For many years, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been considered one of the elite teams in the National Football League when it comes to building their roster through the NFL Draft. Starting with the amazing draft classes of 1969 and 1970 that essentially built one of the best teams in football history, and carrying through the start and development of the free agent system, very few franchises can claim the level of success that Pittsburgh has experienced in the draft. However, the past decade has not been so kind to the black and gold in terms of developing talent beyond the first round – to the point that it is now debatable whether the Steelers can be considered among the elite at identifying and developing young talent.
For the purpose of this article, I’ll only be going back to the 2001 NFL Draft. That was the year the Steelers used their first round pick (19th overall) to draft a huge nose tackle out of the University of Texas by the name of Casey Hampton. Hampton would go on to carve a (probable) Hall of Fame career with the team, a career that will more than likely end in some other NFL outpost sometime between 2013-2015. Since that draft, the Steelers have hit the jackpot on four 1st round selections – S Troy Polamalu (2003), QB Ben Roethlisberger (2004), TE Heath Miller (2005), and C Maurkice Pouncey (2010). The rest of their 1st round picks have been marginal at best, with the cream of the crop being LB Lawrence Timmons (2007) and WR Santonio Holmes (2006). Of course, first round picks are hardly a strong enough indicator of successful drafting. The true value is always found in the middle to late rounds, where players who may have been overlooked due to size, speed, or perceived attitude issues can become future stars for teams that are bright enough to overlook the Mel Kiper Jr. hype machine.
It is in those rounds that the Pittsburgh Steelers have begun to spin their wheels a tad. Going back to 2001 for a minute, the Steelers drafted Hampton in the first round, and then choose LB Kendrell Bell in the second round. The Bell pick looked to be a historic value selection after the young linebacker made the Pro Bowl following a dynamic rookie campaign. Of course, we all know the story from there. Kendrell Bell went on to become a very average player for the Steelers in 2002 and 2003, before injuries limited him to just three games in his free agent sign-off season of 2004. He went on to sign a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2004 season, and played out the last three years of his career in relative obscurity. The rest of that 2001 draft class for Pittsburgh?
- 4th round Mathias Nkwenti, T Temple
- 5th round Chukky Okobi, C Purdue
- 6th round Rodney Bailey, DE Ohio State
- 6th round Roger Knight, OLB Wisconsin
- 7th round Chris Taylor, WR Texas A&M
Those five players combined to do nothing of note for the Steelers, and it can be argued that the most successful pick of those later 2001 rounds would end up being Chukky Okobi, whose greatest Pittsburgh achievement would be recording the Pittsburgh Pirates fight song “Buc Town”. Yup, seriously. Rodney Bailey played in parts of four seasons for the Steelers, recording 9.5 sacks for the team. Roger Knight never played a down for the Steelers, and Chris Taylor never played a down in the NFL period. Beyond Casey Hampton, the 2001 draft class was a bust for the Steelers. This would begin a series of eleven straight drafts that could be considered average or below average by NFL standards.
The 2002 class may be the best overall group of the years in question. The Steelers went offensive line in round one, snagging OG Kendall Simmons with the 30th pick. Simmons would go on to start 80 total games for the Steelers, and his career was at least productive until injuries ended his run with the team in 2008. Simmons would be a key piece of the 2005 Steelers Super Bowl XL team. Rounding out a solid group of draftees were WR Antwaan Randle-El, S Chris Hope, ILB Larry Foote, RB Verron Haynes, and possibly the best seventh round pick in team history, DE Brett Keisel. Unfortunately, this would be the last truly solid draft class of the Bill Cowher era. All of those players named were key contributors to at least one – and in some cases two – Super Bowl championships. Keisel and Foote are still with the team (Foote spending one vacation year in Detroit before jumping on the first thing smoking back to Pittsburgh), and Keisel may end up as one of the all-time great Steelers defensive linemen.
In 2003, the Steelers would end up drafting only five total players, with future Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu coming to Pittsburgh with the 16th overall selection. The Steelers stole CB Ike Taylor deep in the fourth round, and he and Polamalu would go on to play in 183 combined games for the team, including two Super Bowls. Unfortunately, the other three players picked that year were LB Alonzo Jackson – an Andre the Giant-sized bust, QB Brian St. Pierre, and RB J.T. Wall – another player to never play an NFL down. It can be argued that the selections of Polamalu and Taylor were keys to both Super Bowl runs and therefore offset the three poor picks.
Of course, we all know what happened in 2004. The Steelers would finally draft a quarterback that would become a franchise player, Ben Roethlisberger. The team walked away with eight total players from that draft, with Roethlisberger and T Max Starks being the only two to achieve any measure of success. The selection of Roethlisberger was due to the Steelers having their highest pick in years following a 6-10 record in 2003. Sandwiched around the third round pick of Starks were such all-time greats as CB Ricardo Colclough, who was picked ahead of players such as S Bob Sanders, DB Shawntae Spencer, and future Steelers S Will Allen. The last five players drafted in 2004 – DE Nathaniel Adibi, T Bo Lacy, TE Matt Kranchick, C Drew Caylor, and DT Eric Taylor – combined to play a total of nine NFL games between them. Not quite a productive day at the office for the Steelers player evaluation team.
You should be able to see the pattern developing by now. The Steelers hit the jackpot on their first round pick, get lucky on one mid-round pick, and tank the rest. This pattern would continue for the next several years. In 2005, TE Heath Miller was taken with the 30th pick, filling a position that had been a weakness for years. Second round pick DB Bryant McFadden looked to be a solid pick until leaving for Arizona as a free agent after the 2008 season. He would return in 2010, but was never the same player again. T Trai Essex shuffled back and forth from the practice squad until finally becoming a starter in 2009, and would be a serviceable backup throughout his Steelers career. OG Chris Kemoeatu became a starter on the offensive line in 2008 and would start most of the next four seasons, even earning a massive contract extension that may go down as one of the worst in team history. WR Fred Gibson, LB Rian Wallace, DE Shaun Nua, and RB Noah Herron all flopped for the Steelers.
The final Cowher draft class in 2006 was highlighted by the first round pick of WR Santonio Holmes, who made quite possibly the greatest catch in franchise history to win Super Bowl XLIII before going insane and being shuffled out of town as quickly as possible. While Holmes Steelers career can’t be considered a total failure, he never lived up to his first round status until 2009, when he caught 79 passes for 1248 yards and five touchdowns. The Steelers cut bait on Holmes after multiple arrests in 2009. The 2006 draft may be one of the most dismal in team history, with only OL Willie Colon making any significant contribution to the team. Forgotten name such as S Anthony Smith, WR Willie Reid, DT Orien Harris, QB Omar Jacobs, and RB Cedric Humes round out the 2006 class. The final five picks never suiting up for one meaningful game in the black and gold, including four players who never saw any NFL action.
The arrival of new head coach Mike Tomlin in 2007 coincided with the draft picks of LBs Lawrence Timmons and LaMarr Woodley in rounds one and two. Both have carved out nice NFL careers, and both maintain major roles on the team to this day. Third round pick TE Matt Spaeth played sparingly in four seasons before leaving as a free agent. The Steelers drafted a PUNTER in round four, Daniel Sepulveda out of Baylor. Fifth round pick DB William Gay would go on to start 37 games for the Steelers until leaving for Arizona as a free agent prior to 2012. The remaining draftees in this class don’t even warrant mention in this article. This was another draft in which the Steelers whiffed on over half of their picks. The downward trend continues, and in doing so it begins to compromise the Steelers depth chart.
RB Rashard Mendenhall was the gem of the 2008 Draft, falling to the Steelers at 23rd overall. After posting back-to-back 1100+ yard rushing seasons in 2009-2010, a torn ACL prevented him from finishing a strong 2011 season. His future with the team is in serious doubt after injuries, a series of bad social media decisions, and finally a no-show for a game in which he was inactive this past season. Mendenhall looked to be living up to his hype prior to 2012, and where he goes from here will ultimately decide his fate as either a draft bust or quality pick. The chances of him returning to the Steelers for another season are less than 50/50 at this point. The remainder of that 2008 class? WR Limas Sweed, LB Bruce Davis, T Tony Hills, QB Dennis Dixon, LB Mike Humpal, and S/DB Ryan Mundy. Mundy has been a serviceable back-up, but will probably be allowed to walk as a free agent this off season. Once again the Steelers used a draft pick on a player who never played an NFL down (Humpal), as well as using two high picks on players who completely failed in the league (Sweed and Davis).
The Steelers started another bad trend in 2009, drafting players who were then cut before being able to establish a foothold with the team, only to find homes in other NFL cities. The team had the final pick in the first round after winning Super Bowl XLIII, using the pick on DE Ziggy Hood. The jury is still out on Hood, but he looks to be coming into his own. Third round pick WR Mike Wallace has been a superstar, but a contract dispute followed by a very disappointing 2012 have left his future in jeopardy. DB Keenan Lewis may be gone as a free agent before we ever truly get a chance to evaluate his worth. The players who were cut before the start of the season were OG Kraig Urbik, who has found a home at OT for Buffalo starting 26 games the past two seasons, and C A.Q. Shipley, a local product who has found a home as a backup for the young Indianapolis Colts. Neither player was given a legitimate chance to contribute, with Shipley bounced to the practice squad before being released. DB Joe Burnett, RB Frank Summers, and DT RaShon Harris all failed to latch on.
From this point we need to take a wait and see approach. The past three draft classes have been tough to identify as success or failure. With some players, such as 2010 picks DB Crezdon Butler, DE Thaddeus Gibson, DT Doug Worthington, and OG Chris Scott, we can safely label them failures. The 2010 picks of C Maurkice Pouncey –a first round stud who should be a Pro Bowler for many years, and WR Antonio Brown (a 6th round pick) are easily quality picks. OLB Jason Worilds will get his first true chance to start in 2013, WR Emmanuel Sanders has the potential to be a solid player, and RB Jonathan Dwyer seems to have found a home in the Steelers backfield.
The 2011 and 2012 Drafts are filled with players who we have yet to see truly get their shot. DE Cameron Heyward, the 2011 first rounder, has the look of a starter and should be in line to replace Brett Keisel by 2014. OG David DeCastro suffered through an injury-plagued rookie season in 2012, but should grow into an outstanding NFL lineman. Some others – DB Cortez Allen, DB Curtis Brown, and T Mike Adams, – look to be major pieces of the next Steelers roster puzzle. However, it isn’t all diamonds here. DL Chris Carter and RB Baron Batch (2011 picks) have yet to be able to get on the field, and NT Alameda Ta’amu broke a lot of hearts in Steeler Nation with his drunk driving issue last summer. 2012 picks WR Toney Clemons and DB Terrence Frederick seem like wasted draft slots at this point. Overall, the question marks outweigh the known commodities.
The Steelers lack of being able to field a solid seven round draft has put them in a precarious position depth-wise, and with this veteran-laden team beginning to turn over, a few more solid picks in the 2008-2012 classes would have made the transition much easier. We are left with the question – are the Pittsburgh Steelers still a team that can build through the draft? Are they still able to be considered an elite team on draft day? Organizations such as the Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots – teams that the Steelers will continuously battle for AFC supremacy, seem to have passed the Steelers on the draft success rate. This has put those teams in position to move older players out and fresh, young players in when the need arises.
In order to emerge from this transition period, the Steelers will need to field a very solid draft class this April. Picking higher than usual after an 8-8 season, the team will have an opportunity to consider players with pedigrees not found in the later part of the draft board. If the Steelers fail to make good on this chance, it could put them in a very rough roster situation moving forward. Compounding that issue will be the Steelers salary cap number, currently $10.8 million over the limit, prohibiting them from entertaining the idea of free-agent acquisitions and possibly forcing the release of several veterans for the second year in a row. It is up to GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin to reverse the trend of wasting draft picks, and turn the corner on the next great Steelers team.
Come this time next year, it will be clear if the Steelers are still the cream of the crop on draft day, or if they have been downgraded to run of the mill. For a team in their position, this draft means more than usual. As the Indianapolis Colts proved in 2012, one great draft can completely change the fortune of any franchise. It is up to the Steelers to prove to everyone that they still have the golden touch on Draft day
