first two of them are listed at 5'9", which makes them closer in body type to Archer than to Bryant and also makes us wonder whether those teams (the Jets and 49ers) might have selected Archer had he been available in those slots. In all cases, the three teams selecting receivers clearly valued them over Bryant.

The receivers taken after Archer, and ahead of Bryant, were:

4(104)

Jets (From Buccaneers)

Saunders, Jalen

WR

5'9"

165

Oklahoma

6(106)

49ers (From Browns)

Ellington, Bruce

WR

5'9"

197

South Carolina

15(115)

Jets

Evans, Shaq

WR

6'1"

213

UCLA

Clearly, the Steelers like Archer better than Saunders or Ellington (both 5'9"), and they even had Ellington in for a pre-draft visit. 

The point here is, for all the pundits who objected to the Steelers drafting Archer at the end of the third round and claimed they could have gotten him later, the answer is, "No. They wouldn't have been able to draft Archer in the fourth round, at No. 118 overall. He would have been gone." 

That's because one of the teams that selected small, quick-fast RBs/WRs/KRs would have selected Archer instead of the guys they took: The Falcons (Freeman), Bears (Ka'Deem), Jets (Saunders) and 49ers (Ellington) all took speedy players who were 5'9" or shorter and fit the role, to some extent, that Archer projects to play for the Steelers -- only probably with more limitations, not nearly so multi-dimensionally, and likely with less immediate dynamic impact. The Steelers might have ended up with one of those guys, if they'd taken Bryant in the third round instead of Archer; but they clearly liked Archer better than any of them, including Bryant. The Steelers are counting on Archer to make more of an immediate impact. 

What's up for debate, perhaps, is the players selected after Bryant, with the question still to be answered: Could the Steelers have done better than the roll of the dice they took on Bryant? That's another story for another day.

Dri Archer is a "starter" return guy -- Kevin Colbert

Dri Archer

"Return guys change games. In my mind, return guys are starters."

That's what Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said about late third-round draft choice Dri Archer at about the 5:43 mark of this video of his during his post-draft news conference with Mike Tomlin.

That remark -- "return guys are starters" -- caught our attention because kick returners touch the ball only a few times a game, maybe, and they've traditionally been almost an afterthought (or at least not very effective) in the Steelers' overall scheme for years. Latest examples: Felix Jones and Jonathan Dwyer.

But Colbert made a point to say that Archer projects to be an elite kick returner in the mold of NFL greats Mel Gray and Devin Hester:

"They change games," Colbert said. "When you get a guy like that who can change a game, his kick-return game is unique. It's really special. Whatever value he can add to us offensively, we see some value there."

As if to emphasize that last point, Mike Tomlin added:

"This guy was a highly productive offensive player. In 2012, he had 1,400 yards rushing. A legitimate route-runner. A skill set that shows he's a real receiver, yes, he's a splash play-maker. Regardless of position, he's a playmaker. He's a guy that can get yards in chunks and raise up the scoreboard."

Okay, so it sounds as if the Steelers plan to use Archer in spot situations on offense, but according to Colbert, he was really drafted primarily as a kick returner, which is a position Colbert said he considers a "starter."

If that's the case, we all wondered, what about Archer's ability to return punts? Why didn't he do it much at Kent State? Punt returns are a lot different than kickoff returns. They take a bit of a different skill set: steady nerves, field vision, and a slightly different way of fielding the ball. Antonio Brown is excellent at all of that and seems very comfortable fielding punts. He looks like a natural, and we've always felt confident he would at least catch the ball cleanly and that he has the ability to break a long return on every punt.

We were worried about Archer possibly not being able to do that until we heard a radio interview David Todd (970-AM) conducted Tuesday with Bob Rock, offensive coordinator, Kent State. Rock said Archer sustained a high ankle sprain early in the 2013 season -- otherwise he would have been Kent State's punt returner in 2013. Rock emphasized that Archer is "a natural" at it and said we should have no worries about his ability to field and return punts as well as kickoffs.

Dave Bryan over at Steelers Depot wrote up a nice report on the interview, and you read his post here, along with a link to the interview itself.

We're hoping Archer takes the punt/kickoff return job and runs with it. If he become the next Devin Hester, Mel Gray or Tim Dwight, all the better. And, like Tomlin said, if he can "get yards in chunks and raise up the scoreboard," better yet.

Dri Archer: "Ice Ball" with a sub-4.2 40-yard dash?

According to James Saxon, running backs coach of the Steelers, third-round draft choice Dri Archer, RB/WR/KR, Kent State, was clocked running a "sub-4.2" 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine by "some scouts."

If you go to about the 4:15 mark of this video on Steelers.com, you'll find Saxon's remarks about Archer's 40 time at the Combine,

"We had him sub-4.2. Some scouts had him sub-4.2. It doesn't really matter. That's part of it. The kid can run. That's obvious ... but the kid is a special football player with the ball in space."

Wide receivers coach Richard Mann also had some interesting comments about Archer.

At 6:35 of this video on Steelers.com, Mann said about Archer:

"When I saw him, not to bring back memories, but I was in Cleveland, we had a little guy in Cleveland, Gerald McNeill, we called him 'Ice Cube,' he was a very good receiver for me. So I would think, talking to Coach T and Sax, that he would move from running back to receiver to return guy, but I could visualize us gerry-rigging, is the term I use, stuff for him, things he can do well, and not just putting him in every down, but gerry-rigging stuff he is he going to get it, everybody knows he is going to get it, and there's nothing they can do about it."

"Ice Ball"?
Gerald McNeill was nicknamed Ice Cube because he was so slippery. Despite McNeill's diminutive size (5'7", 140 pounds or so), Mann said there is a place in the NFL for players like him and Archer:

"Football is a big man's game.  There's a place for the small guy, but you got to utilize him correctly and he'll be a very valuable too for you, and a weapon. And that's what we did with the Ice Cube. This guy right here (Archer), reminds me of him so much of the Ice Cube, when he gets the ball in his hands, he's going to be fun to look at."

Maybe Archer will be just as slippery and even more dynamic than the Ice Cube. Maybe we can call Archer "Ice Ball" once he gets rolling. 

Footnote: If you're interested in reading more about Gerald "Ice Cube" McNeill, check out this article and this profile.

Would you rather have Louis Nix or Shamarko Thomas?

To select speedy scatback Dri Archer in the third round, the Steelers used the 97th overall selection, which was a pick that was essentially at the top of the fourth round as one of many compensatory picks the NFL tacked onto the end of the third round.

The Steelers didn't have a real third-round pick this year. They dealt this year's third-rounder, which turned out to be No. 83 overall, to Cleveland during last year's draft, for the right to select 5'9" safety Shamarko Thomas.

Louis Nix or Shamarko Thomas? Who would you rather have?

Let's hope last year's trade of this year's third-round pick (83rd overall in 2014) for the right to draft Shamarko Thomas in last year's fourth round (111th overall in 2013) was worth it.

That 83rd selection this year? It turned into Louis Nix, the Notre Dame nose tackle who many people projected early on as being a potential first-round pick this year for the Steelers, early in this draft season.

For Joey Porter's Pit Bulls, Thomas will merit as much scrutiny this season as any player in the 2014 draft. He is in his second year, so more is expected of him, but that trade ... we didn't like it at the time, and we like it even less today. Thomas is listed at 5'9", 217. There's no other way to say it: He's short. And he doesn't appear to be especially rangy, which is something you'd like to see in your safeties.

If you buy Kevin Colbert's assertion that this year's draft is so deep, that second-round picks equate to first-round picks, third-rounders to second round, etc., that particular 2014 third-round pick that Colbert traded last year turned out to be very expensive. By that logic, Thomas is a second-round talent. By that logic, Dri Archer is a late-second/early-third talent.

Thomas has much to prove.

Joey Porter's hope the best for all the Steelers' picks. We hope all turn into Pro Bowlers and Hall of Famers.

Dri Archer: Snap judgment, flash impression

Dri Archer is tiny. This pick has "Todd Haley" written all over it.

Did Archer get over-drafted? Guys like Archer may have a role in an NFL offense, but it's going to be limited. There's only so much he can do.

He's a scatback. When you bring somebody like that onto the field you're telling the defense pretty much what you plan to do. We presume the Steelers won't be counting on him to do much pass-protect blocking. If they do, he'll get run over.

Joey Porter's hope the best for all the Steelers' picks. We hope all turn into Pro Bowlers and Hall of Famers.