Steelers biggest draft regrets over the past ten years
By Andrew Falce
While the Steelers are notoriously strong drafters, they have made a few questionable moves that have left the team regretting their choices
The Steelers have had some of the best success drafting over the past ten years, building a winning roster from within. Since 2010, the Steelers track record with adding talent is impressive, with multiple pro bowlers and starters finding their way onto the team through the draft. While in the moment picks can be questioned, Kevin Colbert has done a great job of building this roster.
That all said, the Steelers have squandered some picks; adding players who don’t pan out and essentially turn into busts. Every team has draft busts, they’re impossible to avoid, but it never stings more when a bust is taken, and a far superior player finds themselves drafted a few picks later. This leads to regrets and pondering what could have been had the Steelers invested in a different player.
A regret works two ways though. One, the player they missed on has to have more talent. This is obvious, as the reason the Steelers regret passing on him is due to missing out on his talent. As well, the player had to make sense for the Steelers at the time. If a superior talent went a few picks after a bust but played a position that the Steelers didn’t need, he won’t be included on this list. The prime example here is Chris Jones, who went to the Chiefs atop the second round in the 2016 draft. While a dominant player, the Steelers already had two capable DE’s, so he wouldn’t have made sense to be drafted.
With all of this considered, here are the six biggest draft regrets of the Steelers over the past decade.