One of our big offseason projects last season was ranking every one of Kevin Colbert’s draft picks, 2000 to 2021. With Colbert officially retired and a new draft class ushered in under new GM Omar Khan, there won’t be any more new names added, except for the 2022 class that received no ranking on last summer’s list.
But now that the 2022 class has played out their rookie season along with other Colbert’s recent draft picks a little further along, we’ll update his rankings once each year, the worst pick to the best.
This won’t be detailed or drawn out like last year’s, it’ll all be in one post, and I won’t spend time I did in 2022 discussing why CB Senquez Golson is last or why SS Troy Polamalu is first. You can click the search link here to look back at all the lists we made that explains each player’s spot.
I’ll just say the rankings are based off a combination of production (only as a Steeler, not elsewhere) cross-weighted with draft selection (early round misses are worse than later round ones), and a little bit of positional value and process mixed in.
I’ll list the picks #1-183 below with explanations about some of the new faces and rankings below.
KEVIN COLBERT’S DRAFT RANKINGS (2023 Update)
#183. Senquez Golson – Rd. 2
#182. Alonzo Jackson – Rd. 2
#181. Fred Gibson – Rd. 4
#180. Danny Farmer – Rd. 4
#179. Kraig Urbik – Rd. 3
#178. Bruce Davis – Rd. 3
#177. Artie Burns – Rd. 1
#176. Orien Harris – Rd. 4
#175. Alameda Ta’amu – Rd. 4 (Trade Up)
#174. Dri Archer – Rd. 3
#173. Limas Sweed – Rd. 2
#172. Thaddeus Gibson – Rd. 4
#171. Nathaniel Adibi – Rd. 5
#170. Willie Reid – Rd. 3
#169. Ricardo Colclough – Rd. 2
#168. Doran Grant – Rd. 4
#167. Tony Hills – Rd. 4
#166. Ryan McBean – Rd. 4
#165. Mathias Nkwenti – Rd. 4
#164. Buddy Johnson – Rd. 4
#163. Jarvis Jones – Rd. 1
#162. Kendrick Green – Rd. 3
#161. Terry Hawthorne – Rd. 5
#160. Cameron Stephenson – Rd. 4
#159. Shaq Richardson – Rd. 5
#158. Charles Davis – Rd. 5
#157. Omar Jacobs – Rd. 5
#156. Wesley Johnson – Rd. 5
#155. Mike Adams – Rd. 2
#154. Joe Burnett – Rd. 4
#153. Calvin Austin III – Rd. 4
#152. Sammie Coates – Rd. 3
#151. Devin Bush – Rd. 1 (Trade Up)
#150. Colin Holba – Rd. 6
#149. Sutton Smith – Rd. 6
#148. Bo Lacy – Rd. 6
#147. Roger Knight – Rd. 6
#146. Mike Humpal – Rd. 6
#145. Jordan Zumwalt – Rd. 6
#144. Keith Williams – Rd. 6
#143. Drew Caylor – Rd. 6
#142. Marvin Philip – Rd. 6
#141. Jason Gavadza – Rd. 6
#140. Ra’Shon Harris – Rd. 6
#139. Quincy Roche – Rd. 6
#138. Travis Feeney – Rd. 6
#137. Chris Scott – Rd. 5
#136. Brian St. Pierre – Rd. 5
#135. Shamarko Thomas – Rd. 4 (Trade Up)
#134. Chris Rainey – Rd. 5
#133. Anthony Smith – Rd. 3
#132. Frank Summers – Rd. 5
#131. Jerald Hawkins – Rd. 4
#130. Gerod Holliman – Rd. 7
#129. Chris Oladokun – Rd. 7
#128. Eric Taylor – Rd. 7
#127. Lavar Glover – Rd. 7
#126. Chris Taylor – Rd. 7
#125. Nick Williams – Rd. 7
#124. AQ Shipley – Rd. 7
#123. Shaun Nua – Rd. 7
#122. Rob Blanchflower – Rd. 7
#121. Toney Clemons – Rd. 7
#120. Cedric Humes – Rd. 7
#119. Doug Worthington – Rd. 7
#118. JT Wall – Rd. 7
#117. Josh Frazier – Rd. 7
#116. Terence Frederick – Rd. 7
#115. Keion Adams – Rd. 7
#114. Derwin Gray – Rd. 7
#113. Crezdon Butler – Rd. 5
#112. Noah Herron – Rd. 7
#111. Tee Martin – Rd. 5
#110. Brian Allen – Rd. 5
#109. Chris Combs – Rd. 6
#108. Dallas Baker – Rd. 7
#107. Anthony McFarland – Rd. 4
#106. Antoine Brooks Jr. – Rd. 5
#105. Matt Kranchick – Rd. 6
#104. Curtis Brown – Rd. 3
#103. Chris Carter – Rd. 5
#102. Rian Wallace – Rd. 5
#101. Justin Brown – Rd. 5
#100. Kendrick Clancy – Rd. 3
#99. Demarcus Ayers – Rd. 7
#98. Baron Batch – Rd. 7
#97. Carlos Davis – Rd. 7
#96. Isaiah Buggs – Rd .6
#95. Josh Dobbs – Rd. 4
#94. David Paulson – Rd. 7
#93. Sean Spence – Rd. 3
#92. LT Walton – Rd. 6
#91. Mark Robinson – Rd. 7
#90. Dennis Dixon – Rd. 5
#89. Hank Poteat – Rd. 3
#88. Daniel McCullers – Rd. 6
#87. Justin Layne – Rd. 3
#86. Isaiahh Loudermilk – Rd. 5 (Trade Up)
#85. Ulysees Gilbert III – Rd. 6
#84. DeMarvin Leal – Rd. 3
#83. Chukky Okobi – Rd. 5
#82. Stevenson Sylvester – Rd. 5
#81. Lee Mays – Rd. 6
#80. Marcus Allen – Rd. 5
#79. Mason Rudolph – Rd. 3 (Trade Up)
#78. Connor Heyward – Rd. 6
#77. Pressley Harvin III – Rd. 7
#76. Ryan Mundy – Rd. 6
#75. Zach Gentry – Rd. 5
#74. Tre Norwood – Rd. 7
#73. Rodney Bailey – Rd. 6
#72. James Washington – Rd. 2
#71. Ziggy Hood – Rd. 1
#70. Kevin Dotson – Rd. 3
#69. Jonathan Dwyer – Rd. 6
#68. Jaylen Samuels – Rd. 5
#67. Benny Snell – Rd. 4
#66. Landry Jones – Rd. 4
#65. Verron Haynes – Rd. 5
#64. Daniel Sepulevda – Rd. 4 (Trade Up)
#63. David Johnson – Rd. 7
#62. Trai Essex – Rd. 3
#61. Dan Moore – Rd. 4
#60. Anthony Chickillo – Rd. 6
#59. Chase Claypool – Rd. 2
#58. Markus Wheaton – Rd. 3
#57. Cortez Allen – Rd. 4
#56. Sean Davis – Rd. 2
#55. Keenan Lewis – Rd. 3
#54. Jesse James – Rd. 5
#53. Jason Worilds – Rd. 2
#52. Tyler Matakevich – Rd. 7
#51 Kenny Pickett – Rd. 1
#50. Emmanuel Sanders – Rd. 3
#49. Rashard Mendenhall – Rd. 1
#48. Chris Kemoeatu – Rd. 6
#47. Matt Spaeth – Rd. 3
#46. George Pickens – Rd. 2
#45. Terrell Edmunds – Rd. 1
#44. Chukwuma Okorafor – Rd. 3
#43. Kendrell Bell – Rd. 2
#42. Martavis Bryant – Rd. 4
#41. Willie Colon – Rd. 4
#40. James Conner – Rd. 3
#39. Najee Harris – Rd. 1
#38. Chris Hope – Rd. 3
#37. Bryant McFadden – Rd. 2
#36. Kelvin Beachum – Rd. 7
#35. Diontae Johnson – Rd. 3
#34. Kendall Simmons – Rd. 1
#33. Pat Freiermuth – Rd. 2
#32. Bud Dupree – Rd. 1
#31. Cameron Sutton – Rd. 3
#30. Plaxico Burress – Rd. 1
#29. Alex Highsmith – Rd. 3
#28. JuJu Smith-Schuster – Rd. 2
#27. Marcus Gilbert – Rd. 2
#26. Clark Haggans – Rd. 5
#25. Vince Williams – Rd. 6
#24. William Gay – Rd. 5
#23. Ryan Shazier – Rd. 1
#22. Javon Hargrave – Rd. 3
#21. Mike Wallace – Rd. 3
#20. Antwaan Randle El – Rd. 2
#19. Max Starks – Rd. 3
#18. Larry Foote – Rd. 4
#17. Stephon Tuitt – Rd. 2
#16. Marvel Smith – Rd. 2
#15. Brett Keisel – Rd. 7
#14. LaMarr Woodley – Rd. 2
#13. Santonio Holmes – Rd. 1 (Trade Up)
#12. Le’Veon Bell – Rd. 2
#11. Lawrence Timmons – Rd. 1
#10. Ike Taylor – Rd. 4
#9. David DeCastro – Rd. 1
#8. Casey Hampton – Rd. 1 (Trade Down)
#7. Heath Miller – Rd. 1
#6. Maurkice Pouncey – Rd. 1
#5. Cam Heyward – Rd. 1
#4. Antonio Brown – Rd. 6
#3. T.J. Watt – Rd. 1
#2. Ben Roethlisberger – Rd. 1
#1. Troy Polamalu – Rd. 1 (Trade Up)
Analysis
Here is where the 2022 class appears, the first time they’ve been included on this list. Obviously, with just one year under their belts, there’s potential for plenty of fluctuation up and down. Listed in the order they were drafted:
#51 – Kenny Pickett
#46 – George Pickens
#84 – DeMarvin Leal
#153 – Calvin Austin
#78 – Connor Heyward
#91 – Mark Robinson
#129 – Chris Oladokun
Pickens comes in just ahead of Pickett. Both have had promising starts but Pickens feels more likely to become a high-end receiver than Pickett does at quarterback. Austin is very low on this list simply because he didn’t play in a game last season but a solid sophomore year will jet him out of the top 100.
Heyward has shown promise while Robinson flashed his rookie year. I’ve been critical of the Oladokun pick for the terrible process but he was still just a 7th round pick and doesn’t hurt like the others. Still, his time in Pittsburgh is already over.
Besides the rookie class, who moved up the most in 2022?
Biggest Risers
LB Alex Highsmith – #44 to #29 (15 spots upward)
TE Pat Freiermuth – #42 to #33 (9 spots upward)
OT Chukwuma Okorafor – #52 to #44 (8 spots upward)
CB Cam Sutton – #37 to #31 (6 spots upward)
OT Dan Moore – #66 to #61 (5 spots upward)
While there were no major risers in 2022 (it’s typically harder to move up than down), Alex Highsmith made the biggest jump forward after his breakout season. He now cracks the top 30. Pat Freiermuth is turning into an excellent tight end, already top ten in the league, and moved up nine spots.
Though I’ve never been a huge fan of his game, Chukwuma Okorafor has played a ton of football and assuming he starts in 2023, will be a starter for effectively four straight seasons (he didn’t start in 2020 but replaced Zach Banner for Week 2). That tenure gets him into the top 50.
Cam Sutton’s movement upwards basically stops now that he’s in Detroit but was one of Kevin Colbert’s better third round picks. Dan Moore also bumps up a handful of spots with two years at left tackle. Losing out to Broderick Jones will stunt his ability to move up any more.
Biggest Fallers
OL Kendrick Green – #78 to #162 (84 spots down)
LB Buddy Johnson – #88 to #164 (76 spots down)
LB Devin Bush – #128 to #151 (23 spots down)
WR James Washington – #58 to #72 (14 spots down)
WR Chase Claypool – #46 to #59 (13 spots down)
Kendrick Green is the biggest faller, going from starter in 2021 to backup in 2022 who didn’t log a snap. His time with the Steelers is nearly done and over with and he comes in at #162 out of #183. But don’t forget about LB Buddy Johnson, one of Colbert’s biggest fourth round whiffs, who didn’t even make the roster in Year Two. Big slip for him.
Devin Bush’s chapter in Pittsburgh is closed. Any hope that was left is gone and he slides down into the 150’s. He’s in front of other busts like Artie Burns and Jarvis Jones because he played more and his highs were a little more frequent and impressive. He played pretty well before tearing his ACL in 2020.
James Washington and Chase Claypool slide down 14 and 13 spots respectively. Nothing new happened with Washington. I just realized I ranked him too high. He really only had one decent year. Claypool was a bright spot as a rookie, it’s why he’s Top 60, but everything after that was a mess. At least Khan traded him for a high pick.
With no new names ever to be added to the list again, we’ll see what this group of 183 selections will look like next year. Can Cam Heyward surpass Antonio Brown at #4? How much higher does Alex Highsmith climb if he has another 10+ sack season? Will T.J. Watt ever take the top spot? See you guys in a year.
