Mark Madden: Steelers' 2020 draft class won't offer immediate help

Meh (adjective): Not impressive, so-so; apathetic, indifferent.

Now that you know the word, use it in a sentence: The Steelers had a meh draft.

The odds of that increase when you don’t have a first-round pick. They also increase when you take a player who wasn’t considered good enough to invite to the NFL scouting combine, one who was a walk-on at a Group of Five school and two from football powerhouse (gag) Maryland, which hasn’t had a winning season since 2014.

There were 32 players selected in the first round. Fourteen were from Alabama, Clemson, LSU or Ohio State. The race doesn’t always go to the swift, nor the battle to the strong. But it’s certainly the way to bet.

The Steelers need help immediately, but won’t get it from this draft. They hate to fast-track rookies. Troy Polamalu didn’t start a single game his first season. This year’s rookies won’t have OTAs or mini-camp, and maybe not exhibition games.

The Steelers took Notre Dame receiver Chase Claypool in the second round (49th overall). He’s 6-foot-4, 238 pounds and ran the 4o-yard dash in 4.42 seconds at the combine. That’s reminiscent of Detroit Lions legend Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron — except Megatron went second overall, not 49th. There’s a reason for that.

Claypool has a tight end feel. That’s OK. Ben Roethlisberger likes big targets. Claypool got 13 touchdowns last season. That’s good. The Steelers didn’t score more than 27 points in a game in 2019 and were the only NFL team to not put up at least 30.

It’s said that Claypool doesn’t play as fast as his 40 time. But he lines up outside. If Claypool plays much, that pushes JuJu Smith-Schuster to his most effective spot, the slot, before pushing him out of Pittsburgh at season’s end.

Claypool was the 11th receiver taken. (Megatron was not.) Makes you think the Steelers were predisposed to take a receiver first no matter what. (See Edwards, Troy.)

Why not take J.K. Dobbins, the running back from Ohio State? He went 55th to Baltimore, so that has the potential to blow up in the Steelers’ faces twice per year. Dobbins was the fifth running back selected.

Taking Claypool instead of Dobbins is by no means outrageous. But when the Steelers passed on Dobbins in the second round, it seemed illogical to take Maryland back Anthony McFarland Jr. in the fourth. McFarland won’t beat out James Conner for the starting job, nor usurp many snaps. McFarland is fast and hits the odd long run. That could make him useful, eventually. Or it could make him Amos Zereoue.

Edge rusher Alex Highsmith of Charlotte made sense as a third-round pick. Despite his lack of pedigree as a walk-on at a Conference USA school, Highsmith is big enough and quick enough. He’s a badly needed backup for T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree. If he shows decent progress as a rookie, he’s likely to start in 2021 after Dupree leaves.

Guard Kevin Dotson of Louisiana is a good story: The fourth-round pick is a lifelong Steelers fan and plays with bite, especially when it comes to run blocking. (The Steelers got lots of battle in this draft.)

The Steelers took a few good stories. But the word is meh, especially when it comes to getting contributions right away.

The draft was good TV. The home-movie vibe was folksy and feel-good, offset a bit by too many picks having a sob story told on their behalf. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came off more human, perhaps better than ever. Deadpan New England coach Bill Belichick was funny when his dog sat in his chair and he talked about it. Dallas owner Jerry Jones sat on his yacht. Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel’s kid sat on the toilet. New York Giants GM Dave Gettleman wore a mask in an empty room.

It’s safe to assume a lot of pre-draft girlfriends were put on waivers the morning after the first round. That’s part of the process.

The at-home, oddball stuff was much better than the usual glitz and glamour and will be missed when the draft is at Cleveland next year. Then again, glitz and glamour are in short supply there, even more so than toilet paper and hand sanitizer. And that’s when there isn’t a pandemic.