Guys, check out Alex Mack’s workout numbers at his Pro Day on March 19 via Gil Brandt from NFL.com:

He measured in at 6-foot-4 1/4, 307 pounds. He had a sensational workout in the position drills and ran a 5.17 and 5.23 in the 40, posted a 28 1/2-inch vertical jump, an 8-foot, 10-inch broad jump, a 4.75 short shuttle, a 7.31 three-cone drill and did 20 bench press reps.

Brethren, do you want your center of the decade to be someone who can bench press 225 lbs. 20 times while going up against Sean Rogers and Haoliti Gnata twice a year? I think this drops him from the first round.

By the way, Eric Woods of Louisville at 6’3 and 7/8 inches, 310 lbs, did 30 reps on the bench, 5.23 40-yard dash, 30.5 inch vertical with a 7.56 on the 3-cone drill.

And A.J. Shipley, 6’1’’, 304 lbs, did 33 reps on the bench, 5.23 40-yard dash, 31-inch vertical leap and 7.46 on the 3-cone drill.

And this is from C/G Doug Legursky (who the Steelers signed from their practice squad to the regular roster) from his Pro Day a year ago, 6’3’’, 312 lbs., 36 reps on the bench, 5.22 40-yard dash, 28-inch vertical, 7.71 on the 3-cone drill.

Who still wants Mack at pick no. 32?

Big name wide receiver staying in Pittsburgh?! lol. Not gonna happen.

The Steelers don’t let #1 draft picks walk after their rookie contract. Look at Faneca, Hampton, Simmons, Ben, Polamalu, etc. I think both of them get good deals.

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The Steelers just don’t let impact players get away. Plax, sure, he left, but that was a HInes vs Plax decision, a no-brainer IMO.

I easily see both Timmons and Tone staying in the mix as Pittsburgh’s 13 core players. Foote and Farrior will be gone soon and we need Timmons to be there. As for Holmes, I don’t think that even a major leap in production from Sweed will be enough to run Holmes out of town cuz there is little/no depth behind him.

As for Burress, I remember the season before he left that he was cohorting with Ben and changing his routes on the field, despite the play that was being called by coaches. The coaches in the booth started recognizing it and the last thing they wanted was a bad influence disrupting the growth of their young franchise QB. Obviously, we didn’t need him and I’m glad to be rid of him.

Heres my thing, Santonio is good but I dont think he quite commands the league in such a way that others will be molesting him to give him money.

Timmy is gonna be locked up because we <3 defense.

 Santonio has a knack for getting open after his route’s run out and Ben is playing keep away in the backfield.

If this kind of teamwork improves, and Holmes is still a go-getter type, I’d feel awful seeing him go.

First of all I’m not sure how an uncapped NFL would affect these guys. From what I’ve read they can’t become unrestricted free agents until they’ve played six years and if that’s the case, then it’s still too far into the future to predict. Injuries, off-field incidents, the emergence of other players … a lot of stuff can happen to change the status quo.

But assuming they both become UFA in their scheduled years I think it’s going to be very difficult for the Steelers to retain either one. Next off-season, Santonio won’t be the top priority of our second-contract guys we want to extend, it will be Woodley, whose four-year deal also expires after 2010. He is going to cost an arm and a leg and rightly so. I’m also expecting the Steelers to either work out a long-term deal for Harrison or keep him for 2010 by franchising him, either way costing big bucks a year from now. Obviously Santonio is also a high priority because of Hines’ age and the lack of proven WR depth on the roster, but there might be some financial limitations on what can be done. I can see us extending Woodley next year and Santonio playing out the final year of his contract and going into the UFA market. What are the chances of the Steelers outbidding what will be huge number of teams interested in him? Almost zilch. In the Steelers’ balanced offense he will never put up the kind of numbers that get him acknowledged as a top-flight WR and I think he has just enough of an ego to want to get that recognition.

Timmons is an incredible athlete who could be the star linebacker in many defenses, either 3-4 or 4-3. As long as Woodley and Harrison are around, he is No. 3 at best in Pittsburgh and the Steelers’ next contract offer to him will reflect that. They’re not going to offer him more than what they pay Woodley, for sure. So that means he plays out his final year without an extension and again goes into the FA market … with Rosenhaus pitching him as the best available FA linebacker in the game. And he might be right, in which case he is gone too.

I realize this is a pessimistic viewpoint but even keeping one of these guys is going to be very difficult. We have lost a lot of good players over the years that we couldn’t afford to keep and it’s not going to stop now.

Timmons is about a year and a half younger than Woodley. Woodley was 23 when he started his first full year in 08; Timmons will be 23 when he likely starts for the first time in 09. I agree with you Blitz, Timmons is likely to blow up and become an impact player. His ceiling might be higher than Woodley’s based on athletic potential but Woodley’s ceiling looks pretty darn high already..

What will it take to re-sign Woodley? Hard to say. Here are Woodley’s second year stats: 15 GP, 60 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 1 interception. Here are Terrell Suggs’ second-year stats (2004): 16 GP, 60 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 0 intercepts. Suggs hasn’t matched that sack number in any year since. He made the Pro Bowl once in his first three years, twice more since. Suggs played five years on his first contract but the Ravens have never been able to sign him to a second contract, franchising him last year and again this year for about $8 million and $10 million. Would anyone here trade Woodley for Suggs, who is still only 26? I’m guessing not many though the two players are pretty similar in terms of productivity and position responsibilities.

Here are Demarcus Ware’s second-year stats (2006): 16 GP, 71 tackles, 11.5 sacks, 1 interception. He’s put up increasingly better numbers each of the past two years and is going into the final year of his contract. Is Woodley another Demarcus Ware? Probably not but you never know. If Woodley continues to improve (and he should after just one full season as a starter and still only 24 years old) and increases his sack numbers in 09, then that is the kind of company he will be measured against at the contract table.

Even if Woodley doesn’t approach Ware territory, impact linebackers cost a lot of money. The Dolphins re-signed four-year veteran Channing Crowder a few weeks ago for an estimated $20 million over three years. The Cardinals have been unable to re-sign Karlos Danby, franchising him the last two years just as the Ravens did with Suggs. The Packers extended starting linebacker Nick Barnett on his second contract a couple years ago for $35 million over six years. The Broncos extended second-contract DJ Williams last year for $32 million over five years. Barnett and Williams (and to a lesser extent Crowder) are good players who do a lot of things that Woodley isn’t asked to do at his position, but none of them get in the quarterback’s face like he does. It’s a special talent that will make him a lot of money.