Monthly Archives: June 2018

Offensive Choice—OT Chukwuma Okorafor

Photo: Western Michigan Athletics

It’s getting on for the end of the third round in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Steelers have chosen a wide receiver in the second round, which wasn’t very surprising given they had just traded Martavis Bryant away, and then moved up in the third round to nab Mason Rudolph, a choice which will make this draft either live in infamy among Steelers Nation or go down as one of the smartest moves of a generally canny front office.

And while it took one of the Steelers’ few remaining picks (No. 220) to get Rudolph, at least they still had their usual third-rounder. So who would they use it on? One of the remaining ILBs? A pass rusher?

Nope. It was back to the offense—the very unit that was putatively the strength of the team already. They took an offensive tackle.

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A Look at the Actual Draft: Round 3a

After Round 2 saw the selection of a wide receiver, how many of you saw Round 3 featuring not one but two picks of offensive players? Me either.

But offensive players they were, and you would have thought it was actually offensive, given the cries resounding from Steeler Nation’s collective throat.

I won’t deny this was surprising. But let’s begin with the “two picks” part, because this is the result of something even more surprising—a plethora of trades by the Steelers.

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Of Raps and Rugby: A Pittsburgh Steelers Housekeeping Post

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Although Ivan has pretty much sewn up the “think globally” part of the site writing, I’m going to dip my toes back into those waters before continuing with my profiles of the new players, because several interesting bits of news have hit the stands.

But before I speak of things particular to the Steelers, I’m going to tackle a league-wide issue which, strangely, does not effect the Steelers, thank heavens—the increasing fuss over the “working” conditions of the NFL cheerleaders.

I’ve always been a fan of the Steelers eschewing cheerleaders, and given what I’m reading, I’m even gladder, although I can’t see the Rooneys treating “employees” with the same disdain as some of the teams.

In case you’re wondering why I have italicized “working” and “employees,” it is because many cheerleaders are not, apparently, paid in any significant way.

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