PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan)- The Steelers chose two players from Mike Locksley's Maryland Terrapins in the 2020 Draft.
First, running back Anthony McFarland Jr. in the fourth round followed by safety Antoine Brooks in the sixth round.
"This kid has shown that when he gets the ball enough and he gets his touches, whether it's him in the slot, popping out of the backfield to the slot. Handing him outside zones. This year he showed me he was capable of running inside the tackles. I really don't think he's limited.
He's an explosive playmaker that as an offensive coordinator, he's a guy that I would want to get the ball to 10-15 times a game at least early on. Usually, you get him enough touches, one of those things is going to the house."
Related
Locksley said McFarland is unique in that he isn't coming out of college with any concerns that he got too many carries already because of an injury in high school that set him back initially. He talks about his big game against Ohio State as a redshirt freshman in which McFarland exploded for 298 yards on just 21 carries with 2 touchdowns.
"That's the signature game for him that I think showed against high-level competition what he's capable of. But he consistently, when he was healthy, made plays like that. Not a real big guy, but when you take the pads off, he's not a small guy either. Maybe he doesn't have the length that some other backs have.
But I'm going to just tell you, he's a guy that in space is tough to get down."
Locksley said he could be a weapon returning kicks if the Steelers need him to and spent time catching punts as well, although he wasn't utilized as a punt returner at Maryland.
In hybrid safey Antoine Brooks, it's all about versatility and athleticism.
"[Brooks has] a rangy skillset. Tough enough and has a real high level of football intelligence where he can do a lot of things, put him in a lot of places. I know here during his career, he's played everything from outside backer, we played him in the deep half in the deep middle of the field last year. Before that, he's played down close to the box.
He's always been a disruptive force. A guy that is a playmaker on defense. When I was at Illinois as the offensive coordinator, Iowa had a safety Bob Sanders. When I got here, that's kind of what [Antoine] reminded me of."