PITTSBURGH -- Three years ago, the Steelers brought Mike Logan back to his hometown because they liked the safety's size, speed and effervescent personality.

Logan kept his sunny disposition through two seasons as a backup and then throughout this past winter as he rehabilitated a knee injury. The smile's still there as he watches spring coaching sessions from the Steelers' sideline, but a hint of desperation has slipped into Logan's voice.

"This is killing me," he said. "This is supposed to be my time."

Logan's time may never come in Pittsburgh. Marking a first in franchise history, the Steelers traded up in the first round of the draft and selected strong safety Troy Polamalu to eventually replace departed free agent Lee Flowers.

	In three starting seasons, Polamalu emassed 278 tackles and six interceptions.

Polamalu's running with the first team now because of Logan's injury, and frankly, Polamalu may not come out for a long, long time.

"He plays safety like Junior Seau plays linebacker," Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said. Steelers head coach Bill Cowher added to the projection.

"He's one of the guys in this draft that had that unique ability to hit like a linebacker and cover like a corner," Cowher said.

If there's a sketch of what Polamalu would look like out on the island, it might resemble Carnell Lake, the former UCLA linebacker who spent 10 years with the Steelers and played cornerback throughout much of his final four seasons with the team.

Hit like a linebacker; moved like a corner. It's exactly what the Steelers lacked at the playmaking position of strong safety last year. Is that the reason for the buzz surrounding Polamalu in Pittsburgh these days?

"Well," started Steelers defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, "he's had a good college career. He did a good job at USC, played a lot of pro techniques, played for a guy who was a former pro coach and (Pete Carroll) gave him a lot of accolades, and then when you see him on videotape you can see why. He's explosive, he's quick, he's powerful -- reminiscent of a lot of good safeties around the league who've played for a long time and have had a lot of success.

"When you physically test him, he tests out very well. He's strong, he's fast, he can bench-press a lot, he can catch the ball; all those skills show up on videotape. The reason for the buzz is, he's got a lot of potential."

The reason for the buzzkill, however, is that rookies rarely start in Cowher's defense. For every Kendrell Bell stepping in on Opening Day, there's a Joey Porter, Jason Gildon, Aaron Smith, Lee Flowers -- guys who paid a year or two or three worth of dues. But, Lewis warns, "tell that to Darren Perry."

Perry was an eighth-round draft pick in 1992 and was the Opening Day starter at free safety. Perry started 12 more games that year -- Cowher's first -- than did fellow rookies Levon Kirkland and Joel Steed combined.

"Given the right circumstances, it can happen," said Perry, who's now coaching the Steelers' safeties.

Perry had the right circumstances. He came in with a new coach, and therefore a new defensive system, and took advantage of holdouts by Lake and free safety Thomas Everett. Perry showed enough to force a trade of Everett, and when backup Gary Jones was injured, the job was his.

"The thing Troy has going for him," Perry said, "is that we have a guy in (free safety) Brent Alexander who knows the defense pretty doggone well. Usually if you've got one back there that knows it pretty well, he can kind of help the other one along until he gets to the point where he's really comfortable with it.

"At the same time, Troy still has a lot to learn. He can't rely on Brent to get him lined up, so he's got a lot of learning to do on his own. It'll take some time. He's got to be patient. But the more he can learn, the more we can do. That's just how it goes."

	“	I'm improving day by day. I've been working on my technique with the coaches. They're finding bits and pieces, trying to make me better, and things are working out so far.”
		—S Troy Polamalu

Coaches talk about Polamalu's keen study habits and perhaps even a suffocating attention to detail.

"We'll try to point something out on film but he's got his head down, writing it down on paper," Perry said. "A lot of times, you need to see it and see how it's done, and then you get the theory part of it because you can't play the game on paper. You've got to see it and experience it. That's what a lot of football at this level is, and that's what makes it so tough to push the older guys out because they know so much.

"In this league, so much of it is mental. The physical ability will get you here but the mental aspect of it will keep you here."

Polamalu isn't lacking physically. Although he may be an inch or so short (5-foot-10 1/8, 206) for the prototypical strong safety, his 4.35 40 time, 43.5-inch vertical jump and 25 reps on the bench more than compensated in the predraft testing arena.

At USC, Polamalu was a three-year starter, a two-time All-American and a two-year special-teams captain. His key statistics are 281 career tackles, six interceptions, four blocked kicks and three concussions, which signaled a meeting with the Steelers' doctor of neurology, who cleared Polamalu to play.

"I don't think that's an issue at all," said Polamalu, who believes another statistic, the puny interception total, is more deserving of attention. Polamalu admits to lacking experience as a cover safety and that it's become his focal point this spring.

"I'm improving day by day," he said. "I've been working on my technique with the coaches. They're finding bits and pieces, trying to make me better, and things are working out so far."

And the mental aspect of the pro game?

"We had a complex defense under Coach Carroll," Polamalu said. "The difference is that I'm going from a 4-3 front to a 3-4 front. The 3-4's a lot more flexible, so you really don't know where you're supposed to fit in as the eighth man in the front."

And so it goes that the final word on the very beginnings of Troy Polamalu's pro career belongs to Lewis:

"He's very bright, studious, wants to do well. Athletically? Nothing to disappoint. Nothing that would make me think that what he did on his college tape was a fluke. He's very talented and you can see it. It shows through.

Every day you see him do something that makes you go, 'Wow.' But you know as well as I do, a safety makes his mark when he puts the pads on. Fact of the matter is, though, he looks pretty good in shorts."

Jim Wexell covers the Steelers for SteelCitySports.com.

Material from Pro Football Weekly.
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