Right after the NFL Draft ends on Saturday afternoon, all 32 teams will be working the phones and extending offers to undrafted players and their agents. The hit rate on these players isn’t very high, but there have been plenty of all-time greats who started out as an afterthought in the NFL Draft. CBS Sports’ Jeff Kerr put together a list of the top-10 undrafted free agents in the common draft era (since 1967) and included a pair of notable Pittsburgh Steelers.
Even on the current team, Jaylen Warren rose from the ranks after going undrafted and now splits time with former first-round pick Najee Harris to form the other half of the Steelers’ formidable backfield tandem. Included on the list are OLB James Harrison and S Donnie Shell.
Harrison, No. 9 on the list, went undrafted and bounced on and off the practice squad of the Steelers and Baltimore Ravens before finally becoming a starter as a 29-year-old to replace Joey Porter in 2007. He ended up with the second-most sacks in Steelers franchise history with 84.5, two first-team All-Pro selections, a 2008 Defensive Player of the Year honor, and one of the best plays in Super Bowl history under his belt.
Harrison is not yet a Hall of Famer, and perhaps never will be, but he helped define the Steelers teams of the late 2000s and took one of the most unlikely paths to stardom in league history.
Shell came in at No. 4 on the list. He went undrafted in 1974, which was the year that the Steelers drafted Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster. All five of them are Hall of Famers now with Shell being inducted during the centennial class in 2020. He attended South Carolina State, an HBCU, and scout Bill Nunn was a pioneer in scouting the HBCU programs, which helped build the great Steelers teams of the 1970s.
He finished his career with 51 interceptions and 19 fumble recoveries, both still near the top of the all-time franchise list. He made the first-team All-Pro list three times and was named to the Pro Bowl five times as he was one of the top defensive playmakers in football for the late 70s and early 80s.
So while many overlook the names that sign to the roster following the draft, the Steelers have a rich history of UDFAs making a name for themselves in the league. RB Willie Parker and OG Ramon Foster are two other notable examples, among others.
