Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

Only a few spots remain at the Highmark Ben Roethlisberger Football ProCamp.

The two-day event is June 18^th-19^th from 9:00AM-12:30PM at Seneca Valley High School in Harmony.

Roethlisberger will be on site the entire camp to direct camp activities and provide instruction. He will be joined by a selection of the top prep and collegiate coaches from the Pittsburgh area.

The camp is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 14 and focuses on the team concept and fundamentals of football.  Groups will be small to ensure that each camper gets personalized instruction.  Roethlisberger will also give daily talks highlighting the finer points of the game of football and beyond.

Each camper receives an autographed camp team photo with Roethlisberger, exclusive camp T-shirt, goodie bag with over $145 worth of merchandise, and the opportunity to win additional prizes.  Cost of the camp is $199.

Additional camp partners include Greater Pittsburgh Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, McDonalds, Celebcalls.com, WDVE, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and KDKA 2.

ProCamp information and registration is available by visiting www.BenRoethlisbergerCamp.com or by calling 888-389-CAMP (2267).

We’ve been saying it for years, but the Steelers wouldn’t listen.  But finally, our prayers have been answered, and oft-injured Steelers right tackle Willie Colon is moving to guard.

“I’ve made the transition to left guard,” said Colon .  “I like it. It’s just a matter of learning the verbiage.”

Colon has been the Steelers’ starting right tackle since 2007.  He missed the 2010 and 2011 seasons due to injury, but he had been penciled in to return to his spot at right tackle in 2012.  But that was before the 2012 NFL Draft took place.

In the recently held draft, the Steelers selected guard David DeCastro and tackle Mike Adams with their first two picks.  And apparently the team wants to see both players in the starting lineup right away.

The original plan was for Marcus Gilbert to move from right tackle to left tackle, and for Willie Colon to return to his right tackle spot.  However, with the acquisition of DeCastro and Adams, those plans have been changed.  Instead, Mike Adams has been penciled in as the starting left tackle, Willie Colon will move to left guard, Maurkice Pouncey will remain at center, DeCastro will play right guard, and Marcus Gilbert will remain at right tackle.

And just like that, one of the greatest weaknesses on the team (the offensive line), may have become the team’s greatest strength.

There is of course the risk of playing an untested rookie at left tackle.  After all, the left tackle is responsible for protecting Ben Roethlisberger’s blind side.  However, the Steelers will have plenty of time during training camp to make sure that Adams is up to the task.  If he’s not, changes will surely be made.  But on paper, this sounds like a move in the right direction.

I was extremely happy when the Steelers drafted DeCastro and Adams.  And today’s announcements have made me even happier.

I may be getting excited too soon, but I think the Steelers’ red zone problems may have just been eliminated.

Go Steelers!

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, Baltimore Ravens’ linebacker Terrell Thuggs…..errrrr, I mean “Suggs”, tore his Achilles tendon.  The team doesn’t have confirmation on exactly how bad the injury is.   They are awaiting news from doctors.

I would never celebrate a player getting injured.  That would be a crass and classless move.  But I must mention that Suggs’ injury may actually be a good thing for the Steelers.

Suggs is the reigning NFL Defensive Player Of The Year, and has been a constant thorn in the sides of the Steelers.  Despite widespread belief that the Ravens are Ray Lewis’ team, Suggs is the most feared player on that team.  Lewis and Ed Reed are both past their prime.  But Suggs is in his prime.  Moreover, he probably gets his hands on Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger more frequently than any other opponent.

In my opinion, at this point in their careers, Suggs and Haloti Ngata are far more dominant than Lewis and Reed are.  They’re really the heart of Baltimore’s defense.  Moreover, they’re the two players that I spend the most time worrying about each time the Steelers play the Ravens.

Initial reports said that Suggs would likely miss the entire 2012 season due to the injury.  However, Suggs made a public statement indicating that he thought that he would be able to return by mid-season.

Despite Suggs’ positive attitude, that’s just speculation on his part.  He is scheduled to have surgery next week.  He won’t have a meaningful estimate of when he can return to the playing field until after the doctors complete the surgery.

Good luck, Terrell.  I wish you a speedy recovery.  As much as I hate to admit it, the Steelers/Ravens rivalry is better when you’re on the field.

This year, we held our inaugural Steelers Mock Draft Contest.

We got dozens of entries, and lots of variation in how fans thought the draft would play out.

There were a few consistencies in the picks that people made.  For example, one thing that was very consistent was that most of you thought that the Steelers were going to take Dont’a Hightower, the inside linebacker from Alabama.  Of course we now know that Hightower ended up going to the New England Patriots one pick after the Steelers selected David DeCastro.

Another thing that was pretty consistent was that most of you didn’t get a single Steelers selection right.  Not one!  (And you call yourselves Steelers fans). 

In fact, it’s worth noting that Dawson Payne was the only fan who got more than one of the Steelers’ picks right.  He accurately predicted that the Steelers would take Mike Adams and Alemeda Ta’amu.  He didn’t win the entire competition, but he deserves recognition for getting more of the Steelers’ picks right than anyone else.

But the overall winner of the competition was…………(drum roll please)………..Shane Hallam.  Shane didn’t get a single Steelers pick right (Shame on you, Shane), but he did better on the other teams’ picks than anyone else.  Even with the bonus that I awarded for getting Steelers picks correct, Shane still outscored his closest competitor by 2 points.

Shane will receive a free copy of Pittsburgh Steelers – The Complete Illustrated History, by Lew Freedman.  Congratulations Shane!

Now that the dust has settled, and we’ve all had a chance to think about what the Pittsburgh Steelers did in the 2012 NFL Draft, it’s time to evaluate how they did.

In order to properly evaluate the Steelers’ performance in the draft, we have to first look at what they needed going into the draft.  We ranked the Steelers’ team needs here.

As you see, we said that the Steelers’ top need was at guard.  And with their first pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, they selected the best guard in this year’s draft class.  In fact, some have said that David DeCastro is the best guard to come around in the past 10 years.   So we were very happy about this selection.  And to make matters even better, they also selected offensive tackle Kelvin Beachum, who the Steelers will likely move to guard.

We said that the Steelers’ next greatest need was at nose tackle.  Casey Hampton is past his prime, and the Steelers couldn’t afford to wait one more year to find a replacement for him.  Most people thought that Dontari Poe was the best nose tackle available in this year’s draft.  But having watched him play at the University of Memphis, I disagreed with that opinion.  I thought that Alabama’s Josh Chapman was the best NT in this year’s class, and that Alemeda Ta’amu was second best.  I even said so here.  However, I didn’t think the Steelers would take Ta’amu because they brought several nose tackles into Pittsburgh for a visit, and Ta’amu wasn’t one of them.

But the Steelers surprised me and drafted Ta’amu.  So not only did they fill what we considered to be the team’s second most important need, but they also got the second best player available at that position.

The 3rd greatest need on the team was offensive tackle, and the Steelers addressed that too.  In fact, they got a guy who was rated as a 1st rounder, only they got him in the 2nd round.  So the Steelers essentially got two 1st round talents in this year’s draft.

Mike Adams is a big guy who played left tackle at Ohio State.  I don’t think the Steelers will entrust him with the left tackle position as a rookie (they seem intent on moving Marcus Gilbert to left tackle), but I’m going to assume that Adams will compete with Gilbert for that spot in 2013.

The next greatest needs that I saw were at safety and inside linebacker.   And the Steelers may have addressed both with one pick.  Sean Spence was a highly productive linebacker at The U.  Despite being “undersized”, he managed to make plays all over the field.  He has incredible instincts, and gets a great jump on most plays.

The Steelers are saying that he will play inside linebacker behind Lawrence Timmons.  However, if you look his size, the way he’s able to read plays, and the way he makes tackles all over the field, he most reminds me of a certain Tazmanian Devil who plays for the Steelers.  Could he be a strong safety in waiting?

Those selections alone make the Steelers’ 2012 draft a huge success.  I give it an A.  However, they also picked up three guys who should help them in the passing game.  Chris Rainey has good hands coming out of the backfield, and he’ll compete for 3rd down duties.  He’ll also likely have an immediate impact on special teams.  Toney Clemons is a big wide receiver who has a very good chance of making the roster.  And David Paulson is a tight end with good hands who can definitely contribute in the passing game.

In my opionion, the only real question mark in this draft was Terrence Frederick, the cornerback out of Texas A&M.  He’s a cornerback who is not particularly big, and not particularly fast.  That’s not a good combination.  But as a compensatory 7th round pick, there was little downside to taking him.  Even if he doesn’t make the team, it’s no great loss.  7th round picks usually have a hard time making NFL rosters anyway.

So overall, Steelers fans have to be pretty happy with this draft.  I certainly am.

What about you readers?  Any final thoughts or comments on the Steelers’ 2012 draft?