INDIANAPOLIS — SEC edge rushers Nolan Smith and Byron Young ran faster than many receivers at the NFL combine. Smith, who played at Georgia, ran a 4.39 and Young, from Tennessee, ran a 4.43. That was after Pitt's Calijah Kancey ran a 4.67, the fastest time ever for an interior defensive tackle.
Defenders on the line of scrimmage keep getting bigger, faster and stronger, and they are in demand by NFL teams. The best way to contain mobile quarterbacks is by getting athletes who can chase them down, and there is no shortage of those types of players in this year's draft.
That's good news for the Steelers, who have to add younger players to the mix both on the edge and on the interior. The challenge for the Steelers is finding the right players to fit their system, and they could follow the approach they took last season when they selected DeMarvin Leal in the third round.
