SteelerWatch

A day late but I wanted to make sure it was complete. Have a look at picks 17 through 32 of the SteelerWatch mock draft!

During this traditionally slow time for the Steelers, it’s logical that good news would be hard to come by. So, to fill the void, SteelerWatch has posted the first edition of our official Mock Draft, covering picks 1 through 16. Check it out and give your feedback!

Head coach Mike Tomlin recently poured out his corner-lovin’ heart about highly paid 2006 underachiever Ike Taylor, who late last season became former coach Bill Cowher’s whipping boy. Used largely as the scapegoat for a defense the underperformed as a whole — in fact, it could be argued that the secondary was actually the best part of the entire unit — Taylor was benched for the final few games last season, making way for Bryant McFadden, who will likely bump fellow cornerback Deshea Townsend from the starting lineup.

The story here isn’t Tomlin’s admiration of the still-capable prospect; Tomlin was a secondary coach in Tampa Bay and defensive coordinator in Minnesota last season, so he knows a thing or two about coaching cornerbacks. And we all know that, while Taylor had a bad season last year and has even been derided here on SteelerWatch for his lack of quality play in 2006, he’s more than capable of shutting down the best receivers in the league and has the afterburners to roll with the fastest guys in the league — should he actually choose to use that speed.

No, the story here is that Tomlin’s show of affection essentially rules out the cornerback position for a draft on day one. SteelerWatch’s favorite player in the draft is Darrelle Revis, inarguably the most exciting defensive player to watch last year. While there are more pressing needs than cornerback in Pittsburgh, I certainly hate to concede that they will have to skip over Revis, and that such a talent could fall into the hands of a potential opponent. Possibly even the New England Patriots, who have two picks in the first round and could use someone to play beside or behind current franchise player Asante Samuel.

Now I’m seriously bummed out.

For anyone doubting the Steelers’ ability to build the team through the draft, just consider this statistic: seven of their last nine first-round draft picks are still with the team — and all are starters. They are Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller, Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu, Kendall Simmons, Casey Hampton and Alan Faneca. Three are All-Pros (Polamalu, Hampton, Faneca) and three more are virtually a lock for the Pro Bowl eventually (Holmes, Miller, Roethlisberger).

The Steelers yesterday played host to Oklahoma defensive lineman Ryan McBean, one day after visits from Ohio State running back Antonio Pittman and Hawaii defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis.

Pittman, even smaller than Willie Parker at a meager 207 pounds, may be used as depth behind Parker if drafted. However, a running back likely will not be drafted in Pittsburgh until day two.

More importantly, the visits from two defensive linemen is a very telling sign that the Steelers are attempting to bolster a front three (or maybe four?) that played well in 2006 but generated virtually no pass rush. McBean, at 286 pounds, would likely fit in either as a 3-4 end or, if he can add another 15 to 20 pounds, at defensive tackle in a 4-3 alignment.

Alama-Francis, on the other hand, is viewed as the prototypical 3-4 end and has been compared to Luis Castillo by numerous sources. He is likely to be a mid-second round pick, which means he may just fall right into the Steelers’ laps. However, his stock has been rising lately and he could find his way up a few spots.

They rarely make trades. Free agents sometimes drop by for a visit, but the Steelers usually bring in guys who fit in more as depth than people who will compete for the starting job.

Consider the last two marquee names to come to Pittsburgh as free agent signings: Charlie Batch and Duce Staley. Batch, once a starter and still viewed by many as a high-quality player who could start for a number of teams, and whose real talents weren’t realized in a dysfunctional Lions organization. Staley, brought in to take up the majority of the carries from an aging Jerome Bettis, suffered an injury that was pretty much inevitable, given his history. That injury, and a number of others, eventually led to his release two seasons later. Between the two, the difference is night and day, but the one common point is that they are the two biggest names to come to Pittsburgh as free agents in recent years — and that’s really not saying much.

The Rooneys built an empire on conservative stability, opting to spot young talent in college rather than pick up another team’s table scraps. Because, in reality, there are three kinds of free agents.

Crash-and-Burners
These guys spend their first two, three or four years with one team, usually with average to outrageously high salaries. They are players who had potential, but either didn’t live up to it or just didn’t fit into the system in which they played. Sometimes you have exceptions, like #1 draft pick David Carr who will probably excel on a team that has some semblence of an offensive line, but more often than not they are the T.J. Ducketts and Ryan Leafs of the world. There’s a reason their team doesn’t want them anymore.

Big Names, Huge Paychecks
Sometimes a player may be a stud, but he’s just not affordable (maybe it’s his money, maybe it’s his ego). Consider this the reason Joey Porter is no longer a Steeler, and why guys like Adalius Thomas, Nick Harper and Leonard Davis will all be with new teams in 2007.

Past Their Prime
Other players are just looking for a place to retire. Unless a team has an immediate need for a veteran — a desperation, if you will — it’s hard to imagine a player in this category being signed. If they’ve been an integral part of their team’s success for a legthy period, they may be re-signed, or offered an extension before they ever hit the market. Otherwise this is usually where journeymen end up, playing only for teams desperate enough to sign them. Jerry Jones is probably wishing he hadn’t given the starting quarterback job to guys like Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe over the last few years.

The fact of the matter is that you don’t get more successful by signing players who never lived up to the hype, money doesn’t always translate into success, and putting a long-time veteran into a new system is usually begging for disaster. The Steelers have long looked to the draft for talent, and have had crazy success with it: Faneca, Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, the linebacker-du-jour, Casey Hampton, Hines Ward — see a trend emerging here? Sure, there have been numerous draft-day missteps, like passing on Dan Marino and not passing on Jamain Stephens. But more often than not, they’ve made ESP-like calls that have kept them at or near the top of the AFC year after year. They’ve even had the occasional success with undrafted rookie free agents, like Willie Parker and Dan Kreider. By largely avoiding free agency, they’ve kept the team young and free of other teams’ castoffs.

And it’s worked like a charm.

The NFL on Monday awarded the Steelers two additional draft picks (round 4, #132 overall; and round 5, #170 overall) as compensation for last season’s loss of starters Antwaan Randle El, Kimo von Oelhoffen and Chris Hope.

Compensatory picks are awarded based on the net loss of compensatory free agents, with a maximum of four. While the Steelers lost three qualifying free agents last season, they acquired Ryan Clark from the Redskins, leaving a net total loss of two.