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When Mike Tomlin replaced Bill Cowher as Steelers head coach, one potential positive change that Steelers Digest Editor Bob Labriola suggested would be Tomlin's influence in the draft room.
During the end of his tenure in Pittsburgh Bill Cowher would us late round picks to either fill out his training camp roster and/or pick guys for the practice squad, often ignoring potential contributors. One such pick, Labriola informed, involved passing on running back Marcus Turner in the 5th round of '04 in favor of linebacker Nathaniel Adibi.
Labriola wrote that back in 2007. Since then Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert have had six drafts together, and now its your turn to pick the best of the best.
The rules slightly different than before. Since Steelers Nation is still waiting on the returns from 2012 and arguably 2011 as well, we've decide to spice this historic mock draft edition up by opening up all of Kevin Colbert's unrestricted rookie free agent signings.
And since there are no limits to unrestricted free agents, everyone is allowed to pick three from the Cowher-Colbert era (letting you pick Debo, FWP and someone else), and two unrestricted rookie free agents from the Colbert-Tomlin.
Here his your 5 9 Burning Historical Mock Drafts Tomlin-Colbert Edition.
First Round
2007: Lawrence Timmons, linebacker; 2008: Rashard Mendenhall, running back; 2009: Ziggy Hood, defensive end; 2010: Maurkice Pouncey, center; 2011: Cameron Heyward, defensive end; 2012: David DeCastro, guard
Second Round
2007: LaMarr Woodley, linebacker; 2010: Jason Worilds, linebacker; 2011: Marcus Gilbert, tackle; 2012: Mike Adams, tackle
Third Round
2007: Matt Speath, tight end; 2009: Mike Wallace, wide receiver and Keenan Lewis, cornerback; 2010: Emmanuel Sanders, wide receiver; 2011: Curtis Brown, cornerback; 2012: Sean Spence
Fourth Round
2007: Dan Sepulveda, punter; 2011: Cortez Allen, cornerback; 2012: Alameda Ta'amu
Fifth Round
2007: William Gay, cornerback: 2008: Dennis Dixon, quarterback; 2010: Stevenson Sylvester, linebacker; 2011: Chris Carter, linebacker
Sixth Round
2008: Ryan Mundy, safety; 2009: Sunny Harris, defensive tackle; 2010: Jonathan Dwyer, running back and Antonio Brown, wide receiver
Seventh Round
2009: David Johnson, tight end; 2011: Baron Batch, running back; 2012: David Paulson, tight end and Kelvin Beachum, guard
Cowher-Colbert Era Rookie Free Agents - Pick up to three from the range of years
2000: Dan Kreider, fullback and Ainsley Battles safety; 2001: Keydrick Vincent guard and Chris Hoke nose tackle; 2002: James Harrison; 2004: Willie Parker 2005: Nate Washington, wide receiver; 2006: Anthony Madison, cornerback
Tomlin-Colbert Era Rookie Free Agents - Pick up to two from the range of years
2007: Gary Russell, running back; 2008: Darnell Stapleton, guard; 2009: Stefan "Joystick" Logan, running back, Ramon Foster, guard, Doug Legursky, guard/center occasional fullback, and Isaac Redman running back; 2010: Steve McLendon, nose tackle
Bonus Question: A "professional" draft evaluator would score Colbert-Tomlin positively for picking guys like Ryan McBean and Kraig Urbik even though neither player ever delivered value for the Steelers. Do you think they should get credit for picks like that?
There you go. Please remember that spelling and punctuation do not count, but that all essay length answers must be written in blue or black ink!
Remember partial credit will be given for those who show their work, so defend your answers!
Have at it folks!