STEELERS WERE READY TO "POUNCE" ON MIKE IF FINS PASSED

The Dolphins took Florida Center Mike Pouncey with the 15th overall pick in the first round of last month's NFL Draft. Most people agreed it was a good value pick and helps fill a big need for the Dolphins offensive line. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper gave the Dolphins a draft grade of a B- because he thought the Dolphins took Pouncey too early in the first round, even though Kiper had projected the Dolphins to take him at #15 in his final mock draft. So, if the 15th overall pick was a "reach" to take Pouncey, how much farther would he have dropped? Well, reports are surfacing this morning that he would likely have been taken with the very next pick at 16th overall.

James Wexell, a writer for steellcityinsider.net, reports that Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder was on Sirius Radio this week and he said the Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers had a draft day deal in place, but the trade fell though because "the player was gone" at the 16th pick. This report by Snyder does not mention Pouncey by name, but Jason La Canfora and Albert Breer of the NFL Network report that the Steelers were ready to pounce on Pouncey if he made it by Miami and that Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin was "mega intrigued" by him. The news that the Steelers had a deal in place with the Redskins to get Pouncey shows just how high teams had him on their draft boards.

If Miami would have passed on drafting Pouncey and the Redskins/Steelers trade went through, it would have reunited Mike with his brother Maurkice who was drafted in the first round last year by the Steelers. Mike and Maurkice, who are twin brothers, player together at the University Of Florida.

So if you read somewhere or hear someone say that Miami "reached" to take Pouncey with the 15th pick, just remember that he would have come off the board with the very next pick to the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  

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