The 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers draft class has been chosen and the excitement for the upcoming season is building at a rapid pace. There is already talk about which players might contribute in their rookie season and how many might even start on either offense or defense in week one. The obvious names that most are tossing around as week one starters are guard David DeCastro, tackle Mike Adams and nose tackle Alameda Ta'amu. The only realistic names on that list however to be in the starting lineup when the Steelers take on the Denver Broncos in week one however are DeCastro and Adams as the history Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was on WDVE radio this morning to talk about the new presents that he received during the 2012 NFL draft this past weekend as well as a few other topics. Roethlisberger was specifically asked early on what he has heard so far about first round pick David DeCastro and how he was being compared already to former Steeler guard Alan Faneca. Roethlisberger replied by saying, "I just heard he's the next Alan Faneca and that's a pretty high compliment, because obviously we know how great Alan Faneca was. But he seems like, from everything I heard, Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL draft is now complete and the Pittsburgh Steelers added three offensive linemen in the form of Stanford guard David DeCastro, Ohio State tackle Mike Adams and guard Kelvin Beachum as part of their nine selections. With the draft and free agency now behind us, it is time to take the yearly look at the state of the Steelers offensive line moving forward into the offseason workouts. Maurkice Pouncey - Pouncey is entering his third season now and is already a two time Pro Bowl center. The left ankle that caused him to miss Super Bowl XLV against the Green Bay Backers and the Wild Card Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz How can you be a Pittsburgh Steelers fan right now and not be excited and optimistic about the 2012 NFL season? Ever since 2006, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been pounded, beaten, and broken, resulting in injuries that compromised the success of the season. Just over the past two years, Roethlisberger suffered a broken nose, thumb, and a high ankle sprain last year that hindered the goal of winning the AFC North. And while players like Maurkice Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert were drafted in 2010 and 2011 respectively, those two players were not enough to protect Roethlisberger Read more [...]

The Pittsburgh Steelers introduced first round draft pick David DeCastro to the media today. Since his selection there has been speculation as to whether or not he would remain at right guard, where he started 39 games at Stanford over the last three seasons, or if the Steelers had plans on flipping him over to the left side. According to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, DeCastro will be a right guard initially according to a source of his. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Thursday night in his press conference with General Manager Kevin Colbert following the selection of DeCastro, Read more [...]

Now that the shock of David DeCastro being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers has worn off, the question I see most asked is if the Stanford product can play left guard. Of course Mike Tomlin was asked that very question during the press conference following the pick and said, "He is a right guard. That’s what he has played at Stanford. We are going to work to put our best people on the field and he will be a candidate within that group, obviously. It was just a fun evaluation. He played right guard in Stanford’s offense and everything we would ask him to do you saw him do at Stanford, whether Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL draft taught me a very valuable lesson tonight and that is to never say never. Stanford guard David DeCastro falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers is an example that we can point to for several years to come. The 22 year old guard was supposedly unobtainable for the Steelers unless they were to trade up into the top 15 to get him. At best I thought he could have fell to around pick 20, but that was in my most wildest scenarios. None of those scenarios included what happened Thursday night in New York. So how did the best guard in the draft that recorded 316 knockdowns, 68 touchdown-resulting Read more [...]

By Christopher DiMarino In my first mock draft attempt, I wasn't sure how much stock to put into the fact that certain players have made (or are planning to make) pre-draft visits. I figured it was a pretty good indicator that the Steelers were showing interest in that player. It could also mean that a lot of these guys have questions marks about them that the Steelers would like answered. These questions could be related to football intelligence, past experiences or testing how they would fit into the Steelers scheme. In particular, I would think these interviews would be useful for linebackers Read more [...]

I think everyone can remember the madness last year when Warren Sapp implied that the Pittsburgh Steelers were too old to be considered an elite team. The Steelers did a great job of proving Sapp wrong both with the teams' overall on field performance and the way that the younger backups stepped up thru injuries. So just as the offseason passes us steadily by and we almost have that negative implication out of our minds, it pops back up. I was reading a power ranking on NFL.com and was maligned to find that they had the Steelers listed as the 13th ranked team. Not bad for a 12-4 team that has lost Read more [...]

The 2012 NFL draft is almost here and every year about this time I like to go back through the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and identify the stone cold locks for the 53 man roster on both sides of the ball. This gives clarity to obvious draft needs as well as upcoming roster battles to start looking forward to. First up is the offense and below is the breakdown of the players I would bet my house on to make the 53 man roster baring some sort of injury or suspension. While you could make arguments for several others I do not have listed, I think you would have a hard time selling me that they are Read more [...]

We are gearing up for the 2012 NFL draft now and will be profiling players the Pittsburgh Steelers have in for pre draft visits along with a few others along the well that match what the Steelers will likely have on their draft board. Up first is guard Brandon Brooks from Miami (Ohio) University. Despite a nice senior season, Brooks did not receive an invite to the NFL scouting combine in late February and was the biggest snub of the offensive linemen draft hopefuls not in Indianapolis. During his career at Miami of Ohio he played both guard spots and some left tackle well. His thick build dictates Read more [...]

You never know what will crop up in the comments section on this site, but I am proud to say that quite a few of the readers here are well informed when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The latest discussion centers around the Steelers potentially drafting Alabama inside linebacker Dont'a Hightower in the first round and as Greig eludes to in the comments section of another post, the Steelers have not drafted a true inside linebacker in the first round in the Super Bowl era. Of course I know many of you will point to Lawrence Timmons, who the Steelers drafted in the first round of the 2007 Read more [...]

By Christina Rivers Sunday, Mark Madden, a Beaver County Times Sports correspondent wrote a piece that tore apart the Pittsburgh Steelers and players.  His premise was that young players, like Mike Wallace, aren't really loyal to the Steelers organization, but to fame.  His evidence?  The way that "a new breed of Steeler" are using social media site Twitter to show their lack of maturity and lack of credibility. Twitter has become as much a part of social media as it has an untamed forum for free expression.  When Maurkice Pouncey turned to Twitter following the Steelers' loss to Denver Read more [...]

By Christina Rivers While 31 teams in the NFL turn free agency into haberdashery, selling and buying up players like they're playing the stock market, the Pittsburgh Steelers use March to reflect, inspect and quietly make their moves. The Steelers organization has always appeared to play chess during the period instead of following the 'trend'. The don't get caught in the scrum, and they usually walk away with hardly a scratch and a nice payoff. It reminds me of the movie Braveheart; young William Wallace being told that before he learns how to use his sword, he must use his head. The Steelers Read more [...]

The 2012 free agency period is just a few hours away now and we continue to wrap up our player by player analysis of the Pittsburgh Steelers 2012 Free Agents. We our deep into the analysis of the Steelers unrestricted free agents and we now move forward with the unrestricted group by taking a look at guard/tackle Trai Essex. Check the links at the bottom of the post to see the other Steelers free agents that we have already covered. Player: Trai Essex Position: Guard/Tackle Experience: 7 Years Free Agent Status: Unrestricted 2011 Salary Cap Hit: $525,000.00 2011 Season Breakdown: Read more [...]