Steelers take DE Tuitt in second round
PITTSBURGH — Think the Steelers want to get better on defense?
They invested their top two picks in the NFL Draft on defensive players, one with speed, the other — second-round defensive end Stephon Tuitt — with size.
After taking inside linebacker Ryan Shazier in the first round, the Steelers came right back with Tuitt, who brings prototypical size (6-5, 310) to another position of need.
The team is in transition on defense after numerous losses in all three areas of a unit that only two seasons ago led the league in total yards allowed. Those stats are not lost on defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.
“Sometimes in the past, we’ve been in a position where our draft choices don’t necessarily have to play for a year or so,” LeBeau said. “This is definitely not the case in this situation. Our depth is a challenge. We’ve got two excellent football players who are going to add depth, if not become quality starters right away.”
If not for a hernia suffered before last season, Tuitt may have been picked much earlier than No. 46, according to Steelers defensive line coach John Mitchell. “If this guy had been healthy coming into his junior year, he would probably have been in the top-10 guys drafted,” Mitchell said. “We feel like we got a steal in the second round with our pick.”
The hernia, though, cost Tuitt.
“He gained weight, up to about 335, and didn’t play up to his ability,” Mitchell said. “If you look back to his sophomore year (2012), he was a very productive player. The hernia set him back some, but we worked him out in Atlanta and he was fine. He knows he has to be in shape to be productive.”
Tuitt made plenty of All-America teams as a sophomore, when he started all 13 games for the Fighting Irish and led the team with 12 sacks and 13 tackles for losses. He also returned a fumble recovery 77 yards for a touchdown and caused three fumbles.
But he gained some 25 pounds before last season, due to hernia surgery that limited his ability to work out. He played at 328, yet still started all 13 games at left defensive end and came up with a career-high 50 tackles. He led the team for the second year in a row with 7½ sacks and nine tackles for losses totaling 62 yards. Tuitt also had a foot injury, but Mitchell said he checked out fine in a visit with the Steelers.
“He was 100 percent when he came in here,” Mitchell said. “I asked him about it and it’s not a problem.”
The injuries dropped him down in the draft, to the delight of the Steelers and Mitchell.
“I think we got a really good football player,” Mitchell said. “I had a chance to go to Atlanta and work him out and I was really impressed.”
So, the Steelers addressed inside linebackers and the defensive line in the first two rounds and last year’s first-rounder was outside linebacker Jarvis Jones. The next logical question is the secondary, particularly cornerback.
“I think there are some good ones still in the draft,” said LeBeau, not sounding greedy at all. “I feel good about the cornerbacks that we have and we have more numbers there than people realize. We have people that I at least know about. We may have great players in the building already, they just haven’t had the chance to show us that they are great. I guess you can’t take a defensive guy every pick, but maybe we’ll get a corner with the next pick.”
Not even LeBeau could pull that one off. The Steelers instead selected Dri Archer, a 5-8, 173-pound wide receiver from Kent State. The defensive backfield will have to wait until Saturday at least.