Draft Needs: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a long, successful history in the first round of the draft, especially in the last few years.

I see no reason to break the trend, and I believe the only position that should be drafted by the Steelers in the first round is offensive lineman.

I've heard talk about possibly taking a big wide reciever such as James Hardy, but that would be a mistake by the Steelers.

Hardy is a fine receiver, and I would love for him to be a Steeler, however, the offensive line needs building, unless having Big Ben sacked and Willie Parker stuffed is what the fans want.

That's why my pick for the Steelers in the first round is guard/tackle from Virginia Branden Albert.

He would be a perfect fit for the Steelers because he can play both guard spots and also switch out to tackle, which will come in handy when the Steelers don't pay Marvel Smith next year, and he leaves like Alan Faneca this year.

Albert doesn't even need to start this year; he can just sit back and learn the system and sub in whenever there is an injury or one of the starters is ineffective.

If Albert isn't available at this point in the draft, I would say to take the tackle from Boston College, Gosder Cherilus.

He is not as versitile as Albert but his physical style is a good fit with the Steelers, and he would take over for Smith next year just as Albert would have.

This shouldn't happen, but, if both of these linemen are off the board, then I would say to just take the best available lineman, such as tackle Sam Baker.

Now, in round two, the Steelers should look for one of two things: either a good physical corner, or a defensive lineman, like Casey Hampton.

In the third round, they should look to get either what they didn't get from the second round or a tall wide receiver.

In rounds four through six, they should fill some needs by getting whatever they didn't get from the third round, an offensive lineman and maybe a good young power back. The Steelers dont have a seventh-round pick.