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If a guy hasn’t shown flashes in his first 2 years, in all likelihood he will not amount to anything. If a player hasn’t become a starter by is 3rd year, then he will not be a very good starter EVER. You don’t need 5 years to judge a draft; you need 3

Woodley and Polamalu both showed flashes in year 1, and had great seasons in year 2. Trpy had 5 int in year 2, Woodley had 11.5 sacks in year 2. I remember both their rookie years, and you could tell they were going to be something special already in year 1. Big Ben was solid in his first year, and started breaking out in year 2. Santonio Holmes had solid yardage in year 1, then topped that yardage and upped his td’s from 2 to 8 in year 2. Ryan Clark started slow and didn’t do much for his first 2 years, but by year 3 he had 81 tackles. Hampton has been solid his whole career. Heath Miller was good from his rookie year. Ziggy Hood showed flashes of being special last year, we will see how he can build on that this year. Mendenhall took the leap in year 2, despite splitting carries and missing half of his rookie year with an injury. Timmons started contributing to the team in year 2, and upped his production in year 3. And Hines Ward showed plent of flashes in years 2 and 3, and finally came into his own in year 4 with an 1000 yd season.

So I just went through 11 of your teams best players from last year, and all of them were producing at a high level, or at least showing flashes no later than year 2. There are exceptions, like Harrison, who took 4 years to come into his own, or Farrior, who took 5 years to come into their own. But notice that their original teams did not reap the benefits. With Harrison, he was cut 4 times by the time he started really producing. And Farrior was in his 5th year with the Jets, and then walked in free agency.

So bottom line is, there is probably about a 1% chance a player who hasn’t shown anything by year 2 will be a pro-bowler, and a 5% chance he will be an above average starter in this league. (pulled the numbers out my ass, but you get the point)

Actually, Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett have had flashes. But I suppose since you all know the Steelers better than I do, you are right.

You can name pretty much any position and the Steelers have a guy ready to step up or a very promising talent at that position. The only exceptions I could see are SS, but Troy still has many good years in him. WR, maybe a big #1, but the Steelers won a SB without one before. G when Pouncey goes to center we will need a guard.

You can see how bemusing I find it when you all mention age and the Steelers being screwed this year and the near future.

Also, how in the heck can you judge what the Steelers have from this years draft? Cuts have not even been made yet. Are you a fortune teller? Also, Ziggy doesn’t look good? Come on, if you watch as many Steelers games as you suggest you should know he is going to be very good. Look back at 2009 if you think it was a bad draft, we got Wallace and Ziggy who are both good. Then we have Keenan Lewis competing for #2 CB and Joe Burnett who is definitely going to be on the roster. And Frank Summers might be our 3rd or 4th RB. So 5 out of 9 make the roster, and it’s a bad draft? What?