When William Gay was drafted, the worries were that he was too light and too short to ever be more than a nickel back.
He may still be short, but no one can accuse Gay of being too light to start any more. The third-year corner who is penciled in to replace Bryant McFadden at cornerback told the Washington Observer-Reporter that he is 15 pounds heavier than he was last year, up from 183 to 198. At 5-foot-10, 198 pounds, Gay now weighs three pounds more than 6-foot-2 corner Ike Taylor is officially listed at.
If you're looking for a lesser-known rookie in Steelers camp worth keeping an eye on as training camp begins, the player to watch apparently is Keenan Lewis.
The scouting report on Lewis was that he had very good size and good enough speed. Apparently he has pretty decent instincts as well. The good news is that more than almost any other position, cornerback is one where how a player looks in shorts and a helmet isn't that different from how they look in a full-contact practice. Unlike linemen, linebackers, running backs and wide receivers, it's more about how they react to the ball and the receiver then how they react to hitting and being hit.
Ike Taylor doesn't have the best hips for an NFL cornerback and every Steelers fan knows that his hands are among the worst in the league. But he sure can run.
It was his size/speed combination that got him drafted in the fourth round back in 2003, even though he was an extremely raw cornerback. Six years later, he's apparently just as fast. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Taylor was recently timed at 4.26 in the 40-yard dash electronically.
His sprint coach Tim Shaw says that Taylor's the fastest football player he's ever coached. That wouldn't mean that much if you didn't know that Shaw has also coached Deion Sanders and Titans' running back Chris Johnson. (You can see him say it on video after the jump.)
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet the... Team with more Super Bowl titles than any other franchise in existence. Fresh off of their sixth Super Bowl title, the Steelers return in 2009 with a solid shot at a repeat performance. The stellar defense is still around and the main keys to the Pittsburgh offense are back and healthy.
While the NFL version of the Steelers is a force to be reckoned with, the Steelers, as fantasy assets, are just average.
Even though the Steelers don't pick until No. 22, they've already made some news today with the news that they re-uppedHines Ward for four more years. Throw in the news from yesterday that they have signed cornerback Keiwan Ratliff to a one-year deal and the Steelers have somewhat solved two of their pressing draft needs before the draft even began.
By re-upping Ward, the Steelers now have their top two wide receivers locked up through 2010 and have Limas Sweed to develop as the No. 3 receiver. While you would like to have some insurance in case Sweed doesn't pan out, wide receiver is now a late-round need, not a first, second or third-round need.
Heading into free agency, most people assumed that former Steeler Bryant McFadden would be in demand, perhaps even the first cornerback to ink a big-money deal. Ten days and a handful of defensive back signings later, McFadden finally got a new contract. And it has to be a lot less than what he was expecting: he's headed to Arizona for two years and $10 million.
As they create room in the trophy case for a sixth Lombardi Trophy, the Steelers also have some decisions to make. Four of the team's top five offensive tackles are free agents (although Willie Colon is only a restricted free agent), as are starting cornerback Bryant McFadden and No. 3 receiver Nate Washington.
But according to Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, the Steelers have already decided on their top free agent priority. Banks says the Steelers plan to try to re-up McFadden before free agency begins on Feb. 27. With $19 million in cap room, Pittsburgh has some room to get McFadden under contract while also either re-upping Max Starks or trying to bring in free agent offensive line help.
Over the past two weeks we've heard all about the numerous connections between Pittsburgh and the Arizona Cardinals, and there are plenty. So many, in fact, that the Cardinals are jokingly referred to as "Pittsburgh west" by Steelers fans.
You know about Hines Ward and Kurt Warner, but this week we'll also try to spotlight some non household names who could play crucial parts in Sunday's Super Bowl.
Who: Ike Taylor
What Does He Do: Steelers starting cornerback.
Stats: 65 tackles, one interception. How He Got Here: Taylor was the Steelers' fourth-round pick in 2003 out of Louisiana-Lafayette. He had good combine numbers coming out of school (4.35 speed to go with good size), but very little experience at cornerback -- he had only played the position for one year in college.
James Harrison could have been a Raven. After the Steelers released him in 2003, Baltimore added him to the roster during the 2004 offseason. But the Ravens released him during training camp, he re-signed with the Steelers, and it sure seems like he's spent the past couple of years trying to remind Baltimore of what it could have had.
He's had six sacks in the past two years against the Ravens. He's forced three fumbles and picked off one pass. So when the Ravens watched the film of their first regular-season games against the Steelers, it must have become clear quite quickly that they had to figure out someway to stop their worst nightmare -- an angry Harrison.
When William Gay was drafted, the worries were that he was too light and too short to ever be more than a nickel back.
If you're looking for a lesser-known rookie in Steelers camp worth keeping an eye on as training camp begins, the player to watch apparently is 
Ike Taylor
With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Even though the Steelers don't pick until No. 22, they've already made some news today with the news that 
As they create room in the trophy case for a sixth Lombardi Trophy, the Steelers also have some decisions to make. Four of the team's top five offensive tackles are free agents (although 
You know about Hines Ward and Kurt Warner, but this week we'll also try to spotlight some non household names who could play crucial parts in Sunday's Super Bowl.
