Steelers took 'special' direction in draft

Daniel Sepulveda

By Scott Brown
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, April 30, 2007


Given that the Steelers took a wide receiver whose first name can be traced to his father's love for the Dallas Cowboys, it is not surprising that the second day of the NFL draft qualified as being, well a little different for the team.

The Steelers went international, in a sense, when they drafted defensive end Ryan McBean and guard Cameron Stephenson. Earlier, the Steelers probably went against a lot of their fans' wishes when they traded up in the fourth round so they could select a punter.

The picks of Baylor punter Daniel Sepulveda and Florida wide receiver Dallas Baker bookended the selections of McBean, Stephenson and cornerback William Gay on Sunday and revealed something about Steelers' strategy.

They were intent on improving their special teams through the draft, just as they were determined to add depth and talent to their linebacking corps.

They are confident they did both by drafting Lawrence Timmons, an outside linebacker, in the first round, and LaMarr Woodley, a defensive end who will be moved to outside linebacker, in the second round.

But, as director of football operations Kevin Colbert said, shortly after the Steelers made their eighth and final pick of the draft yesterday, "You never know if (you're) right or wrong until we see if we win more games than we lose. Two, three years -- we'll see."

The Steelers opened themselves up to some criticism by drafting Minnesota tight end Matt Spaeth in the third round late Saturday -- that didn't appear to be a position of need -- and moving up in the fourth round so they could get Sepulveda.

The Steelers had targeted taking a punter in the fourth round and concluded that Sepulveda and Maryland's Adam Podlesh were the only draft-worthy punters.

Not long after the Jacksonville Jaguars took Podlesh with the second pick of the fourth round, the Steelers struck a deal with Green Bay, giving up their sixth-round selection so they could pick seven spots higher.

"Quite frankly, we felt like we were trading up to get a starting position," Colbert said.

Sepulveda is a two-time winner of the Ray Guy Award, which is given annually to the top punter in Division I-A.

"We really feel like we've taken a step forward and made sure that special teams is a legitimate phase of our football team," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.

That the Steelers drafted a punter for the first time since 1985 all but signals the end of 37-year-old Chris Gardocki's days with the team.

Tomlin said the Steelers will take two punters into training camp, and they could release Gardocki and have Mike Barr compete with Sepulveda for the starting job.

When asked whether he expects to be the team's punter next season, Sepulveda said, "I think the fourth-round (selection) sends a pretty strong message. I also recognize that if you don't get the job done, you're not going to be the guy."

The four other picks the Steelers made yesterday were notable mostly because of their contrast.

Two (Gay and Baker) were highly productive players in college, while the other two (McBean and Stephenson) were drafted with an eye toward how they can help the Steelers in future years, not necessarily next year.

McBean, a defensive end from Oklahoma State, hails from Jamaica and didn't start playing football until he was in high school.

Stephenson, an Australia native, also didn't start playing football in high school and didn't settle into his position of right guard until his senior season at Rutgers.

The one position of note that the Steelers didn't address in the draft was running back.

They took Spaeth with the 77th overall pick, even though some big running backs, such as Penn State's Tony Hunt and Louisville's Michael Bush, were still available.

"There were guys that we looked at," Tomlin said, "but we stayed true to the (draft) board and looked at the value of the picks that we had on the board and how we aligned them on the board, and we approached it that way."

Colbert said the Steelers followed the plan they took into the draft.

"We had options at every pick," Colbert said. "We felt we picked the best options and only time will tell."

Note: Timmons will be introduced today at a news conference at the Steelers' South Side practice facility.


Scott Brown can be reached at sbrown@tribweb.com or 412-481-5432.