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Apr 27, 2008 10:36 pm US/Eastern
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Steelers Draft QB From Oregon In 5th Round
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) ―
Dennis Dixon isn't debating how high he would have gone in the NFL draft if he hadn't torn up a knee. Or how much money the injury cost him. Or if he would have avoided going to a team that recently signed its starting quarterback to a $100 million contract.
Dixon, one of college football's best players last season for Oregon before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, wants to be a quarterback in the NFL. If it's the Pittsburgh Steelers who give him that chance, that's OK.
The Steelers didn't need to draft a quarterback during the second day of the NFL draft on Sunday, but felt Dixon was worth a fifth-round gamble. Even if some teams felt he's too slender at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds to take the punishment of pro football, and some wanted to move him to another position.
The injury prematurely ended his season with three games remaining and, with it, any chance of the Ducks playing in a major bowl or Dixon possibly winning the Heisman Trophy.
"I wouldn't want to speculate on that," Steelers quarterbacks coach Ken Anderson said, asked where Dixon would have been drafted if he hadn't gotten hurt. "But he's a guy that we thought highly of at the quarterback position with the potential he offers."
Some of that potential: His excellent speed. His ability to throw the deep ball, his athleticism, his playmaking.
Much as the Steelers drafted Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall on the first round Saturday to complement Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker, Dixon gives them down-the-road protection should Roethlisberger or backup Charlie Batch get hurt.
"Yes, coach (Mike) Tomlin likes me as a quarterback, as one of the first 300-plus pounders, back when the offensive lineman were 270, 280."
Meanwhile, in round three, the Steelers picked up linebacker Bruce Davis from UCLA. They also drafted offensive lineman Tony Hills, who played with the Texas Longhorns, in the fourth round.
The 6-foot-6, 305-pound Hills also tore an ACL and injured a foot in high school, but started 24 games in college and made the all-Big 12 team despite breaking a leg late last season. Sweed is coming back from a wrist injury.
"Quite honestly, if some of those players had not gotten injured, we would not have had a chance at them," Colbert said.
On the sixth round, the Steelers took West Virginia safety Ryan Mundy, a Pittsburgh native, and Iowa linebacker Mike Humpal. Mundy played at Woodland Hills High, then began his college career at Michigan before transferring to West Virginia - taking the reverse route of new Wolverines coach Rich Rodriguez.
"I've definitely come full circle," Mundy said.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)