2012 NFL Mock Draft: The Pittsburgh Steelers Select...

With the twenty-fourth pick of the 2012 CSC Community Mock Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers (chosen by WVPiratesfan) select ...

Harrison Smith S, Notre Dame

In a pick that is sure to make many, many members of Steeler Nation mad, I went with safety Harrison Smith because he can actually play the pass. Everyone has Donta Hightower going to the Steelers at 24 but I'm not sold on his ability to cover. He can play the run like no one else in this draft but there are questions about his ability to cover and that's not a good thing in the increasingly pass-happy NFL.

So you may ask yourself: what does Harrison Smith bring to the table? Well he's a bigger, more athletic Ryan Clark, not the fastest guy in the world but just knows where to play in the defense and is unafraid to make a tackle in run support. The Steelers need to keep getting younger on defense and safety is a spot that sees both starters on the backside of their careers, Ryan Clark being 32 and Troy Polamalu being almost 31.

Having one replacement for sure in Ryan Mundy, the Steelers need another guy who can step up and become the guy. Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith has a chance to become a starter but if there's one thing Mike Tomlin loves it's position flexibility and Harrison Smith can play both safety positions, being a SS in college and being invited to the combine at FS and putting up good measurables, with a 4.59 40-yard dash, a 4.12 in the 20-yard short shuttle and a 6.63 in the three cone, best for safeties at the NFL Combine.

Seeing as how the tag of strong and free when describing the safety position is starting to go away, he can play both halves of the field. He didn't have a lot of interceptions at Notre Dame and they all came his Junior year, but he has good enough hands to pull down a couple INTs a year.

With the Steelers currently having the starting safety spots filled Smith, can sit behind them, learn the defense and be a special teams ace for a few years until he gets a shot at the starting lineup.

Thanks to all the CSC members who participated in this years community mock draft. Without your help, none of this would be possible.

Below are the complete results from our community mock draft.

Catch up with all of the mock draft selections in our 2012 CSC Community Mock Draft Section.