Steelers hope Georgia wide receiver can replace Burress
Temple linebacker taken in fifth round
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Steelers, who lost a 6-foot-5 receiver in free agency, picked one who stands 6-4 with their first choice on the second day of the draft.
Fred Gibson of Georgia may not be able to replace Plaxico Burress, but he'll get his opportunities as a fourth-round draft choice. Hines Ward was a third-round pick from Georgia.
Gibson is a better athlete than Burress, he's faster, he jumps higher and he also played on Georgia's basketball team. Some analysts saw him being taken in the second or third round and the Steelers were thrilled to get him late in the fourth.
"It's like judging a beauty contest,'' Steelers receivers coach Bruce Arians said. "There are so many good players [in this draft] at this position.''
Arians lauded Gibson's Senior Bowl practices and his senior season, when he caught 49 passes for 801 yards playing on the same team as flanker Reggie Brown, drafted high in the third round by Philadelphia. Gibson played split end in college and that's where he will play for the Steelers, the same position as Burress, who signed as a free agent with the Giants this year.
"Same style, an outside receiver,'' Arians said. "He fits the bill there and hopefully replace the height we lost there.''
Thin at linebacker, that's where the Steelers went with their fifth-round pick. They drafted junior Rian Wallace of Temple with the 166th pick.
Wallace played inside linebacker for the Owls and was all-Big East in 2004. But he also was suspended for their game against Pitt because he was involved in a fight in his own locker room.
Some NFL teams project Wallace as an outside linebacker, but the Steelers will try him on the inside first. They have starters James Farrior, Larry Foote and backup Clint Kriewaldt on the inside.
On the outside, the Steelers have Joey Porter and Clark Haggans as their starters, but Alonzo Jackson has done little in two seasons after they drafted him in the second round in 2003. Last year, James Harrison was their top backup outside even though they signed him as a street free agent days before training camp opened.
They drafted offensive guard Chris Kemoeatu of Utah in the sixth round, with the 204th pick.
A three-year starter for the Utes who earned All-Mountain West Conference honors, he is 6-3, 344. Kemoeatu also has a mean streak because he was suspended twice for kicking opponents during games
Kemoeatu is Tongan; the Steelers first pick in the seventh round is Samoan, defensive end Shaun Nua of Brigham Young through Pago Pago. They went bango bango against each other when Utah played BYU.
"He is a dirty player I'll say that but not when I went against him,'' Nua said with a chuckle. "But he is a tough guy, though, I'll tell you that. That was a good pick too. You came to the right place, man.''
Nua joins end Brett Keisel and nose Chris Hoke as products from BYU in the Steelers defensive line.
Their final pick, No. 244 in the draft, was running back Noah Herron of Northwestern, a 5-11, 224 pounder.
Herron was all-Big Ten last season after rushing for 1,381 yards, 14 touchdowns and a 5.0 average per carry. He also caught 36 passes last season.
(Click here for more NFL Draft news.)
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