The Steelers had four players visit their South Side facility Tuesday, with Anthony "Booger" McFarland easily qualifying as the most intriguing of the bunch.
McFarland, a disruptive defensive tackle when healthy, has played eight seasons in the NFL, and in 2006 he helped the Indianapolis Colts win a Super Bowl.
McFarland, who has played on a pair of Super Bowl-winning teams, missed all of last season after tearing a patella tendon in his knee during training camp.
Karl Bernard, McFarland's agent, said the Colts released the 6-0, 300-pounder at the end of February more for financial reasons than health ones.
McFarland, he added, was due to make $8 million this season.
A former first-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, McFarland has been rehabilitating his knee in the Tampa Bay area where he lives, and Bernard said he is "way ahead of schedule."
If he keeps progressing at his current rate, Bernard said, McFarland could be 100 percent for the start of training camp.
McFarland wasn't the only player to meet with the Steelers' coaches yesterday.
The team hosted a trio of draft prospects, including linebackers Shawn Crable of Michigan and Jerod Mayo of Tennessee, and Arizona State running back Ryan Torain.
Crable may be the most acclaimed of the bunch.
The 6-4, 245-pounder had 28 1/2 tackles for losses last season, and he projects as either a defensive end or an outside linebacker in the NFL.
Mayo moved from outside to inside linebacker last season for Tennessee, and he ended up leading the SEC in tackles with 140. The 6-1 1/2, 242-pounder declared for the draft after his junior season in part because he has already earned a degree in sports management.
He has said he expects to play outside linebacker in the NFL if he goes to a team that uses a 4-3 defense and that he'll play inside if he is drafted by a team that employs a 3-4.
Torain only played in six games in 2007 before sustaining a season-ending foot injury.
He rushed for 553 yards and scored seven touchdowns for the Sun Devils. As a junior (he only played two years for Arizona State because he first went to a junior college), the 6-0, 222-pound Torain rushed for 1,229 yards, averaged 5.5 yards per carry and scored 10 touchdowns.
On a day when the Steelers officially signed center Justin Hartwig to a two-year contract -- the former Carolina Panther worked out with his new team yesterday -- they indicated that they are also intent on fortifying their other line by meeting with McFarland.
He and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin were together for five seasons (2001-05) in Tampa Bay, and the Colts thought highly enough of McFarland that they gave up a second-round draft pick to acquire him from the Buccaneers during the 2006 season.
McFarland had 4 1/2 sacks and 57 tackles in 15 games (including the postseason) for the Colts.
The injury he sustained last season was a setback, his agent said, but not something that has McFarland thinking his career is nearing an end.
"I think he's got at least four or five years left in the tank," Bernard said. "He's a big-time player."
Welcome, welcome
Here is the list of draft-eligible players that have met with the Steelers at their South Side facility. Teams are allowed to have 30 such visits leading up to the draft:
Shawn Crable, LB/DE, Michigan
Keilen Dykes, DE, West Virginia
Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee
*Mike McGlynn, OL, Pitt
Dre Moore, DE, Maryland
*Jeff Otah, OT, Pitt
*Darrell Strong, TE, Pitt
Aqib Talib, CB, Kansas
Ryan Torain, RB, Arizona State
*Doesn't count as one of the 30 official visits.
