One NFL draft expert has two perfect fits for the Steelers. Franchise tag fallout. And a curious quote from Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel.

All that in Wednesday’s “First Call.”

Perfect in Pittsburgh

NFL Network and NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah did his annual pre-draft media conference call to look at potential needs of teams and college prospects that would fill them.

Via NFL.com, Jeremiah tabbed two specific prospects that he deems to be perfect fits for the Steelers. The first is a possible replacement at center for Maurkice Pouncey, Alabama’s Landon Dickerson.

“He’s almost the perfect Steeler. He’s physical and nasty. He’s fun to watch. He’s quick,” Jeremiah said. “He’s a taller guy (6-foot-6), but we’ve seen the Steelers coming off a pretty good run here with a tall center (Maurkice Pouncey).”

A 2020 Rimington Trophy winner as the NCAA’s best center, the only issue with Dickerson’s history is health. He tore an ACL during his freshman year at Florida State. Then he had another knee injury in the 2020 SEC title game that needed surgery, too.

The other “great fit” for Pittsburgh that Jeremiah mentioned is North Carolina running back Javonte Williams (5-foot-10, 220 pounds).

Can't stop watching this Javonte Williams run ? @TarHeelFootball pic.twitter.com/ZW9uHswr0J

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 13, 2020

As our Joe Rutter recaps, Jeremiah likens the former Tar Heel to Cleveland Browns star runner Nick Chubb.

Impact for Al

The Steelers didn’t franchise offensive tackle Al Villanueva. Nor was that expected.

However, two teams did franchise tackles and that impacts the free-agency landscape for Villanueva, assuming he doesn’t stay in Pittsburgh.

The Carolina Panthers put the tag on Taylor Moton. The Jacksonville Jaguars did the same to Cam Robinson. It’s expected that the hit against the salary cap will be somewhere between $13 million and $14 million for both players.

While that means the Jaguars and Panthers will now likely be out of the running for Villanueva’s services, it also means that two other candidates are out of the mix for the rest of the league when it comes to bidding big dollars.

Pro Football Focus listed Villanueva as the fourth-best tackle available behind Trent Williams (San Francisco), Moton, and his Carolina teammate Russell Okung. Robinson was five spots behind Villanueva in their evaluations.

Something to watch

Carl Lawson didn’t get a franchise tag from the Cincinnati Bengals.

The defensive end had a bit of an up-and-down career with the Bengals. In his first year, he totaled 8.5 sacks and made the PWFA All-Rookie team.

But in his second year, Lawson only had one sack in seven games because of a torn ACL. He came back with five sacks in 12 games his third year and 5.5 more this past season.

But his game matured. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin talked him up before both contests against Cincy. And it turns out that was wise. Lawson had 12 quarterback hits of Ben Roethlisberger over those two games, plus a sack and a forced fumble.

So it’d be nice for the Steelers to see him hit the open market and maybe get scooped up by someone outside of the AFC North.

The Auburn product is rated by CBS Sports as the 18th-best free agent available. And the website suggests the Bengals may still be working toward a long-term deal.

I’m sure Roethlisberger would prefer that didn’t happen.

Capel quote

Pitt coach Jeff Capel had a curious quote after his team’s season-ending loss to the Miami Hurricanes Tuesday afternoon.

The Hurricanes beat the Panthers 79-73 in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

After the defeat, Capel said, “I wish we could have had a little more time with this group … I think we could have grown into something that could be pretty good.”

By “this group,” I’m assuming Capel meant how the team was constructed after the transfers of Xavier Johnson and Au’Diese Toney. They were both gone as of Feb. 25. And the Panthers lost three of four down the stretch, beating only lowly Wake Forest (6-15).

So I’m not quite sure what gave him that vibe, as the team limped through February and March for a third straight year to finish 10-12.

It’s not as if the Panthers are totally devoid of talent. If Justin Champagnie, Nike Sibande (who said he will return for the NCAA’s free year of eligibility), Femi Odukale and Ithiel Horton all come back to the team, that’s not a bad start to next season. But it wasn’t going to gel all that quickly this year. That’s going to need a full offseason to develop and hone.

But it’s time to stop with the lazy, overly simple analysis of “It’s OK. Jeff Capel has ‘em goin’ in the right direction!”

Does he? Does he, really? I mean, if the “direction” is any direction further away from the Kevin Stallings era, I suppose that’s true. But Panthers fans may wanna check their GPS systems.

Because going 2-10 to close out the season isn’t the right direction. Neither were the defections of Toney and Johnson during the season, plus the one from Trey McGowens after last season. And certainly, a three-year record of 7-28 in February and March is entirely the wrong direction.

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