Have the Pittsburgh Steelers always ignored small school players?

A Hall of Fame QB, a Hall of Fame CB, a Hall of Fame MLB, a solid SS and a Hall of Fame WR for the Steelers

In the 1st round of the 1970 draft, the Steelers selected Terry Bradshaw, QB, out of Louisiana Tech.  At that time, Louisiana Tech was not considered a powerhouse football program.  Luckily, the Steelers had the wherewithal to realize that Bradshaw had the potential to become a great QB.  Bradshaw would engineer an offense that played a ‘smashmouth’ brand of football.  Coupled with a ferocious defense, Bradshaw would become a 4-time Super Bowl champ and a Hall of inductee in the process.

In the 3rd round of the 1970 draft, the Steelers drafted Mel Blount, a CB out of Southern University.  Blount would go on to be named to 5 Pro Bowls, would be named All-Pro twice, would be a galvanizing force in the secondary on 4 Steelers Super Bowl teams and would end his career by being inducted into the Hall of Fame.  If those accolades weren’t enough, during Blount’s playing career, the NFL instituted what came to be known as the ‘Mel Blount” rule.  Directly from the official website of the Steelers:

“Blount didn’t take too long to adjust as he worked his way into the starting lineup in the 1972 season, and shut down opposing receivers, not allowing a single touchdown all year. Blount could adjust to cover any type of receiver, but his specialty was the “bump-and-run,” and receivers barely stood a chance. It was that ability that caused the NFL to implement the five-yard bump rule in 1977, a rule where the only time a receiver can be bumped by a defender is within five yards of the line of scrimmage”.

In the legendary 1974 draft, the Steelers drafted Jack Lambert from Kent State in the 2nd round.  Yes, Kent State plays in the MAC (Mid-American Conference), which is an FBS school; however, like North Texas, Kent State was not and is not considered a powerhouse school.  On his way to having a Hall of Fame career, Lambert patrolled the middle of the Steelers defense for 11 seasons, making 9 consecutive Pro Bowls, being named All-Pro 6 times and being a member of 4 Super Bowl championship teams.

Another member of the 1974 draft was John Stallworth, taken in the 4th round out of Alabama A&M. Also a member of 4 Super Bowl winning teams, Stallworth made the Pro Bowl 3 times, was named All-Pro once and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Perhaps the most underrated players on the legendary Steelers defenses of the 1970s, Mike Wagner, SS, came to Pittsburgh in the 11th round of the 1971 draft from Western Illinois. Wagner started in 116 of the 119 games in which he played.  He was a 2-time Pro Bowler and a 4-time Super Bowl champ.  Wagner finished his Steelers career with 36 interceptions (INT’s).  To put this into perspective, Donnie Shell, a free agent SS out of South Carolina State, snagged 51 INTs; Troy Polamalu, arguably the greatest SS in Steelers history, had 32 INTs after having been drafted out of USC (Univesity of Southern California), a powerhouse FBS school.

So what about some modern era Steelers players drafted from small school programs?

Some notable Steelers players drafted from small schools after the 1970s

Since 1980, the year after the Steelers won their 4th Super Bowl in a 6-year span, the following notable players were drafted:

Tunch Ilkin-T Indiana State;

Mike Merriweather-LB Pacific;

Greg Lloyd-LB Fort Valley State;

Merril Hoge-RB Idaho State;

Carlton Haselrig-G Pittsburgh-Johnstown;

Eric Green-TE Liberty;

Justin Strzelczyk-T Maine;

Earl Holmes-LB Florida A&M;

Carlos Emmons-LB Arkansas State;

Aaron Smith-DE Northern Colorado;

Ben Roethlisberger-QB Miami (OH)

Antonio Brown-WR Central Michigan;

Javon Hargrave-DT South Carolina State

With the exception of this year’s draft, the last time we drafted a small school player was 2016, when we selected Javon Hargrave in the 3rd round.  Obviously, Ben has been a constant at the QB position and will very likely join Bradshaw in the Hall of Fame after his playing career comes to an end, Brown has a shot at being inducted into the Hall of Fame and we don’t really know how Hargrave’s career will unfold.  Hopefully, he will become the next Casey Hampton.

It’s interesting to note that since Coach Tomlin has been the Head Coach (HC), the Steelers have primarily drafted players from ‘big time’ Division 1 programs.  While this may be a purposeful decision, I do not believe that seemingly ignoring small school players is the best course of action.

How’s this for a huge miss:  In 2018, the Steelers drafted Terrell Edmunds, S, out of Virginia Tech.  The Indianapolis Colt drafted Darius Leonard, LB, from South Carolina State, a teammate of Javon Hargrave I might add, 8 picks after we drafted Edmunds.  Leonard was named All-Pro and won Defensive Rookie of the Year.  Edmunds, I would say, had a shaky rookie campaign.

Leonard is the type of the player the Steelers routinely drafted, but, for some reason, have not recently drafted. Leonard is the type of player that makes other organizations kick themselves for passing up.  Instead of being the kicker, the Steelers have become the kickee, so to speak.

Look, I love my Steelers, but what I don’t love is the fact that the Steelers have had too many misses in the draft, that we have seemingly ignored the formula that brought us 4 Lombardi trophies over a 6-year span, which was drafting and cultivating small school players, and that there is no way of going back in time to correct a mistake.

So the Steelers have to hope Edmunds, for example, will eventually solidify the back end of the defense and will become a Pro Bowl player.  Maybe Sutton Smith or Ulysees Gilbert, both drafted in the 6th round of this year’s draft out of small schools, will blossom into players who will be labeled as a ‘late round gem’.  I guess we will find out together.  Maybe next year will be the year the Steelers draft the next Defensive Rookie of the Year.