FanHouse Ziggy Hood

When the Steelers lost defensive end Aaron Smith for the season, it wasn't too much of a shock that the Steelers turned to veteran Travis Kirschke instead of first-round pick Ziggy Hood.

But now that Kirschke is also likely to be sidelined for next Sunday's Broncos game, it looks like the Steelers would turn to Nick Eason next week as the starter instead of Hood. Essentially the Steelers are saying that Eason, who battled Sunny Harris for a spot on the roster during training camp, is a better bet as a starter than the Steelers first-round pick this year.

That would normally be a sign that the first-round pick is on the path to being a big-time bust--first-round picks should be contributors, not the No. 5 defensive end on a team that normally carries five defensive ends.

If you thought Steelers fans were panicking when they lost to the Bengals in Week 3, that has nothing on the news that Aaron Smith is done for the season. Jim Wexell over at the Steel City Insider is reporting that Smith will have surgery on his rotator cuff, and the Steelers announced Wednesday that Smith has been placed on injured reserve.

Even though Smith is not a household name around the NFL, he is the Steelers' best defensive end, and arguably the best 3-4 end in the game. When he missed the end of the 2007 season the, Steelers defense fell apart without him. The Steelers are better equipped to handle Smith's absence this time with first-round pick Ziggy Hood, as well as experienced veterans Travis Kirschke and Nick Eason, but none of them can come close to being the run stuffer or the pass rusher that Smith is.

Offensive tackle Andre Smith became the 31st 2009 first-round draft pick to sign, coming to terms with Cincinnati. Find all the signed picks' contract details below:

It's the preseason, but you always want to see your team win. So tonight was a good night for Steelers fans, even if it was the third-team Steelers beating the third-team Cardinals 20-10.

But since it was the preseason, individual efforts were much more important than the final score.

In the first game at least, there was more good than bad for Pittsburgh.

LATROBE, Pa. -- Here at Steelers training camp, there's always a class in session. Practice ends, but not all at once. As some players hop on golf carts and head back to the dorms on the campus of St. Vincent College, others stay to ask and answer questions. Ziggy Hood, a rookie defensive lineman out of Missouri, picks the brain of 11-year veteran Aaron Smith. Rookie cornerback Keenan Lewis tails Ike Taylor around, looking to pick up pointers.

"There's just so much knowledge here," Lewis said. "These guys that have been here a long time, they're just so valuable for a new guy coming in."

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 Steelers' third-round pick out of Oregon State was mentioned as a dark horse for team rookie of the year by Steelers' beat writer Jim Wexell. Now SI.com's John Lopez has also singled him out as a rookie who could make an impact.

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.

If the Steelers have any plans to extend the contracts of any veterans, they won't have to worry that chief negotiator Omar Kahn will be distracted by signing draft picks.

Nearly a week before training camp opens on July 31, the Steelers have already signed every one of their draft picks. First-round pick Evander Hood became the final draft pick to sign when he agreed to a five-year deal with the Steelers on Sunday.

The early reports on the Steelers' 2009 draft picks is very favorable. Mike Wallace has shown speed. Frank Summers is just as big as everyone expected and Ziggy Hood has shown an outstanding motor.

Of course, there's yet to be a draft pick who's publicly been called out for disappointing at offseason workouts, so as always, we won't know very much until they put the pads on for real in two months. But if history is any kind of guide, expect Hood, the Steelers' first-round pick, to do quite well, while several of the later-round picks will fail miserably.

For most of the offseason, people who pontificate about such things had the Lions taking an offensive player with the first-overall pick. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was the popular choice, with offensive tackles Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe also in the mix. But maybe the organization should focus on fixing the defense, which, surprisingly, was the weakest unit on an 0-16 outfit last season.

Linebacker Aaron Curry has been described as the "safest pick of the draft," and has even been mentioned as a potential pre-draft Lions target. And today, after watching the team's final mincamp practice, MLive.com's Tom Kowalski has a suggestion: Detroit should use its first three draft picks to shore up the defense.