As Cliff Clavin would say, it's a little-known fact that Cinco de Mayo comes a day after another important holiday.
Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the day I launched
Steelahs.com. What better way to celebrate two years than to take two months off?
Now that the Larry Foote saga is officially over (the Steelers released him Monday), it's a good time to take
a break.
With the possible exception of the Steelers'
visit to the White House or the unveiling of their Super Bowl rings, this is my last post until training camp, which will begin sometime in mid-July.
Of
course I'll come out of hibernation for any earth-shattering Steelers news, but hopefully if any Steeler rides a motorcycle,
he'll be wearing a helmet.
There are other things I need to get done, including a possible project related to this site. But before I go on
hiatus, let me empty any Steelers thoughts from my head.
A.Q. and the Tank
I think I finally figured out the most succint way to express why
I'm so excited about the Steelers' draft.
Basically,
when you're rooting hard for a fifth-round pick (Frank "the Tank" Summers) and a seventh-round pick (A.Q. Shipley)
to make the team, you know it's a good draft.
The 5-foot-9, 241-pound Summers, as I've said before, could be the short-yardage
back the Steelers have been missing since Jerome Bettis retired. He'll
at least get some work on special teams. And while I'm not expecting a Bettis-type career, Summers has fan favorite written
all over him. And of course I'm partial to short guys.
Shipley, meanwhile, has an automatic cachet with Steelers fans because
he's from Moon, Pa., as well as Penn State. The 6-foot-1, 304-pound center
makes up for a lack of ideal physical tools with his blocking technique. The Steelers have a lot of tradition at the center
position. How great would it be if this underdog type is able to carry
that torch for a decade or so?
Of course the Steelers also
drafted Ziggy and Sonny, Keenan and Joe, a Mike Wallace (how perfect would it be for Wallace to star in a 4:15 CBS game and lead right into 60 Minutes?) a D.J. and my favorite name of all their
draftees, Kraig Urbik.
While it would be cool if Summers
and Shipley have an impact, it's just as important to the Steelers' future, if not more so, for the early-round picks
to succeed.
First-round pick Evander "Ziggy" Hood of Missouri needs to be ready, most likely at defensive end, when
the production of the Steelers' aging defensive linemen starts
to decline. Third-round pick Kraig Urbik of Wisconsin, who just from his name sounds immovable, is going to have to provide some serious competition at guard.
The Steelers also seem to be stockpiling cornerbacks. Just before the draft, they nabbed one of their few tormentors
from 2008 and made him one of their own, signing Keiwan Ratliff from
the Colts. Ratliff had an interception in the Colts' 24-20 win over the Steelers on Nov. 9.
The Steelers also drafted cornerbacks Keenan Lewis from Oregon State in the third round and Joe Burnett from Central
Florida in the fifth round. They're trying to fill the void left
by Bryant McFadden. William Gay, who started a few games last season, has the inside track on starting opposite Ike Taylor. But it looks like he'll have plenty of competition.
Another area where the Steelers are loading up is receiver. Joining Ratliff in
their annual bargain-basement free agent shopping bag is Lions receiver Shaun
McDonald, who had 949 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2007. Just like they're not handing the starting cornerback
job to Gay, the Steelers are going to make Limas Sweed work for the job at No. 3 receiver. Wallace, who they drafted in the third round from Mississippi, also could give Sweed a run for his money.
Even if
Wallace doesn't win the No. 3 receiver slot, he and Burnett could contribute in another way. They both have returning
ability. Gary Russell always got the Steelers past the 20 on kickoffs
last season, but he was never going to break one. Through the draft, the Steelers now have speedsters who could provide a source of field position and maybe even points that they didn't have last season.
I kind of left out kick returning when I said that the Steelers'
draft needs were defensive line, wide receiver, cornerback, offensive line and short-yardage back. So when you think about it, the Steelers addressed six needs in this draft. Not too shabby.
My two least favorite picks in the Steelers' draft are defensive lineman
Ra'Shon "Sonny" Harris from Oregon in the sixth round and tight end D.J. Johnson from Arkansas State in the seventh round. Every draft includes at least a couple of names that will be long
forgotten in three years. These guys are the two most likely candidates
for that honor.
Numbers game
This info is more fun than useful, but here
are the uniform numbers the Steelers draftees will wear: Hood 96; Urbik 65; Wallace 17; Lewis 20 (McFadden's old number); Burnett 40; Summers 44; Harris 73; Shipley 61; Johnson 85 (Nate Washington's old
number).
Speaking of numbers, I can't count. When I
was getting giddy about the Steelers' draft during my live blogging, I said that while it's not quite 1974 caliber (not yet, anyway), it was a great way to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of that draft. Problem is, it was 35 years ago. Woops.
The
1974 Steelers draft, considered by many the best NFL draft of all-time, included Lynn Swann (first round), Jack Lambert (second
round), John Stallworth (fourth round) and Mike Webster (fifth round).
While I admit it's ridiculous to grade a draft before
any of the picks have played a down, I do it because it's just plain fun. So how about I grade the first two Mike Tomlin drafts? These grades also are subject to change, as it will be a few more years before we can
really close the book on a draft assessment.
2007: Five legitimate contributors from this class. Lawrence Timmons
(first round) is ready to start at inside linebacker. LaMarr Woodley (second round) is a force opposite James Harrison at outside linebacker. Matt Spaeth (third round) is a serviceable backup
tight end. Punter Daniel
Sepulveda (fourth round) was on injured
reserve last season and choked in key situations as a rookie. But he has such a strong leg that you have to figure he'll be an asset going forward. William Gay (fifth round) started a few games last season and has
a good chance to start at cornerback in 2009. Wide receiver Dallas
Baker (seventh round) is still hanging around. The only ones completely out of the picture are defensive tackle Ryan McBean (fourth round) and guard Cameron Stephenson (fifth round). Two-year
grade: A
2008:
Last year at this time, I gave this draft a B. Running back Rashard Mendenhall (first round) showed some promise before he
got hurt. Limas Sweed (second round) was still learning for most of the season. The key here is that Tomlin says players tend to show the biggest
improvement between their first and second year. Let's hope that's
true with Sweed as well as outside linebacker Bruce Davis (third round) and offensive tackle Tony Hills (fourth round). Davis played a little on special teams last year, but stayed in Pittsburgh during the
offseason and supposedly lived in the weight room. All I can say about
Hills is "Hello, are you there?" Quarterback Dennis Dixon (fifth round) is trying to be the Official Ben Roethlisberger
Insurance Policy if Charlie Batch ever retires. He also could
be used for his "Slash" ability, so don't give up on him just yet. Safety Ryan Mundy (sixth round) is still on the payroll. The only one gone is linebacker Mike Humpal (sixth round). Two-year
grade: C-minus
Get well soon
Best wishes to Rich
Behm, Joe DiCamillis, Greg Gaither and the other nine people, as well as their families, who were injured Saturday when the
Dallas Cowboys' practice structure collapsed in heavy winds.
Behm, a scouting assistant, is paralyzed from the waist down.
DiCamillis, their new special teams coach, was scheduled to have surgery Monday for a fractured cervical vertabrae. Gaither, an assistant athletic trainer, had surgery to repair a fracture of his
tibula and fibula in his right leg.
As much as I hate the
Cowboys, I don't like to see anything like this happen.
A
4-12 record every year? Now that we can wish on the Cowboys. I also enjoyed it when the Steelers bum rushed Pacman Jones on
a kickoff return during their Dec. 7 game last year at Heinz Field.
If you don't remember what I'm talking about, slip NFL.com 20 bucks for the Game Rewind and check it out.
It's one of the hidden gems
of the Steelers' 2008 season. Pacman was already down, but the pile of black jerseys on top of him kept getting bigger
and bigger. Maybe it's just me, but it looked like the Steelers
were exerting a little frontier justice on that play. Yes, certain Steelers players have had their scrapes with the law, but the Rooneys would never tolerate a Pacman Jones.
Jones deserves a few broken bones. But the victims in Saturday's disaster didn't deserve what they got.
