2011 NFL Draft Team Needs: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have got to be your modern day definition of a dynasty. They have won a pair of Super Bowls since Ben Roethlisberger came into the league in 2004, and have seemingly always been in the thick of things come January. The Steelers are a team built on toughness, and they might win a lot of games the ugly way, but they still win games.

The Steelers have built one of the NFL’s best rivalries with the Baltimore Ravens, and have some of the most popular players in the NFL. Like their Super Bowl XLV counterpart the Green Bay Packers, the Steelers are a team primarily built through the draft and college free agents. The team has had three head coaches in its history, and the Steelers have arguably the best fan base in pro sports. Every venue they go to, there are huge amounts of terrible towels, Troy Polamalu jerseys, and crazy Steelers fans.

Coming off of yet another solid season, what do the Steelers have to do to stay on top of the AFC?

1. Cornerback

This was a painfully evident need in the Super Bowl. Ike Taylor is a very underrated player, but outside of him, the Steelers’ defensive backfield lacks star power and really lacks talent overall. Bryant McFadden was a fine stop-gap for a year, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see this team address the cornerback position with their first pick, and there will be some solid guys available. It’s an area of their team that they have not really addressed with a high pick in the draft since Troy Polamalu in 2003.

2.  Offensive line

The Steelers have long put off the offensive line in the draft, and lo and behold, when they finally use a high pick on a guy (C Maurkice Pouncey), he becomes a stud, and an All-Pro in his first season. Now, this is not to say that Pittsburgh needs a guy to come in as a rookie and be an All-Pro, but they could use help all along their line except for center, and I could see them actually going after Maurkice’s brother Mike in the first round to play either of the guard positions.

3.  Kicker

Getting a little nit-picky here, but the Steelers do have a bit of an issue at the kicker position long term. I think they could look to one of the top kickers in this draft, a guy like Alex Henery from Nebraska or Kai Forbath from UCLA.