2012 Draft and Rookie Free Agents

The Draft is finished and the Pittsburgh Sports Buzz likes what it sees. The Steelers attempted to rebuild their offensive line, they took a linebacker to fill the need left by the release of James Farrior, they traded up to get Casey Hampton's successor at Nose Tackle, and they took a jack of all trades speedster running back in the 5th. The rest, taking a quote from Kevin Colbert, is just "picking and hoping." Here is the list plus the rookie free agents the Steelers picked up.

Round 2

In the 2nd Round of the 2012 draft the Steelers continued to bolster their offensive line. Suddenly a perceived weakness the last few years has quite possibly gone to a team strength. The Steelers did not get a running back in the first or second round, and Rashard Mendenhall hasn't made a miraculous recovery from his knee injury, but the Steelers running game in 2 days suddenly looks like it will make a drastic improvement. There are a number of people that are smiling today. Take your pick. Sean Kugler, after several years of juggling mediocre talent on the line suddenly feels like Christmas has been moved to April. What better present than two high calibre linemen. The Steelers new Offensive coordinator, Todd Haley, has to have a big smile on his face. Play calling at the end of the game just got a lot easier. Instead of having to try to run out the clock with the passing game, it just became much easier to kill the clock with the running game. Ben Roethlisberger is smiling. Although he may be throwing fewer passes because of the guaranteed increase in running plays, it is very likely that those injuries will decrease because the quality of protection he will receive from Pouncey, Gilbert, DeCastro, and Adams. Of course it is not guaranteed that DeCastro will be an immediate starter, but I would be disappointed if he was not a starter at midseason and for the next 6+ years. It may take Adams a bit longer to take over, but again, I don't think it will be long before he has secured a starting spot on the line. In 2 days Kevin Colbert has brought a lot of smiles to many people on the Steelers payroll and it is surely to please Steeler Nation with an improved offensive line.

More Time for Ben

With the 24th pick in the 2012 Draft the Pittsburgh Steelers pick David DeCastro, Offensive Guard out of Stanford. Is Ben happy? The Steelers have been rebuilding their offensive line in the last 3 drafts with high round picks. It started with the pick of Maurkice Pouncey in the first round 2 years ago. Last year the Florida connection continued with the selection of Marcus Gilbert. Now, the Steelers moved west to find the next building block of their offensive line, David DeCastro. This means 2 things, the running and passing game should improve. Higher quality linemen lead to more room to roam for Mendenhall or Redman. It also means Ben will hopefully have better protection as he moves into the golden years of his career. If the Steelers do not make this pick or that of another high quality Offensive lineman Ben could continue to suffer the injuries that happen as a quarterback ages. Bottom line, the Steelers needed to protect their number 1 asset. They did that by taking another high round Offensive Lineman. Grade: A based on need

Let's Go Bucs

The third outfielder