Steelers select OLB Thaddeus Gibson with their 4th round selection

By Dale Grdnic

PITTSBURGH -- Despite growing up in suburban Cleveland, Ohio, Thaddeus Gibson really wasn't a Browns fan, and he didn't much follow the NFL.

Actually, Gibson, a defensive end from Ohio State, noted that he began cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers in recent years. That was fortuitous, because the Steelers selected Gibson with their fourth-round pick Saturday in the NFL Draft.

"I followed a lot of basketball, but I can honestly say that I never was a huge Browns fan,'' Gibson said. "I became a Steelers fan maybe a year or two ago.''

Gibson will be an outside linebacker with the Steelers and was the second such player the club drafted among their opening four selections.

"He played some defensive end, like a lot of the guys that we take at outside linebacker, but they do some similar things that we do on defense,'' Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler said. "So, it's not like we're seeing him at the position for the first time. ... This guy has stood up in their packages.

"And he has done some of the things that we're going to ask him to do. (And) anytime you can get a good player, you take him. I don't think you can have too many good players. So, what we do defensively and what he can do on special teams, a guy like Thaddeus can always help you.''

Butler noted that an evaluation by the Steelers includes early-season film, as well as late-season, and while he was not impressed by Gibson at the outset the young player showed extensive improvement by the end of the year.

"He really improved from the beginning to the end of the season in terms of rushing and getting to the ball carrier,'' Butler said. "I was kind of disappointed when I started watching him, but he kind of grew on me as he got better. So, we look for him to improve more than he did this year when he gets here.''