Reasons for Steelers Super Bowl drought: Part one

A first-round “bust, an All-Pro center and an All-Pro receiver

2009 Draft 

While it’s probably unfair to label Evander “Ziggy” Hood a bust, he was our first round pick in 2009.  Coming off a spectacular Super Bowl win, the 2009 draft class was less than spectacular, in my opinion.  Hood, who played with us for (5) seasons and was drafted to eventually replace Aaron Smith, turned in what could be labeled as an “uninspiring” Steelers career; he was not on the same level as Smith.

In addition to Hood, the most notable players who were drafted were Mike Wallace, Keenan Lewis and David Johnson. Wallace had the most productive career for us; he was a deep threat, but not a refined route runner, in my opinion.  He played out his rookie contract and moved on as we chose to spend our salary cap dollars on a receiver drafted the following year.

Lewis started all (16) games in his last year with us, but, he too played out his rookie contract and moved on to the New Orleans Saints, where he enjoyed a modicum of success  Although not a true full back, Johnson was the defacto full back.  He was a great blocker and a decent receiver.  As with Wallace and Lewis, he played out his rookie contract and moved on, although he did come back in 2016.

I would offer that the 2009 draft class did not really have an impact on our success during its tenure.

2010 Draft

After missing the playoffs in 2009, we, the fans, turned our attention to the 2010 draft. In 2010, our first round pick was Maurkice Pouncey.  Although Pouncey started every game as a rookie, he missed the Super Bowl game because of an injury.  He has been named to (7) Pro Bowls and named All-Pro twice.  Pouncey has manned the center position as admirably as two Hall of Fame centers did prior to his arrival. Needless to say, he has an impact on our success.

The 2010 draft also brought us notable players, such as Jason Worilds, Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown. Let’s first start with Brown.  His stats have been well chronicled; his productivity was amazing.

Brown averaged (93) receptions, (1,245) yards and slightly over (8) TD’s per season.  In (10) playoff games, Brown averaged just over (5) receptions and  (93) yards per game. No question Brown contributed to our regular season success, but we just couldn’t get to the promised land in spite of his tremendous productivity.

I would categorize Worilds as a player with promise; however, that promise was never realized.  Seeing limited action in his first (3) seasons, mostly due to injury, Worilds was solid in his final (2) seasons with us, recording (15.5) in the aforementioned seasons. Surprisingly, he chose to walk away from football after the 2014 season.

Drafted ahead of Antonio Brown, Sanders really had his best season, ironically, in his last season as a Steeler. I thought Sanders was more than serviceable.  Who knows what would have been had we decided to pay Sanders instead of Brown.

With the exception of Pouncey and Brown, the 2010 draft class largely did not have a significant impact on our success.