Ziggy Hood's rookie contract

By now everyone knows that Pittsburgh’s first round draft pick, Ziggy Hood, signed a five year contract just prior to the opening of training camp. But I have not yet seen the contract numbers published on any blog or in any newspaper article. According to http://steelerslive.com/xtra/salarycap, the contract included a $6 million signing bonus, and calls for salaries of $1.1 million (2009), $395,000 (2010), $600,000 (2011 and 2012), and $660,000 (2013).

Steelers select Evander 'Ziggy' Hood

With the last pick of the first round the Steelers selected Evander 'Ziggy' Hood, DT, Missouri. Although he played inside at Missouri, he'll no doubt be a defensive end in Pittsburgh's 3-4 scheme.

Will Mendenhall have fumbling problems?

I hate to point this out, but it seems like in every Rashard Mendenhall photo or highlight tape I see, it shows our rookie running back holding the ball away from his body (as opposed to tucked in high and tight). Ever since draft day I've wondered if he'd have fumbling problems in the NFL because of this tendency. A photo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Web site (above, credit to Peter Diana of the Post-Gazette) illustrates this to a certain degree.



A photo from his college days at the University of Illinois (right), shows the tendency in a much more pronounced way.

To be sure, I've never seen Mendenhall play a single game, the photos/highlights usually don't feature him running in traffic, and a search of Google images does reveal college photos with what appears to be excellent technique (as well as photos with the ball low and/or far(!) from his body). Still, this issue has given me pause since day one. Any Illini or Steelers' fans have any thoughts about this?