While the Pittsburgh Steelers have garnered significant praise for their selection of former Kentucky pass-rusher Alvin "Bud" Dupree with their first-round pick in the 2015 NFL Draft - and with good reason; Dupree's prodigiously talented and fills a glaring need at outside linebacker - it seems, according to a report, that the one-time Wildcat was not, in fact, the apple of Steelers GM Kevin Colbert's NFL draft-eye.
"While the Steelers didn't take a corner in the first round, it wasn't from a lack of trying. Sources from around the league told us that the Steelers were calling teams to see about a trade, and their target was Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes," reports Charlie Campbell of Walter Football.
"Pittsburgh was calling teams to gauge what it would take to get them to move down. The Steelers weren't willing to give up a huge amount of picks, and Waynes ended up going to the Vikings with the 11th-overall pick. Moving into the top 10 was too costly for the Steelers."
The Steelers reported interest in a cornerback, and specifically Waynes, makes ample sense. With Ike Taylor's retirement and Brice McCain's departure, the cornerback position looks very thin beyond the perennially underappreciated William Gay and the frustrating Cortez Allen in Pittsburgh.
Waynes is a fluid athlete that was asked to play on an island quite often by the Michigan State coaching staff. He's mentally and physically tough and isn't afraid to mix it up at the line of scrimmage. With Marcus Peters' draft stock suffering from reported personality issues, the 6-foot, 188-pound Waynes immediately became the consensus top choice at the position.
Waynes would have immediately commandeered one of the two starting spots on the outside were Colbert able to add him.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh fans, per Campbell, while the Steelers spent much of the lead-up to the first-round gathering information on potential trade up scenarios and Waynes was very much "Plan A," they never really got close to pulling off a deal.
Dupree seems like a heck of a "Plan B," though.
