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CB Terrence Frederick – Steelers 7th Round Pick

Jeff Snedden — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:11:38 +0000

CB Terrence Frederick

With their 3rd pick in the seventh round, the Steelers selected CB Terrence Frederick of Texas A&M.

Overview

Frederick is an undersized corner who started for Texas A&M and played a variety of roles throughout his career. He is slow-footed, which can be his defining attribute as he struggles off the line playing close in man coverage; he is much more of a zone player. He often has played in the slot in nickel packages in his career, which will help him early on in his transition to the NFL. He gets the most out of his athletic ability by being a smart player who takes good angles on the ball.

Analysis

Strengths

Frederick is a very good zone defender who understands angles. He knows how to diagnose plays and watches his man’s hips and then turns his eyes to the quarterback to make breaks when playing zone. This can get him in trouble at times, but he wins more often than not when reacting to the quarterback and breaking on the ball. Frederick is a solid, good-base athlete who plays that way on the edge when supporting the run. Although he is slightly undersized, he likes to throw his body around and won’t just stick on blocks, which is the knock on some undersized corners.

Weaknesses

Frederick is not a man-cover corner and would struggle early if put in that situation in the NFL. He is slow-footed and can get blown by off the snap when in man coverage. He is a bit undersized and struggles on the line against bigger receivers. He is inconsistent and almost bashful when playing man coverage. He appears unsure of his speed when running with a receiver down field.

Steelers Tab Receiver In Round Three

chris — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:27:55 +0000

Are the Pittsburgh Steelers being secretly run by Al Davis?

The Black and Gold tabbed wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders out of Southern Methodist University with their third round draft pick. Sanders is your prototypical burner, running a blistering 4.41 seconds in the 40. At only 5’11 and 186 pounds, he better blow by coverage even though he’s said to be very elusive with excellent leaping ability. This guy (I’ve been watching way too much John Gruden) is reminiscent of last year’s flier on Mike Wallace who, like Sanders, was also a mid-round slot guy with added value as a kick and punt returner. Although the Steelers already have a slot receiver in Antwaan Randle-El, this gives them a vertical threat with blazing speed and the ability make athletic plays deep down the field.

The main knock on Sanders is his lack of physicality. I’m sure a little of Hines Ward‘s trademark toughness will rub off on the rookie. But as of now, he’s one of those guys that shies away from throwing blocks and is relatively easy to tackle. The other concern is that his college coach was June Jones, the mastermind of the run-and-shoot offense. Receivers in that offense usually have wildly overinflated numbers due to the fact it’s a pass heavy attack. Also of note is despite twice being named a team captain, he was suspended for multiple games in 2008 for missing study hall and team meetings. While those character issues aren’t the same red flags the idiot we just shipped off to the Jets had, they are worth noting.

All in all, I can’t really compain about this pick. I would’ve preferred the Steelers take one of the more accompished name WRs in the second round when pretty much everybody was still on the board but you can’t argue with success. Director of player personnel Kevin Colbert has a knack for finding quality targets in later rounds so hopefully this will be another name to add to the list. And, as I said after the previous pick, this team needs a playmaking wideout which Sanders certainly seems to be. Hopefully, he pans out.

Steelers Get Their Man: Ziggy Hood

chris — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 07:51:40 +0000

While the Pittsburgh Penguins were mounting a furious comeback from a three goal deficit to finally erase Philadelphia Flyers scum from the NHL playoffs, the 2009 NFL Draft was deciding the future of several NFL teams. As is usual for the draft, some players saw their stock rise (USC quarterback Mark Sanchez rose from a mid-first rounder to the fifth overall pick) while several saw their fortunes fall (USC LB Ray Maualuga, projected as a first rounder slide all the way to the middle of the second). Pitt’s star RB Shady McCoy found a new home (although hopefully not a new hockey team) when the Philadelphia Eagles called his name late in the second round. General consensus is had he come back for one more year, Shady would’ve positioned himself as a definite first round pick so his greed and arrogance looks to have cost him several million dollars. Plus now he has to play for the Eagles which is a terrible fate all by itself.

And the Pittsburgh Steelers got their man in Evander “Ziggy” Hood.

Ziggy Hood, a 6’3 300 pound defensive tackle out of Missouri, was a name long associated with the Steelers. There were several intriguing prospects still on the board when it came time to write down a name, including OTs Eben Britton, William Beatty, and Phil Loadholt and DBs Jairus Byrd and Darius Butler. However, the need to inject some youth in to an aging defensive line won out in the end. With every current starter age 30 or older it was time to look toward the future.

Hood will fit in nicely at DE in the Steelers 3-4 defense. Since it takes rookies a year to understand Dick Lebeau‘s complicated schemes, he can sit for a year behind Brett Keisel and Aaron Smith with no pressure to step in right away. With Keisel becoming a free agent next year, they’ll expect Ziggy to take his place on the line in 2010. From the looks of his game film posted above, he should be a more than adequate replacement.

Hood has excellent size and strength. He’s also an active defender with a motor that doesn’t stop. He can get upfield to collapse a pocket but is also very stout at the point of attack. This is important in the Steelers scheme because we don’t normally depend on our DL to pressure the QB but rather to engage the OL to free up our linebackers and/or clog up running lanes. He has the body type, power, and agility to do all those things and do them well.

The reasons he fell to us at the end of the first round are twofold. First, his college numbers are pretty mediocre. He only averaged about 50 tackles and 3 sacks over his four year career. His other drawback is while he’s solid in every area, he excels in none. He can pressure the passer but he isn’t a sack artist. He can stop the run but he isn’t an immoveable beast like Albert Haynesworth. He’s basically projected as a nice capable starter which is fine except most teams want to believe they have a future Pro Bowler with their 1st round pick.

In the second round, the Steelers looked over the remaining names and decided they didn’t like anybody. They traded the selection to the Denver Broncos for two more 3rd rounders, giving us three selections in the 3rd, two in the 5th, one in the 6th, and two more in the 7th (including the final overall choice, also known as Mr. Irrelevant).