NFL Network analyst rips David DeCastro, citing 'poor play' in 2013

Tis the season for list creation (more on that later), and one of the more interesting ones to be revealed this Memorial Day Weekend is NFL Network's Schein Nine, written by Adam Schein, the nine players who "must deliver" in 2014.

Coming in at No. 9, Steelers right guard David DeCastro.

Everyone once called DeCastro -- a steady, sturdy offensive guard from Stanford -- one of the safest picks of the 2012 NFL Draft. Well, a knee injury claimed his first season and poor play marred 2013.

Pittsburgh hired O-line guru Mike Munchak this offseason. DeCastro must live up to the billing.

Interesting. The picture on the article is definitely of DeCastro, and he's got the knee injury costing him his 2012 season right. It's not entirely clear what he means by "poor play" in 2013, though. If we're getting into his ability to have his knee shredded by a teammate, or his ability to do the same thing to another teammate, then ok. There's some merit there.

Outside of that, though, DeCastro was playing at a high level midway through the year when an ankle injury forced him out of a Week 8 loss at Oakland. He missed the Steelers' Week 9 loss to New England, and returned from Week 10 on to help contribute to a Steelers' offense that averaged 28 points in those final eight games, winning six of them and nearly making the playoffs.

For anyone who's watched, it's obvious the needle is pointing straight up for DeCastro after an excellent 2013 season, which was basically his rookie year in terms of playing time.