Steelers fans who wanted, longed, and begged for Kevin Colbert to draft Pittsburgh’s first 1st round cornerback since they took Chad Scott in 1997 got their wish.
- The 25th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft saw the Steelers draft Artie Burns, cornerback out of Miami.
The move to draft Burns came after a run on cornerbacks and safeties began at the 10th pick when the Giants selected Eli Apple, player the Steelers were interested in. Vernon Hargreaves of Florida was next taken in the 11th by the Buccaneers. Picking one slot before the Steelers, the Bengals drafted William Jackson the III, another player the Steelers were interested in.
The Raiders also took West Virginia Safety Karl Joseph, another player whom the Steelers were interested in, while the Atlanta Falcons took Keanu Neal with the 17th pick.
A Look at Steelers 1st Round Pick Artie Burns
ESPN rated Artie Burn’s as the 31st best player in the draft. While those rankings are highly subjective, it does suggest that the Steelers may have reached by about 6 slots to get him. That also seems to be the opinion of others. Pro Football Focus responded to the pick with this Tweet:
Artie Burns posted just three above-average pass coverage grades in 2015 and had a negative overall grade. #SteelersDraft
— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) April 29, 2016
Matt C. Steel of Jim Wexell’s Steel City Insider site rated Burns as a second round pick, explaining “Arm length, ball skills and inconsistency are all on this guy’s tape. I can’t get excited if this is the pick, but I’d settle for it.”
Clearly, as the video indicates Artie Burns does know how to take the ball away. IN three years at Miami, Burns had 7 interceptions, with six of them coming in his final year. Burns stands at 6’ and weighs in at 193 pounds.
Steelers GM Kevin Colbert calls Artie Burns a 'special kid' who was the draft's best… https://t.co/MODo1hjTlP pic.twitter.com/5p85qDGOMT
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) April 29, 2016
Welcome to Steelers Nation Artie Burns.
