Starkey: The real key for Steelers

[stillers4me]

It's a wonderful day across the NFL — and not just because Mel Kiper Jr. can finally take a nap.
This is the only Sunday of the year when every team feels like a winner.

All 32 of them, Steelers included, are positively giddy over their draft classes. Delirious fans and sleep-deprived analysts are talking about Manti Te'o being the next Junior Seau and Markus Wheaton being the next Mike Wallace.

We'll see.

The only safe prediction is that harsh reality will set in soon enough on several fronts. Flash back to the first round in 2011 and consider that people still are waiting on the likes of Jake Locker, Blaine Gabbert, Jonathan Baldwin, Mark Ingram, Gabe Carimi, Nick Fairley and, yes, Cam Heyward.

The truth, as ESPN's Bill Polian put it, is this: “Nobody knows how any of these players will turn out.”
It sure looks like the Steelers had a solid draft. I like the concept of it, anyway, except for taking a backup quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger needs weapons, not backups...............


Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarke...#ixzz2RlYKikUB

[GBMelBlount]

If David DeCastro, Mike Adams and Marcus Gilbert pan out, a lot of people could pile up yards behind them — including Isaac Redman or Jonathan Dwyer.

Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/joestarke...#ixzz2RlZSN7t9
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The two most important things this year are:

Injuries (especially Ben)
Offensive line

If ben and the team are reasonably healthy and our line gels we will be a contender imo.

[TomlinSteelTribe]

The two most important things this year are:

Injuries (especially Ben)
Offensive line

If ben and the team are reasonably healthy and our line gels we will be a contender imo.

Completely agree with this. I would add the effectiveness of the pass rush. I'm still banking on Worilds being ready to play, with Jones maybe getting some spot duty.