One more series to get us through the summer before training camp begins in almost exactly a month. Inspired by an NFL Films top ten (why did they stop making them?), we’re counting down the ten greatest draft classes in Pittsburgh Steelers’ history.
The focus will be solely on actual drafted players and only what they did in Pittsburgh, not whatever success they may have had with another team. In Part Two, we’ll check out classes #8 and #7.
#8 – 2003 Draft Class (8 Pro Bowls, 4 All-Pros, 1 Hall of Famer)
Notable Selections
SS Troy Polamalu (1st Round)
CB Ike Taylor (4th Round)
The strength and weakness of the class was in its limited number of picks. After trading up for Polamalu, the Steelers had just five selections in 2003 and outside of these two names, Polamalu and Taylor, the rest of the class did nothing. Second-rounder Alonzo Jackson was a big miss while Brian St. Pierre and J.T. Wall did little or nothing.
But the two hits here are dingers. Taylor a home run, Polamalu a grand slam. In our series last season, we called Polamalu the greatest selection in Kevin Colbert’s history, not only selecting him but having the gumption to trade up for him. All he did was become one of the greatest defensive players in the modern era and a first-ballot Hall of Famer whose career would’ve been even better had it not been for injuries.
Taylor is one of Colbert’s best mid-round picks of all-time. Though he never made a Pro Bowl, his poor hands dropping interceptions and preventing him from posting gaudy numbers, he was a lockdown corner who started 140 games for the Steelers, starting on a pair of Super Bowl defenses. This class was feast or famine but Pittsburgh ate well with these two choices. It’s a great haul with such a limited number of choices.
#7 – 2010 Draft Class (16 Pro Bowls, 6 All-Pros)
Notable Selections
C Maurkice Pouncey (1st Round)
WR Emmanuel Sanders (3rd Round)
WR Antonio Brown (6th Round)
Another class from this century with strength at the top, bottom, and middle. Pouncey became an instant starter and hit, turning into the franchise’s next great center. Mike Webster and Dirt Dawson are still arguably better than him but not by much and it’s a shame Pouncey never got a Super Bowl ring. His athleticism and consistency made him the perfect anchor in the middle.
The rest of the draft was highlighted by the team’s wide receivers where the franchise gained its present-day reputation of drafting the position so well. Two-thirds of the “Young Money” crew came from here, Sanders in the third and Brown in the sixth. Sanders was more productive once he stepped out of Pittsburgh’s shadow, making two Pro Bowls in Denver (which don’t count for our evaluation) but he was still a productive player in Pittsburgh. Brown, of course, was the diamond in the rough, going from undersized and unknown MAC player into the best of his era. He’s written a sad ending to an amazing book but Brown is one of the best steals in draft history, not just Pittsburgh. In his prime, no one could stop him. Except for himself.
Top Ten Steelers’ Draft Classes
#10 – 2017 Class (Watt, Smith-Schuster, Sutton, Conner)
#9 – 1950 Class (Stautner, Chandnois, Hughes, Rogel)
