Steelers 2012 Rookie Camp – Friday Recap

Friday was the first day of rookie mini camp for the Pittsburgh Steelers and here is a quick and dirty recap of items gathered from around Twitter and the internet.

The best thing that could happen today is that there appears to not have been any injuries, at least none serious. It will not be uncommon to hear about a few bumps, bruises or hamstrings, but at least no knees seem to have been torn up. That alone makes the first day of rookie camp an enormous success in my book.

As you all should know by now, first round pick David DeCastro is wearing No. 66. There are some great pictures of him from Friday up on Steelers.com, and if they don\’t get your black and gold blood pumping, I don\’t know what else will. DeCastro stated that the playbook from offensive line coach Sean Kugler is all old school and is all hand-written as Kugler does not deal with the electronic stuff.

Desmond Stapleton did not pass his physical and is no longer on the roster. He of course is the younger brother of Steelers offensive lineman Darnell Stapleton. Mark Kaboly stated that the rookie camp roster is at 40 and that includes draft picks, undrafted free agents, futures free agents and practice squad players from last year that did not have accrued seasons. There were also four players in for try-outs and those players are Oregon quarterback Darron Thomas, SMU safety Chris Banjo, St. John Fisher offensive lineman Corey Balcerzak and LSU long snapper Alex Russian. Judging by the Kaboly information, I have compiled a roster below of the players that I assume are taking part in the camp.

The players wore shorts and helmets today and reports indicate that DeCastro lined up with the first team at right guard, while second round draft pick Mike Adams was the first team left tackle. DeCastro and Adams are reportedly roommates this weekend and that is good to hear. Fifth round pick Chris Rainey told the media he is a fast learner and that he is not having any problems picking up the offense that is being thrown at him so far.

Despite being listed as a cornerback, Myron Rolle is still a strong safety according to Ed Bouchette. Wes Lyons, who played wide receiver last year in training camp for the Steelers, is indeed being used as a tight end this year. It appears that John Malecki, who is a practice squad carry over, was the first team center by the looks of things.

Bouchette said that third round draft pick Sean Spence was the player that impressed him the most on Friday. Keep in mind that players are in shorts.

We will try to get Kaboly on the podcast next week to give us a run down of what he saw this weekend. I will update any more info that comes out from the Saturday practice tomorrow evening.

Steelers 2012 Rookie Camp Roster