Slam Dunk

David DeCastro:  Pro Football Weekly rated DeCastro No. 9 among NFL prospects this year.

It took the Steelers about five seconds last night to turn in their first-round draft choice.

Nobody thought David DeCastro, the big, mobile guard from Stanford, would be available at No. 24.  Nobody.  DeCastro wasn't even in the discussion of pre-draft prognostications and mock drafts.  Nobody thought he'd be there.

But there he was, thanks to a series of unexpected and, uh, shall we say, curious (questionable? quirky?) selections by teams such as Jacksonville, Seattle, Cleveland, St. Louis, the Jets and, yes, even the Patriots.

Now, DeCastro pulls into Pittsburgh as a plug 'n play starter at a position of need, and dire need at that.  He will fortify the left side of the offensive line and conceivably could even improve the play of fellow linemates Maurkice Pouncey and Marcus Gilbert.  If Ben Roethlisberger want to move around, and he will, no problem.  DeCastro is used to doing that -- after all, Oliver Luck was a mobile quarterback at Stanford, which used a lot of moving-pocket formations.

David DeCastro:  The next Alan Faneca, and a most welcome addition.

Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mr. DeCastro. 

Link: Shutdown Corner offers a terrific profile of DeCastro here.