Best and Worst Steelers draft picks - discussion

[CowherPower]

I was just thinking tonight, the Steelers are generally spot on when it comes to the first round draft picks. They rarely miss and especially in recent memory every one of them is a starter on the team now; Pouncey, Ziggy Hood, Mendenhall, Timmons, etc.

Going through the draft history, here , you can see how good they've been in the first round. I will say though looking at some recent 2nd and 3rd round picks, they've stumbled a bit. Kraig Urbik in 2009, Limas Sweed & Bruce Davis in 2008, Anthony Smith and Willie Reid in 2006, etc. Fortunately 2010 and 2011 they've been solid all around.

Who's the best draft pick in your opinion, and the worst. Let's stick to the last 10 years or so since those players are still in the league or recently retired.

I would say the best has to be Ben Roethlisberger for obvious reasons.

Worst, Alonzo Jackson in 2003 was a total bust in the 2nd round.
Ryan McBean in the 4th round 2007 did nothing.

[Number99]

Colclough was the worst ...a 2nd pick at 38 overall
Holmes best pick... Super Bowl MVP drafted 1st rd 25th overall

worst pick below 2nd rd Fred Gibson....4th rd ...the big recv'r we needed that didnt even make it out of camp
best pick below 2nd rd Antonio Brown..6th rd

[Nolrog]

Too many misses in the 2nd and 3rd round. Some nice finds later in the draft.

Misses (3rd round or higher)
Worlids, Urbick (not excatly a miss, poorly developed), Sweed, Bruce Davis, Anthony Smith, Willie Reid.

Hits (4th round or lower):
Brown, Mundy (6th round pick, decent back up), Gay, Colon (if he could stay healthy), Kemo (6th round pick, that's a win), Allen (just this past draft, but has shown good play already.)

They have decent ability in the lower rounds, but they need to hit far more often in the 2nd and 3rd than they do.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

The jury is still out on Worilds right now; he did improve last season late in the year after a pretty nice rookie year where he played in limited snaps.

I agree the mid round picks have to be more hits rather than misses. In the last few years that's been the case but before that they missed on entirely too many for my liking.

Man Alonza Jackson, didn't he wear #95 too? What a bust !!!! No way he was worth of that number, LOL

[strummerfan]

With such a small body of work I don't think it's reasonable to call Worilds a bust.

[Nolrog]

With such a small body of work

There's a reason for that.

[Mc_Muffin]

What I ask myself is: How did you like Heywards and Gilberts rookie season?

I mean for Gilbert I think it was OK considering that he started most of the games, but i guess that nothing all to special if you play in Pittsburgh...I mean we even let Kemoeatu start some of the games...and I got a bit distracted with what happened let in the season when Tomlin suspended him for 1 game when he was late for a team meeting or something? You think thats bad attitude or just something that can happen to a rookie?

And for Heyward is was like even worse because he didnt start any games and when he got more time later on we seemed to completely loose the edge on the defensive line?

Once again I dont know all too much about Football so do you think I'm being too hard on our rookies or am I right about my feeling?

[LatrobePA]

Spending a 4th on a punter that amounted to nothing still bothers me...

[coach]

Spending a 4th on a punter that amounted to nothing still bothers me...

Most recent disappointments for me: Sweed and Frank the Tank. Watching the FB whiff on his blocks was unbearable.

[BlitzburghRockCity]

I know K train was beside himself with glee when they drafted Sepulveda, he called it before it happened and then went out of his mind when it happened..LOL. DSep wasn't a bad punter, it was just injuries that killed him. I don't like spending 4th round picks on kickers either, I'll give you that though.

McMuffin - I don't think Heyward had a chance to start no matter how good he was going to be in 2011. Keisel is too entrenched in his spot and still playing at a high level. I would like to see Heyward get some more reps though this season, possibly split time with both Hood and Keisel though.

Gilbert had a pretty solid rookie season; any time you get thrown into the fire it's always rough to start out but you could see him starting to find his groove a bit more by the end of the year. With a full offseason available to both him and Heyward now I think we'll see a big improvement in their game next year. That lockout didn't help anyone.