Steelers sign 3 draft choices, cut Dirk Johnson

The Steelers must be optimistic about the progress Daniel Sepulveda is making in terms of coming back from his pair of knee surgeries as the team has released fellow punter Kirk Johnson. Meanwhile, the club also recently announced the signing of a trio of draft choices - third-rounder Keenan Lewis, as well as fifth-rounders Joe Burnett and Frank Summers. All were inked to three-year contracts.

Low Expectations For Timmons and Woodley?

In "The Way We Hear It" section of the new issue of Pro Football Weekly, the PFW editors question whether Steelers' first-round pick Lawrence Timmons or second-round pick LaMarr Woodley can be impact players as rookies. Steelers fans don't have particularly high hopes for Timmons, because he's young, inexperienced, and suffered a serious groin injury at the outset of minicamp, which makes everyone wonder if he was in shape when he arrived at camp. Fans seem more optimistic about Woodley, but the PFW blurb notes that "at least one source close to the [Steelers] observed that Woodley’s reaction time was a little slower than it needed to be in some of the workouts."

Why is the status of the rookies so important? One could argue that aside from the health of QB Ben Roethlisberger and the performance of the offensive line, the most important factor in determining the success of the 2007 Steelers will be the play of the rookie class. Last season Pittsburgh got virtually nothing—nothing positive, at least—out if its rookies during the early part of the season. Only after first-rounder Santonio Holmes and third-rounder Anthony Smith began to make plays did the Steelers begin winning games. And other than punter Daniel Sepulveda, Timmons and Woodley would seem to be the most likely rookies to make an instant impact. Click here to read the PFW piece.