Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers 2017 draft picks include Conner, Watt

T.J. Watt (Round 1) 

PITTSBURGH — T.J. Watt spent his childhood playing in the considerable shadow of older brothers J.J. and Derek.

The neophyte linebacker still very much in the embryonic stage of his career will get his chance to step into his own with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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The reigning AFC North champions selected Watt with the 30th overall pick in the draft on Thursday, won over by the 22-year-old's energy and the raw materials they covet: namely speed, potential and an ability to get to the quarterback as often as possible.

Watt started just one season at Wisconsin but made it count, picking up 11 1/2 sacks for the Badgers. Not bad for a player who arrived at Wisconsin in 2013 as a tight end and didn't switch to defense until 2015. By last fall he was a linchpin on one a team that went 11-3 and beat Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl.

In a way, Watt views his inexperience as a selling point.

"I was a first or second team All-American after 18 months of playing defense," he said. "I'm scratching the surface of what I can do."

Watt joins a team that fell one win short of the Super Bowl after getting carved up by New England's Tom Brady in the AFC championship. The Steelers struggled to generate any kind of consistent pressure on Brady, something they know they need to change if they want to end the Patriots' vice grip on the conference.

While cautioning that Watt still has plenty to learn, his new bosses didn't exactly shy away from expectations.

"To do that in his first year at the position is really amazing," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said. "You expect natural growth against better competition ... There's no reason why he can't contribute and be a significant player, but he'll be a young player."

The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Watt joins an outside linebacker group that includes James Harrison, who turns 39 next week, and 2015 first-round pick Bud Dupree. Pittsburgh let Jarvis Jones, the franchise's top pick in the 2013 draft, walk in free agency after four underwhelming seasons.

Enter Watt, who flipped from tight end to defense in 2015, though the transition was slowed after he injured his right knee in spring practice. Finally healthy last fall, he was a dominant force, a trait that runs in the family.

Watt's selection gives his family three players in the league. J.J. Watt is a perennial All-Pro defensive end for the Houston Texans. Derek Watt appeared in all 16 games last season for the Chargers as a fullback. T.J. and J.J. will meet on the field as opponents for the first time when Pittsburgh visits Houston on Dec. 25.

"It'll be weird to be on the same field as J.J. in shoulder pads," Watt said. "I played with him in the backyard a bunch, but we've never been on the same field competitively before."

It's a dream Watt held onto throughout his sluggish start at Wisconsin, and he played so well in 2016 that Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst — who previously coached at Pitt — reached out Colbert and asked him to gauge Watt's potential as an early entrant in the draft. When the Colbert's evaluation projected Watt as a potential first rounder, Watt joined the fray.

Now he finds himself in a league where T.J. — a three-time defensive player of the year — is one of the brightest stars. Sure, there's pressure. Then again, without spending his life watching J.J. do his thing, Watt understands he might not even be here.

"People don't know the work ethic, the countless hours of film study," he said. "I was treating myself like a professional athlete while still in college. I learned so much from J.J. ... I don't think people know who I am at this point because I've been in such a big shadow."

The time to emerge from it will begin on Friday when he arrives in Pittsburgh, poses in a black-and-yellow jersey and tries to live up to the legacy of both the name on the front and the name on the back.

"I wouldn't be shocked if he tries to outdo everything his family has done to this point," Colbert said.

Juju Smith-Schuster (Round 2)

The Steelers also took USC wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster in the second round of the draft on Friday, giving Ben Roethlisberger a big target to hopefully take some of the pressure off Antonio Brown.

"Really kind of a do it all guy," Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley said. "Can play inside (and) outside. If you had to say what he excelled at, the ability to catch the ball in combative situations. Those 50/50 balls, he usually comes down with them."

The 6-foot-2 Smith-Schuster caught 213 passes for 3,092 yards and 25 touchdowns in three years with the Trojans before electing to enter the draft early. Schuster-Smith is the youngest wide receiver in the draft. He won't turn 21 until November, when he's more than halfway through his rookie season.

"I'll do anything possible to bring the Steelers back to the Super Bowl, special teams, be a role player," Schuster-Smith said.

Pittsburgh entered the draft looking to find a deep threat to complement Brown. Injuries to Markus Wheaton and Sammie Coates and a Martavis Bryant's year-long suspension force the Steelers to rely on small, undersized receivers like Eli Rogers and Demarcus Ayers. Though they played well at times, they were a non-factor in AFC title game as New England pulled away.

Things could be very different this fall. The NFL conditionally reinstated Bryant last week. Coates should be healthy. Like both of them, Smith-Schuster is tall and can get downfield. He averaged 16.3 yards per catch as a sophomore in 2015, when he caught 89 passes for 1,454 yards.

Smith-Schuster also likes to block, a trait that endeared him to the Pittsburgh coaching staff, though he didn't know it. Smith-Schuster said he only spoke to the Steelers during the NFL combine in February and didn't hear anything until he received a phone call shortly before he was taken with the 62nd overall pick, a call he admits he wasn't expecting.

This is the highest the Steelers have taken a receiver in the draft since picking Limas Sweed in the second round in 2008. Sweed was a bust - catching just seven passes in his career - but that was a lifetime ago by NFL standards.
 
The pick certainly raised eyebrows among his new teammates.
 
Bryant and Coates both took to Twitter moments after Smith-Schuster was taken, with Bryant tweeting "lol that's Sammie Coates replacement not (mine) take it how you want to I am back" and Coates chiming in with laughter. Head coach Mike Tomlin wasn't amused, making a rare appearance on Twitter to tell them both to "play nice." The tweets were subsequently deleted.
 
The Steelers had two picks in the third round later Friday likely to focus on the secondary. Pittsburgh took Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Watt in the first round on Thursday.

Cameron Sutton (Round 3)

Pittsburgh added much needed secondary depth with the first of its two third-round picks, taking Tennessee cornerback Cameron Sutton with the 94th overall pick. Sutton had seven interceptions in four years with the Volunteers. He missed the first half of his senior season in 2016 with an ankle injury.

Sutton is the second defensive player in three picks by the Steelers. Pittsburgh took Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Watt in the first round on Thursday. The team will look for more help in the secondary and at linebacker during the final four rounds on Saturday.

James Conner (Round 3)

A year ago, James Conner was in the middle of chemotherapy treatment as it waged a battle against Hodgkin's Lymphoma that left the Pittsburgh star running back drained but resolute.

Conner never doubted he'd make the NFL. Even as the drugs sapped his strength and wreaked havoc on his immune system.

Then the phone rang on Friday night as the third round of the 2017 NFL draft neared a close. It was the Pittsburgh Steelers offering him a job. And just like that, Conner's journey from cancer patient to cancer survivor to professional football player was over.

"They all have great chemistry," Conner said. "Hopefully I can just come in there and pick it up. Keep this ball rolling."

Yet Steelers running backs coach James Saxon wanted to make one thing very clear after the Steelers took him with the 105th overall pick in the draft. This wasn't a public relations move or an act of charity for a young man who has become an inspiration. This is about winning football games. And that's it.

"This is not a story about sentiment," Saxon said. "This is a story about a young man that is a very good football player ... and I hope the guys we play against are sentimental."

Probably not. The 6-foot-1, 233-pound Conner gives the defending AFC North champions a physical yin to star Le'Veon Bell's athletic yang. Conner set an Atlantic Coast Conference record by scoring 56 touchdowns during his abbreviated career at Pitt, including 16 last season during his emotional comeback from the stunning cancer diagnosis on Thanksgiving in 2015 that threatened to end his career before it really began.

Yet Conner never stopped working. He trained with his teammates even as he underwent treatment and as his redshirt junior season went on last fall, the power and relentlessness that made him the 2014 ACC Player of the Year returned. He ran for 132 yards in an upset win over eventual national champion Clemson, part of a finishing kick in which he went over 100 yards in four of his final six games.

He embraced becoming a role model as a cancer survivor, something that became known locally as #ConnerStrong. It's more than just a hashtag. What Conner lacks in Bell's agility he makes up for in fury, a throwback for a franchise whose history is littered with running backs that doubled as bulldozers.

Saxon called Conner a "no frills" player, one that won't be a stranger when he arrives at rookie minicamp next month. The Steelers and Pitt work in the same building in the city's South Side neighborhood and Conner already considers Bell a friend. Conner insisted he's not looking to challenge Bell's spot. He's just going to learn as much as he can while trying to fit in on a team with designs of reaching the Super Bowl.

Joshua Dobbs (Round 4) 

The first quarterback drafted on Day 3 was Tennessee's Josh Dobbs, who went in the fourth round at No. 135 overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dobbs was selected with the same pick as Dallas took Dak Prescott last year.

Ben Roethlisberger is the unchallenged starter, and the Steelers resigned Landry Jones as his backup.

Brian Allen (Round 5)

Allen started as a wide receiver at Utah before becoming a defensive back.

Colin Holba (Round 6) 

Colin Holba is a long snapper who left Louisville early then saw it pay off when he became the first player at his position to be taken by the Steelers in 13 years. The selection raised more than a few eyebrows, but Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin pointed out that the 35-year-old Warren isn't getting any younger and competition for jobs isn't just for the traditional spots.

Keion Adams (Round 7) 

Pittsburgh ended things by taking a flyer on outside linebacker Keion Adams from Western Michigan.