The Steelers were looking to fill needs in last April’s Draft and I think they did a decent job of that.  DE Cameron Heyward came to the Steelers in the first round and he will push Aaron Smith or Brett Keisel for a starting job in training camp (if there is one).  OT Marcus Gilbert also fills a need as the Steelers’ tackles were pretty awful last year.  CBs Cortez Allen and Curtis Brown give the Steelers a couple developmental prospects at a need position.  I don’t think either of them will be starters this year but maybe down the road. OG Keith Williams might turn out to be a steal in the 6th round as he is a great run blocker.

PROJECTED GRADE:  B

The Steelers picked RB Baron Batch out of Texas Tech with the 232nd overall pick (7th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Batch is 5’10″, 203 pounds and he runs a 4.55 40.  Batch is a solid perimeter runner and he’s good at catching the ball out of the backfield.  Batch played in 13 games for Texas Tech last year in which he carried the ball 177 times for 816 yards (4.6 ypc) with 5 TD runs and he also caught 32 passes for 226 yards (7.1 avg).  In his four years with the Red Raiders, Batch played in 45 games in which he carried the ball 467 times for 2,501 yards (5.4 ypc) with 27 TD carries.  He also caught 140 passes for 1,111 yards (7.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs at Texas Tech.  The Steelers probably view Batch as a third down back because of his skill set.  The Steelers have a need for that role in the offense, so Batch will have a good shot of making the team.

UPDATE:  (8/11/2011) – Baron Batch has torn his ACL in training camp and he will miss his entire rookie season.

The Steelers took 23-year old OG Keith Williams out of Nebraska with the 196th overall pick (6th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Williams is 6’4″, 312 pounds and he runs a 5.25 40.  Williams has all of the tools to be a good NFL guard.  But, the coaching staff is going to have to get Williams mean as he tends to dance with defensive players rather than knock them backwards.  Williams played in 14 games (all starts) for Nebraska last year and he played in 50 games (34 starts) in his four years with the Cornhuskers.  The Steelers need help on the O-Line, so if Williams responds to coaching, he could get into the starting lineup in the near future.  This was a nice pick for the Steelers.

The Steelers have picked 22-year old OLB Chris Carter out of Frenso State with the 162nd overall pick (5th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Carter is 6’1″, 245 pounds and he runs a 4.7 40.  Carter was a defensive end in college but he’s too small to play there in the NFL.  He is a good enough athlete to convert to OLB for the Steelers.  The Steelers will need to get him to play better run defense and to adjust to playing in space.  Carter played in 13 games (all starts) for Fresno State last year and he had 55 tackles, 16.5 tackles for a loss and 11 sacks.  Carter played in 49 games (36 starts) in his four years at Fresno State and he had 205 tackles, 38 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks and he broke up 1 pass.  This was one of the classic Steelers’ picks as Carter was a college DE who will convert to OLB in the pros.

The Steelers took CB Cortez Allen out of The Citadel with the 128th overall pick (4th round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  He is 6’1″, 197 pounds and he runs a 4.51 40.  Allen will have to really step up to be a factor with the Steelers any time soon because he wasn’t that great of a player at The Citadel.  He played in 11 games for the Citadel last year and he had 22 tackles, he broke up 5 passes and he had 2 interceptions (one returned for a TD).  Allen played in 38 games in his four years at the Citadal and he had 120 tackles, he broke up 15 passes, had interceptions (2 returned for TDs) and he had 2 tackles for a loss.  This was a need pick for the Steelers and I think they really reached by picking Allen in the 4th round.