FanHouse David Johnson

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?

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.

I tell you what -- "East Carolina is your conference champion" is not a phrase I really planned on hearing (or wanted to hear, for that matter) in 2008. However, after the Purple Pirates defeated Tulsa, 27-24, on a late field goal to win the Conference-USA championship and a Liberty Bowl berth, it's just a phrase everyone is going to have to get used to hearing.

The Pirates, though, without delving into some ridiculous coming-of-age type of storyline, are once again fun to root for; the first few weeks of this season, the Pirates were America's sweetheart, rising up in the polls as they continued to upset bigger name teams.

And people whispered those magic "BCS" letters, because the Pirates, could have, conceivably, run the table in their Conference and landed in a big January bowl. They didn't make it all the way to the top, but a resurgent second half of the season has them headed towards the Liberty Bowl now (as I predicted elsewhere).

Oh yeah -- the game itself was interesting too.