Das Forum » The record is what it is.

With the 141st pick of the 2019 NFL Draft the Pittsburgh Steelers select Michigan TE Zach Gentry"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Latest NewsSteelers Film Room2018 NFL Draft AnalysisLatest NewsLatest News2019 NFL Draft Analysis2019 NFL Draft Grades: Grading the Pittsburgh Steelers 5th round pick Zach GentryNew Terrell Edmunds Jersey White ,58commentsWith the 141st pick of the 2019 NFL Draft the Pittsburgh Steelers select Michigan TE Zach GentryEDTShareTweetShareShare2019 NFL Draft Grades: Grading the Pittsburgh Steelers 5th round pick Zach GentryJeff Hanisch-USA TODAY SportsThe Pittsburgh Steelers are evidently creatures of habit who resist change. I am basing this theory on the Steelers draft picks thus far. The Steelers organization has grown accustomed to seeing familiar body type walking around the hallowed hallways of Steelers headquarters. That is the only rational explanation I can fathom for a couple of these picks beyond coincidence.First the Steelers select Diontae Johnson in the third round, who could play Antonio Brown's body double if AB ever decides to take up acting on the silver stage and screen. Now the Steelers turn around in the fifth round and select the clone of recently departed TE Jesse 'The Outlaw' James, now a Detroit Lions employee. I guess absence really does make the heart grow stronger.I jest, but Pittsburgh Steelers fifth round selection Zach Gentry really does remind me of Jesse James. The are both quite tall, with Gentry topping out at 6'8" and 265lbs. Both men resemble a baby giraffe when they turn to run after the catch due to their extremely long torsos. Gentry tested poorly at the combine. He ran a pedestrian 4.9 40 and only achieved 12 reps in the bench press, so obviously he needs work on his playing strength. Players with extremely long arms are always at a disadvantage on the bench press, but Gentry's lack of overall strength really shows in his blocking. The good news for Zach Gentry is the fact he is a young man who is new to the position. A former high school quarterback who didn't transition to tight end till he arrived at Michigan, he is still learning the idiosyncrasies of the position. The Steelers are attracted to underclassmen because it gives them more time to grow and develop in their system. Mission accomplished with the Zach Gentry selection, and he is going to need the Steelers to be patient.Gentry was projected to be a late round selection to a priority free agent, so this pick feels a little like a reach. Gentry may eventually prove to be a adequate replacement for James on the field, not just in the team picture. Only time will tell and thankfully he is a underclassman. But is that the goal with a fifth round selection? Does that represent good draft value?For that reason I must give the Zach Gentry selection a grade of C.What overall grade do you give this selection? Please vote in the attached poll and explain why in the comments section below.Welcome to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Zach Gentry! From all of us at Steelers Nation! PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Roethlisberger didn’t want to get into hypotheticals.Maybe because doing so would only make the Pittsburgh Steelers‘ painful late swoon all the more painful.“Would’ve Womens JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey , could’ve, should’ve,” Roethlisberger said after Pittsburgh’s season ended a half-game shy of a fifth straight postseason berth. “I can sit here and say ‘Yeah, we’d be dangerous in the playoffs.’ But we didn’t make it, so it doesn’t matter.”Roethlisberger’s tone was a mixture of pragmatism and disappointment with a dash of resolve. As difficult and occasionally weird as 2018 was — from the season-long absence of running back Le’Veon Bell to the occasionally erratic behavior by star wide receiver Antonio Brown to a series of losses in November and December in which the Steelers let second-half leads slip away — the longtime quarterback remains adamant the Steelers are on the right path.“Anytime you can kind of keep that core group, keep people together, the less turnover the better usually,” Roethlisberger said. “So, from the top down I think that is important.”Maybe, but there is bound to be some level of change over the next few months as a team that featured the NFL’s passing leader and six Pro Bowlers tries to reconcile all that talent with an inability to lock up a third consecutive AFC North title.Offensive line coach Mike Munchak could be a hot property for one of the head coaching vacancies. Defensive coordinator Keith Butler’s unit tied for the league lead with 52 sacks but produced just 15 turnovers, third-fewest in the NFL.The special teams were erratic, penalty-riddled and largely ineffective under Danny Smith.And still the Steelers appeared to be in good shape after a six-game midseason winning streak pushed them to 7-2-1 by Thanksgiving.Four losses over the final six weeks followed Womens T. J. Watt Jersey , each setback coming in a game Pittsburgh led after halftime.“There were plenty of opportunities to be made and we didn’t capitalize on them,” defensive end Cam Heyward said.Four turnovers in Denver , the last a pick in the end zone by Roethlisberger. A slow, methodical meltdown over the final 30 minutes against the Los Angeles Chargers, when the Steelers lost a 16-point home lead for the first time in franchise history.Another in an increasingly long line of pratfalls in Oakland, this one coming when the Raiders went the length of the field twice in the fourth quarter . A wrenching 31-28 setback in New Orleans two days before Christmas that featured a couple of questionable calls against cornerback Joe Haden and a gutsy but ill-fated fake punt attempt in the final minutes that came up a half-yard short of a first down.“I don’t know what the problem is,” guard David DeCastro said. “Football is an honest sport. That’s why I love the game. It’s honest. It lets you know exactly how it feels about you, what you get in and what you get out.”And what does 9-6-1 mean?“Wasn’t good enough, that’s for sure,” DeCastro said.The issue, Heyward insisted, wasn’t coaching or the steady trickle of off-the-field headlines JuJu Smith-Schuster Jersey White , be it Bell’s refusal to sign his $14.4 million franchise tender or Brown’s series of missteps.The only player in NFL history with six straight 100-catch seasons suggested he wouldn’t mind getting traded after a former team employee tweaked him on Twitter and threatened to harm a reporter who attempted to do an in-depth piece on Brown’s personal life. The drama continued into the final week.Multiple reports on Monday — citing sources — said Brown sat out Sunday’s 16-13 win over Cincinnati as punishment for skipping meetings and getting into a heated disagreement with a teammate.“There’s plenty of circuses that go around and everybody likes to make a big deal about my team,” Heyward said. “But you know, that doesn’t mean we shy away from it. When we were winning, (the questions were) ‘How do you guys keep doing it with the wins?’ I don’t really follow that as something that deters me or distracts me. Everybody in this locker room wants to win. When we don’t win, it hurts us bad.”Pittsburgh did win — extending its streak of non-losing seasons to 15 — just not when it absolutely mattered. A play here or there and the Steelers are in the postseason and a threat to play into February.Instead, a year that got off to a weird start with the offensive line publicly venting about Bell opting not to end his standoff with the team ahead of Week 1 followed immediately by a six-turnover tie in Cleveland and never really seemed to get to some semblance of “normal” ended with Pittsburgh watching the videoboard at Heinz Field hoping Cleveland could knock off Baltimore.It was strange, momentarily exhilarating and ultimately futile.“It’s tough but that’s the bed we made,” Heyward said. “It’s something we have to live with. We put ourselves in this situation and we can’t look at anybody’s fault but ours.”