The Pittsburgh Steelers recently visited with Greg Little, wide receiver from UNC, as well as Marcus Cannon of TCU and Keith Williams from Nebraska - two offensive line prospects. Pittsburgh is a franchise whose front office consistently and competently builds through the draft - not through making big splashes in free agency. This is a crucial year for the Steelers, who have a number of old veterans in their starting lineup and desperately need an infusion of young talent in next Friday's NFL Draft.
Offensive line is perhaps chief among those needs, so it's no surprise to see Cannon and Williams get some attention from Kevin Colbert, Mike Tomlin, and offensive line coach Sean Kugler - even if you've never heard of the youngsters before. Cannon is a tackle prospect with tremendous strength - he recorded 33 reps in the bench press at the NFL Combine - and is expected to be a second-round selection, meaning Pittsburgh would likely have to trade up from the 63rd selection to snag him. We know a little less about Williams, who started only 13 games at guard for the Cornhuskers, although he looks to be a proficient run-blocker. Look for him to come off the boards in the middle rounds.
Little posted some athletic numbers at the Combine and has adequate size to go up against NFL cornerbacks (6-3, 231). In addition to the Steelers, Little has also met with the Washington Redskins, Tampa Bay Buccannears, Philadelphia Eagles, and two of Pittsburgh's AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. With that many suitors, it seems like some interested party will have to be aggressive in the third round to secure Little's services.
As Sam pointed out in today's feature, this talented draft class has plenty of depth at positions of need for the Steelers. It should be fun to sit back and see who Pittsburgh can lock up.