Reasons for Steelers Super Bowl drought: Part one

Three Steelers Pro Bowlers

2017 Draft

After an embarrassing loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, the 2017 draft brought with it yet another season of hope.  In 2017, we drafted the likes of T.J. Watt, JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and Joshua Dobbs.

Watt made his first Pro Bowl last year and had his first double-digit sack production, recording (13) sacks in 2018. He is a star in the making, in my opinion. He is also one of a handful of LB’s who played in a 3-4 system in college.  If the system in college is similar to the one you’ll be a part of in the NFL, does that equal success?  Perhaps.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see how Watt progresses.

Smith-Schuster is now the number one receiving option with Brown having been traded the Oakland Raiders. In (2) seasons, Smith-Schuster has averaged (84.5) receptions and (1,171.5) yards.  He too is a star in the making and made his first trip to the Pro Bowl last season.

Conner is our starting running back and like Watt and Smith-Schuster made his first trip to the Pro Bowl last season. I think Conner, along with Samuels and Snell, has an opportunity to restore the “power run” game to our offense.

Dobbs served as Ben’s backup last season.  Honestly, I see him as another Landry Jones-a serviceable back-up QB.

So, Watt, Smith-Schuster and Conner are contributing “big time” to our success.

2018 Draft

After yet another embarrassing home playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, we knew that yet another draft was upon us and yet another reason for hope was upon us.  In 2018, we drafted Terrell Edmunds, James Washington, Mason Rudolph, Chukwuma Okorafor, Marcus Allen, Jaylen Samuels and Joshua Frazier.

Frazier did not make the cut, so to speak.  While it’s too early to offer an opinion one way or the other as to whether or not our 2018 draft class with have a positive impact on the team, I will offer this assessment:

Edmunds saw action immediately thanks to Morgan Burnett being injured.  I think the plan was to have Edmunds play the “sub-package” LB position, but that didn’t happen. While his play improved over the course of the season, he frequently reminded us that he was a rookie.

Washington has a real chance to be supplanted by Donte Moncrief (Free Agent signing) or Diontae Johnson (our third round pick this year).  Hopefully, he can take a huge leap forward this year because it would be unfortunate for a second-round pick to be relegated to a back-up role.

Let’s bring this part of our three-part series to a conclusion by pointing this out: In the last decade, not including the 2019 draft class, we have drafted a total of (83) players, of whom (22) or (26.5%) either are currently contributing or have contributed in some way to our efforts to get back to and win another Super Bowl.  Unfortunately, the reality is we have neither gotten back to nor won another Super Bowl.

We have had some misses in the first round and in subsequent rounds.  In a seven-round draft, you MUST  “hit” on, at minimum, your draft picks in the first three rounds.  I would add the fourth round to that, honestly.  If (22) out of (83) players drafted in the last decade are or were contributors to the success of the team, maybe we need to look in the mirror and ask this question:  Is a (26.5%) success rate going to get us over the hump?  I would say, “No”.  The draft; however, is only one piece of the puzzle.  In our next series, we will discuss our scheme on both sides of the ball.  Stay tuned.