Steelers Almost Traded Up With Jets to Get DeCastro

Posted on May 8, 2012 by ryan

JJ brought it up on our draft preview podcast, Ted mentioned it midway through the first round, and according to NFL Network’s Jason La Canfora, the Steelers were this close to trading up to grab Stanford guard David DeCastro, the guy they eventually ended up with at No. 24.

First, the particulars:

ESPN.com’s Jamison Hensley guesses that it would’ve cost the Steelers a third- and fourth-rounder to go from 24th to 16th, something most of us would’ve been fine with. In retrospect, it would’ve been a huge blow since Pittsburgh landed a middle linebacker (Sean Spence) and a nose tackle (Alameda Ta’amu) with the picks.

Thankfully, Jesus loves the Steelers because the Seahawks took Bruce Irvin, threw a monkey wrench in the Jets’ plans, and they backed out of the deal. Then the Bengals passed at No. 17 (Cincy beat writer Joe Reedy had been saying for weeks that the Bengals would target a CB with their first first-rounder), traded down from No. 21 because they liked Kevin Zeitler, and the Browns, for reasons still unknown, took Brandon Weeden a full 15 picks before they had to.

Whatever, Pittsburgh stayed put, got DeCastro, and were still able to take Spence and Ta’amu.

In related Steelers’ news, Cols asked in the previous post about where Marcus Gilbert and Mike Adams might end up  – left or right tackle — in 2012 and beyond. Wex provides some insight via the Twitter machine:

* ”I don’t think Adams will be ready this yr, so Gilbert moves to LT.”

* “Don’t see them moving Colon to LG. I can see Max signing as backup to Gilbert at LT. But we shall see. Each camp we learn more.“

* “But to answer your question, yes, I can absolutely see Adams as a RT. Think Flozell.“

Related posts:

  1. Steelers Decide ‘Skill Position Players’ Isn’t Realistic Way to Protect Big Ben
  2. Jets 22 Steelers 17: Still Got the No. 2 Seed
  3. Analyzing the Steelers O-Line: Jets, Week 15
  4. Steelers Need to Activate Worilds Against Jets to Boost Special Teams
  5. Mike Tomlin Press Conference, Steelers-Jets: The Talking Points
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  • Cols714

    I’m not really buying it. Especially the source being La Canfora.

    So Wex thinks Gilbert at LT and Adams as RT? Interesting. 

    • Randy Steele

      Not only is La Canfora a suspect in this report, so are the Jets. How can you trust anything that comes out of that organization (a term used most lightly)?

      • http://www.steelerslounge.com/ ryan

        Yes, but La Canfora said that the Steelers were likely going to cut Casey Hampton two training camps ago. (He didn’t say when! Maybe he meant 2012 or 2013.)

  • tequila0341

    I think the key thing here is that the Bengals, apparently, thought Zeitzler was the better prospect over DeCastro. If you assume that, then they’re geniuses because they got both Zeitzler and Dre Kirkpatrick.

    FWIW, Greg Cosell thinks Zeitler is a better athlete than DeCastro.
    http://nflfilms.nfl.com/2012/04/23/cosell-talks-mock-draft/

    24. Pittsburgh: The Steelers select one of my favorite players to watch on tape, Wisconsin guardKevin Zeitler. Guard is clearly a position of need for Pittsburgh. I’m sure many will disagree, but I believe Zeitler is a better athlete than DeCastro. He has quick and active feet that allowed him to be very effective in the zone run game. He squared up well as a puller in the power run game, showing strength on contact. Zeitler was not as purely physical and nasty as DeCastro, but I saw a more athletic and complete OG.