The Steelers drafted linebacker Chris Carter, from the Fresno State with the 31st pick in the 5th round (162nd overall) of the 2011 NFL draft. Carter is another college defensive end that will make the transition to outside linebacker in the Steelers 3-4 defense. Carter led the WAC and tied for ninth in the nation in sacks as a senior as he totaled 11 sacks. Right now described as a one trick pony and will need to develop more counter moves. He is a big kid at 6 foot 1 and 248 pounds with a good motor and good speed off the edge. Right now he is a classic speed rusher and dropped because he was Read more [...]

New Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake held a press conference following the selection of Citadel cornerback Cortez Allen with the 31st pick of the 3rd round of the 2011 NFL draft. Lake took questions from the media after the selection was made and you can listen to the audio of the presser below. Read more [...]

The Steelers drafted cornerback Cortez Allen, from the Citadel with the 31st pick in the 4th round (128th overall) of the 2011 NFL draft. Allen is a raw, long corner with a ton of upside as he is one of the premier small college outside cornerbacks. He is a physical cornerback measuring 6 feet 1 and nearly 200 pounds. He excels in both bump and off coverage, not experienced but natural at corner with tons of upside. He is very versatile, with good reaction and vision which fits well in the Steelers zone coverages. His size will let him compete with bigger receivers and he is not afraid of contact, Read more [...]

The Steelers 2011 second round draft pick, Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert, held his introductory press conference on Saturday morning at the Steelers South Side facilities and took several questions from the media. Gilbert talks about his relationship with center Maurkice Pouncey and his position flexibilty. He says he is willing to play whatever position offensive line coach Sean Kugler puts him at and his goal is to become a starter his rookie season and contribute any way he can. He also is willing to gain or lose weight and says he is a high energy guy that is willing to work. He was hoping Read more [...]

Episode #52 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd start by discussing the Steelers 2nd round and 3rd round draft picks Marcus Gilbert and Curtis Brown and how each breakdown. We discuss the needs going forward and recap other thoughts from the second day of the draft. We talk about names to watch for the Steelers in rounds 4-7 as well. Thanks for making our podcast so successful and we hope you continue to listen. Thanks for listening and your continued support! As always we love talking football, particularly Steelers football. We hope you enjoy listening! We hope you listen weekly Read more [...]

Below are the media conference call transcripts from the Steelers 2011 2nd round pick Marcus Gilbert and 3rd round pick Curtis Brown. Marcus Gilbert Conference Call Congratulations. Hey, how are you doing? Thank you very much. Did you know that the Steelers were this interested in you, and that this was a place that you might end up? It was a high possibility. There were a couple of teams that had a lot of interest in me. But, really I felt, and I was hoping for the Steelers. They have a great organization. The Pittsburgh Steelers, year-in-and-year-out, they compete for a championship. Read more [...]

As I hit on in my day 2 recap of the Steelers 2011 draft, the three primary needs that the Steelers had heading into this weekend have now been filled. The Steelers have one pick in each of the final 4 rounds should they not trade any of them on Saturday. With the three primary needs filled, they can now take the best player available approach from here on out in my opinion. There might be a name or two left on their 20 special players they identified prior to the draft and plenty on the 100 player list they talked about in their pre draft press conference. There is still a ton of talent left on Read more [...]

Before day two of the 2011 NFL Draft started I was feeling good about the Steelers drafting a cornerback in the 2nd round as I thought there would be a good chance that one to the Steelers liking would fall after only three cornerbacks were drafted in the 1st round. The first two picks of the 2nd were corners as Ras-I Dowling and Aaron Williams came right off the board one right after the other. I instantly was worried that a few players I had marked as possible targets for the Steelers would not fall as I expected and even started to fantasize about the Steelers trading up 10 or so spots to grab Read more [...]

New Steelers defensive backs coach Carnell Lake held a press conference following the selection of Texas cornerback Curtis Brown with the 31st pick of the 3rd round of the 2011 NFL draft. Lake said that Brown is the best cover corner coming out of Texas this year. Says Aaron Williams is bigger, but the Steelers thought of him more as a safety. He said Brown is a cover corner that can play the nickel as well as outside corner. Lake went on to say Brown has good hands, but did not have many interceptions because teams threw away from him, because he possesses the best coverage skills of all the Texas Read more [...]

The Steelers drafted cornerback Curtis Brown, from Texas with the 31st pick in the 3rd round (95th overall of the 2011 NFL draft. Brown was also a pre draft visitor to South Side and Brown has been a steady contributor at defensive back and on special teams throughout his career at Texas. Brown went on to play in all 52 games of his collegiate career, garnering all-conference honors for his play on defense in his final two years. He was also the recipient of the Frank Denius Award as Texas’ Most Valuable Special Teams Player during his junior season. Brown is an exceptional athlete who developed Read more [...]

Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler held a short press conference to discuss the Steelers 2nd round selection, Florida tackle Marcus Gilbert, of the 2011 NFL Draft after he was drafted with the 63rd overall selection. Kugler tells why Gilbert was selected and how he can play all four positions on the line. He says they have had their eye on him since going down last year to the Florida Pro Day to look at center Maurkice Pouncey, who happens to be best buds with Gilbert. Below is the audio of the short presser and Q & A with the media. Read more [...]

The Steelers drafted tackle Marcus Gilbert, from Florida with the 31st pick (63rd overall) in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL draft. More info coming shortly with a complete profile. Gilbert is a high character kid and the son of a retired secret service agent who protected Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Gilbert was so focused during the 2009 preseason that every night before he went to bed, he wrote himself notes of what he must improve upon during the next day’s practices. He made his starting debut for an injured Maurkice Pouncey at right guard in the Florida Atlantic clash. As Read more [...]

The Steelers 2011 first round draft pick, Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward, held his introductory press conference on Friday afternoon at the Steelers South Side facilities and took several questions from the media. Before being introduced by Art Rooney II, Heyward was presented his #1 Steelers jersey and had his picture taken with Rooney and head coach Mike Tomlin. Heyward is very well spoken and talked about how he was hoping to get drafted by the Steelers and talked about his family. Heyward says he has learned from the mistakes his father, the late Craig Ironhead Heyward, made and talked Read more [...]

Below is the transcript and audio of defensive end Cameron Heyward after being drafted in the 1st round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Steelers with the 31st overall pick. Cameron Heyward Conference Call Question: How are you? Answer: Awesome. Unbelievable feeling. Question: How much of that is associated with you coming to Pittsburgh as opposed to coming to the NFL as a first rounder? Answer: One of my goals has always been to be a first rounder. I have always worked hard to be a first rounder and to be picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers it is a an unbelievable opportunity and Read more [...]

Episode #51 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd start by discussing the Steelers 1st round draft in the 2011 NFL Draft, defensive end Cameron Heyward from Ohio State and how he was the best player available on the board that fit a Steelers need. We discuss the type player Heyward is and how he will be integrated into the Steelers defense. We talk about how Brett Keisel will remain the starter as he played great in 2010 and how Heyward can be brought along slowly much like 2009 1st round pick Ziggy Hood was. We then go over our overall thoughts on the 1st round of the draft and discuss Read more [...]

Below are some of my thoughts from round 1 of the 2011 NFL Draft that took place Thursday night. I certainly was glad to see picks come off the board in a timely fashion to get things going and the draft moved along at a great pace. I hope it continues today. The Bengals drafting of A.J. Green might signal the end of Chad Ochocinco in Cincinnati, but they still do not have a quarterback if Carson Palmer sticks to his word of wanting out. Green is a beast so the Steelers secondary needs to get addressed with a more physical cornerback today in round 2 to counter that pick. The 49ers pick Read more [...]

The first round of the 2011 NFL Draft is now in the books and the Steelers drafted Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward with the 31st pick. Today the draft will consist of rounds two and three and we will now look ahead to the game plan the Steelers might have in these rounds. Heading into the draft cornerback, tackle and defensive end were the biggest needs the Steelers wanted to fill and they took care of one of those with the selection of Heyward. The draft went the Steelers way on Thursday and sets up perfectly for their other two needs heading into Friday. Only three cornerbacks were Read more [...]

If the selection of Ohio State defensive end Cameron Heyward by the Steelers in the 1st round of the 2011 NFL Draft surprised you, it shouldn't have. As I mentioned in my post way back in mid-March, I pointed out the Kevin Colbert drafting style in relation to best player available and warned those that were locked into the Steelers drafting a cornerback or tackle to be prepared. As the draft unfolded Thursday night you could see that indeed there was a run on quarterbacks along with several trades and a reach. In addition, Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers fell right down the board because Read more [...]

The Steelers drafted defensive end Cameron Heyward, from Ohio State with the 31st pick in the 1st round of the 2011 NFL draft. More info coming shortly with a complete profile. Heyward is a classic 5 technique defensive end that played in the Ohio State 3-4 defense and his father was former NFL running back NFL running back Craig Ironhead Heyward. Heyward started 46 of his final 47 games for the Buckeyes, appearing in 52 games since getting the starting job during the sixth game of his true freshman season. He was utilized at all four positions on the defensive front for Ohio State and his 15 Read more [...]

There are still a few hours to go before the 2011 NFL Draft begins, but if you have not seen it yet, the ESPN Sports Center NFL Draft remix video by DJ Steve Porter is a must see. Porter as you may remember is the one who remixed the Allen Iverson “practice” press conference and has done some other productions for ESPN recently as well. In his latest fantastic video, Porter has made a catchy, viral video out of past clips and interviews from previous drafts using some ESPN footage. I love the Deion Sanders, Brett Favre and Mel Kiper Jr. portions. Too funny. Watch the Youtube video below, Read more [...]