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NFL Draft

By Mike Ciarochi 5 min read

Secondary is primary for Steelers this year EDITOR’S NOTE: Another in a series of articles about the Pittsburgh Steelers’ preparations for the NFL Draft, to be held Saturday and Sunday. Today: Secondary.PITTSBURGH – A year ago, the Steelers secondary was such a strength people wondered how the Steelers managed to keep both Chad Scott and Dewayne Washington from leaving via free agency.

Now, it is such a weakness the same people are wondering why the Steelers invested so much in their starting cornerbacks and how they can get out from under the mess that is the secondary.

The Steelers also invested fairly heavily in Deshea Townsend, a backup cornerback who may be the missing link in all of this trouble, trouble that saw the Steelers drop from fifth to 20th in pass defense in one season.

Strong safety Lee Flowers is gone (and forgotten) after being identified as the man most responsible for turning the phrase “spread offense” into matching four-letter words. Flowers was strong against the run, but virtually invisible against the pass and New England and Oakland exposed that weakness quite thoroughly.

Free safety Brent Alexander, too, isn’t quite fast enough to be as effective as he was earlier in his career. Mike Logan is coming off surgery and Erik Totten isn’t good enough. The only hope at safety is Chris Hope, who couldn’t get on the field much last season. Still, the team believes he can be the answer at strong safety.

Hank Poteat and Chidi Iwuoma are backup cornerbacks, but neither is good enough to seriously help the team.

Steelers coach Bill Cowher insists Scott will remain at cornerback this season, but he has changed his mind before. Depending on what happens in this draft, the Steelers opening day starting secondary could consist of Washington and Townsend at cornerback, Scott at free safety and Hope at strong safety.

But that’s a story for July or August. It’s draft time and all of the early predictions had the Steelers picking a cornerback or safety in the first round. You heard the names: Ohio State’s Mike Doss or USC’s Troy Polamalu at safety or Oklahoma’s Andre Woolfolk, Texas A&M’s Sammy Davis or Oregon State’s Dennis Weathersby at cornerback.

There are reasons you don’t hear those names – except for Polamalu – associated with the Steelers’ 27th overall pick anymore. Weathersby, of course, fell off everybody’s draft board when he was shot in the back in a gang-related incident sometime last weekend. He’s expected to be OK, but character issues probably took him off Pittsburgh’s board altogether.

Woolfolk is expected to be drafted before the Steelers get a turn and Davis isn’t a true first-round projection. In fact, have dropped so much, the Steelers may have to choose between them in the second round.

Polamalu remains a possibility for Pittsburgh in the first round and would make a lot of sense, based on prior Steelers drafts. He is the top-rated player at his position in this draft, which is what all the draftniks said about starting guards Alan Faneca and Kendall Simmons, nose tackle Casey Hampton and wide receiver Plaxico Burress when they were drafted.

Polamalu would give the Steelers much more than they had with Flowers. He is small (5-10, 206), but fast and is a solid tackler. He excels against the run, but more than holds his own in coverage, as well. In fact, he has a knack for getting his hands on a lot of balls thrown his way.

Doss remains second among safeties after a stellar season that saw his Buckeyes win the national championship. He is aggressive and provides solid run support, but he also gambles going for the ball and gives up some big plays.

Also first-day picks among safeties are N.C. State’s Terrance Holt, brother of Rams wide receiver Torry Holt and Arkansas’s Ken Hamlin. Both of them have similar speed to Doss, but Holt is 6-1 and Hamlin is 6-2. Hamlin brings some off-the-field baggage that could take him off the Steelers board.

Perhaps the best possibility of coming to Pittsburgh among safeties belongs to Texas’s Terrance Kiel, who has decent size (5-11, 204) and good speed (4.46 in the 40). Kiel’s stock is rising after he had an excellent workout at the Indianapolis combine.

Perhaps in the third round, the Steelers could find Penn State’s Bryan Scott. He has first-round measureables (6-1, 219, 4.34 speed in the 40), but won’t go that high. He is still learning the safety position after spending time at cornerback. That should be a plus to the Steelers, given that they want their safeties to be good in coverage.

Kansas State’s Terence Newman is the best of the cornerbacks, with Washington state’s Marcus Trufant not far behind. Both likely will be gone when Pittsburgh selects.

The Steelers like cornerbacks with size and some have predicted they will select Bethune-Cookman’s Rashean Mathis (6-1, 202) as easily as the second round.

A late riser is Cincinnati’s Blue Adams, who is only 5-9, 182. That might turn off the Steelers, but he has instincts to be a solid safety, where size isn’t as much of a factor.

Once the second day gets underway, look for the Steelers to again load up on safeties and cornerbacks who are special teams players and who might stick around for a year or two learning their position.

NEXT: Predictions

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