FanHouse Kraig Urbik

Two games into the preseason, the Steelers are a good bit closer to deciding which offensive linemen will be making the 53-man roster, and it's remarkable how much the conventional wisdom has changed from what we thought we knew during the summer.

Kraig Urbik was supposed to battle for a starting job at guard. Instead, he's likely to make the team entirely on the basis of future potential, as he hasn't shown that he's capable yet of contributing to the 2009 Steelers. Guard/tackle Ramon Foster has gone from a little known undrafted free agent to someone whose not only nearly a sure-bet to make the roster, but also someone who could make the 46-man active roster this season. And Doug Legursky has gone from being a practice squad player to a productive fill-in on the first team.

It doesn't seem to matter if the Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a non-playoff season or a Super Bowl title, at the start of training camp there always seems to be plenty of worries about their offensive line. It's been a common thread at the start of each and every training camp over the past four years.

It's business as usual this year, which means that the team's biggest concern is whether Trai Essex is ready to be a starter at guard and can a year of playing together make a big difference for the rest of the projected starters. We got our first glimpse against the Cardinals last Thursday night. So what did they show?

The NFL may be worrying about Twitter and most NFL teams treat the simplest news that is bound to get out as if it's a state secret, but with open practices and quality reporters, it's pretty easy to get a good idea of what's going on at training camp.

Between Jim Wexell's tweeting and posts at Steel City Insider, vrabinec's incredibly detailed posts over at draftsteel.com and the rest of the in-person rundowns over at SteelerFury.com and Behind The Steel Curtain, there's a heck of a lot of good information out there.

Here's a summary of some notes culled from the first-person reports.

We're still a month away from training camp, but Pittsburgh is almost finished with signing all of their draft picks. Tight end David Johnson, the team's seventh-round pick, signed on Friday, making him the seventh of the team's nine picks to sign.

The only two rookies left unsigned are the two the Steelers most need in training camp. First-round pick Evander Hood, who is expected to be the team's No. 3 defensive end, and third-round pick Kraig Urbik, who is expected to battle for a starting job at offensive guard, are still unsigned, although with a month to work out those deals, it shouldn't be that hard to get the deals worked out.

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

When you're picking No. 32, you can't expect the draft to be flashy, but you can expect it to be productive. Of the last 10 final picks of the first round, eight of them became solid starters including Todd Heap, Al Wilson, Mathias Kiwanuka and Anthony Gonzalez.

This definitely wasn't a flashy draft for the Steelers. Barring injury, Evander Hood, Pittsburgh's first-round pick, won't be starting until 2010 at the earliest. If third-round pick Kraig Urbik (right) doesn't beat out Darnell Stapleton for a starting guard job, no rookie will likely start for the Steelers this year.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

I'm not a fan of sugar-coating terminology or fluff. Let's face the truth and deal with it. No one has better defined "unmitigated disaster" like the 2008 Detroit Lions. Nothing went right. The team was putrid to begin with, but they suffered through injuries and ineffectiveness all over the field, and not one position on the team was an area of strength and/or depth. The slate is clean for Detroit, with every position being a position of need.