NFL Draft Wrapup: Quality depth and competition has been the Steelers "mantra" this off-season

By Dale Grdnic

PITTSBURGH -- Some might believe the Pittsburgh Steelers fell short in some areas during the 2010 NFL Draft, but if Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert are to be believed the club filled every need on offense and defense and upgraded the special teams immensely as well.

And there is no good reason not to trust this pair at this point, as the Steelers made 10 selections during the three-day, seven-round draft, the most that they've had in many years.

"It was a fun day having this many picks, (and) it was the most I think we've ever had since I've been here,'' Colbert said. "And it was nice to have some options on the third day, really, (and) we think we got some good players.''

In the first round, the Steelers selected center Maurkice Pouncey from Florida. Tomlin said that Pouncey will start out playing right guard and maybe worked into the center spot in the future. For now, though, Pouncey will compete with starter Trai Essex, among others, there and could play almost immediately.

In the second round, defensive end Jason Worilds from Virginia Tech will play outside linebacker with the Steelers to back up James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley and help the club immediately on special teams.

"(He) is a very athletic guy, who can get after the quarterback,'' Colbert said. "Teams started paying more attention to him this year, and his sack production went down. But he was just as effective and just as disruptive and probably had his best game of the year in his last game against Tennessee.''

Emmanuel Sanders, a wideout from SMU, was the Steelers' third-round pick. This speedster will compete immediately as a punt- and kick-returner.

"Emmanuel is a very fast and productive receiver who had his best year this year with Coach (June) Jones in the run-and-shoot offense catching 98 balls and also supplementing that with punt returns,'' Colbert said.

"He really came to the forefront. We evaluated him during the fall, but at the East-West game he stood out among the receivers. The more (evaluations) we did, the better we liked him, including having him here for a visit.''

Defensive end Thaddeus Gibson from Ohio State, another projected defensive end, came to the Steelers in the fourth round.

"Thaddeus Gibson is a big kid, and he's fast,'' Colbert said. "Ohio State probably plays as close to our defense schematically as any college football team in the country. So, Thaddeus is coming out of a system where he's done a lot of the things we're going to ask him to do here.

"Thaddeus and Jason are both, like Maurkice, underclassmen, as was (sixth-round running back) Jonathan Dwyer. So, we actually took four underclassmen, (and) we think there's still some growing there for those guys.''