"Big Snack," batting down a "Ginger Spice" pass, is entering the twilight of his career. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-US PRESSWIRE


Well, it’s official: the Steelers are now in “dire straits” when it comes to the Nose Tackle position. With Chris Hoke’s recent retirement, the soon to be 35 year old Casey Hampton needing ACL surgery, and Steve McLendon only tipping the scales at around 280 lbs., Pittsburgh is at the point where finding a 0-Technique, 3-4 Nose Tackle is of the highest importance.

Worries aside, this year’s Draft should provide Pittsburgh with a terrific opportunity to help to cure their ills at the center of their Defensive Line. So sit back, relax, and ready yourself for a short breakdown of six potential Nose Tackle prospects which the Steelers could be eying in this April’s Draft:

Dontari Poe: Memphis (6’5″ 350 lbs.)

Dontari Poe appears to be the consensus #1 0-Technique, 3-4 NT of this season’s Draft class, and I would have a hard time arguing with that sentiment. Poe is an absolute “mountain of a man,” and has improved each and every season while playing at Memphis.

Poe was an absolute beast at Memphis. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE


Poe, a Junior from Memphis, TN, established himself as a force to be reckoned with during his three year collegiate career, and consistently improved over the 30 games which he started from 2009-2011.

In 2009, Poe earned Conference USA All-Freshman honors and racked up 27 Tackles in 6 starts, 7 TFL, 3 FF, and 2.0 Sacks. Poe followed his effective Freshman campaign by accumulating 41 Tackles, 6.5 TFL, 2.0 Sacks and earned Honorable All-Conference USA honors in 2010. Finally, this past season, Poe made 33 Tackles, 8 TFL, 1.0 Sack, had 3 PBU’s, 1 FF, and was named the Tigers’ Team Defensive MVP.

Poe’s biggest drawback may be his age, as he will only be 22 when the 2012 season starts and left school with a year of eligibility remaining. Dontari will likely face the same kind of extensive seasoning process as Ziggy Hood, but even though he may have left school after 3 seasons, he still started 2.5 of them, so that’s not a huge worry.

Hopefully, longtime D-Line Coach John Mitchell can help Poe to develop quickly, and Hampton can squeeze one more decent year out of himself so Poe could be playing some significant snaps by the end of the season if he is drafted by Pittsburgh.

I believe that inserting Poe into a Defensive Line consisting of DE’s Ziggy Hood and Cameron Heyward, could give Pittsburgh its “D-Line of the Future” in immediate the “Present.” And by 2013, the Steelers Front 3 Base-Set would be a young force to be reckoned with and could be tearing up the League and striking fear into the opposition. Maybe Poe will be the final building block, and you certainly can’t teach the kind of size and brute strength which Dontari possesses.



http://nicepickcowher.com/2012/01/28/will-the-steelers-select-any-of-these-nose-tackle-prospects-in-the-2012-draft/#more-11967

supytalpeht wrote:

I waffle on a daily basis between a top Guard prospect and Poe in the 1st round. My favorite option is still to put a 1st round tender on Wallace and letting him go giving us two 1st round picks in the process. That way we could fill two of our most pressing needs with solid prospects and our WR's would still be solid with Brown,Sanders, and Cotchery. I still really really want a 6'5 WR though, damn you Sweed.

solardave wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

I waffle on a daily basis between a top Guard prospect and Poe in the 1st round. My favorite option is still to put a 1st round tender on Wallace and letting him go giving us two 1st round picks in the process. That way we could fill two of our most pressing needs with solid prospects and our WR's would still be solid with Brown,Sanders, and Cotchery. I still really really want a 6'5 WR though, damn you Sweed.

Can we turn Poe into a 6'5" 350lb WR? Maybe he can go old school and play both sides?

Who in the hell would want to tackle this guy. Ryan Clark would get the hell out of his way!!

kirklandrules wrote:

Poe certainly isn't a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe the Steelers would take a raw guy like this in the 4th round. He's big and strong, but he hasn't shown dominance. If you want to sniff the top rounds of the draft, you better be dominate.

kirklandrules wrote:

Poe certainly isn't a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe the Steelers would take a raw guy like this in the 4th round. He's big and strong, but he hasn't shown dominance. If you want to sniff the top rounds of the draft, you better be dominate.

supytalpeht wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Poe certainly isn't a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe the Steelers would take a raw guy like this in the 4th round. He's big and strong, but he hasn't shown dominance. If you want to sniff the top rounds of the draft, you better be dominate.

I've seen him as low as 28th and as high as 11th as a prospect overall, can't say that I've seen him as 3rd rounder or worse.

kirklandrules wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Poe certainly isn't a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe the Steelers would take a raw guy like this in the 4th round. He's big and strong, but he hasn't shown dominance. If you want to sniff the top rounds of the draft, you better be dominate.

I've seen him as low as 28th and as high as 11th as a prospect overall, can't say that I've seen him as 3rd rounder or worse.

First, the guy played at Memphis and wasn't consistantly banging against the top tier in college. In most of the scouting reports I've read, he's knocked for getting blocked by a single blocker and doesn't fight through double teams.

In contrast, Big Snack played at Texas, faced top talent, and was dominant. Ziggy played on a successful Missouri team, faced good talent, and was dominant. Heyward played for Ohio State, faced top talent, and was dominant.

Poe is big, strong and has some talent with the potential for great upside. Not sure that's a 1st or 2nd round pick. If the Steelers do choose him, I'll root for him like I root for everyone in Black and Gold.


This is a preliminary scouting report from Dec:
Projection: Right now I have a 3rd round grade on Poe. I thought about grading him as a round four guy, but his size, strength and burst off of the line of scrimmage is just too rare that I don’t think he would slide that far.
http://nfldraftmonsters.com/scouting/defensive-tackle/preliminary-scouting-report-dontari-poe/

supytalpeht wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

supytalpeht wrote:

kirklandrules wrote:

Poe certainly isn't a 1st or 2nd round pick. Maybe the Steelers would take a raw guy like this in the 4th round. He's big and strong, but he hasn't shown dominance. If you want to sniff the top rounds of the draft, you better be dominate.

I've seen him as low as 28th and as high as 11th as a prospect overall, can't say that I've seen him as 3rd rounder or worse.

First, the guy played at Memphis and wasn't consistantly banging against the top tier in college. In most of the scouting reports I've read, he's knocked for getting blocked by a single blocker and doesn't fight through double teams.

In contrast, Big Snack played at Texas, faced top talent, and was dominant. Ziggy played on a successful Missouri team, faced good talent, and was dominant. Heyward played for Ohio State, faced top talent, and was dominant.

Poe is big, strong and has some talent with the potential for great upside. Not sure that's a 1st or 2nd round pick. If the Steelers do choose him, I'll root for him like I root for everyone in Black and Gold.


This is a preliminary scouting report from Dec:
Projection: Right now I have a 3rd round grade on Poe. I thought about grading him as a round four guy, but his size, strength and burst off of the line of scrimmage is just too rare that I don’t think he would slide that far.
http://nfldraftmonsters.com/scouting/defensive-tackle/preliminary-scouting-report-dontari-poe/

And the same guy has him going 26th to Houston in his mock draft.