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NFL Draft 2011: Could Steelers Take Pitt's Jon Baldwin?

There have been a couple of articles like this one about the possibility of the Steelers picking a wide receiver in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, which kicks off on Thursday at 8:00 PM. In this case, the article is about Pitt wideout Jon Baldwin, who had a pre-draft visit with the Steelers. Such a pick would be very unlikely, the author admits, but if it happened it would boil down to Baldwin's superior tools:

From a talent standpoint, I think Baldwin would be a bargain that low in the first round. He's fast, has overpowering size, a real strong vertical, good hands, and a toughness and dangerousness about him after the catch. He'd finally give us that "big receiver" Ben has been clamoring for, and could be a great red-zone target from day 1.

I don't think Ben Roethlisberger craving a "big receiver" will make a bit of difference, honestly, since he can get by just fine with guys like Mike Wallace, who I wouldn't trade for a raw "big receiver" in a million years. Big receivers are great to have, surely, but they're highly overrated. And the Steelers have a lot of needs right now, so they would have to like Baldwin a lot - more than any other team does, probably - to take him in the first round. In other words, it's not going to happen.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.