Tomorrow is the magic day as the Steelers report to the 2010 training camp in Latrobe. We have been previewing each position this offeseason leading up to camp and this preview is dedicated to the defensive line position. Make sure to read our previous previews by following the links below. We have only the special teams yet to go and that will be posted this evening or early on Friday.

Training Camp Preview – Defensive Line |Training Camp Preview – Safeties |Training Camp Preview – Linebackers | Training Camp Preview – Offensive Line | Training Camp Preview – Tight Ends | Training Camp Preview – Wide Receivers | Training Camp Preview – Running Backs | Training Camp Preview – Quarterbacks

Overview: The Steelers lost both Aaron Smith and Travis Kirschke to injuries in 2009 and were forced to play Nick Eason and rookie Ziggy Hood more than they anticipated. Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel anchored an aging line that still ended up ranked 3rd in the NFL against the run. The pass rush lacked in 2009 and the Steelers must improve that in 2010 along with continuing the long tradition of stopping the run well.

Casey Hampton: Big Snack went into the offseason without a contract, but the Steelers franchised the nose tackle and went on to give him a three-year deal, worth $21 million. Hampton has responded by showing up at the OTA sessions looking a bit trimmer and more conditioned. He has one job and that is to clog up the middle on running downs and take on double teamings as well. He might be spelled a bit more this year on passing downs in an effort to keep in fresher for late in games. If things go right, Hampton could be headed back to the Pro Bowl in 2010, especially if he is able to get a bigger push and more pressure on the quarterback. He is the anchor of the defensive line and a great run stuffer.

Aaron Smith: Smith is returning from a torn rotator cuff injury that forced him out of action early in the season and ultimately to the injured reserve list. Smith is great when it comes to creating blitzing lines for the linebackers and is above average in recognizing and stopping the run. It is not unthinkable that Smith, like Hampton will be spelled more this season, especially now that Ziggy Hood is more up to speed going into his second year. Smith ignored orders to sit out until training camp, so by all accounts he should be back healthy. He knows his role in the defense and understands schemes completely. Smith is signed through the 2011 season, so the Steelers hope he can stay healthy this year.

Brett Keisel: Keisel is the force on the right side of the defensive line that never gets a ton of credit. Like Smith, he is well into the over 30 club, but put up good numbers in 2009 despite missing the final game against Miami with a stinger. Also like Smith on the other side, expect Ziggy Hood to get some reps in his place as well. Keisel needs to get back to getting a strong inside push to enable outside linebacker James Harrison a shorter route to the quarterback in 2010. Left tackles seemed to handle Keisel better in 2009 on passing downs, so this does need attention.

Ziggy Hood: 2010 should be the huge jump year for the 2009 first round draft pick out of Missouri. Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell has raved about the progress he has made since his rookie year. According to Mitchell, Hood has a better understanding of the defense entering his second season and his mechanics should allow him to remain on the field longer. That is great news for a starting defensive line that features all 30 somethings. Hood very well could push either Smith or Keisel for a starting spot as the year wears on, but for right now, he will spell both and expected to do so without any drop off of production. Hood needs to prove in 2010 he was worth the number 1 selection and force his way onto the field more as a future starter.

Chris Hoke: Hoke is the man counted on to spell Hampton at nose tackle once again in 2010. He is entering the final year of his contract. While not a lock to make the final 53 man roster, he has inexperience behind him. He is a bit undersized and often gets pushed around against the run. He does have a strong motor still and can get after the quarterback occasionally. He is a pretty sure handed tackler if he gets his hands on the ball carrier, but is not a guy you want starting 16 games for the Steelers. Great all around 3-4 nose tackles are hard to find and I see no reason why Hoke can’t be serviceable one more year. The Steelers may look at final cut down players across the league, but they will be hard pressed to find any that grade out above Hoke and his understanding of the defense.

Ra'Shon Harris: Sunny had a rough rookie year and it started with missing time last year in camp with a groin injury, but performed above average in pre season games. The Steelers hoped to stash him on the practice squad following the 2009 camp, but he was signed by the Panthers instead. After a short stay in Carolina, the Steelers signed him back, but he stayed inactive every game since his return. Sunny looks to challenge for a reserve left defensive end spot behind Smith and Hood. There is talk he might work inside at the nose position as well, but that has yet to be seen. If he gets off to good camp he will make Nick Eason expendable in a hurry.

Nick Eason: When left defensive end Aaron Smith went down last year, the Steelers turned to Travis Kirschke to fill the spot, when Kirschke went down with a calf injury, Nick Eason was the next man up as rookie Ziggy Hood was not ready to assume the role. Eason’s play was pedestrian at times yet was brought back on a one year deal this off season. He will have a tough time fending off the youth on the roster this Summer and could be a final cut down casuality.

Doug Worthington: Doug Worthington was drafted in the 7th round with hopes of becoming the future at right defensive end. He was blessed to work in the Ohio State 3-4 defense and was even moved inside on nickel fronts on passing downs. He slipped in the draft because of a mediocre combine that was a result of a lingering injury, but could really be a steal for the Steelers if he can get up to speed fast and stay healthy in camp. He indeed has an outside shot at a 53 man roster spot, but at worst should find his way to the practice squad. Watch him close on the right side during preseason as you could be looking at a future 7 year starter on the right side for the Steelers.

Steve McLendon: Steve McLendon is a hold over from the 2009 practice squad that is mostly an interior lineman. He has a hard path in front of him to make the roster and one would think he would have to do so as a nose tackle although undersized. The Steelers will likely only carry 6 or 7 defensive linemen, so McLendon has a ton of traffic, talent and experience ahead of him.

Scott Paxson: Another year, another look at Scott Paxson. Paxson will try to show he has the goods to beat out veteran Chris Hoke for the back up nose tackle spot. While not impossible, it is highly unlikely and Paxson will likely be a first cut down causality. He needs have his name called quite a bit during the preseason games in order to have an outside chance. Good luck, Scott.

Likely Training Camp Depth Chart:
RDE1 B. Keisel RDE2 Z. Hood RDE3 D. Worthington
NT1 C. Hampton NT2 C. Hoke NT3 S. Paxson NT4 S. McLendon
LDE1 A. Smith LDE2 Z.Hood LDE3 R. Harris LDE4 N. Eason

Summation: The growth of Ziggy Hood is paramount in 2010 as he will be looked to spell both Smith and Keisel all season long. It would be nice to see him force himself into the starting left end role at some point during the year, so Aaron Smith can then spell him and stay fresh. Hampton looks to be motivated inside with his new contract, so no let down is expected there. The biggest concern is depth behind those 4 players. Sonny Harris needs to prove he belongs on a 53 man roster and Doug Worthington could surprise everyone and stick on the right side. Age, injuries and depth issuers are the only concerns, but starting camp, the line looks in great shape all things considered.

If it was not bad enough that right tackle Willie Colon tore his Achilles on Wednesday, he lost in the free agent game as well when the owners and players' union failed to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement by the beginning of March. Colon was sheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, but the lack of a new deal triggered a clause that pushed from five to six the years of service a player has to accrue before he can become an unrestricted free agent. Colon was tendered a one year deal by the Steelers instead as a restricted free agent this offseason and still won't be able to test the open market until after the 2011 season. This coupled with his injury means Colon likely will never hit his big pay day in his career.

Lost in the news of the Willie Colon injury on Monday, was the report that burglars targeted the home of Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton in Point Breeze and stole several items. Hampton was out of town and no arrest have been made.

Steelers rookie fifth-round draft pick offensive lineman Chris Scott was one of three 2010 draft picks missing from NFL Rookie Symposium on Monday. Colts cornerback Kevin Thomas and Giants safety Chad Jones were the other two players listed as missing, although excused. Scott's absence was excused as well, but the reason is unknown. All three players can make up for their absence through programs offered by their respective teams.

Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians admitted this weekend he spends a lot of time together with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and says the two play a lot of golf together.

Speaking of golf and Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers quarterback, who had befriended John Challis during his battle with cancer, was among 99 participants at the third annual John Challis Courage for Life Foundation Golf Outing at Chartiers Country Club Monday.

Yahoo Sports Jason Cole ranks the Steelers defense 6th in the league in his Yahoo rankings column on Monday. Cole ranks the Ravens defense 2nd overall.

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Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell says he feels great about the defensive line going into camp. Starters Aaron Smith, Casey Hampton and Brett Keisel are all healthy and in great shape while Ziggy Hood should be able to contribute more this year as he is playing with better pad level, using his hands better and staying on his feet more this offseason. Mitchell hopes to rotate in Hood, Nick Eason and Chris Hoke to keep the line fresher with no drop offs this season.

Steelers.com has part 2 up of the "Ask The Steelers" segment with rookie running back Jonathan Dwyer.

The supplemental draft is few weeks away still, but the Steelers have been named as a team that has interest in BYU running back Harvey Unga. Regardless of how good his pro day is, I find it hard to fathom the Steelers would give up a 2011 pick of any round to draft him with the stable of young backs they already have in the fold.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_football_dolphins/2010/06/source-miami-dolphins-showing-interest-in-harvey-unga.html

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward is heading to Mount Laurel, N.J., for the NFL's Broadcast Boot Camp, which begins Monday and runs through Thursday. Ward seems like a natural for this and of the 65 former and current players who went through the program the past three years, nearly half of them have secured jobs in the broadcasting industry.

John Harris has a story on cornerback Ike Taylor who recently was back home in Louisiana to hold his seventh annual Face Me Ike football camp at Arden Cahill Academy in suburban New Orleans.

The Ratbirds signed former Cowboys safety Ken Hamlin on Friday for which most believe is insurance for current safety Ed Reed. Hamlin is a huge drop-off though and he was on the free agent wire for a reason.

Steelers wide receiver Limas Sweed will be sidelined indefinitely after having surgery Monday on his left Achilles tendon. He will at best open training camp on the PUP list, but could be headed to IR instead. Adam Schefter tweeted on Monday that Sweed was very close to being traded to Tampa last month.

Ed Bouchette looks at the wide receiver situation following the loss of Limas Sweed. Hines Ward chimes in with his expectations for Mike Wallace as well.

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said he was very close to needing surgery last season and faced it being a career-ending injury if had injured it again last year by rushing back.

Byron Leftwich tells Steelers.com beat writer, Teresa Varley, that he could not be happier to be back in Pittsburgh and he was thrown right back into the offense for mini-camp instead of being spoon fed.

Jason La Canfora reports that some in the Steelers organization are indeed optimistic that suspended quarterback Ben Roethlisberger could return for organized team activities next month. Roethlisberger is undergoing league-mandated evaluations this week.

Steelers NT Casey Hampton gave a candid on air interview to 93.7 The Fan Radio. Big Snack talks about the Steelers offseason and being back in camp.

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Limas Sweed joined the action on day one of the on field OTA practice session yesterday. He released a statement first thanking the Steelers for their support as he dealt with some personal issues. The personal issues have still not yet been disclosed and Sweed did not talk to reporters after practice. Gerry Dulac points out that Sweed could battle a 5th round pick this year for the #5 receiver spot on the 53 man roster. Sweed also is wearing #80 now instead of #14.

Wide receiver Hines Ward was the one notable no-show yesterday at the OTA practice, while nose tackle Casey Hampton looks in great shape according to defensivwe end Aaron Smith. Strong safety Troy Polamalu was also back running around which is a great sign foir Steeler Nation. Usually, Polamalu works out with fitness trainer Marv Marinovich in Southern California during this time of year and skips the OTA's. Steelers Depot has learned that the starting center yesterday was Doug Legursky who anchored the line in place of Justin Hartwig who is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Kraig Urbik snapped on the second team unit on the scrimmage portions of practice. Hartwig did snap some on 7-on-7 drills.

Defensive line assistant coach and former linebacker Jerry Olsavsky, running back Mewelde Moore, defensive end Ziggy Hood, center Justin Hartwig, linebacker Patrick Bailey and running back Rashard Mendenhall all have their draft day memories up now on Steelers.com.

Dale Lolley thinks like I do and has the Steelers drafting center Maurkice Pouncey in round 1. If you missed my selections, you can find them here.

The Steelers 2010 schedule dates will be released tonight at around 7 eastern. We might get it early from the NFL office though. Here is the link to the cool NFL.com interactive page.

Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Director of football operations Kevin Colbert talked about this weekend's NFL draft during their yearly press conference on Monday. You can read the transcript here or watch the presser below.

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WPXI is reporting this morning that police in Milledgeville, Ga., will soon wrap up their case that accuses Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger of sexually assault that they'll soon present the case to the district attorney.

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert was present at the University of Texas Pro day on Wednesday to see draft hopefuls, safety Earl Thomas, quarterback Colt McCoy, linebacker Sergio Kindle and wide receiver Jordan Shipley among others. Thomas ran a 4.38 in his only 40-yard dash, but he tweaked his hamstring and didn't do any other drills. Thomas is scheduled to come to Pittsburgh for a pre draft visit as well.

Speaking of draft hopefuls, the Steelers hosted five more players yesterday at its South Side practice facility. The pre daft visitors were: Boise State cornerback Kyle Wilson, Alabama cornerback Kareem Jackson, Maryland cornerback Nolan Carroll, Alabama-Birmingham wide receiver Joe Webb and Marshall linebacker Albert McClellan. We have the full list of pre draft visits updated daily here. South Carolina linebacker Eric Norwood and Wake Forest CB Brandon Ghee are expected to visit Steelers today.

Scott Brown blogged that Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton has shown up for this weeks OTA session and the Steelers are reportedly thrilled he is in attendance.

Former Steelers greats such as Rocky Bleier, Mel Blount and L.C. Greenwood along with Art Rooney Jr. will team up for "An Evening Of Pure Black And Gold" at 6 p.m. April 22 at The Pennsylvanian. The event will benefit the Stroke Survivor Connection program and will celebrate the 1979 Steelers, the only team to win a Super Bowl with a roster made up entirely of players who had never worn another team's jersey.

The Steelers are trying to boost the Pittsburgh area economy as they started construction this week on a $12 million entertainment complex next to Heinz Field, a venture that was more than a decade in the making. The complex will be built to host both indoor and outdoor concerts and events.

Unrestricted free agent Ryan Clark was not tagged yesterday, but the Steelers are working on getting him signed still if the numbers are right. Joel Turner, Clark's agent, claims Clark is offering a hometown discount of sorts to stay in Pittsburgh.

The Texans and the Falcons had a coin flip this morning to decide who would pick after the Steelers in round 1. The Falcons won and will pick 19th, while the Texans will pick 20th in the first round.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette speculates that despite signing Casey Hampton to a new deal, the Steelers still could pick a nose tackle in round one based on the comments made by Steelers GM Kevin Colbert on Thursday. I think otherwise, but as Scott Brown points out though, nose tackles remain a hot commodity throughout the league.

Idaho's Mike Iupati is already turning heads at the combine. He very well could be most versatile find in NFL draft this year and the Steelers would have to give him serious consideration at the 18th pick should they decide to stay there.

While we are talking NFL combine, we will have all of the 2010 NFL Combine Results as they come in. We watch live everyday and will update the results, times and stats throughout the day for you.

Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall will greet guests today at the Champion Sports Zone at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Mendenhall will be greeting his fans from 12 – 2 pm. No purchase is required to meet him, however admission to the park is required.

A key player that the Steelers designated as one of their unrestricted free agent priorities has reportedly agreed to a new three year, $21 million contract to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The contract reported has $11 million of the contract guaranteed with year one paying Hampton 7 plus million. The deal will be announced around 10:00 eastern this morning. The signing prevents the Steelers from having to use either of their franchise or transition tags on Hampton and can now turn the last minute attention to safety Ryan Clark and kicker Jeff Reed who are still unsigned. Calls to Hampton agent, Brian Overstreet, have yet to be returned.

With the new 3 year deal expected to be announced for nose tackle Casey Hampton sometime on Thursday, the attention now quickly turns to the other two restricted free agents the Steelers identified as offseason priorities. Those two of course are free safety Ryan Clark and kicker Jeff Reed. One way or another, Reed will get tagged if no new deal is reeached, the question is will the Steelers use the exclusive franchise tag or the transition tag now? Also, if the Steelers are serious about trying to get something done with Clark, they could use the other tag not used on Reed to try to work out a cap friendly front loaded contract with Clark as well. The Steelers are reportedly set to meet again with Clark's agent, Joel Turner, during the NFL combine this weekend. The franchise tag on safeties for 2010 is 6.455 million with the transition tag being $6.011 million. The chance the Steelers take with giving the transition tag to Reed is of course the ever looming poison pill. Clark too could be a risk of a pill if another team deems him worth 6+ million. it really is a coin flip right now on if Clark indeed will get tagged at all. Stay tuned as with the combine getting starting on Thursday and the anticipated news of a new deal for Big Snack, Thursday will be an eventful day for Steeler Nation.

The hours are ticking down until the Steelers have to make a decision on whether or not they will have to place the franchise tag on nose tackle Casey Hampton. It is rumored that the Steelers have made one final contract offer to Hampton and his agent that would allow the Steelers to sign Hampton to a multi-year, future cap friendly contract. The new contract offer is reportedly front loaded and worth around 12 million dollars in guaranteed cash. The Steelers have until 4:00 p.m. Thursday to get the deal done to avoid having to use the tag on Hampton. If no new deal is reached, the Steelers will indeed use the exclusive franchise tag on Hampton while continuing to work out a new contract.

One of the caveats of getting a deal done with Big Snack would be that the Steelers could then turn around and use the franchise tag on free safety Ryan Clark and the transition tag on kicker Jeff Reed as planned. The franchise tag for safeties in 2010 is $6.455 million. This would enable the Steelers to keep all 3 unrestricted free agents they considered a priority without breaking the bank or hurting themselves in future years if and when the salary cap comes back into play. This would also give the Steelers plenty of time to work out a new deal with Reed and delaying a long term decision on the aging Clark.

Stay tuned as this could all go down very quickly if indeed the rumors hold true.

UPDATED: Hampton has agreed to a three year, $21 million contract with $11 million of the contract guaranteed.