7th Rounder...Our FINAL Selection....

**Rara** · 05-10-2014, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by Steel Life

Not a fan of over-age picks...but he's a 7th rounder so it probably doesn't matter. Would've preferred WR Janis there...hopefully he'll be available as an UDFA.

I think the Packers drafted him.

**phillyesq** · 05-10-2014, 06:42 PM

If he replaces either Palmer or Paulson, this is a successful pick.

**hawaiiansteel** · 05-12-2014, 12:45 AM

4 reasons to like Rob Blanchflower

Posted May 10, 2014
By Mike Prisuta

Why you should be excited about Rob Blanchflower:

* His 1,164 career yards receiving broke college football Hall-of-Famer Milt Morin’s UMass record for receiving yards by a tight end.

* Blanchflower battled a sports hernia injury that prevented him from practicing and forced him to miss five games, and he still caught 27 passes for 313 yards (11.6 per reception) and three touchdowns in 2013.

* He was a four-year starter and a two-time captain in college.

* Steelers tight ends coach James Daniel considers Blanchflower a “two-phase guy,” one who potentially can contribute as a receiver and a blocker. That’s a characteristic that makes Blanchflower “different than a lot of the guys you have coming at you right now,” Daniel said.

[URL]http://www.steelers.com/news/article-1/4-reasons-to-like-Rob-Blanchflower/d3c81860-9f74-498f-ae03-7862da479d96[/URL]

**hawaiiansteel** · 05-25-2014, 07:16 PM

Steelers minicamp was 'initiation by fire' for rookie Rob Blanchflower

By Neal Coolong on May 25 2014

The team's seventh-round draft pick spoke with his hometown paper about all things Steelers.

It was familiar, yet all very new to Steelers seventh-round draft pick, tight end Rob Blanchflower.

Most players who set foot onto the field for their rookie minicamps had gone through team practices since November or later. For Blanchflower, the former UMass player, he hadn't practiced since August.

A bilateral sports hernia kept him out of everything but games in 2013, and he still missed six of those. The first practice he had was in front of his new NFL coach Mike Tomlin.

"Minicamp was an initiation by fire for me because I hadn't practiced in almost a year with my injury senior year of college," Blanchflower told Matt Stewart of the Sentinal & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Mass. "Last year I only played on game day, and haven't really practiced since last August. Making it through it was tough, but also proved to me the level of fitness and mental discipline to make it in the league."

It's a very revealing interview, with Blanchflower speaking positively about the Steelers organization ("...most team's owners don't come and meet the draft class or take their players out to a Pirates game to see the city and what the fan base is about.") and his admiration for Steelers TE Heath Miller ("...If I can get anywhere near half of what he's accomplished, that would be a great career...").

The guy UMass fans dubbed "Baby Gronk" (a reference to Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski, which may be a tad hyperbolic) has more potential than his mediocre stats last year indicate. He played hurt throughout the year and missed a considerable amount of time.

The Steelers' third tight end position should be considered an open battle, though. The team re-signed veteran Michael Palmer and still has David Paulson, a former seventh-round pick who made the roster his rookie year, under contract. David Johnson signed with the Chargers in free agency, and his in-line blocking will be missed (while his injuries will not be).

It's cliche and perhaps a bit inappropriate to suggest a seventh round rookie is the heir apparent to Miller's longstanding TE1 position, but Blanchflower was most likely under-drafted. He has a good combination of size and speed and is an aggressive blocker. The Steelers have Miller and Matt Spaeth under contract for the next two seasons, although salary cap considerations may make either of them expendable next season.

Blanchflower may not have practiced for the last nine months, but the following nine months will be what determines his future with the Steelers.

[URL]http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2014-steelers-rookie-minicamp-orientation/2014/5/25/5749360/steelers-rookie-minicamp-nfl-draft-rob-blanchflower-tight-end-depth-chart[/URL]