Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler met the media to talk about the selection of Ohio State tackle Mike Adams in the second round of the 2012 NFL draft. Below is the transcript and the audio will be along shortly.
Re: Sean in your wildest imagination did you ever see the first two rounds unfolding like this?
Kugler: I certainly didn’t expect it. I feel very fortunate to have two quality players that we thought very highly of, and spent a lot of time evaluating. Im excited to coach both of those guys.
Re: Was Adams a first round grade for you guys?
Kugler: Yes, he did have a first round grade. We did a lot of thorough research on him. We spent a lot of time with him, more than we spent with any of the other players for obvious reasons. We are real comfortable with where he is at and what he can contribute to us.
Re: Are you worried about all the off-the-field issues?
Kugler: No, and we had to research it. We feel comfortable with him.
Re: He is rated very highly as a pass protector. What have you seen that makes him so good at pass protecting?
Kugler: He has great size and long arms. He can bend for a guy his size. He has a lot of length to him and that is important at the tackle position. He’s a physical player and a size combination that is hard to beat at the tackle position.
Re: Does he need work at run blocking?
Kugler: He’s going to have to work on his entire game. I wouldn’t say that he’s a finished product. Mike is a willing worker and I’m excited to get working with him.
Re: Is he going to play left or right tackle?
Kugler: We’ll get him in the right spot. He does have the ability to play both, but that will remain to be seen.
Re: How do you see the offensive line shaking out?
Kugler: We’re going to see how things go. We want to get the guys in the best spots. Realistically I don’t want moving parts. It has been more of a necessity for us to have moving parts. We love to have guys at five stable positions and keep them there. We’ll get the right five and see where we go from there.
Re: He’s had trouble with speed off the edge, but seems to have good feet. Will pro coaching help that?
Kugler: A guy his size, speed probably will be his nemesis. We’ll continue to work on that. There will be some technique things. He presents other problems to players. With each guy you give and take a little bit.
Re: Is he a guy that you can bring along slower?
Kugler: That could be a good assessment, each guy is different. Some guys can just step in and play ball, some guys can’t. that remains to be seen. I hate to put a label on one guy, we’ll see when we get to OTA’s and those things.
Re: Does this change your plans to move Marcus Gilbert to left tackle?
Kugler: I’m going to have a few beers tonight and think about it. I think that it is two quality players that we are adding. These two guys are going to help us get better as an offensive line. I promise that we will get the right guys in the right positions.
Re: your take on the offensive line picks over the last couple of years:
Kugler: Obviously you want the best players that you can get. Adding those guys will give us a talented line. You play with whoever you have. It doesn’t matter to me what round I guy is picked, I want guys that are talented and can compete throughout the game. These are two guys that really like playing football.
Re: Are these two guys not going to be able to come in right away because of school?
Kugler: David is going to graduate. The way his classes are structured he doesn’t finish until after OTA’s. I have to check on Mike’s graduation status. If we have to spend extra time with them when they get here we’ll do that.
Re: Will there be a difference in the running game approach with Todd Haley as Offensive Coordinator?
Kugler: I think Todd likes the gap schemes. I think we’d like to be more balanced. I think it’s unique with David DeCastro, having a right guard that has the ability to pull left. There are not many of those guys, most of those guys are left guards that pull to the right, and teams are more right-handed. That will give us a chance to be more balanced, so I’m excited about that.
Re: Will he pull to the right a lot?
Kugler: He’ll pull. He can pull. If he can pull, we’re going to pull him.
