Draft Grades: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers went into the 2009 NFL season as the reigning Super Bowl Champions. They finished out of the playoffs, and head into the offseason with plenty of questions.

Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes was traded to the New York Jets for a 5th Round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Too many off the field problems and a looming 4 game suspension led to the trade of Holmes. Then the big bombshell hit. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was levied with a six game suspension for his off the field indiscretions. The Steelers head into the 2010 NFL season with a lot of questions and still looking for the answers.

The offensive line has been a problem for years, and with their first round selection the Steelers picked Maurkice Pouncey, a center from Florida. Pouncey is a mauler in the middle of the line. He will be looked upon to play guard at first then move to his natural position.

Emmanuel Sanders, a wide receiver from SMU, will be looked upon to help fill the void left by the trading of Holmes. But the draft for the Steelers was heavy on defensive ends and linebackers. The second round brought Jason Worilds from Virginia Tech. The Steelers are strongest at the linebacker position, and many of their draft picks will be looked upon to help on special teams, a unit which gave up way too many touchdowns in the 2009 season.

A late round sleeper looks to be Jonathon Dwyer,a running back from Georgia Tech. Dywer is a physical, pound it between the tackles runner who can help fill the void left by the free agent departure of Willie Parker and back up Rashard Mendenhall.

Draft Grade: C+

Round 2 on Day 2

With the 2010 NFL Draft spread out over 3 days, it will be interesting to see what kind of trades are going to be made after the first round. Normally, the St. Louis Rams would have 8 minutes to make their pick at the top of Round 2, but this year they have all night. A night to go over their choices and a night to field offers.

With the draft as deep as it is, there are two ways to look at it. Moving up doesn't make sense because you are going to get first round talent well into the second round. But there are going to be some very good players that teams may look to trade up to get. If you are looking for a defensive tackle, and Terrence Cody, Brian Price and Jared Odrick are still there after Round 1, do you get on the phone or play the waiting game? The same goes for the offensive line. Maurkice Pouncey, Charles Brown, Rodger Saffold and even Bruce Campbell might be available. If the receivers slip, you are looking at Golden Tate, Demaryius Thomas, Arrelious Benn and Brandon LaFell. Need a tight end? How about Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Ed Dickson. There is plenty of depth available at every position, not just the ones I have listed here.

With the extra night between Round 1 and Round 2 are teams going to make the trades to get the players they want? I believe there is going to be a lot of wheeling and dealing going on into the wee hours of the morning. It could make for an interesting Round 2.