The NFL Draft is an inexact science — this much we know.
Teams grade players differently, see some traits as a strength while other teams might see the same traits as a weakness. Point is, there is no perfect process leading up to the draft, and there is no perfect draft for that matter.
Therefore, I often find re-draft exercises to be a bit silly because of course the best players from the draft are going to go in an understandable order, making previous picks looks downright ridiculous in hindsight.
Yet, it’s always interesting to see how the future of a team could be different — for better or worse — in a re-draft exercise.
In ESPN’s 2018 NFL Draft re-draft exercise from NFL Draft analysts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid, the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks much, much different after the selections made at No. 28 and No. 60 in the first two rounds, which were the only rounds Miller and Reid hit.
Coming off of a 13-3 season, an AFC North Championship and a playoff berth that came to a crashing halt in a 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Steelers needed to add some pieces defensively, especially after losing inside linebacker Ryan Shazier to a tragic spinal cord injury that season.
Pittsburgh ultimately added safety Terrell Edmunds at No. 28 that draft in a move that many panned as a reach. Edmunds was steady in Pittsburgh, starting 75 games over five seasons, recording 410 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, five interceptions and 26 passes defensed.
In the re-draft though, Miller and Reid have the Steelers addressing the offensive line, grabbing current Cleveland Browns guard Wyatt Teller at No. 28 overall out of Virginia Tech, shoring up the offensive line. Teller was originally a fifth-round pick by the Buffalo Bills but didn’t pan out there, eventually landing with Cleveland.
“With two second-team All-Pro awards and back-to-back Pro Bowls, he has emerged as one of the best guards in the NFL, posting a 93% pass block win rate over his career and allowing just 16 total sacks. This is a no-brainer pick to rebuild the Steelers’ offensive line,” Miller writes regarding the selection of Teller for the Steelers in the re-draft exercise.
Teller has settled in rather nicely at right guard and been dominant with the Browns. Yet in Pittsburgh his fit in 2018 is a major question mark.
David DeCastro was the right guard at the time and was still playing at a supremely high level coming off a first-team All-Pro accolade in 2017 and another trip to the Pro Bowl. Would Teller have slotted in at left guard? Again, no. Ramon Foster was holding down the left guard spot and was just two seasons removed from signing a multi-year extension with Pittsburgh through the 2018 season.
Teller, theoretically, could have been the backup to both and eventually molded into the starter at left guard once Foster retired after 2020, but spending a first-round pick on an interior offensive lineman coming off a season in which the Steelers had one of the best lines in football seems a bit silly.
In the second round at No. 60 overall, the Steelers originally drafted Oklahoma State wide receiver James Washington as a hopeful big-play threat.
Washington never quite panned out, hauling in 114 passes for 1,629 yards and 11 touchdowns over four seasons in Pittsburgh. Turns out, his long speed and inability to consistently create separation held him back.
In the re-draft, Miller and Reid have the Steelers landing offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn at No. 60 overall out of Georgia. Wynn was a first rounder that year to the New England Patriots at No. 23 overall.
“Wynn, who was listed at guard but ultimately played left tackle for the Patriots, would boost a Pittsburgh offensive line that could have featured Maurkice Pouncey, David DeCastro, re-draft pick Wyatt Teller and then Wynn at either tackle spot,” Miller writes regarding the selection of Wynn for the Steelers in the re-draft exercise. “Given that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was still slinging it around with targets at wide receiver, fixing the offensive line could have pushed this team to another level.”
Wynn is at least understandable for the Steelers at the time. Back in 2017, right tackle Marcus Gilbert played just seven games and missed the rest of the season with injuries and was on the downside of his career due to the injuries. He played just five games in 2018, forcing the Steelers to rely on veteran swing tackle Chris Hubbard those two seasons.
While Hubbard was serviceable, Wynn could have slotted in at right tackle and been a key piece for Pittsburgh. Though he’s been a left tackle in his career in the NFL, Wynn has the athleticism and power to be a right tackle. He hasn’t lived up to the billing in his career and is now a member of the Miami Dolphins as a depth option, but he is at least something to think about for that Steelers offensive line at right tackle back then.
Based on the re-draft, the Steelers’ offensive line would have at least been in great shape from a depth perspective moving forward. How things actually played out for the Steelers, the first-round pick of Teller might have been a waste and he might have needed to head to another team for a shot, just like he did going from Buffalo to Cleveland.
The real blow in the re-draft exercise is Miller and Reid placing Steelers current star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick with the Cleveland Browns at No. 4. Fitzpatrick went to the Miami Dolphins that year at No. 11 and spent one season there before the Steelers ultimately traded for him, sending a first-round pick and other draft picks to Miami for Fitzpatrick early in the 2019 season.
Since then, Fitzpatrick has changed the entire Steelers defense and has become the best safety in football, putting himself on a Hall of Fame track, too.
But if he lands with Cleveland in that 2018 NFL Draft instead of Miami, there is zero chance he’s being traded to the Steelers a year later. None. That would have changed the Steelers’ franchise and the future in ways one can’t even imagine, much more than adding offensive linemen instead of a safety and wide receiver in the 2018 NFL Draft.
