Steelers Today – A Pittsburgh Steelers blog

The Steelers haven’t had a true “burner” in their backfield since Willie Parker wore black and gold.  That is until now.

With their 5th round draft pick, the Steelers selected Chris Rainey, a running back out of Florida.  Rainey is a burner.  But unlike Mike Wallace, Chris Rainey has stop and go speed.  He has amazing acceleration, and he can make ankle breaking cuts.  To demonstrate just how quickly he can accelerate, he recorded the fastest time in the 10 yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine.  He also recorded the fastest time in the 20-yard short shuttle, demonstrating his ability to change directions quickly and still maintain high speed.

Rainey was used in a variety of ways at Florida.  He was used as a traditional running back.  He also has soft hands, and catches the ball well out of the backfield.  He even lined up at wide receiver at times.  And he was used as a kick returner.

Rainey will definitely challenge Baron Batch for 3rd down duties.  His hands are just as good as Batch’s, but he’s much faster.

People have come to think of the Steelers as a power running team.  But with Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown spreading the defense, and Chris Rainey adding speed in the backfield, the Steelers have the potential to have one of the fastest offenses in the NFL.

Chris Rainey

But of course, Rainey’s not perfect.  He’s small (5’8″, 180 lbs.), and won’t be able to take a pounding.  So he’s a part-time player at best.  He’ll be almost useless running between the tackles.  But of course, the Steelers have Rashard Mendenhall, Isaac Redman, Jonathan Dwyer, and John Clay to do that.

He’s also not much of a blocker.  At his size, he won’t provide much of an obstacle to a linebacker whose trying to get to the quarterback.  In fact, the Steelers may have to excuse him from their famous “Backs on backers” drills during training camp.  James Harrison may squash Rainey like a bug.

He also has a history of injuries dating all the way back to high school.  He’s had repeated problems with his shoulder, and has had surgery on it.  But his legs are fine, and that’s his greatest weapon.

Perhaps the biggest concern about Rainey is his character.  He was charged with a felony for stalking his girlfriend in in 2010, and he was temporarily suspended from the team.  Charges were later dropped after he completed a pre-trial intervention program.

The Steelers obviously thought that Rainey’s problems were behind him, and decided to draft him.  That’s good enough for me.

Welcome to Pittsburgh kid.  I think your speed is going to be exciting to watch.

The Steelers traded up to get their man.  They were in need of a nose tackle to replace Casey Hampton, and it looked like the one that they had their eyes on might not last until their pick.  So they moved up 10 spots and selected Alameda Ta’amu, a defensive tackle from Washington.

Ta’amu is a prototype nose tackle.  He’s 6’3″, and weighs 348 lbs.  That’s right, 348 lbs.!

Ta’amu was rated by many experts as the 2nd best 3-4 nose tackle in this years draft behind Dontari Poe.

At 348, you can probably guess that Ta’amu is pretty difficult to move.  Because of that, he’s a great run stopper, which is exactly what you want in a nose tackle.  While he’s not an amazing athlete, he’s surprisingly athletic for his size.

Alameda Ta'amu

He’s not going to get a lot of sacks, and don’t expect him to chase down Ray Rice, but he’ll hold his ground and free up the linebackers to do their jobs.

Because of his size, Ta’amu was able to rely primarily on a simple bull rush in college.  But he’s going to need more than that in the NFL.  So he’ll have to spend time with the coaches learning a few additional moves.

He’s also going to have to spend time with a strength and conditioning coach, with emphasis on conditioning.  As a nose tackle, he needs to be big, but Ta’amu’s weight has been close to 400 lbs. at times.  That’s too big.  So he’ll need to work hard to maintain the necessary girth, without ballooning to a size that reduces his speed and endurance.

Ta’amu played all 4 years at Washington.  He started 5 games as a freshman, and then became a permanent starter as a sophomore.  He had 7 tackles for a loss during his senior year, and even managed to get 3.5 sacks.

Welcome to the Steelers, big fella.  We most definitely need you.

I apologize in advance, but I have a personal commitment this afternoon that I can’t get out of.  So I won’t be able to write about the Steelers’ 4th through 7th round picks until late this afternoon when I return home.

I’ll begin writing my recaps of the picks as quickly as possible, but I won’t be able to start until around 6:30 p.m. ET.

Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

With the 86th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Miami (Fla) linebacker Sean Spence.

Some analyst were probably surprised by this pick.  Spence was an incredibly productive linebacker at Miami, but at only 5’11″ and 231 lbs, he’s thought to be undersized for an NFL linebacker.

Despite the questions about his size, Spence is one of the fastest and most instinctual linebackers in this year’s draft.  In fact, it’s probably fair to say that he reads plays better than any other linebacker in this year’s draft.  He’s great at anticipating snap counts, and he always gets a good jump on plays.  He does a good job in coverage, and will be an asset covering tight ends.

Sean Spence

Spence was a 4 year starter at Miami, and he had over 100 tackles in both 2010 and 2011.  31 of those were tackles for a loss.

Spence was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year as a freshman.  He made first-team All-ACC as a senior, and he was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award.  He was Miami’s Most Valuable Player in 2010, and he was voted the team’s Defensive Outstanding Player in 2011.  He was also a team captain.  That’s not too bad for a guy who isn’t even 6′ tall.

Because of his size, he’ll definitely have to play on the weak side.  But I can also see him playing an important role against teams like the New England Patriots who utilize 2 tight ends.  He’ll have no problem covering a tight end, although he will be at a disadvantage from a height perspective.

Spence was known for being a hard hitter in college, but at only 228 lbs, that may not be the case in the NFL.  However, Ryan Clark only weighs 205 lbs., and he’s a notoriously hard hitter.

Because he’s fast and has great instincts, I also expect him to have an immediate impact on special teams.

I’m not as excited about this pick as I was about the Steelers’ first two selections.  But I can definitely see some situations where Dick LeBeau could make use of Sean Spence’s skills.  He’d be great in nickel situations, and I could even see him playing safety based on his skills (though he never played the position in college).

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued to improve their offensive line by selecting Ohio State offensive tackle Mike Adams in the 2nd round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

From a need standpoint, the pick made sense.  However, I was still surprised to here Adams’ name announced by the Steelers.

From a talent standpoint, most experts viewed Mike Adams as a 1st round pick.  But from a character standpoint, it was an entirely different picture.  That’s why this pick surprised me.

The Steelers typically give character more weight than other teams do when they evaluate players.  And Mike Adams brings serious character questions to the team.

Adams was one of the five Ohio State players who were suspended for the first 5 games of the 2011 season for selling his Big Ten championship ring.  He also tested positive for marijuana several times while at Ohio State.  To make matters even worse, he tested positive for marijuana at the NFL Scouting Combine.  How stupid was that??!!!

After dealing with Santonio Holmes, I assumed that the Steelers would shy away from a player with a reputation for being a marijuana smoker.  But apparently Adams’ talent was too good to pass over.

Mike Adams

Adams is a huge kid.  He stands 6’7″, and weighs 323 lbs.  Moreover, he played against very respectable talent in the Big 10.

Adams was generally considered to be one of the top 5 offensive tackles in this years draft.  He’s a solid blocker who was well-coached at Ohio State.  He excels at pulling and trapping.  He’s athletic enough to stay with speed rushers, and big enough to handle bull rushers.  In every way, he looks the part of an NFL offensive tackle.

But despite his physical characteristics, Adams sometimes plays soft.  He lacks the nasty temperament that you’d like to see out of your offensive linemen.  His motivation and work ethic have been questioned in the past.  So the Steelers will have to make sure that they surround him with veteran players who will motivate and guide him, and ultimately turn him into a Steelers-type player.

Other Steelers selections

To read about the Steelers’ 1st round pick, click here.