Why we SHOULDN'T go for a wide receiver:

[aggiebones]

Sweed was not a reach, nor was he 'snake-bitten'.

While some are hidden gems, he had hidden flaws.
His hands were NEVER great. At tu his junior year, Vince Young was running rampant all over the country. Sweed was always open for mid-range passes since he was always 'half' covered. He caught ALOT of wide open 20 yard passes. He is indeed athletic, but when covered, he's not very good. In the NFL, you are covered. He had never been asked to make a catch with anyone covering him since he missed his senior year.
I think had he played his senior year, he would have been exposed without VY. He would have been drafted, maybe still in the second round, but expectations would have been lower.
I fully back the Steeler's scouting department 98% of the time, but think they may have missed here. There were reasons to be wary of this kid and not just his athletic ability.

[NJ-STEELER]

with such a good draft class this year, i'd be upset if they didnt consider a WR in at least rounds 3/4 if they know sweed isn't an option. could get some great value there. hopefully its a bigger type guy too.

[Sugar]

If a WR is BPA, then take him. IMO, the only positions I wouldn't take at #31 are QB, RB and OLB.

[Flasteel]

If a WR is BPA, then take him. IMO, the only positions I wouldn't take at #31 are QB, RB and OLB.

I would be pissed if we did that. Not only would we be ignoring other areas of need, we'd be inserting someone into the mix, who is going to stymie the growth of Brown and/or Sanders. There's only one ball and so many practice reps to go around.

I have to admit that Sweed also has me intrigued. He's not the reason I wouldn't invest a top draft pick at receiver, but I can't help but think that he hasn't shown us who he is yet.

[hawaiiansteel]

we also could use an OG, OT, CB, S, NT and a DE.

the Steelers need to stick to their BPA philosophy and not reach for any one position...

[BURGH86STEEL]

I can see the Steelers drafting a WR in the first round. QB, SS, OLB, and TE are the positions I don't see them drafting in the first round.

[ScoreKeeper]

Sweed was not a reach, nor was he 'snake-bitten'.

You don't think he was after dropping a few passes? Especially after the big one in the AFCC game?

He had hands of gold in college and in camp. He started out by dropping a few easy ones,(and then would catch the hard ones) and it carried over to the Rats game where he dropped a big one. Right now, he's shell shocked.

[Sugar]

If a WR is BPA, then take him. IMO, the only positions I wouldn't take at #31 are QB, RB and OLB.

I would be pissed if we did that. Not only would we be ignoring other areas of need, we'd be inserting someone into the mix, who is going to stymie the growth of Brown and/or Sanders. There's only one ball and so many practice reps to go around.

I have to admit that Sweed also has me intrigued. He's not the reason I wouldn't invest a top draft pick at receiver, but I can't help but think that he hasn't shown us who he is yet.

It's the first round, not the whole draft. There will be players for other areas of need in other rounds as well. It a WR falls to us the way Mendy did a few years ago, I'd snatch him up.

[RuthlessBurgher]

If a WR is BPA, then take him. IMO, the only positions I wouldn't take at #31 are QB, RB and OLB.

I would be pissed if we did that. Not only would we be ignoring other areas of need, we'd be inserting someone into the mix, who is going to stymie the growth of Brown and/or Sanders. There's only one ball and so many practice reps to go around.

I have to admit that Sweed also has me intrigued. He's not the reason I wouldn't invest a top draft pick at receiver, but I can't help but think that he hasn't shown us who he is yet.

It's the first round, not the whole draft. There will be players for other areas of need in other rounds as well. It a WR falls to us the way Mendy did a few years ago, I'd snatch him up.

A.J. Green should be gone in the top 5 or so, and Julio Jones should be gone in the top 15 or so. After that, guys like Jon Baldwin, Torrey Smith, Titus Young, etc. do not represent sufficient value at the end of round 1 to justify ignoring bigger needs elsewhere.

[proudpittsburgher]

Sweed was not a reach, nor was he 'snake-bitten'.

While some are hidden gems, he had hidden flaws.
His hands were NEVER great. At tu his junior year, Vince Young was running rampant all over the country. Sweed was always open for mid-range passes since he was always 'half' covered. He caught ALOT of wide open 20 yard passes. He is indeed athletic, but when covered, he's not very good. In the NFL, you are covered. He had never been asked to make a catch with anyone covering him since he missed his senior year.
I think had he played his senior year, he would have been exposed without VY. He would have been drafted, maybe still in the second round, but expectations would have been lower.
I fully back the Steeler's scouting department 98% of the time, but think they may have missed here. There were reasons to be wary of this kid and not just his athletic ability.

Most of Sweeeeeeeeeeed's biggest and most notable drops came with him being wide open. I can think of at least three where he had at least three steps on the defender, which is the NFL's equivelant of wide open. Outside of the injury which sidelined him for this season, I certainly wouldn't call what happened with this young man being "snake-bitten" either, as you pointed out. He has done all of this to himself.