The 2022 NFL Draft will get underway two weeks from today and with that, plenty of final mock drafts will begin surfacing soon. So, now is the perfect time to remind fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers that if you’re planning to submit a final mock draft in the coming weeks to not ignore the annual college all-star game rosters when choosing players that did not have to declare for the draft.
I usually post this sort of reminder every few years and the last time I believe I did so was ahead of the 2019 NFL Draft. So, let’s update the historical lists.
dating back to the 2012 NFL Draft, a span of 10 years, the Steelers have made a total of 81 selections. of those 81 selections, 49 of those players were invited to participate in either the Senior Bowl, the East-West Shrine Bowl, or the NFLPA Bowl. That’s 60.5 percent of all selections made.
Now, of the 32 other draft picks, by my count, 27 of them were underclassmen. That leaves just five other selections that were not underclassmen that did not participate in any of the three top college all-star games. That’s essentially just one player every other year.
While it might have been mostly related to the impact on COVID, the Steelers had seven players of their nine total selections in 2021 that were seniors and all seven were all-star game invitees. Their two underclassmen in last year’s draft class, tight end Pat Freiermuth and center Kendrick Green, were both taken in the first three rounds.
So, on average, the Steelers have made nearly five selections a year that were all-star game invitees. Because of that, I would advise at least four being in your mock drafts this year. The Steelers are scheduled to make seven total selections in 2022 and with that, it’s a good bet that two or three will be underclassmen.
To make it easy for you, we have listed all-star game players in our annual scouting combine tracker.
Steelers Senior Draft Picks From Annual College All-Star Games (2012-2021)
2021
RB Najee Harris (Senior Bowl)
T Dan Moore Jr. (Senior Bowl)
ILB Buddy Johnson (East-West Shrine)
DE Isaiahh Loudermilk (East-West Shrine)
OLB Quincy Roche (Senior Bowl)
S Tre Norwood (Senior Bowl)
P Pressley Harvin III (NFLPA Bowl)
2020
WR Chase Claypool (Senior Bowl)
OLB Alex Highsmith (East-West Shrine)
G Kevin Dotson (East-West Shrine)
S Antoine Brooks Jr. (Senior Bowl)
DT Carlos Davis (NFLPA Bowl)
2019
OLB Sutton Smith (Senior Bowl)
DE Isaiah Buggs (Senior Bowl)
ILB Ulysees Gilbert III (East-West Shrine)
2018
WR James Washington (Senior Bowl)
QB Mason Rudolph (Senior Bowl)
T Chukwuma Okorafor (Senior Bowl)
S Marcus Allen (Senior Bowl)
RB Jaylen Samuels (Senior Bowl)
2017
CB Cameron Sutton (Senior Bowl)
QB Joshua Dobbs (Senior Bowl)
CB Brian Allen (East-West Shrine)
LS Colin Holba (Senior Bowl)
OLB Keion Adams (NFLPA Bowl)
2016
S Sean Davis (Senior Bowl)
DT Javon Hargrave (Senior Bowl)
OLB Travis Feeney (East-West Shrine Game)
ILB Tyler Matakevich (Senior Bowl)
2015
CB Senquez Golson (Senior Bowl)
CB Doran Grant (Senior Bowl)
DE L.T. Walton (East-West Shrine Game)
OLB Anthony Chickillo (East-West Shrine Game)
2014
CB Shaquille Richardson (East-West Shrine Game)
C/G Wesley Johnson (Senior Bowl)
ILB Jordan Zumwalt (Senior Bowl)
DT Daniel McCullers (Senior Bowl)
TE Rob Blanchflower (Senior Bowl)
2013
WR Markus Wheaton (Senior Bowl)
S Shamarko Thomas (East-West Shrine Game)
QB Landry Jones (Senior Bowl)
CB Terry Hawthorne (East-West Shrine Game)
ILB Vince Williams (Senior Bowl)
2012
T Mike Adams (Senior Bowl)
ILB Sean Spence (Senior Bowl)
DT Alameda Ta’Amu (Senior Bowl)
RB Chris Rainey (Senior Bowl)
TE David Paulson (East-West Shrine Game)
T Kelvin Beachum (NFLPA Bowl)
