Steelers Are Keeping an Eye On Mundy

So which 2008 Steelers draftee do you think the team most needs to step up in 2009?

You could argue Rashard Mendenhall, the team's '08 first-round pick, but then if he falters, Pittsburgh still has Willie Parker and Mewelde Moore (last year's primary backs on a Super Bowl champion) plus Frank Summers.

Or you could say Limas Sweed, the team's second-round pick last year. But if he can't handle the slot receiver role or he keeps dropping passes, Pittsburgh has signed Shaun McDonald as a back-up, while rookie Mike Wallace could be a decent replacement as a deep threat.

But is it possible that the most important second-year player could be a safety who was cut last year? Ryan Mundy, Pittsburgh's sixth-round pick last year, didn't even make it out of training camp last year thanks to a high ankle sprain. The Steelers cut him, but then signed him back to the practice squad after training camp. This offseason with Troy Polamalu working out himself and Ryan Clark out as recovers from surgery, Mundy has gotten a whole lot of reps in offseason workouts, that's good, because it's easy to sketch out a situation where he could become important.

As far as starters, Pittsburgh is in great shape at safety. Free safety Clark has proven to be the perfect partner for strong safety Polamalu with his steady center field play and solid tackling. But behind them, there are a lot of questions.

If Polamalu goes down with an injury--something that happened for five games in 2007 and three games in 2006--the Steelers would be relying on 5-foot-9, 195 pound Tyrone Carter. Carter isn't really big enough to be an every-down strong safety and at 33, he's on the downside of his career.

It's not really any better if Clark goes down. Carter is the only backup safety on the roster with any experience, although there's a lot of talk of giving Deshea Townsend some time back there.

But that's also where Mundy comes in. At 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, Mundy is much more the size that you look for in a strong safety although he also has the speed to be a backup at free safety. But more importantly, he's one of the Steelers few options at the position. Pittsburgh didn't draft any safeties this year, and they let Anthony Smith leave in free agency. So unless Deshea Townsend finds a new lease on life as a backup safety or Roy Lewis proves to be another undrafted free agent find, Mundy has to fill a role--the Steelers don't have other options.