Steelers first round draft pick Lawrence Timmons.
Woodley, Spaeth round out NFL Draft Day One selections
Saturday, April 28, 2007
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Steelers today fulfilled their biggest need on their depth chart when they drafted outside linebacker Lawrence Timmons of Florida State with the 15th overall pick.
The selection, made at 3 p.m., was long anticipated as a possibility and became more apparent as other players the Steelers coveted were drafted before their turn.
Timmons is a 6-0 1/2, 234-pounder who opted for the draft after his junior season, his only year as a starter.
He also becomes part of a unique club on the Steelers -- only the third linebacker they've drafted on the first round in the 75-year history of the franchise. The others were Huey Richardson, drafted in 1991 and a mammoth bust, and Robin Cole, drafted in 1977 and a solid starter for a number of years.
Kevin Colbert, the team's director of football operations, and coach Mike Tomlin insisted Timmons was the player they wanted above all others they thought they had a reasonable chance of drafting. They entertained one inquiry from another team before their pick, but quickly moved to send Timmons' name on a card to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York.
Tomlin said Timmons has "Derrick Brooks-like qualities," comparing him to the former All-Pro linebacker with the Bucs when Tomlin was the secondary coach in Tampa Bay.
Tomlin also said firmly "we're a 3-4 team and he's a right outside linebacker."
As such, Timmons will compete with James Harrison, who had moved into Joey Porter's vacated spot at right outside linebacker this spring. Tomlin said Timmons also can play right rush end in a dime defensive scheme, a position Porter also played.
Tomlin praised Timmons' special teams play as well and said he also can play inside in a 3-4 defense, although he will put him first on the outside.
His father, Lindsley Timmons, played basketball at Duquesne University in 1976 and told his son that Pittsburgh is a "beautiful city."
Two defensive ends the Steelers might have loved to take with their first-round pick were gone before they had a chance.
Jamaal Anderson of Arkansas was selected by the Atlanta Falcons with the eighth pick and Adam Carriker of Nebraska went 13th to the St. Louis Rams.
The Steelers were foiled somewhat when the New York Jets made a trade with Carolina to slip into the No. 14 slot and draft Pitt cornerback Darrelle Revis. The Steelers might have drafted him, but also would have been offered another high draft choice to switch with Jacksonville at No. 17 so the Jaguars could pick Revis.
The Steelers drafted another outside linebacker in the second round today when they took LaMarr Woodley of Michigan.
The position was the biggest need on the ballclub before the draft began and the Steelers attacked it by taking Lawrence Timmons of Florida State on the first round and Woodley on the second.
Woodley played defensive end the past two seasons at Michigan but the Steelers will convert him to a 3-4 outside linebacker, much the way they did with other college defensive ends, including their starter on the left side, Clark Haggans.
At 6-1 1/2, 266 pounds, Woodley is an inch taller and 32 pounds heavier than Timmons. That's why they will put Woodley on the strong or left side and Timmons on the right.
The two rookies will compete with starters Clark Haggans and James Harrison at outside linebacker and also to perhaps get some time as pass-rushers on third down.
"There will be a lot of competition right away," said Woodley, who started three years at Michigan, one as an outside linebacker as a sophomore. "There will be a lot of guys on that field."
Linebackers coach Keith Butler noted that it takes rookies awhile to learn to play outside linebacker in the Steelers 3-4 scheme, especially for someone such as Woodley.
"It takes time for transition movement from defensive end to outside linebacker," Butler said.
Butler also tried to end any speculation that the Steelers might morph into a 4-3 defense.
"Right now we have no plans to go to a 4-3," Butler said.
The Steelers closed out the first day of the draft by selecting Minnesota tight end Matt Spaeth with the 13th pick on the third round.
Spaeth stands 6-7 and weighs 270 pounds. Spaeth has overcome a shoulder injury that prevented him from doing a lot of post-season workouts, a factor that may have hurt him in the draft.
"I think we got a steal,'' said offensive coordinator Bruce Arians.
Arians said Spaeth can go deep and will allow them to move tight end Heath Miller around in the offense more.
"He's big, tall and fast and can block,'' Arians said. "He can stretch the field.
Arians said he likes to use three tight ends.
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