Steelers Draft: Who The Heck Is Huey Richardson?

The Steelers draft anywhere between 7-10 players a year depending on how many compensatory picks they receive from the league each year.

Not every player selected makes the cut, and the names of those players are long forgotten. Even players who stick around for only a year or two fall victim to the swirl of players of ‘what might have been.’

Figure out who Huey Richardson is yet?

Well, according to Will Brinson of CBS Sports he is the worst Steelers draft selection since 1990.

Richardson hailed from the University of Florida and played partly under Steve Spurrier when Steve’o first joined the Gators back in 1990. Richardson was an OLB/DE and was greatly undersized to play the DE position in the NFL at 6’5″ and 238 lbs.

According to Steeler lore, the Steelers war room was completely unprepared when it came time to select at #15 in that first round. The three top players on their board were snatched up in picks 12, 13, and 14. Ooops.

‘Football operations guy’, Tom Donahoe apparently panicked and they selected Richardson.

Richardson was a fine athlete in Florida. He still ranks 3rd and 4th in sacks and tackles for a loss in school history and was named a “Gator Great.”

Unfortunately for both parties, Richardson proved a huge bust. The team could not use him at defensive end, so they moved him to inside linebacker under Chuck Knoll – which is an odd move considering that most undersized DE’s these days move to OLB.

He struggled with the move, and only played in five games for the Steelers. When Bill Cowher arrived, he tried to move Richardson to OLB but that too did not work well. Richardson was traded to the Redskins for a measly 7th round pick.

Five games. Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty awful.

But is Richardson the worst Steelers draft pick in the last 25 years?

I wouldn’t think that there are many that reach Richardson’s level of failure – 1st round, Top 15, five games (16 total with three teams before retirement).

Who else has been one of the worst draft picks in the last 25 years?

Landry Jones is coming in at a hot second place on Richardson’s heals. That’s for damn sure.

Next: Breaking Down Randy Gregory

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