LB a low priority for Steelers in the 2009 draft

Don’t expect the Steelers to draft any linebackers in the 2009 draft. That’s the message that comes with the re-signing of Andre Frazier to a two-year contract, as well as the one-year deal recently awarded to Arnold Harrison. At the moment the team is in excellent shape at the position – both inside and outside. With James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley the Steelers have the best outside tandem in the league, and second-year player Bruce Davis is waiting in the wings. (Hopefully, Davis will be a player; we just don’t know yet.) On the inside, James Farrior and former first-rounder Lawrence Timmons figure to be the starters this season, but I’d be surprised if the team releases or trades Larry Foote (as many prognosticators suggest), because he provides insurance at the position at a relatively reasonable cost.

Steelers' Mendenhall strains hamstring

As was the case with Lawrence Timmons last year, this year's first-round pick, Rashard Mendenhall, suffered an injury during his first minicamp practice and will sit out the remainder of the camp.

In other news, Ben Roethlisberger will miss at least one practice, excused by head coach Mike Tomlin for undisclosed personal reasons.

Finally, the Steelers have signed a rookie free-agent wide receiver Kevin Marion, who caught 44 passes for 485 yards and one touchdown during his college career at Wake Forest.

Timmons named the 2nd biggest dud among 2007 rookies

In the new issue of Pro Football Weekly, Steelers' first-round draft choice Lawrence Timmons is listed as the 2nd biggest dud of this year's rookie class. Only Robert Meachem, a WR drafted 27th overall by the New Orleans Saints, has been more disappointing. Click here to read the list of duds.

Steelers Sign Timmons

On Sunday the Steelers signed first-round draft pick Lawrence Timmons to a five-year contract. As a result, the team has all its 2007 draft choices under contract in time for training camp. According to Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the contract "is worth slightly less than $12 million in base salary and could be worth as much as $15 million with the incentives."

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.