The NFL Draft is almost upon us: Feel the Breeze?

It's coming! Draft day, a day that is over-hyped and yet anticipated by all true blue NFL fans.

Sadly it is rare that a team truly makes choices that have an immediate impact. Honestly I am a little befuddled about that.

On one hand it is very difficult to project talent from College level to the NFL. That is because   only a   few, and I do mean few, even get a sniff at the NFL. Those who are drafted are naturally gifted and very athletic compared to the overall watered down talent spread across the country in the over a 100 NCAA Colleges.
At that level a superior athlete can use his gift to outplay inferior athletes and thus hide or compensate for their lack of true ability.

I always like to use LaVar Arrington as the classic example. At Penn State he could perform Herculean/Superman moments and Coaching staffs could hide his lack of football acumen and a thorough understanding of the game.

In the NFL he was exposed. He no longer was the best athlete on the field. He was among physical equals and in his case players that understand football at the highest level. And yet he was the 2nd overall pick in the 2000 NFL Draft. Frankly I personally thought that was a joke. I often noticed he was out of place on the field and I don't know half as much about football as the NFL scouts and management.

And then on the other hand I also have noticed that some franchises do find quality in a decent percentage of their picks. So it makes me realize that some front offices simply know how to approach the Draft.

Pittsburgh has a pretty respectable track record in the draft. They have some years of pathetic picks but usually they find their reasonable share of players.

In fact I believe they are one of the best at projecting potential Free Agent losses and seem to have the replacement lined up to become the heir apparent at the position they assume will become vacant.

As a fan I kind of like that. No I don't like some of my faves walking out of town but I respect that the Steelers have a fiscal plan and prepare for people leaving for bigger money. Believe me living in the Philadelphia area I am well aware of what it is like to not be prepared.

The Eagles to their credit do have a fiscally sound spending plan, but they are very casual with looking ahead and bringing in young replacements. The few times they actually did do as the Steelers do and it proved to be successful. One example was when they drafted Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown anticipating the loss of Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent. By and large, however, the Eagles are not as prudent nor do they have the sense of urgency as the Steelers do

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The Steelers are also very good at contract negotiations. Rarely do you hear public jabs from either side. I'm sure some players negotiating with the Steelers   feel they get the short end of an offer, but the Steelers never leak negative comments about players. People visit and leave Pittsburgh as professionals.

They have a reliable and steady reputation around the league and deservedly so.

At present the pending picks the Steelers have on the board are as follows:
Rd 1, Pick 32 (32)
Rd 2, Pick 32 (64)
Rd 3, Pick 32 (96)
Rd 4, Pick 32 (132)
Rd 5, Pick 32 (168)
Rd5,Pick33(169) Rd 6, Pick 32 (205)
Rd 7, Pick 17 (226)
Rd 7, Pick 32 (241)

The 2009 Reebok Draft Day Hat. Who will be putting this on?

We will discuss more details and potential players available as we draw closer to Draft time. We will also compare the Steelers needs and the possible picks that have the projected talent to fill those needs.

By: Andy Natalie
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer