Cannon Firing Line
Prove It
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

The 2006 NFL Draft is history. We have to wait another year for the circus to return. And that means all three days of the draft (surely you don't limit your interests to merely the weekend coverage). If you're real about this, you know the third day - that being the Monday following the conclusion of the formal proceedings - is now where the true draftniks earn their money.

In the old days the draft ended for most of us on Sunday afternoon. Now it's Free Agent Monday, when the teams around the league try to scoop up the best undrafted players.

This year - and we only say this half jokingly - the Steelers may have done better on that third day than during Sunday's auction.

But that was fairly predictable. Even with their history of being able to snag players on Sunday, and the possibility they may have done so again this year, this was a first-day draft.

That was particularly true for the Steelers, who despite their possible needs, found none of the Sunday cornerbacks or linebackers worth drafting. Instead, the club opted for a Latrobe face-off between a Miami lineman on the All-Talent, No Motor Team and a Cal center on the All-Intangible team; a Hofstra lineman even the Patriot Act-assisted FBI can't account for; a tight end considered more Jane than Tarzan by one pre-draft pub; and an ox out of Blacksburg who ostensibly is going to attempt goring goal line defenders.

Oh, and the quarterback who had *one* pre-draft visit with an NFL team and has a delivery reminiscent of Kent Tekulve.

Yeah, this was an early draft, and while some will carp about giving up picks to select Santonio Holmes, taking Anthony Smith in the wrong round, and reaching for Willie Reid, they all were picks the Steelers wanted. The receivers were weak this year, ditto with other areas, so forget what another team would have done and forget what the experts thought. If they were going to be forced to play, the Steelers were at least going to get a couple of players they actually wanted.

As for the rest of the fellas, anything's possible. They just have to prove it - including to the Steelers.

Ellis Cannon's SportsLine Pittsburgh" airs weeknights, 6-8 p.m., on FM NewsTalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on the "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" aired Sundays at 11:35 on KDKA-TV.