Steelers pounce on Pouncey

Friday, April 23, 2010
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

The Steelers had 10 minutes to make their choice in the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night, yet wasted little time in taking center Maurkice Pouncey of Florida.

They did not even give other teams time to pitch them a trade.

"He was just that good," director of football operations Kevin Colbert explained simply, time after time.


Florida center Maurkice Pouncey has a background as an offensive guard, too.

Pouncey, 6 feet 5, 305 pounds, is the first center drafted by the Steelers in the first round since World War II. And starting today, he will be a guard.

The Steelers plan to start out Pouncey, 20, at guard, where he started as a freshman at Florida before switching to center the past two years.

Coach Mike Tomlin explained that starting him out at guard, where the Steelers have had four different starters since the 2008 training camp, will ease his learning curve in the NFL.

"As a young guy coming in, it's probably easier coming in at guard," Tomlin said. "The guard is one who receives information rather than gives it. Hopefully, that eases his workload."

It would be the same path Dermontti Dawson followed with the Steelers.

He played right guard as a rookie in 1988, then switched to center in 1989 after Mike Webster retired. Dawson remained their starter for 12 years, made seven Pro Bowls and came close to joining Webster in the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year when he reached the final 10 candidates.

Justin Hartwig, 32, will enter his third season as the Steelers' starting center, but there is no strong candidate to start at right guard. Although someone thinks there is.

"That's my plan," said Pouncey, a starter in 39 games in his three seasons at Florida

"Man, it's so great," in his first interview after the Steelers drafted him.

"I'm so happy to be a Pittsburgh Steeler. I'm so happy they picked me. I just like the Steelers so much."

He said he came upon those feelings only recently, not growing up a Steelers fan but becoming one after spending time talking with them.

He said he is aware of the Steelers' long, distinguished history at center, where Webster, Dawson and Jeff Hartings handled the position for three decades and combined for 18 Pro Bowls.

"They're great players, man," Pouncey said. "I just want to live up to the tradition."

Pouncey, who does not turn 21 until July, decided to leave Florida a year early to enter the NFL draft, leaving behind his twin brother Michael, the Gators' starting right guard.

"We knew at some time in our life we would separate," said Pouncey, whose given name is LaShawn but goes by his middle name.

By drafting Pouncey, the Steelers passed up one of the Big Four left offensive tackles, Bryan Bulaga, who was drafted by Green Bay at No. 23.

A flurry of four trades were made in the three picks from 11 through 13 (the selection at No. 13 was traded twice) as the Steelers watched how it might affect their pick at 18.

The draft continues today with rounds two and three and concludes Saturday with rounds four through seven. The Steelers have nine more picks over the next two days -- one in each round plus four in the fifth. They traded one of their two seventh-round picks to Tampa Bay this week for veteran quarterback Byron Leftwich.

Colbert said the Steelers likely will stay where they are at the 20th pick in Round Two and not try to trade up because he believes this draft is too good to give up the picks it would cost them in a trade.

"We're just going to stay put," Colbert said. "There are a lot of quality players to be had Friday and Saturday."

Pouncey was ranked head and shoulders above all other centers, and the Steelers knew he also could play guard.

The Steelers last drafted a center in the first round in 1937, Mike Basrak of Duquesne. The ballclub lists center Chet Gladchuck as a first-round pick in 1941, but they traded away their first-round pick that year, and Gladchuck was a second-rounder.

The Steelers began training camp last year with Darnell Stapleton as their starting right guard -- he took over when Kendall Simmons was injured in 2008.

Stapleton, though, had knee surgery and Trai Essex became their starter and, when he got hurt late in the season, undrafted rookie Ramon Foster moved in.


Breath of fresh air: Steelers talking football

Friday, April 23, 2010
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

This was more like it.

For the first time in almost seven weeks Thursday night, there was no mention at Steelers headquarters of sexual assault, substance-abuse policy violations and NFL-mandated suspensions.

There was just football talk.

Pure, wonderful football talk.

"With the 18th pick in the 2010 NFL draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select Maurkice Pouncey, center, Florida."

Were those beautiful words or what?

I gotta be honest here.

When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell walked to the podium at New York City's Radio City Music Hall with a Steelers index card at 9:28 p.m., I was worried he was going to tack on three more games to Ben Roethlisberger's suspension.

Isn't that how the Steelers' offseason from hell has been going?

What a relief it was to see Goodell turn over the microphone to Make-A-Wish kid Zachary Hatfield for the Pouncey announcement.

Maybe that's a sign that things are changing.

This year, of all years, the draft couldn't have come at a better time. It provided a welcomed and much-needed sense of normalcy at the Steelers' South Side compound. Roethlisberger's conditional six-game suspension for violating the NFL player's code of conduct with his escapades at a Georgia college bar March 5 was in the rearview mirror.

So was the April 11 giveaway trade of wide receiver/Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes to the New York Jets after word came down that he is facing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy.

Thankfully, Thursday night was the time to look ahead.

To the steamy hot days of July in Latrobe when Pouncey will work to learn his craft, provide valuable interior line depth and maybe, just maybe, battle right guard Trai Essex for a starting spot as soon as in the opening game Sept. 12 against the Atlanta Falcons.

"I'm so happy they picked me," Pouncey gushed after getting the call from Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. "I can't wait to get up there."

Who knows what kind of player Pouncey will become?

Really, who ever knows about a player on draft day?

When the Steelers took Purdue cornerback Rod Woodson No. 1 in 1987, it seemed like a great pick. He made the Hall of Fame.

But it also seemed like a good, safe selection when the Steelers chose Florida linebacker Huey Richardson No. 1 in '91. He lasted just one year.

You never know.

Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert stopped short of making Pouncey sound like the second coming of Mike Webster, but Colbert clearly was happy to get a player whom he described as a "physical guy" and "football smart."

"He was that good," Colbert said. "It had nothing to do with the position. He was just that good."

What?

You expected Colbert to say Pouncey is awful?

Certainly, the Steelers had a need for a big, strong, smart offensive lineman. Everybody from team president Art Rooney II to Tomlin has said they need to make a recommitment to the running game in the 2010 season. If Pouncey is as good as Colbert and Tomlin say, he can't help but help.

But the Steelers still have plenty of other needs. When your team goes 9-7 and misses the playoffs, you have a lot of needs on draft weekend.
Cornerback. Linebacker. Defensive line. Running back. Wide receiver. Special teams help.

NEW YORK - APRIL 22: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell looks watches as 16-year old Zachary Hatfield (L) from Florence, KY announces that Maurkice Pouncey from the Florida Gators was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers number 18 overall during the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall on April 22, 2010 in New York City. Hatfield was able to make the draft pick annopncement through the efforts of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

It's nice to think the Steelers will fill a couple of more holes tonight when the draft resumes with Rounds 2 and 3.

"This draft is so deep," Colbert said. "There's a lot of quality players to be had."

No matter what other players the Steelers add tonight and in Rounds 4-7 Saturday, the best part of this long draft weekend is clear: The fact that those silly Roethlisberger trade rumors turned out to be just that -- silly.

I can't say for sure that Colbert and Tomlin didn't listen to offers for Roethlisberger, who, though greatly troubled and badly needing a major personality overhaul through counseling and treatment, has led the Steelers to two Super Bowls in his six seasons here. I'm just glad they didn't hear something that could have moved them to make a deal that would have set the franchise back years and years.

The Steelers might or might not be a better team by adding Pouncey.

They definitely are a better team for keeping their franchise quarterback.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.

For more on the Steelers, read Ed Bouchette on the Steelers at www.post-gazette.com/plus. Ed Bouchette: ebouchette@post-gazette.com.

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