4 Steelers drafted in ESPN’s 128-player total NFL-redraft
By Tommy Jaggi
The Steelers had just four players drafted in ESPN’s four-round total NFL-redraft. Here’s where each Pittsburgh player should have been taken.
NFL re-drafts are always fun to check out, but when a major sports cooperation elected to re-draft the entire NFL I had to check it out. A panel of experts at ESPN recently re-drafted 128 players to all 32 NFL teams. Just four Steelers made the cut.
Despite such a big re-draft, Pittsburgh had an average number of representatives, and a few others deserving of the list ended up falling short. Here’s a breakdown of the four Steelers who were drafted in the top four rounds of ESPN’s total NFL re-draft:
EDGE T.J. Watt: 2nd round (pick 42)
The first Pittsburgh player to come off the board was All-Pro edge defender, T.J. Watt. The Steelers former 2017 first-round pick wound up with the New England Patriots in the second round (pick 42 overall) of the re-draft.
This seems incredibly low to me. Despite proving his worth as one of the league’s top edge defenders in 2019 and being on a Hall-of-Fame pace with production over his first three seasons, Watt was disrespected by the panel of ESPN experts. In the re-draft, Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa, and Khalil Mack all ended up going in the first round. Myles Garrett was picked at the top of the second round before Watt.
Despite being just 25 years old and being a runner up for the Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, 4 edge defenders were taken higher, and 6 defensive players were taken ahead of Watt in the total NFL re-draft.
Watt plays one of the most important positions in football, he’s young, athletic, and remarkable in run defense, pass coverage, and rushing the passer. There’s no way he should make it out of the first round in an NFL re-draft.