PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 04: Seventh round draft pick Kelvin Beachum #68 of the Pittsburgh Steelers works out during their rookie minicamp at the Pittsburgh Steelers South Side training facility on May 4, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh formally has two SMU products on the roster.
Seventh-round pick Kelvin Beachum agreed to a four-year deal with the team Thursday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Beachum, a 6-foot-1, 306-pound offensive guard, joins WR Emmanuel Sanders as SMU football alumni for the Steelers. He'll look to add to the depth of the suddenly formidable Steelers offensive line. Even with the selection of David DeCastro in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, guard is an open position for the Steelers. Two of the Steelers' starters at right and left guard in 2011, Ramon Foster and Doug Legursky, are free agents in 2013, and another starter, Chris Kemoeatu, was released this offseason.
Neither Foster nor Legursky were drafted, and Kemoeatu was a 6th round pick, so certainly there's precedent for Beachum to potentially earn a roster spot in a season or two.
Another key is his character. From Steelers.com: eachum also had an impact off the field, serving as a student representative to the SMU Board of Trustees and as President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He was also on SMU President R. Gerald Turner's Commission on Substance Abuse, the Student Affairs Leadership Council and the SMU Athletic Council.


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