Steelers looking at QBs

They like North Carolina State's Philip Rivers if he's available.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Steelers may not duplicate 1974 in 2004. What they wouldn't mind is repeating 1970, and certainly not making the mistake of 1980.
For the first time since their 1980 pick of Mark Malone, who started only a couple of years and now is a Chicago TV sports anchor, the Steelers may choose a quarterback on the first round of the NFL draft Saturday.
Weeks ago, they appeared to have targeted North Carolina State's Philip Rivers for their No. 11 pick.
Roethlisberger possible
But it now seems possible -- though trades and the usual draft day subterfuge could change this -- that Miami University's Ben Roethlisberger might be there when they choose.
The Steelers' thinking seems to be that they can't pass up what could be a franchise quarterback, even though they badly need a right tackle and a cornerback.
"We are sitting at No. 11, so I think we are not going to bypass a good football player, regardless of the position," coach Bill Cowher said.
After all, it worked in 1970, when they took Terry Bradshaw -- the only other time in the last 47 years they drafted a quarterback on the first round.
In fact, two of the last three quarterbacks the Steelers took on the first round are in the Hall of Fame. But Len Dawson (1957) didn't become a star until the Steelers let him go and he latched on with Kansas City.
30th anniversary
This is also the 30th anniversary of the Steelers' 1974 draft class, one that ultimately produced four Super Bowl trophies and four Hall of Famers.
No team has had a draft before or since to rival it. Since 1974, no NFL franchise has drafted more than one Hall of Famer in a single year, much less four as the Steelers did by choosing Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster.
Technology is part of the reason. No longer must NFL coaches tediously thread borrowed, out-of-focus game films into clunky projectors to watch a player perform. Today, they need only flip on a video deck or computer.
The Internet has also greatly increased the amount of information available on any player, even those who played before sparse crowds at small schools. Any fan can download for free far more player information than was available to most teams barely a quarter-century ago.
Still, Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert doesn't readily reject the idea that someday, with the right combination of luck, preparation and planning, a team might enjoy a draft as good as 1974.
"What they did in 1974 was phenomenal," Colbert said. "It's a tribute to [former scouting chief] Art Rooney Jr. and his staff and coach [Chuck] Noll; that class was the best. It's the standard. But to say that will never be equaled is selling yourself short."
Draft now in April
The difference now is the draft is held in April, not in January as it was in 1974, which allows every team to assemble a detailed file on every available player.
"The problem is, as I see it, there's so much time between the end of the season and the draft, there are so many common workouts now," Colbert said. "A lot of time we're at the same workouts. You may have 32 teams represented and you're getting the same information, so it comes off too clean in the early rounds."
That's one reason that, to this day, the Steelers don't share workout information with other teams, though it has become a common practice around the NFL.
"There are 24 teams that share workout information and we're not one of them," Colbert said. "We try to keep as much information to ourselves as possible."
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