Did the Steelers trade up in the first round of the draft a year too late?

The Steelers forego drafting a receiver in the 2018 draft

Without having a second-round pick in the 2018 draft, James Washington would probably not have been drafted by the Steelers, unless, of course, he was there in the third round and we decided to draft him instead of Mason Rudolph or Chukwuma Okorafor.  For purposes of this discussion, let’s just say he doesn’t get drafted. Washington was targeted 38 times, caught 16 passes and scored 1 TD, according to Pro-Football-Reference. 

I think it’s safe to say that Washington’s production would not have been missed.  It’s also fair to say that once free agency hit, rather than standing pat at the receiver position, the Steelers signed Donte Moncrief.  If the team was sold on their former second-round pick, why sign a free agent WR and draft a WR in the 2019 draft?  I think the answer is pretty obvious:  The Steelers are not sold on Washington.

With only one pick instead of two picks in the third round of the 2019 draft, the Steelers still would have probably drafted Diontae Johnson, WR out of Toledo, as this pick was the pick the Steelers received from the Oakland Raiders in the Antonio Brown trade.  Justin Layne was the other third-round pick, but now having a second-round pick in 2019, do the Steelers still draft Layne or do we draft someone else?

Here’s how I see it transpiring:  With the 20th pick (the Steelers original pick that was not traded to the Broncos for Bush), the Steelers select a CB, either Deandre Baker or Bryon Murphy or we could have gone WR, selecting either Marquise Brown or N’Keal Harry, who went in the first round after pick twenty.

If the Steelers selected a CB, they probably would not have signed Steven Nelson as a free agent.  If the Steelers selected a WR, they probably would not have signed Donte Moncrief as a free agent.  Maybe the Steelers could have saved some salary cap and signed free agents similar to Bostic or Morgan Burnett, as they did in 2018?  Maybe the Steelers would have signed no free agents, having drafted a CB in the first round and a WR in the third round?  We will never know, obviously.

Let me pose this question to you: Would you, as a Steelers fan, rather have Vander Esch, a 6’4″ LB as one of your ILB or Bush, at 5’11”?  Look, I hope for the sake of the Steelers and of Steeler nation that Bush pans out, has a Pro Bowl-caliber season, makes us forget that we did not draft Vander Esch, that Nelson and Moncrief become important pieces on the defense and on the offense, respectively and that we get back to the playoffs.

I just can’t help but think that the Steelers traded up in the draft a year too late and we missed out on a player who will become a perennial Pro Bowl representative for a team other than the Steelers.  Sounds like another 6’4″ LB we drafted from Kent State in 1974, doesn’t it?