Joe Greene stopped by the Steelers’ offices early in the draft and his presence served as a reminder that their great turnaround in the ’70s started on defense.
Now they are constructing a new generation of defense they hope can be great again, or at least slow people down long enough to let one of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses challenge for their next championship.
The Steelers added two more defensive players in the second and third rounds of the draft Friday night, making it 3-for-3 on defense to start what is headed for another defense-dominated class of rookies.
In the third round, they drafted defensive lineman Javon Hargrave of South Carolina State (6-1, 309). Hargrave has the kind of versatility they sought in a defensive lineman — he can play nose tackle and also end.
He came after they made it two picks, two defensive backs when they opened the second day of the draft by selecting safety Sean Davis of Maryland in the second round, after cornerback Artie Burns was their first pick on Thursday.
The Steelers ranked 21st on defense in the NFL last season, 30th against the pass. That’s a long way down for a team that annually ranked near the top overall through much of the first dozen years of this century.
Last year, the Steelers drafted six players on defense with their eight picks.
In the early going at least, they went for the best defensive backs available.
Davis played cornerback last season at Maryland but the Steelers will play him at safety, where he played the previous two seasons at Maryland. To hear secondary coach Carnell Lake, he may start quickly at strong safety.
“He and Mike Mitchell will work well together in the secondary,” Lake said shortly after the Steelers drafted him.
Davis — a native of the Washington, D.C. area who speaks fluent Chinese and some French — is an aggressive, big hitter who forced five fumbles in 2015, second in major college football. He also led the Terps with 70 solo tackles last season and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. He had 300 tackles in his career.
Davis is 6-foot-1, 201 pounds. He started all 38 games for Maryland the past three seasons, moving to cornerback full time in 2015 after starting in 2013 and 2014 at safety.
The draft will conclude Saturday with rounds four through seven.
Davis, like first-round pick Burns at cornerback, fills a need for the Steelers, who return Mitchell as their lone starting safety from 2015.
Lake said he, personally, had him rated No. 1 of all the safety prospects in this draft.
“He’s going to provide us with a lot of versatility and depth at a need position of safety for us, that’s where we plan on playing him,” said Lake, who came to the Steelers as a safety and also played cornerback.
“I put him at the top of all the guys we looked at at the position. He has good experience, good coverage skills, makes good plays on the ball. That’s one area of concern we had to address and he’s a guy who can fit the bill for us.”
Lake said that with offenses spreading things out more and passing 70 percent of the time, the Steelers needed someone like Davis in their backfield who is fast, versatile, tall and can cover tight ends such as Rob Gronkowski.
“You have to have a guy with size who can run and cover and he provides that for us,” Lake said. “I’m excited. I’ve been coaching here six years. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a [defensive back as a] first-rounder for the Steelers.”
Now they’ve made them 1-2 after drafting cornerback Senquez Golson in the second round last season.
“It’s coming together,” Lake said. “It feels good.”
The Steelers were thin at safety; after Mitchell they have Robert Golden, Shamarko Thomas and Ross Ventrone. Will Allen, who started at strong safety last season, remains an unrestricted free agent.
Hargrave had 37 sacks in his college career, including 13.5 last season.
“I can’t believe it. It’s just a blessing man, a blessing,” said Hargrave, who pronounced himself a longtime Steelers fan and loved nose tackle Casey Hampton.
John Mitchell, the Steelers longtime defensive line coach, made it a personal mission to spend extra time and find out more about Hargrave.
“This guy is pretty impressive,” Mitchell said. “I think a lot of people passed on this guy because they were afraid of the competition. He didn’t play down to the talent he played against, he played up to his ability.”
Hargrave can play nose tackle in the Steelers base 3-4 defense and has the ability to spell defensive ends Stephon Tuitt and Cam Heyward when they go to their substitution pass defenses.
“Here’s a guy right now who can play all three downs,” Mitchell said. “I think guards will have trouble with this guy.”
First Published: April 30, 2016, 1:24 a.m.
