A major strength of Mundy that you didn’t mention – this is one bright kid. He transferred from Michigan and then, in his first season at WVU, learned the system so well he was lining people up on defense.

He seems to me to be a ryan clark type. Not the physical player that Anthony Smith is, but smart and tough and disciplined. I love both these picks.

My initial concern with this Draft is that we did not address the defensive line, and I thought the last three guys we did draft were expendable in comparison to trading all three picks and moving up to get an impact D-Lineman.

But that is a shallow view from a structural standpoint. What if the D-Linemen just weren’t good enough? Should the FO have forced them anyhow. The answer is no. Upon further review, I noticed two things.

First, other than Chris Long and Dorsey, it seemed like all the other D-Linemen dropped lower than their expected draft position. Obviously all the other front offices were not sold on D-Linemen either. No one was drooling to get any of those Dre Moore, Avril, Red Bryant guys. Even Merling and Calais Campbell fell. Hell, they all fell.

Second, notice how Phil Savage played this year’s Draft. He needed D-Linemen worse than us and worse than anyone; yet, he chose not to even get involved in this year’s Draft. He chose to trade his picks for existing veterans at that position. True, Corey Williams and Shaun Rogers are 29 and 28 years old, so I am not necessarily commending the Browns for trading Draft picks for guys that age, but my point is, Savage went to that extreme to get linemen for a reason – maybe the Draft didn’t produce any good ones? Maybe Savage saw that ahead of time?

My bottom line is that our FO knows a helluva lot more than I do, and they also know that D-Linemen were more important to us than a backup quarterback or backup safety or even the two linebackers we got. But, if they determined that those linemen weren’t projected to pan, then why force need that will result in a zero balance.

That said, however, MaaFala is dead on. Our problem didn’t go away. It just one year older. Next offseason and next draft we will not have the luxury of avoiding the issue again. we must grab a free agent, perhaps pull a Savage or perhaps reach in the Draft. Sooner or later, and now sooner, we must prepare for aging and injuries on the D-Line because the backups and young people we have will probably not be the answer.

I think it is very presumptuous to start indentifying “team needs”. As I recall, a couple of years back the crying “team need” was for a big RB to complement Willie Parker. The fans wanted a Lendale White or Michael Bush in the early rounds. About the only player the team drafted who fit that bill was Cedric Humes in the seventh round, and he is long gone. Now the pick of Mendenhall is regarded as a “luxury” pick, and a lot of fans are complaining that the team did not draft a lineman. Did the “need” from a couple years back go away, or is it more acute now that Parker is a couple of years older and has suffered his first serious injury?

Same, same at WR, where the fans have identified a tall red zone type receiver as a “team need” since Plax left town three seasons back. Fred Gibson wasn’t the answer, and Dallas Baker has done nothing to ease the concern. So, that “need” still exists and using a second round pick on Limas Sweed goes a long way to addressing it.

The team has been preparing for the loss of Jeff Hartings and Alan Faneca for a few years now, I think. Max Starks, Trai Essex, Chris Komeatu, Willie Colon, were all drafted in the mid round range, and Tony Hills was added this year. Sean Mahan and Justin Hartwig were brought in as band aid replacements on the assumption that at least two or three of the youngsters will prove to be legitimate NFLers. As it sits, the team has 3 of 5 Super Bowl starters returning on the line, complemented by a couple of experienced
NFL starters just reaching their prime in Mahan and Hartwig.

As far as the D line is concerned, it is at least as solid as it was at the SB, with Brett Keisel replacing Kimo Von Oelhoffen alongside Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton. Nick Eason is a decent backup, and Chris Hoke is a proven sub with very little mileage despite his age. The Steeler defensive system does not require the front three to be playmakers, only to handle the traffic to free up the blitzing linebackers and/or safeties. It makes little sense to expend a premium pick on a position where the player’s athletic ability will be stifled in any case.

Funny thing about Humpal is that his Combine and Pro Day workout numbers were probably the most impressive (given his position and size) of any of this year’s Steeler draft picks. Mike finished among the top 10 linebackers in half a dozen different categories at the Combine, then added a 38” vertical and 10’ + long jump on his pro day. Considering that he was one of the bigger linebackers available in the draft at 6-3, 245 pounds, his numbers were top notch. Still he gets cliched into the stiff white guy special teams fodder category by most observers. He will open some eyes in camp, I think.