Column: Where is Steelers’ urgency?

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Memphis v Mississippi

Senquez Golson, the Steelers’ second-rounder, leaps for a pass aimed at Memphis’ Tevin Jones. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Maybe my problem is that I think more of the Steelers’ chances in 2015 than they do.

Honestly, that could be it.

Because, see, the view from here entering this NFL Draft was that this team, blessed with one of the NFL’s most bodacious offenses that includes bona fide MVP candidates at quarterback, wide receiver and running back, could have positioned itself to do something special. And not two or three years from now, but right now. This very fall. If only Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin would have taken meaningful steps toward upgrading its 27th-ranked pass defense.

Check that: Colbert and Tomlin could have begun such positioning back in the free-agency period by signing … well, someone, anyone. As opposed to watching reliable Brice McCain walk.

They didn’t. They waited, they watched, they shrugged.

Oh, and they talked about how the draft could help fill the hole. Tomlin mentioned that a month ago, and both management men reiterated it earlier this week.

But here we are, now three rounds deep into this draft, and all they have to show for it are the latest in a litany of first-round linebackers, Bud Dupree of Kentucky, followed by an undersized corner, Senquez Golson of Mississippi, in the second round, then a wide receiver of all positions, Sammie Coates of Auburn, in the third round. The latter two came last night, an evening that, in all candor, left me as underwhelmed as the one before it.

It’s not about these players. Underscore that, please, and it in all bold.

It might well be that Dupree was a steal for falling to No. 22, or a “gift,” as Colbert called him. I wrote as much in the column that night, not denigrating the kid in the slightest.

It also might be that Golson was the best corner available at No. 56. In spite of his 5-8 1/2 height, he was outstanding for Ole Miss this past season with 10 interceptions and not a single missed tackle. He also was an 11th-round pick of the Red Sox in Major League Baseball’s draft three years, turning down a $1 million bonus because, “Football is in my heart.”

Neat kid. Sounds like quite the overachiever, too, based on that heart.

I asked Carnell Lake, the Steelers’ secondary coach, about that:

There isn’t much to knock about Coates, either, at No. 87. He’s 6-1, 212, thicker than that sounds but blistering at full speed. He’s got what Richard Mann, the Steelers’ wide receivers coach, called “amazing athleticism, things you can’t coach.” A three-year starter at Auburn, he had seven 100-yard games and 13 touchdowns.

Best of all, he’s built for big plays, with 42 percent of his targets coming on routes of 20-plus yards. In a 206-yard showing at powerhouse rival Alabama, he caught touchdowns of 34 and 68 yards, a performance he remembered this way: “Our coaches let me loose, and I had fun.”

After which he added, “I felt like I left a lot of plays on the field.”

Right. There are the drops, too. Experts felt his propensity for failing to hold onto even routine passes caused him to drop to the third round, and Mann didn’t exactly shy away from the topic when I brought it up: “He has good hands. He does. I think — and I saw him four games — they didn’t play him every down. A lot of times, players can lose concentration simply because they aren’t involved. That’s not an excuse for him. That’s what I saw. We can coach him up.”

They might be just fine. All three of them.

I’ll repeat this yet again, since some reader reaction to the Dupree column strongly suggested I didn’t sufficiently delineate the difference between criticizing a draft approach and draft picks.

What I don’t like here is the lack of aggressiveness, the lack of urgency. That’s about approach.

When the Broncos saw the edge rusher they wanted, Shane Ray out of Missouri, John Elway traded with the Lions to move up from No. 28 to No. 23, and they tossed in two fifth-round picks and offensive lineman Manny Ramirez. Say what you will about Ray and all his baggage, or even the picks given up, but Elway got his man. He placed the greatest value, in light of overseeing a legit AFC contender, on getting his man. And yes, getting him at the primary position of need.

That was the first round. Yesterday, there was a bunch of this.

The Titans held the first pick of the second round and, by all accounts, made it known by the afternoon that it was up for grabs. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Steelers were among those that inquired. But they didn’t get it. The Giants did, swapping second-round picks and giving up a fourth-rounder and seventh-rounder to get their man, Landon Collins, a safety out of Alabama and a player the Steelers, too, had targeted.

Later in the round, the Eagles had a need at corner, and they had their eyes on Utah’s Eric Rowe, another target of the Steelers. Chip Kelly got his man, too. All he had to do was flip positions in the round — five spots apart — as well as giving up two fifth-rounders for a sixth-rounder. Big whoop.

And for the final kick in the gut, same round … well, sit down for this if you aren’t already familiar: The Steelers were set to take Maxx Williams, a burly, pass-catching tight end out of Minnesota, when the Ravens leapfrogged one spot ahead to steal him for the bargain price of a fifth-round pick sent to the Cardinals. That’s right: A successor who could have been the heir apparent to Heath Miller instead will be playing for their most reviled rival.

Yeah, Ozzie Newsome and John Harbaugh got their man, too.

Colbert and Tomlin could have done any of this. They didn’t. They waited, they watched … and they did the best they could at their allotted slots, as if handcuffed to their chairs.

Sorry, but that’s not good enough.

I’m not suggesting that one superior corner would convert the Steelers’ defense into something special. Or even a superior corner and a superior edge rusher. That would be silly. Way too many question marks would remain.

But I am suggesting that the Steelers wouldn’t need much more than an ordinary defense to compete, with everything that Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell and the rest of the No. 2-ranked offense can bring. And that’s to say nothing of the fresh heights it might reach if, as expected, Martavis Bryant takes another stride forward and stretches the field for Brown, Markus Wheaton and Heath Miller. It could be a spectacular group, no hype.

Colbert and Tomlin know this. They have to see this.

So why, then, stick with standard operating procedure in the draft?

To protect those late-rounders in the name of depth?

Hey, that always sounds good, but the reality is that for every AB that pops up in the sixth round or Vince Williams in the sixth or Kelvin Beachum in the seventh, the Steelers’ past five draft classes encompassing rounds 5-7 comprised Crezdon Butler, Stevenson Sylvester, Jonathan Dwyer, Doug Worthington, Chris Carter, Keith Williams, Baron Batch, Chris Rainey, Toney Clemons, David Paulson, Terrence Frederick, Terry Hawthorne, Justin Brown, Nick Williams, Shaquille Richardson, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Zumwalt, Daniel McCullers and Rob Blanchflower.

From A to Zumwalt, that’s a whole lot of special-teams and practice-squad filler, as is the case, of course, for most NFL teams.

That’s worth preserving over getting your man?

When the team should be following up a division title with moves toward something more?

But hey, whatever. If they can shrug, so can anyone else.