For a team that has produced some of the greatest players at the position in National Football League history, the Steelers have drafted only three linebackers in the first round in their 75-year history.

But it isn't that rare for the team to pick players at the same position in each of the first two rounds, as the Steelers did when they drafted Lawrence Timmons of Florida State with their No. 1 pick and followed with Michigan's LaMarr Woodley, a defensive end who will be converted to outside linebacker.

The previous time the Steelers used their first two picks to take players at the same position was 1987 when cornerback Rod Woodson was drafted in the first round and cornerback Delton Hall was taken in the second.

"This is a great day for me," linebackers coach Keith Butler said.

Indeed, Butler and the Steelers have done more than taken the appropriate steps to replace Joey Porter and improve their outside pass rush with the addition of Timmons, the 15th overall selection in the draft, and Woodley, the 46th.

They also have made moves to help ensure the long-term health of the position, especially with Clark Haggans entering the final year of his contract.

And, make no mistake, it's the most important position in the 3-4 defense, a defense the Steelers will continue to use predominantly in 2007, said coach Mike Tomlin. The Steelers have used the 3-4 defense since the early 1980s, longer than any other NFL team.

"They're capable of doing a lot of things," Tomlin said.

The Steelers did not get a lot of pressure on the quarterback from their linebackers last season -- Porter and Haggans combined for only 13 sacks, 8 1/2 fewer than 2005 -- and Timmons and Woodley do that very well. However, they play with different styles.

Butler said Woodley (6 feet 1 1/2, 266 pounds) will be used more as a pass rusher in third-down situations to spell Haggans on the left side. Timmons is a more versatile linebacker who can rush off the edge or drop into coverage, something he did with equal aplomb at Florida State. He will begin as a backup to James Harrison, a former free agent who will replace Porter as the starter on the right side.

"With Joey leaving, we were thin at outside linebacker and, quite honestly, we had to be better than we were last year as a pressure team, especially on third down," director of football operations Kevin Colbert said. "I looked at that as a personnel issue. We didn't get to the quarterback enough and that leaves the secondary exposed."

The Steelers, of course, will have to wait and see how each player performs on the field. But, if comparisons count for anything, the Pro Football Hall of Fame should start clearing shelf space for more busts of Steelers linebackers to join Jack Ham and Jack Lambert.

Tomlin and Florida State defensive coordinator Mick Andrews compared Timmons to Derrick Brooks, another former Florida State linebacker who has appeared in 10 Pro Bowls with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After he was selected by the Steelers, Woodley compared himself to Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers.

"I think my game, from the defensive end standpoint, is kind of patterned like Shawne Merriman's," Woodley said. "I'm constantly getting after the quarterback, constantly making plays behind the line of scrimmage. You have to know where I am at all times."

The Steelers became convinced Woodley could make the transition from defensive end when they attended his pro-day workout at Michigan. Also, they believe the transition will be easier because the Wolverines used a defensive package very similar to the Steelers'.

Being converted from defensive end is nothing new for a Steelers linebacker. The past three starters on the outside -- Porter, Haggans and Jason Gildon -- were all defensive ends in college.

"He's a man, a very serious player," Colbert said. "He intrigued us throughout the whole process."

Woodley is not only a different type of outside linebacker than Timmons, he is also a different personality. Together, though, they could combine to take the Steelers into another decade of linebacker excellence.

The previous time the Steelers found two starting linebackers in the same draft was when Hardy Nickerson (fifth round) and Greg Lloyd (sixth) were selected in 1987.

"I bring attitude to the game," Woodley said.

"I bring attitude, and I bring a lot of leadership to the game. That's what you're going to get out of me. You're going to get a hard-working guy who's going to come out there and compete every play, a guy who hates to lose. When a guy hates to lose, like me, he definitely has an attitude."