Apr 28, 2015 3 min read

The Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since reaching the Super Bowl in 2010.

Not coincidentally, that also was the last season the team ranked in the top half of the league in interceptions. Since picking off 21 passes in 2010, the Steelers finished in the bottom third of the league in interceptions each year, failing to record more than 11 in any season.

With the retirements of cornerback Ike Taylor and strong safety Troy Polamalu and the free-agent departure of Brice McCain this offseason, the Steelers have needs in their secondary in the NFL draft, which begins Thursday.

The Steelers hold eight picks in the seven-round draft, including the 22nd selection in the first round, and acquiring ball-hawking defensive backs is a must.

One such cornerback available took a strange journey to get to this point.

Miami (Ohio) cornerback Quinten Rollins was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 after breaking up 16 passes and intercepting seven. He also had 72 tackles.

But NFL teams looking for film on him from earlier in his career are going to have a hard time assessing his ability. Unless they have an eye for basketball.

A four-year starter on the Redhawks’ basketball team, Rollins was talked into playing football in his fifth year on campus. He showed the same ability to create takeaways on the football field as he did on the basketball court, where his 214 career steals rank second in school history.

“I just have a knack for the ball, a natural knack for the ball,” said Rollins. “I’ve always had that since I was a kid. (I love) getting steals, love getting interceptions. I was fortunate enough to be an offensive player in high school, so that’s where I get my ball skills from.”

Rollins was good enough that he is considered a possible second-round selection by many draft prognosticators in what is a solid cornerback class topped by Trae Waynes of Michigan State, Kevin Johnson of Wake Forest, Byron Jones of Connecticut and Marcus Peters of Washington.

Jones is a particularly interesting prospect after his workout at the NFL Draft Combine, where he set a world record with a 12-3 standing broad jump while also showing off a 44 1/2-inch vertical leap.

Like Rollins, Peters is tough to assess, but for other reasons. He was kicked off the team midway through his last season at Washington after several fights with the Huskies’ coaching staff. But in 35 career games, he picked off 11 passes and had 27 pass defenses.

“I made some immature decisions at the University of Washington, and it hurt me truly,” Peters said. “I’ve just got to learn from my mistakes and grow from it.”

Peters did reconcile with head coach Chris Peterson and his coaching staff at Washington to the point where he was permitted to work out at the team’s pro day for NFL scouts.

“We sat down and talked about everything that happened,” Peters said. “I sincerely apologized to him for what I put him and the team through throughout the year. It was a good conversation and he welcomed me to the pro day.”

While the cornerback position is deep in this year’s draft, there aren’t as many safeties who are considered sure things.

Alabama’s Landon Collins and Arizona State’s Damarious Randall are the top two prospects at strong and free safety, respectively, and either could be taken in the first round.