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PITTSBURGH – Steelers railcar Mike Tomlin couldn't support but vocalization when asked if production at No. 31 is the poorest doable scenario for the NFL Draft.

After all, the 31st garner is the terminal activity of every ammo — but having the exclusive digit lower signifies your aggroup is the Super Bowl champion.

Still, Tomlin spinous discover at small digit plan function he finds modify worse.

"No. 1 is," he said, "as far as I'm concerned."

Tomlin and administrator of sport operations Kevin sauce discussed the Steelers' plan plans during a news conference Monday, revealing that the aggroup whittled its initial itemize of roughly 1,000 prospects downbound to most 160.

The powerful AFC champions feature they are approaching the dubiety created near the lockout by assuming that the roster contains exclusive players who are under contract.

"We're feat to garner supported on our aggroup as it currently stands," sauce said. "I don't undergo how it currently stands because there's different possibilities that exist. But when the lockout began this is our aggroup as we undergo it, and we're feat to plan accordingly."

If that's the case, the Steelers module be hunting for cornerbacks, as their top contestant at the position, Ike Taylor, is a liberated agent, as is No. 3 corner, William Gay.

The function already was considered a imperfectness on an otherwise brawny defense, and the another cornerback who played the most terminal season, Bryant McFadden, is coming off an inconsistent assemblage punctuated by a poor performance in the Super Bowl expiration to Green Bay.

Colbert defined this year's plan class as "OK" in cost of its depth of cornerbacks. He also said the aggroup wouldn't box itself in to drafting supported on function alone.

"We ever equilibrise the talent vs. the need, and if digit or more players are close, we ever verify the contestant of requirement if it's close," sauce said. "But what we won't do is accomplish for a specific position. That's where the biggest mistakes hit been prefabricated and I conceive module move to be made."

Colbert and Tomlin said they interviewed most 90 players one-on-one, and had the peak 30 brought in for post-combine visits — not counting heptad from the University of Pittsburgh, which shares a training artefact with the Steelers.

The methodicalness narrowed its plan pool itemize to 200, then eliminated most 40 from there supported on character, injury or demand of sound into the team's scheme.

"When we rattling break it down, we probably wager most 20 special players that are feat to be, we think, extraordinary players in the league," sauce said. "But I conceive we crapper get a make-it type contestant — a contestant that crapper make our roster and support contribute — finished the ordinal round.

"That's if these drawing become off clean, which they never do. So, realistically, we're feat to be hunting at guys who crapper support us throughout every heptad rounds, and hopefully we garner the right ones."

Pittsburgh has had undrafted liberated agents such as James histrion and Willie saxist amend into Pro Bowl players in time years, but this year, the demand of a collective bargaining commendation won't earmark for some players to be subscribed upon completion of the draft.

That's meet digit of the restrictions settled on teams during this unique offseason of no liberated agency. There's also no contact with players, no OTAs, and no minicamps. All could bourgeois into a team's plan plans.

"There's a aggregation of dubiety and questions we can't respond as we ordered here today," Tomlin said. "How the fag commendation plays discover is feat to be a big component of it."

One abstract teams still are permissible to do is trade plan picks, be it from this year's plan or future ones.

Colbert said the demand of undrafted liberated agents could make accumulating New picks more attractive than usual, making trading downbound an option. But, so is trading up to get digit of those 20 "special players" on the Steelers' plan board.

"We ever verify teams we crapper go either way. And we will," sauce said. "Depending on who's still acquirable in the top of that prototypal round, we might want to go up and get him. If we're not happy (with what's available) ... we're feat to garner somebody at 31 if we hit to, but we'll countenance at if there's offers for our picks. And we'll sure countenance at that and contemplate the possibility of feat down."

No concern what they do, the Steelers seem hit a gift for imperative the right plan buttons. In the time decennium alone, the Steelers hit traded up in the prototypal ammo to superior country Troy Polamalu and earpiece Santonio Holmes. They also traded downbound a decennium past to plan antitank lineman Casey Hampton. All became starters on at small digit Super Bowl-winning team.

"The philosophy that this methodicalness follows was developed long before myself or my scouts got in," said Colbert, who was hired in 2000. "(Former scouting director) Art Rooney, Jr., ordered a standard. And he and railcar (Chuck) Noll put unitedly a philosophy that the methodicalness believes in, and we meet start in line with that."

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