Why the Pittsburgh Steelers Must Draft Oregon Cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu

Being an NFL Draft writer, I have come to understand that disagreement is part and parcel to the process of breaking down prospects and projecting their NFL futures. Even when it comes to the draft needs of the Pittsburgh Steelers, you will usually find some agreement about the positions of need, but rarely does that mesh with the players to fill those positions.

Part of this is because no matter how much anyone studies prospects, you cannot know them all. You might have a broad knowledge of players, but most pundits and fans gravitate toward certain guys. This means that when it comes to debating prospects, you defend the guys you know.

Even when it comes to the elite prospects, there is almost never consensus about who will be great. That makes determining a “must-draft” type of prospect a fascinating challenge.

For the Steelers, trying to determine this prospect, I considered these three factors:

Scheme Fit—Talent aside, this has to be a player who can come in and fit the scheme and maximize their ability.

Need—There’s no point in looking at a player like this if they don’t play a position of need. If not, then they cannot be considered a must-draft prospect.

Value—Finally, the selection of the player has to be a good value. I’m not factoring in the guy that requires a big trade-up to get. There haven’t been more than a handful of players who truly deserve a blockbuster move to get.

My must-draft prospect? It’s Oregon cornerback Ifo Ekpre-Olomu. When breaking down the Oregon star, you can check every box as to why the Steelers must draft him.

Ekpre-Olomu is a three-year starter and four-year contributor at Oregon. His experience is among the very best of any cornerback in this draft. And it wasn’t a case of just being on the field. Here’s the statistical breakdown for Ekpre-Olomu during his time at Oregon.

Year	Tackles	Ints
2011	34	0
2012	63	4
2013	84	3
2014	63	2

Let’s break Ekpre-Olomu down by those three criteria.

Scheme Fit

A strength of Ekpre-Olomu’s game is his ability to play off-man coverage. The Steelers played a ton of zone (by my film study), last season, mainly because the talent just wasn’t there in the secondary to allow them to play anything more. Off-man coverage is much more favorable to forcing turnovers, which the Steelers lacked in 2014.

Off-man coverage requires intelligence, acceleration and anticipation. An off-man cornerback must be able to diagnose the play, read the quarterback while still having the athleticism to break on the football and make plays. They must also be able to play with discipline, especially in this age of flooding one side of the field with wide receivers and bunch formations.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

These are all strengths to Ekpre-Olomu’s game. He may never run a 4.3 40-yard dash, but his short-area quickness and acceleration are better than anyone on the roster right now. In addition his technique and ball skills are as good as any in this draft. 

The other area of Ekpre-Olomu’s game that appeals to the Steelers centers around Ekpre-Olomu’s ability to defend the run and his skills as a tackler. Far too many times over the course of the last three seasons, Pittsburgh defensive backs were missing blocks and giving up splash plays.

Need

There is no way to overstate just how badly the Steelers need a cornerback. In fact, Pittsburgh should probably consider drafting more than one. And considering Ekpre-Olomu’s situation (more on that in a moment), this could be achieved easily.

Looking at last season’s cornerbacks, three guys who played significant reps are free agents. With a real possibility that some combination of Ike Taylor, Brice McCain and Antwon Blake won’t be on the roster in 2015, the need for at least one rookie cornerback is made much more clear.

Value

Here is the part of the story where Ekpre-Olomu becomes a real must-draft. The first two criteria make Ekpre-Olomu a priority prospect to consider. However, when you consider the real possibility that the former Duck will be on the board in the second, and possibly even the third round, selecting him makes even more sense.

How would the Steelers and Ekpre-Olomu find themselves in a position where a first-round talent could be had at least one round later? Well, in case you missed it, as reported by multiple sources including ESPNU, Ekpre-Olomu was lost for the season after injuring his knee in practice. 

"

Ifo Ekpre-Olomu (knee) out for season http://t.co/2MnC5YGd4v

— ESPNU (@ESPNU) December 18, 2014 "

This not only cut his season short, but also puts his start to his NFL career in limbo. Fortunately, per Okpre-Olomu’s Instagram account, he has successful knee surgery on December 23 and is on the road to recovery.

Instagram

If you want a potential scenario for a return for Ekpre-Olomu, let's look at last year’s draft and Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Aaron Colvin. Colvin was regarded by many as a late first-, early second-round prospect coming out of Oklahoma. Unfortunately, one play into Senior Bowl practice, as reported by Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, Colvin tore his ACL.

"

Aaron Colvin's agent confirms a torn ACL.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) January 22, 2014"

Now following Colvin’s timeline for recovery, he was active and playing in Week 12, which was November 23. In addition Colvin had been practicing for several weeks before that.

Ekpre-Olomu’s injury was a full month sooner, so logic would dictate that if the Steelers draft him, he’s be ready to play Week 8, somewhere in mid-October. An easy compromise for a player of this caliber.

So, at this point, it is just a matter of playing the guessing game with the rest of the NFL as to where to draft this supremely talented player coming off a terrible injury. Again we go back to the Colvin example. I personally had a second-round grade on Colvin, so based on that he fell two rounds.

Here’s what Miller of Bleacher Report said about Colvin.

"

Aaron Colvin was a Rd1 player heading into the Senior Bowl. Great to see him making plays.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) November 30, 2014"

"

Aaron Colvin. Fourth round pick. First round talent.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) December 19, 2014 "

The parallel here is dead on. Pittsburgh has a real opportunity here to use their third-round pick to absolutely steal a Top-32 player. If there was ever the veritable definition of being a must-draft prospect for the Steelers, it is Ekpre-Olomu.