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Draft takes some time to grade

PITTSBURGH – Here’s the only accurate grade you’ll get on the Steelers draft:

Incomplete.

Anything else is pure guesswork, and that includes the team. They’re making a more educated guess than anyone else because they’ve done more homework. But heavens to Huey Richardson, there are first-round busts just as certainly as there are undrafted surprises like James Harrison and Donnie Shell.

The Steelers’ selection of Miami cornerback Artie Burns has been widely panned. Pro Football Focus graded the choice a “D,” believing the Steelers reached too far and used their first pick on a second-round talent.

We’ll find out, but we won’t until Burns puts on pads, gets on the field and actually competes against NFL talent.

It will take time, and nobody likes that. We’re geared for instant answers, so that’s why so many grades are floating around.

Instant analysis can be laughably bad. When the Steelers had their legendary 1974 draft that netted four future Hall of Fame players, it was panned by Phil Musick, writing in The Pittsburgh Press.

He liked No. 1 choice Lynn Swann just fine, but didn’t think the Steelers had really helped themselves with their other choices.

He wrote of the second round choice, “Jack Lambert figures to be the No. 5 linebacker, if he pans out.”

He referred to the rest of the picks as “question marks.” That included John Stallworth (fourth round) and Mike Webster, who was chosen a round later.

Musick dismissed Webster as “excess baggage” and said he was drafted, “primarily to snap the ball at training camp.”

OK, Musick was a wordsmith, not a scout. More to the point are comments made by people actually doing the drafting.

In a rare lucid moment last week for 93.7 The Fan, afternoon host Joe Starkey dug out some tape from 2013 draft day. General manager Kevin Colbert and coach Mike Tomlin were raving about first-round choice Jarvis Jones and how well he’d fit into the Steelers’ defense because he’d played some of the same schemes at Ohio State.

In three NFL seasons, Jones has produced five sacks, two forced fumbles and one interception. He’s not yet considered a bust (save that for Jamain Stephens, class of 1996), but he’s clearly been a disappointment.

So what of Burns? At 21, he’s responsible for two younger brothers, ages 16 and 12, and the 19-month old son he had with his fiance. Burns’ mother died last October, and his father is serving a long prison sentence for cocaine trafficking.

That’s a lot of responsibility to combine with starting a career in the insanely competitive NFL.

“Incomplete” is the only relevant draft grade at this point.

No justice

Was anyone surprised that Tom Wilson of the Washington Capitals didn’t get more than a token $2,400 fine for his deliberate attempt to injure the Penguins’ Conor Sheary in the first playoff game? Wilson’s knee-to-knee hit could have ended Sheary’s postseason and jeopardized his career.

Two things are certain: 1. Some players have no respect for their peers, never mind the post-series hand shakes and hugs, and, 2. Unless the players start strapping on gun belts, the NHL will show little concern about the gratuitous violence.

And don’t think the Penguins are blameless on this front. Kris Letang deserved a penalty for viciously swinging his stick at the face of the Rangers’ Viktor Stalberg in the first round.

Moving on

Skip Bayless, whose irrational shouting has been part of ESPN for several years, will be moving to Fox Sports shortly.

His new contract is said to be in excess of $4 million per year, which is a lot more than Bayless ever earned in his previous life as a reasonable newspaper columnist.

It pays to be loud.

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