Local coaches dish out grades

By JEREMY SELLEW

jsellew@yourmvi.com

Some of our local high school football coaches were mostly in agreement of how the Pittsburgh Steelers fared in the 2020 NFL draft.

Like most sports fans in general, coaches tuned into the three-day draft beginning Thursday to see which college players would be joining teams around the league. Not to mention, it was the first taste of “live” sports we’ve had in a while.

The Steelers added six new players in the draft, led by Chase Claypool, a receiver from Notre Dame with their first pick. Claypool was the 49th player chosen overall.

In the third round, Alex Highsmith, a defensive end from UNC-Charlotte was the choice. He’ll play outside linebacker.

The Steelers had two fourth-round picks and chose Maryland running back Anthony McFarland Jr. and guard Kevin Dotson from Louisiana-Lafayette.

With no fifth-round pick, the Steelers added Maryland safety Antoine Brooks Jr. in the sixth round and concluded the draft with Nebraska defensive lineman Carlos Davis in the seventh round.

Using a simple grading scale just like most high schools, the coaches polled gave the Steelers an overall grade of 3.3, good enough for a B.

The highest grade was handed out by Ringgold’s Darwin Manges, who gave the Black and Gold an emphatic “A.”

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