Steelers Pre-Draft Player Visits: A Brief History

[mesaSteeler]

Steelers Pre-Draft Player Visits: A Brief History
Posted on April 11, 2011 by ryan
http://www.steelerslounge.com/2011/0...isits-history/

Reader ELSM mentioned in the comments a few weeks ago that he would like to see a list of all the players to visit the Steelers in the weeks leading up to the draft, as well as some background on who they are. Well, we aim to please here, even if it takes us a while to get around to it.

Below are the players to show their faces on the South Side this spring (local players don’t count toward the 30 visits the NFL allows teams, which is why you see so many names from Pitt). I also included links to their NFLDraftScout.com profiles because I think Rob Rang is a smart guy, as well as their height, weight, 40 times, position rank according to NFLDS, and their projected draft status.

But there’s more. Out of curiosity (and because it was pretty easy to track down), I looked at the 20010, 2009, and 2008 visits. In those years, the Steelers selected (or signed) 3, 4, and 2 players who also made a pre-draft visit. So if recent history is any guide, roughly three of the names who visited Pittsburgh prior to the 2011 draft will end up a Steeler in a couple weeks.

Enjoy (and I’ll update the 2011 list as the names come in).

2011 Visits

4/7/11
- Cortez Allen, CB, Citadel (6-1, 197, 4.50, No. 19, R4-5)
- Ras-I Dowling, CB, Virginia (6-1, 198, 4.40, No. 6, R2)
- Austin Pettis, WR, Boise State (6-3, 209, 4.56, No. 17, R4-5)
- Da’rel Scott, RB, Maryland (5-11, 211, 4.40, No. 18, R5-6)

4/4/11
* As far as we know, the Steelers have yet to meet with either player, but will include them here since it was mentioned in this report. If neither shows up on the South Side prior to the draft, we’ll remove them from this list.

- Cameron Jordan, DE, California (6-4, 287, 4.74, No. 3, R1)
- Rodney Hudson, C/G, Florida St. (6-2, 299, 5.27, No. 1 center, R2)

4/1/11
- James Carpenter, T, Alabama (6-4, 321, 5.22, No. 7, R2)
- Marcus Gilbert, T, Florida (6-6, 330, 5.41, No. 10, R3-4)
- Jarriel King, T, South Carolina (6-5, 317, 5.03, No. 24, R7-FA)

3/22/11
- Kenrick Ellis, DT, Hampton (6-5, 346, 5.19, No. 9, R2-3)

3/16/11
Pittsburgh Panthers
- Jon Baldwin, WR (6-4, 228, 4.49, No. 7, R2)
- Jason Pinkston, T (6-3, 317, 5.39, No. 11, R3-4)
- Dion Lewis, RB (5-7, 193, 4.56, No. 2, R6-7)
- Henry Hynoski, FB (6-0, 257, 5.06, No. 4, R5-6)
- Jabaal Sheard, DE (6-3, 264, 4.68, No. 9, R1-2)
- Greg Romeus, DE (6-5, 264, 4.79, No. 14, R4)
- Dom DiCicco, SS (6-3, 232, 4.64, No. 10, R7)

*******

2010 Visits

Purdue DL Michael Neal
Kansas S Darrell Stuckey
Penn State LB Navorro Bowman
Wake Forrest T Chris DeGeare
Tennessee G Jacques McClendon
Indiana T Rodger Saffold
Maryland CB Nolan Carroll
Alabama CB Kareem Jackson
Boise State CB Kyle Wilson
Alabama-Birmingham WR Joe Webb
Marshall DE/LB Albert McClellan
Wake Forest CB Brandon Ghee
South Carolina LB/DE Eric Norwood
Iowa T Bryan Bulaga
Oklahoma State WR Dez Bryant
Notre Dame WR Golden Tate
Utah LB Koa Misi
William & Mary DE/LB Adrian Tracy
Oregon RB LeGarrette Blount
Idaho G Mike Iupati
* Florida C Maurkice Pouncey (1st)
South Carolina DL Clifton Geathers
East Carolina DL Linval Joseph
South Florida WR Carlton Mitchell
Arizona TE Rob Gronkowski
Illinois WR Arrelious Benn
Texas S Earl Thomas
* SMU WR Emmanuel Sanders (3rd)
Arkansas State DE Alex Carrington
* Central Michigan WR Antonio Brown (6th)
Penn State LB Sean Lee
Texas Christian LB Jerry Hughes

*2010 list via Steelers Depot

*******

2009 Visits

* A.Q. Shipley, C, Penn State (7th)
Scott McKillop, LB, Pittsburgh
C.J. Davis, G, Pittsburgh
Mike Thomas, WR, Arizona
* RaShon Harris, DT, Oregon (6th)
Alex Mack, C, California
Fili Moala, DT, USC
Herman Johnson, G, LSU
Phil Loadholt, T, Oklahoma
* Joe Burnett, CB, Central Florida (5th)
* Frank Summers, FB, UNLV (5th)
Don Carey, CB, Norfolk State
Richard Quinn, TE, North Carolina
Lawrence Sidbury, LB, Richmond
Donald Washington, CB, Ohio State
Sherrod Martin, CB, Troy
Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
Max Unger, C, Oregon
Dorell Scott, DT, Clemson
Sammie Lee Hill, DT, Stillman
Louis Vasquez, G, Texas Tech
Alphonso Smith, CB, Wake Forest
Louis Delmas, S, Western Michigan
Jarron Gilbert, DE, San Jose State
Jason Cherry, WR, Louisiana-Lafayette
Brandon Long, DE, Michigan State
Andy Levitre, G, Oregon State
Nate Davis, QB, Ball State
Spence Adkins, LB, Miami
Travis Shelton, WR, Temple
Louis Murphy, WR, Florida
Mike Mickens, CB, Cincinnati
Ellis Lankster, CB, West Virginia

* 2009 list via Steelers Depot

*******

2008 Visits

Pittsburgh Panthers
Jeff Otah, OT,
Mike McGlynn, G
Darrell Strong, TE

West Virginia
* Ryan Mundy, S (Undrafted FA)

Others
Branden Albert, G/T, Virginia
Cliff Avril, DE/LB, Purdue
Joseph “Red” Bryant, DT, Texas A&M
Jehuu Caulcrick, RB, Michigan State
Gosder Cherilus, OT, Boston College
Shawn Crable, LB/DE, Michigan
* Dennis Dixon, QB, Oregon (5th)
Keilen Dykes, DE, West Virginia
Charles Godfrey, CB, Iowa
Quentin Groves, DE/LB, Auburn
James Hardy, WR, Indiana
Mike Jenkins, CB, South Florida
Chris Johnson, RB, East Carolina
Jason Jones, DE, Eastern Michigan
Malcolm Kelly, WR, Oklahoma
Kendall Langford, DE, Hampton
Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee
Brandon McAnderson, FB, Kansas
Dre Moore, DT, Maryland
Orlando Scandrick, CB, Boise State
Jerome Simpson, WR, Coastal Carolina
Matthew Slater, KR, UCLA
Jonathan Stewart, RB, Oregon
Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas
Ryan Torain, RB, Arizona State
Mario Urrutia, WR, Lousville
Philip Wheeler, LB, Georgia Tech

* 2008 list via the Tribune Review

Finally, for fun: a trip in the Steelers Lounge time machine. The year: 2004.

* Ricardo Colclough Visits Steelers (!)
* Roethlisberger Visits Steelers (worse than Colclough? JP Losman)