The Steelers have franchised 30-year old kicker Jeff Reed.  Reed played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he made 27 of 31 field goals (87.1%).  He also made all 41 of his extra point attempts finishing with 122 points.  Reed has now played in 118 games in his career with the Steelers and he has connected on 189 of 227 field goals (83.3%).  He has also made 288 of 291 extra points good for 855 points in his career.  This was a good move for the Steelers who now have one less thing to worry about this off season.

The Steelers have re-signed 32-year old NT Casey Hampton to a 3-year, $21.3 million contract with $11 million bucks in guaranteed dollars.  Hampton played in 16 games for the Steelers last season and he made 43 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and he had 2.5 sacks.  Hampton has played in 129 games in his career with the Steelers and he has made 297 tackles, forced 3 fumbles, defensed 3 passes and he has 8 sacks.  The Steelers were smart to bring him back and he is the best run defender on the team.

Based on what I saw last season I only think that one of the players the Steelers picked last season will make a impact down the road for them and that is Mike Wallace.  In the first round the Steelers look DE/DT Ziggy Hood (#32 overall) out of Missouri.  He played in all 16 games for the Steelers last season and he made 8 whole tackles, had 1 sack and he defensed 2 passes.  Not too impressive.  Guard Kraig Urbik came in the 3rd round (#79 overall) out of Wisconsin wasn’t good enough to get on the field as a rookie.  WR Mike Wallace (3rd round, #84 overall) out of Mississippi showed that he is more than capable of replacing Hines Ward when he retires but for now he will be the #3 WR on the Steelers.  Wallace played in all 16 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 39 passes for 756 yards (19.4 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 5 times for 48 yards (9.6 ypc).  Wallace helped out on special teams too as he returned 1 kickoff for 26 yards and he also had 3 tackles last season.  CB Keenan Lewis (3rd round, #96 overall) out of Oregon State was a complete bust last season playing in 4 games in which he had 1 tackle.  CB Joe Burnett (5th round, #168 overall) out of Central Florida also didn’t add much to the Steelers last season.  He played in 15 games and made 17 tackles last season.  RB Frank Summers (5th round, #169 overall) out of UNLV spent his rookie season on the Injured Reserve List.  DE Ra’Shon Harris (6th round, #205 overall) out of Oregon didn’t play for the Steelers last season.  They cut him and the Panthers picked him up.  He played in 2 games for the Panthers but then they cut him and he returned to the Steelers.  Center A.Q. Shipley (7th round, #226 overall) out of Penn State didn’t get on the field for the Steelers last season.  TE David Johnson (7th round, #241 overall) out of Arkansas State played in 15 games for the Steelers last season and he caught 2 passes for 9 yards.

GRADE FOR 2009:  D+

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  C-