Reasons for Steelers Super Bowl drought: Part one

An enigma at OLB, a first-round question mark and two defensive starters

2015 Draft

After an embarrassing home playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2014, it was onto the 2015 draft.  The 2015 draft brought us Bud Dupree, Jesse James and Anthony Chickillo. In the second round, we drafted Senquez Golson; in the third, we drafted Sammie Coates.

Although Dupree’s fifth-year option was recently exercised, he remains something of an enigma. I don’t think we actually know where his forte lies.  He has (20) sacks in (54) total games.  A position switch from LOLB (left outside LB) to ROLB (right outside LB) was supposed to aid in his ability to generate pressure on the QB, which it did-he had (13) QB hits last season, but his primary roles, from a fan’s perspective, are to get to the QB and set the edge.

Has he been able to consistently do those two things?  I would say he has been inconsistent.  So who could we have drafted instead of Dupree?  Well, we could have drafted Shaq Thompson, Byron Jones, Landon Collins or Frank Clark.

James averaged 30 receptions and 297 yards in four seasons. He left in free agency this offseason. I liked James, but I think we were looking to upgrade the position and determined that he just wasn’t athletic enough.

Chickillo is a solid backup and a decent situational pass rusher.  He was a DE (Defensive End) in college and has made the transition to OLB.  For a 6th round pick, I think Chickillo has exceeded expectations.

Unfortunately for Golson and for us, he was placed on injured reserve in 2015 and in 2016 and was subsequently released in 2017.  While no one can predict injuries, a squandered 2nd round pick is hard to accept.

Our third-round pick, Coates played (2) seasons for us and was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2017.  I think that’s all we need to say about that.  So would you have rather had drafted Danielle Hunter, who was selected by the Minnesota Vikings with the pick after Coates, instead of Coates?  Yep.

2016 Draft

After yet another playoff loss, this time to the Denver Broncos (at least it wasn’t a home playoff loss), we turned our attention to the 2016 draft.  In that draft, we selected Artie Burns in the first round, Sean Davis in the second, Javon Hargrave in the third and Tyler Matakevich in the seventh round.

Here are the players we could have drafted instead of Burns: Kenny Clark, Jaylon Smith, Hunter Henry, Myles Jack and, most importantly, Xavien Howard.  If we really needed a CB (cornerback), how do you think Xavien Howard would look in a Steeler’s uniform right now instead of Burns?

Look, I can not imagine the pressure that accompanies being a first-round pick, but since it appears that Burns will become a “bust”, you can not overcome misses in the first round.  You just can’t. I truly hope Burns will rebound for his sake and for our sake because you can never have too many good corners in the NFL.

Davis is solid and, in my opinion, is a better fit at Free Safety than he was at Strong Safety. In his first (3) seasons, he has tallied (5) interceptions and has recorded (182) solo tackles.

Hargrave had a breakout year last year with (6.5) sacks.  Drafted out of South Carolina State (the same school that brought us Donnie Shel), Hargrave is an athletic “big man”.  Maybe he’s better suited as a DE?

Matakevich reminds me of Bryan Hinkle and Jerry Olsavsky-not big, not overly quick, but a good “nose” for the ball and a great tackler.