The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2020 season is now in the books, and it ended in spectacular fashion—though the wrong kind of spectacular—in a dismal postseason defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns, sending them into an early offseason mode after going 12-4 in the regular season and winning the AFC North for the first time in three years.
After setting a franchise record by opening the year on an 11-game winning streak, they followed that up by losing three games in a row, going 1-4 in the final five games, with only a 17-point comeback staving off a five-game slide. But all the issues they had in the regular season showed up in the postseason that resulted in their early exit.
The only thing facing them now as they head into 2021 is more questions, and right now, they lack answers. What will Ben Roethlisberger do, and what will they do with him? What will the salary cap look like? How many free agents are they going to lose? Who could they possibly afford to retain? Who might they part ways with—not just on the roster, but also on the coaching staff?
These are the sorts of questions among many others that we have been exploring on a daily basis and will continue to do so. Football has become a year-round pastime and there is always a question to be asked, though there is rarely a concrete answer, as I’ve learned in my years of doing this.
Question: What was your favorite Steelers pick of the 2021 NFL Draft?
The Steelers came into the 2021 NFL Draft with eight selections. They exited with nine, after trading away a future pick in the fourth round to move into the fifth this year. After making only six selections a year ago, it feels like a lot, but really isn’t too abnormal.
So which one is your favorite Steelers’ pick from 2021? You can use any rubric you want in this case. If you simply want to go by which player you think is the best in a vacuum, go for it. You want to focus on relative draft value? Have at it. If you like a guy’s haircut, or smile, or the way he smells based on how he looks (or if you’ve actually smelled him), or the cut if his jib, nobody is going to stop you here.
I think Najee Harris will be a lot of people’s favorite player — he is undoubtedly, in a vacuum, the player with the most talent that they drafted — but that doesn’t necessarily make him their best draft pick. It could, depending on who you are.
For others, maybe it’s Quincy Roche, who has shown up in some ‘draft steals’ articles. Others may like Knedrick Green in the third round, who may prove to be a sneaky good athletic center for the next decade. Or maybe big-ass punters are your thing, in which case, the Steelers have got you covered with my man Pressley Harvin III.
