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Could Steelers Get This Lucky Again In 2012 Draft?

By Craig Gottschalk

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 2004 1st Round, 11th Overall: 

  • AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (2004)
  • Diet Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year (2004)
  • 2× Super Bowl champion (XL, XLIII)
  • 3× AFC Champion (2005, 2008, 2010)
  • 2× Pro Bowl (2007, 2011)
  • “Joe Greene Great Performance Award” (2004)
  • #7 jersey retired (Miami University Redhawks)
  • 2009 Steelers MVP
  • .714 winning percentage is the highest among all Steelers QBs with at least 20 starts

 2003 1st Round, 16th overall: 

  • 7× Pro Bowl (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008,2010, 2011)
  • 5× All-Pro (2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011)
  • 2× Super Bowl champion (XL, XLIII)
  • 3× AFC champion (2005, 2008, 2010)
  • 5× AFC Defensive Player of the Week[1]
  • Joe Greene Great Performance Award (2003)
  • NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
  • Steelers Most Valuable Player Award (2010)
  • AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year (2010)
  • NFL Alumni Player of the Year (2010)

1998 3rd Round, 98th overall:

  • 4× Pro Bowl selection (2001, 2002, 2003,2004)
  • 3× 2nd Team All-Pro selection (2002, 2003,2004)
  • 2× Super Bowl Champion (XL, XLIII)
  • Super Bowl MVP (XL)
  • 3× Steelers MVP ( 2002,2004 2005)
  • 3× AFC Champion (2005, 2008, 2010)
  • Steelers Career Records for Receptions, Receiving Yards, & Receiving TDs

2010 1st round, 18th overall:

  • Pittsburgh Steelers Rookie of the Year (2010)
  • 2× Pro Bowl (2010, 2011)
  • 2× All-Pro (2010, 2011)

 2001 1st round, 19th overall:

  • 5× Pro Bowl (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)
  • 2× Super Bowl champion (XL, XLIII)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers Co-MVP (2005)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team
  • Consensus All-American (2000)

 2005 1st round, 30th overall:

  • Consensus All-American (2004)
  • John Mackey Award (2004)
  • Pittsburgh Steelers Rookie of the Year (2005)
  • Pro Bowl (2009)
  • Super Bowl champion (XL, XLIII)

These are some of the brightest stars to come out of the draft for the Steelers in the past 15 years.  They are also just a few of the many successful players who have come out of the draft and contributed in significant ways for the Steelers.  Looking at these pictures and looking at their achievements makes me incredibly hopeful for this years draft.  Sure you get duds here and there.  The way the Steelers historically do well in the draft tells me when the duds rear their ugly head, it’s more of an attribute to that particular athlete not stepping up and not due to a flaw in the system.

By the way – NFL.com this morning rated the best (Top 25) 1st rounders since 2000.  Troy Polamalu came in at 6th overall, and Ben Roethlisberger came in at 4th overall.  Not too shabby.  And the list is pretty good – both content and reasoning.  There are some really big gems higher up the list that one could argue to jump ahead of these two.  But, the thing that is important to note is their impact from the start (which Ben went 13-0 as a rookie with a 98.1 rating) and how they compare to the rest of their class.

4 Days and counting!

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