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The Mike Tomlin era begins in earnest. The Steelers head into the draft with bigger and more well defined needs than in recent years. They have nine total picks. All of their own picks plus compensatory picks in the fourth and fifth rounds. Kevin Colbert has done a good job of finding talent on the first day in his tenure. His record on the second day has been questionable. In all fairness the roster was generally set and there were limited opportunities for second day picks. That has changed. New coach Mike Tomlin will be looking to quickly put his stamp on the team. Veteran backups favored by Bill Cowher will no longer get the benefit of the doubt.
Probably the most interesting facet of this draft will by what type of defensive players are selected. An issue with the hiring of Tomlin was his experience with the 4-3 cover-2 defense in Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Tomlin has committed to a 3-4 zone blitzing scheme at least in the short term. Tomlin made a smart move retaining defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. LeBeau reportedly isn't adverse to trying new things despite his age and background. Supposedly the slavish devotion to the 3-4 zone blitzing scheme was more the product of Cower's wishes. More hybrid 4-3 looks are possible this season. This draft could provide clues as to whether Tomlin eventually plans to completely transition to a 4-3 cover-2 scheme. The Steelers pick 15, 46 and 77 on the first day. Finding value to fill a pressing need at 15 may not be easy. A front seven defensive player is the most likely pick. Unfortunately the top prospects could be off the board. Actually are probably going to be off the board. A fallback position based on value could be corner. Another outside possibility is LT. A reach for a LB like Jon Beason or Lawrence Timmons can not be discounted. A trade down would be desirable if a top front seven defender does not slip. The Broncos are always interested in trading. They have an extra third rounder from the Redskins to package with the 21st pick. The Eagles are also reportedly interested in moving up for Reggie Nelson. The Saints could deal for a top corner even though the Colts are not supposed to match the restricted free agent offer to Jason David. The two need areas that should present the Steelers with the most value at 46 are receiver and defensive end/OLB tweener. Right now my best guess is that the Steelers will draft two defensive front seven players and a receiver on the first day. A corner or offensive linemen is a possibility. Whichever of those five positions aren't addressed on the first day will be a definite second day target. Also on the second day would be a big running back, possibly a tight end, punter, second offensive linemen and/or third front seven defender that of course plays a different specific position than the first two. Based on Colbert's second day drafting record I personally could live without the TE. Here is a position by position breakdown of the Steelers draft needs. Players that officially visited Pittsburgh or that the staff reportedly showed an interest in at the Senior Bowl, combine, or a pro day workout that didn't visit are listed after the discussion of each position. QB: Ben Roethlisberger is the unquestioned starter and quite frankly the key to the team's fortunes. The youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl is coming off a difficult season both on and off the field. Now his head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach have all departed. Roethlisberger must step up for the Steelers to succeed. Charlie Batch is a solid backup. He turns 33 at the end of next season. Not really old for a backup QB. Using Batch to give Roethlisberger an extra week's rest last season in his return from an appendectomy and concussion may have actually gotten the Steelers into the playoffs. Brian St. Pierre was tendered a contract as a restricted free agent. Bryan Randle is an extra arm for camp. Cowher showed little interest in developing a second day prospect. In the last couple of years Cowher didn't even like keeping a third QB on the roster. Will that change? Probably not this year. Visits: None Shown Interest: Cullen Finnerty - Grand Valley St, Isaiah Stanback - Washington RB: Willie Parker deservedly went to the Pro Bowl. He is young and has a lot of tread left on the tire after being under utilized in college. Parker did not really seem to wear down as the season progressed in his first year as a starter despite almost single handedly carrying the load. He gained 579 yards and averaged 4.6 yards a carry in five December games. That included the Christmas Eve debacle against the Ravens when the offensive line struggled and Parker was shut down. Parker rebounded to gain 134 yards in Cincinnati to help eliminate the Bengals from playoff contention. Najeh Davenport was resigned as insurance. Verron Haynes could still be resigned if healthy and a pick is not used on a back. Davenport has given no indication in his five year NFL career that he could actually carry the load if Parker was injured. In fact Davenport has never been able to stay healthy for a full season as a backup. A better big back option than Davenport behind Parker would certainly not be a bad idea. A more traditional third down back with the explosiveness to make big plays is another draft day possibility. At fullback Dan Krieder is thirty and has taken a beating in his career. John Kuhn provides some depth. Finding an eventual replacement for Krieder is unlikely to be a priority. Visits: Antonio Pittman - Ohio St, Dwayne Wright - Fresno St Shown Interest: Tony Hunt - Penn St WR: Hines Ward should be able to provide two and hopefully three more productive seasons. Last year's first rounder Santonio Holmes came on strong as the season progressed. After them things get cloudy. Cedrick Wilson has been decent yet somewhat non-descript since signing as a free agent. Nate Washington provided a big play target at times last season. His inconsistency is an issue. Willie Reid returns from injury. New offensive coordinator Bruce Arians wants to spread the field more and use more four receiver sets. He is said to be intrigued by Reid. The front office has been very thorough in checking out receiver prospects. Especially possible second rounders. Not a bad idea given Ward's age and the time it takes most receivers to develop. A first day receiver could be bad news for Wilson and possibly Washington. Visits: Aundrae Allison - East Carolina, Jason Hill - Washington St, Dwayne Jarrett - USC, Jacoby Jones - Lane, Laurent Robinson - Illinois St, Steve Smith - USC Shown Interest: David Ball - New Hampshire, Dwayne Bowe - LSU, Rhema McKnight - Notre Dame, Sidney Rice - South Carolina TE: Heath Miller returns as the starter. Hopefully Arians will try to get him more involved in the passing game. Jeraime Tuman is the backup. He is an adequate blocker. Finding a cheaper alternative to him would not be a bad idea. Just not a priority. Tim Euhus is also on the roster. Last year a second day pick was wasted on Charles Davis. Davis was more receiver than blocker. If a second day pick is used on a tight end this year expect him to be more well rounded. Visits: Cody Boyd - Washington St, Matt Spaeth - Minnesota Shown Interest: None OT: The offensive line returned intact from the Super Bowl and then fell flat on their collective faces. Tackle was a bit less of an issue than the interior line. Marvel Smith is solid if somewhat unspectacular on the left side. His lingering neck/shoulder problems are something that needs to be kept in the back of the minds of the front office. Max Starks was tendered a contract as a restricted free agent and will return to compete with Willie Colon on the right side. Trai Essex provides depth. Essex and Colon were both drafted based on the strong recommendation of former offensive line coach Russ Grimm. Colon seems to still be in favor even though Grimm is gone. Essex is more of a question mark. A second day pick on a tackle probably doesn't make a lot of sense. A prime pick for a player to compete on the right side now and eventually take over for Smith is possible if somewhat unlikely because of the needs on defense. Visits: Levi Brown - Penn St, Ryan Harris - Notre Dame Shown Interest: Joe Staley - Central Michigan, Tony Ugoh - Arkansas C/G: Change is coming to the interior offensive line. Center Jeff Hartings retired. Sean Mahan was signed from Tampa Bay to compete to take his place. Starting guard Kendall Simmons will also be tried at center. Returnees Chukki Okobi and Marvin Philip remain in the mix. Philip will likely return as a backup. Okobi is in limbo. Two years ago Okobi signed a new four year contract which was structured to pay him as a backup through 2006. Then for two years as a starter. The signing of Mahan and move of Simmons inside gives the distinct impression that the front office does not think Okobi is worth starter money. Not a good sign for him. Chris Kemoeatu will compete with the loser of the competition between Mahan and Simmons at RG. Expect a draft pick to be added to the mix at some point. In normal circumstances perennial Pro Bowler Alan Faneca would be the one sure thing on the line. Faneca publicly questioned the hiring of Tomlin over Ken Whisenhunt and Grimm. He is also unhappy that the Steelers have not started talking to him about a contract extension. Faneca is an unrestricted free agent after the season and will have just turned 31. With the sudden rise in salaries for offensive guards he is really unlikely to be back for 2008. So would the Steelers consider dealing Faneca this year to get something besides a compensatory pick for him in return? Possible I guess, yet unlikely. But it does add more uncertainty to the offensive line situation. Visits: Allen Barbre - Missouri Southern (OT) Shown Interest: Ben Grubbs - Auburn, Samson Satele - Hawaii DL: Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel might be the best starting unit on the team. Chris Hoke is a decent backup inside. Depth at end is a big issue. Such a big issue that veteran journeyman Nick Eason was just signed as insurance. Travis Kirschke and Shaun Nua are also on the roster in addition to Eason. If any of them actually have to play next season the Steelers would be in trouble. Some might think that using a high pick on a probable backup might not be the best use of resources. There are a couple of additional factors that need to be considered. The possible future switch to a 4-3 alignment means a need for more defensive linemen going forward. Plus there has been some talk that Keisel could be asked to lose some weight to become a more versatile contributor at both end and as a big linebacker. Visits: Ikaika Alama-Francis - Hawaii, Adam Carriker - Nebraska, Ryan McBean Oklahoma St, Amobi Okoye - Louisville, DeMarcus Tyler - North Carolina St Shown Interest: Jay Alford - Penn St, Jamaal Anderson - Georgia (OLB), Alan Branch - Michigan, Brandon Mebane - California, David Patterson - Ohio State ILB: James Farrior and Larry Foote are back as the starters. Farrior is over 30 and coming off a down season. Foote is adequate, but not a big playmaker. Backup Clint Kriewaldt is a special teams player and former Cowher favorite that could be in danger of losing his roster spot. Rian Wallace and Richard Seigler have flashed some tools in preseason. What the new staff thinks of them is anybodies guess. Other needs really trump ILB. One possibility though is the drafting of a future cover-2 OLB that would fit inside in the short term. Visits: Anthony Waters - Clemson Shown Interest: None OLB: Joey Porter is gone. That leaves Clark Haggans, James Harrison and Arnold Harrison. Not a good situation for a defense generally built around the LB position. Drafting a linebacker that could play outside in the 3-4 and transition to a 4-3 cover-2 scheme would likely be ideal. That is why there has been a lot of speculation about Beason and Timmons in the first round and Stewart Bradley in the second round. A more traditional 4-3 outside linebacker may even be tried inside in the short term. The other possibility is to draft a tweener that could play standing up for a year or two and then transition to 4-3 end. The Steelers have been connected to numerous end/linebacker prospects. In fact both a more tradition outside linebacker and a tweener are likely to be picked in this draft. Maybe even both on the first day. Visits: Antwan Barnes - Florida International, Jon Beason - Miami, Fla (ILB), Anthony Spencer - Purdue (DE), Lawrence Timmons - Florida St, Lamar Woodley - Michigan (DE) Shown Interest: Gaines Adams - Clemson (DE), Noland Burchette - Virginia Tech (DE), Prescott Burgess - Michigan, Tim Crowder - Texas (DE), Justin Hickman - UCLA (DE), Quentin Moses - Georgia (DE), Jay Moore - Nebraska (DE), Jarvis Moss - Florida (DE), Tim Shaw - Penn St (ILB) CB: Bryant McFadden has developed into a solid player even though he still isn't listed as a starter. Ike Taylor had his problems after signing a big contract. The Steelers really need him to rebound. He should get every chance. DeShea Townsend also had a down year after resigning as an unrestricted free agent. He is over 30 and best suited as a nickel corner. Ricardo Coclough returns from injury. How big a need the corner position is really depends on how the new staff feels about Taylor, Townsend and Coclough. Watching film of 2006 would make them nervous. Watching film of 2005 would ease their fears. A corner will be picked at some stage of the draft. How nervous the staff is about the corners' 2006 performances will determine which day. Visits: Leon Hall - Michigan, Marcus Hamilton - Virginia, Chris Houston - Arkansas, Darrelle Revis - Pitt Shown Interest: Jonathan Wade - Tennessee, Eric Wright - UNLV S: The main focus is on resigning Troy Polamalu to a long term deal. Anthony Smith was drafted last season in the third round. He played well at the end of the season. Ryan Clark and Tyrone Carter provide solid depth. A second day safety that can play special teams is always a possibility. Visits: Rod Rogers - Wisconsin Shown Interest: Aaron Rouse - Virginia Tech, Daren Stone - Maine K: Jeff Reed is coming off a down season. He is still unlikely to be replaced although a street or rookie free agent could be brought in as competition. Visits: None Shown Interest: None P: Chris Gardocki will not be back. Restricted free agent Andy Lee was signed to an offer sheet. The 49ers matched. Mike Barr was then resigned. He competed with Gardocki last preseason and is a decent enough fall back option. There are worse ideas than using the fifth round compensatory pick or one of the two later picks on a punter. Especially if Daniel Sepulveda or Adam Podlesh are available. Visits: Daniel Sepulveda - Baylor Shown Interest: None KR/PR: The hope is that Reid will solve the problems in the return game. Drafting a corner or receiver that can help should Reid disappoint or not be able to stay healthy is certainly not a bad idea. Visits: None Shown Interest: None |