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Tuesday, April 22, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Steelers hope to use the draft this weekend in order to stop one -- the gust of unimpeded footballs that blew through their secondary last season.

	Oklahoma cornerback Andre Woolfolk makes an interception during a victory against Texas last season. There is a possibility the Steelers could draft Woolfolk with the 27th pick and move him to safety. (Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press)

Having slipped from fifth to 20th in pass defense, the Steelers are determined to rebuild that part of their team.

That is why many of the college prospects they invited to their UPMC training facility through April 18 were defensive backs, and one intriguing pass-rusher.

Coach Bill Cowher has decided he needs help in the secondary with younger, swifter coverage men, a better pass-rusher, or both.

"I don't know if last year was a trend or the way teams decided to attack us," Cowher said during a pre-draft debriefing for the news media yesterday. "You have to look at, number one, who you are working with. Last year, we went to three corners a lot as part of an adjustment to not get caught up with matchups with Lee Flowers."

That is why Flowers -- a prototypical "box safety" -- will not be part of the 2003 Steelers.

Who will step into that role is a guess, but if Southern California safety Troy Polamalu is hanging around when the Steelers step to the plate Saturday with the 27th pick in the first round, it's a good bet it will be him. Or they could draft 6-foot-1 1/2 Oklahoma cornerback Andre Woolfolk and let him play safety. If not, they could sign free agent Sammy Knight and let him compete with second-year safety Chris Hope and veteran Mike Logan, who is overcoming surgery.

Strong safety is, technically, one of two openings the Steelers have. They also lost left tackle Wayne Gandy to New Orleans in free agency, but Cowher has a solution to that problem. He will wait until after the draft -- just in case -- and then move starting right tackle Marvel Smith to the left and have Oliver Ross and newcomer Todd Fordham compete at right tackle.

Cowher and Kevin Colbert, the team's director of football operations, spent 45 minutes with the media yesterday discussing the draft. They did not impart any useful scraps of information about any college player.

The two did offer some insights into other areas:

On the status of Jerome Bettis and Mark Bruener, Cowher said: "Both those players' situations will certainly be affected by what takes place this weekend."

Colbert said the team would be willing to make a trade to move up or down in the draft if there was a player the team really wanted. The Steelers did that twice in 2001. In the first round, they traded with the Jets, swapping the 16th pick for the 19th ( receiving picks in the fourth and sixth rounds from the Jets). They still got the man they wanted on the first round, Casey Hampton. Then, they sent the fourth-rounder to New England to move up in the second round, where they drafted Kendrell Bell.

Generally, to move up or down several spots in the first round, a third-round pick is exchanged.

Signing free agent tight end Jay Riemersma served two purposes -- to open up the passing lanes down the middle of the field, and to help ensure the Steelers will have a veteran tight end around near the end of the season. Bruener's past two seasons ended prematurely by injury.

"I am not going to let that happen anymore," Cowher said. "We are going to have a good tight end in the postseason. ... If [Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress] start getting extra attention on the outside, I like the fact that I can throw a Jay Riemersma down the middle of the field."

Linebacker Clark Haggans had ankle surgery yesterday that might prevent him from participating on the field until training camp. Cowher had to be irked by Haggans' decision to wait until the restricted free-agency period ended before opting for the surgery. "I don't anticipate any problems [because of the surgery]," Cowher said.

Cowher proclaimed that he liked the look of his team before the draft.

"We feel good about our football team going into next year with the players that we have on it, as we speak. Certainly, there are some things that we have looked into in the off-season that we want to improve upon. But, we certainly have the nucleus, the foundation ... and have the ability to add to it this weekend and still keep our options open after that."