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 [...]

By Christina Rivers Sitting, waiting patiently on my hands last night for pick #24 to come for the Pittsburgh Steelers as the unlikeliest players got selected by teams who had a much better shot at grabbing David DeCastro of Stanford; I was nearly as floored as others when it happened.  The pick celebrated throughout Steelers Nation.  If God picked football players on NFL Draft days for Pittsburgh, he handed the organization DeCastro with a big red bow you usually see on top of new Kias in car commercials.  I seriously think I might have bitten off my tongue if I hadn't been cheering. I 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 [...]

OK here is the audio and transcript of the Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin press conference following the selection of Stanford guard David DeCastro with the 24th pick in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft. [audio:http://www.steelersdepot.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/colbert-tomlin-david-decastro-press-conference.mp3] Kevin Colbert: Good evening everybody. We are very excited to announce our first pick, David DeCastro, guard, Stanford University. He’s a great player, excellent intangibles and character, he’s tough, he’s a leader, he’s smart, everything you could ask for in a player Read more [...]

By Jeremy Hritz Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin addressed the media this week about their draft preparations, and Colbert stated that they were 98% complete with their pre-draft work. Colbert also said that “there are not a lot of players in this draft that can come in and be immediate impact guys for us,” and fortunately in the position that the Steelers are in this year, they do not have many starting spots, and it can be argued none at all, that are up for grabs. Outside of getting serious about protecting franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the other players that the Steelers will Read more [...]

I received an email today from a reader who asked why I ignored Wisconsin guard Kevin Zeitler as a potential first round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night. The question caught me just at the right time as I had just finished re-watching the Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin pre draft conference from Monday as well as the sit down with Colbert today on Steelers Live at 4. You should be warned that I am feeling very euphoric today and this post will likely not translate my full thoughts correctly, but many of you are pretty used to that by now. Let me start off by saying that I Read more [...]

Season 2, Episode 100 of The Terrible Podcast is up and David Todd and first thank the listeners for the great feedback and emails that we have received over the course of the last few weeks. It has been overwhelming and we both are grateful to have such a wide listener-ship. We hope our passion and honest opinions show that we love doing these podcast for you. The talk starts with a brief recap of the Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin pre draft press conference from Monday. Not much info was gleamed from it, but we share the nuggets we liked. This is the final episode prior to the draft that begins Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey There are two players the Pittsburgh Steelers should consider trading up for in the upcoming draft, both on offense. Back in 2008, one year into the Mike Tomlin-era in Pittsburgh, the Steelers entered the NFL draft expected to make moves to improve their porous offensive line. Instead of spending a first round pick on tackle Duane Brown, the only offensive lineman taken in the first round after the Steelers picked 23rd, the Steelers brought in running-back Rashard Mendenhall. The Illinois runner was a surprising choice for the Steelers as Willie Parker was still fast Willie Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers General Manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin met the media on Monday for their annual pre draft press conference to talk about the upcoming draft. Below is the audio from the press conference and I will be filling in the key talking points from today, albeit not too many. The situation with restricted free agent Mike Wallace was addressed and both Colbert and Tomlin continue to say that they are committed to trying to get Wallace signed to a long-term deal. Tomlin said that they are not worried about all of the recent reports that Wallace intends to not sign his Read more [...]

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Jason Worilds is about to enter his third season since being drafted in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. Several in Steeler Nation are still struggling to understand why inside linebackers Sean Lee or Navarro Bowman weren't the pick instead of Worilds. Linebackers coach Keith Butler was asked that very question during his press conference following the selection of Worilds and said, "We like those guys. We like Bowman, I especially like Sean Lee. But those guys are inside linebackers right now. And we have a pretty good quartet of guys at inside linebacker. Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey With Mike Wallace still not certain to be on the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, the team enters the NFL draft with a need for depth on the outside despite the re-signing of Jerricho Cotchery. Bringing back Cotchery, to play the Hines Ward role, as a veteran leader for quite a young group of receivers was a very astute move by Kevin Colbert in an off-season filled with prudent moves by the Steelers' front office as a whole. Once Omar Khan worked his magic to bring the team below the salary cap limit, the Steelers approached free agency as they usually did tendering Read more [...]

After hours of even more tape watching and researching more on the pro days, my latest Pittsburgh Steelers mock draft version 4.0 is now complete. I have battled back and forth with myself, as I do with every mock draft, on the first 4 rounds. Who will drop where is always the toughest question to answer. One position I was not able to fit in this go around was running back. I am not totally sold the Steelers will take one in the first four rounds, but I am also not ready to rule it out from happening either. My first round pick will draw the most ire once again as it goes against the grain of Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey The Pittsburgh Steelers biggest off-season priority may be the upcoming NFL draft, while their levels of activity in free agency this year have remained consistently non-existent until very recently, however the Steelers have never been adverse to making a trade or two during the Mike Tomlin era around this time. Since Tomlin's first draft in 2007, the Steelers have traded draft picks in four of the team's five drafts so far. During Tomlin's first year, the Steelers traded up in the fourth round with the Green Bay Packers to bring in punter Daniel Sepulveda. Sepulveda was a Read more [...]

By Cian Fahey With the news that Jerricho Cotchery is in St Louis visiting the Rams, Mike Tomlin's noteworthy comment on Emmanuel Sanders' health and Mike Wallace's continued lack of a long-term contract, the Pittsburgh Steelers could value the wide receiver position in this draft more than many anticipate. The most likely receiver to be available for the Steelers to draft is Stephen Hill out of Georgia Tech, but he is also the best fit. Hill isn't rated the top prospect at the position as Kendall Wright of Baylor, Michael Floyd of Notre Dame and Justin Blackmon of Oklahoma State University Read more [...]