Don't Cry for Me Patrick Willis...aka 2007 NFL Draft Retrospective Part II

I guess that subject should probably read "Don't Cry Over The Steelers Not Getting Patrick Willis", but who's gonna split hairs?

For the sake of appropriateness, let's talk Steelers draft picks first. Going into the day, I was a little worried that we would draft a CB with our first pick (at #15), and further that we would be so microcosmically (probably just invented a word there) considering Pitt's Darelle Revis (nothing personal Darelle). So as things unfolded in the first round, and Patrick Willis/Adam Carriker came off the board just a few picks before 15, I was really worried Revis would fall right into our laps and we'd abandon what I thought was the best use of our Round 1 pick - Linebacker. As it were, the Jets traded up to get Revis right before we were on the clock, and I felt somewhat relieved.

Then we picked OLB Lawrence Timmons. Again, nothing personal to Timmons, but the more I thought about it, the more I wished we had taken Revis. Timmons is a great pickup, but Revis is a top prospect at CB and has great pro potential. So while I don't think we should have had to pick a CB (since Ike Taylor, DeShea Townsend and Bryant McFadden really are good enough in my opinion), when a guy like Revis is available to you (though he wasn't due to a daft Jets move), you kind of have to take him.

Oh well, what's done is done. Timmons, no doubt, will be a great OLB for us and hopefully will be a force on Special Teams until he's ready to step into a starting role.

But let's talk about the other Steelers picks - so far we've gotten LaMar Woodley, DE out of Michigan with the 2nd round pick and Matt Spaeth, TE out of Minnesota with the 3rd round pick. As far as Woodley goes, I think its a great pick up. We were looking to get an end this year, and I trust the Steelers draft prowess enough to know that Woodley must have been a great value in the 2nd round. Plus I'm sure Tomlin is happy because he got his "tweener" - a guy who can play DE or OLB (though after picking Timmons, I gotta think...what?) Here's what I don't quite get - why would we draft ANOTHER TE with the 3rd round pick? We've got Heath Miller, who obviously is among the leagues best TEs, and for blocking purposes (mostly), we've still got Jerame Tuman. So I'm not sure why we'd pass up drafting maybe a backup RB, or O-lineman for a third TE prospect???

I suppose I will have to put my faith in the Steelers on this one and trust that they know what they're doing (not exactly a proverbial "leap" of faith, so I am overall happy with our progress thus far).

On a seperate note - kudos to the Steelers for looking at the Big Ten big-time(pun intended) when analyzing talent...now if only we could've found a role for Paul Posluszny!

Hopefully more to come as the Steelers continue to select...