While the Steelers have remained competitive this season, there are several regrets the team likely has from this past offseason.
While the Steelers have remained in the playoff hunt throughout this season, the team hasn’t lived up to the lofty standards that they have set for themselves in the past. Despite their success this season, things could have been better for the team’s outlook this season, and for the future had they made different choices this offseason.
The following are the three biggest regrets from this past offseason.
Steelers regret selecting Kendrick Green over Quinn Meinerz
While many will point to the Steelers passing on Creed Humphrey in the first two rounds as the team’s biggest mistake, I believe the greater mistake came in the third round. Yes, Humphrey is a tremendous young player who would have answered the team’s questions surrounding the center position, but Quinn Meinerz is also a tremendously talented young player.
The reason that Meinerz would have been the better move for the team is that they could have still come away with Najee Harris and Pat Freiermuth in the first two rounds, while also coming away with Meinerz in the third round. This would have allowed them to select the players they clearly loved in rounds one and two at positions of need, while also getting their center in the third round.
The Steelers selected Green 87th overall, while Meinerz lasted until 98th overall in this year’s draft. The Broncos selected Meinerz in hopes of him being the team’s future starting center, however, he was forced to start at right guard after Graham Glasgow got hurt. Since stepping in as the starting right guard Meinerz has impressed. While it remains to be seen if his future is at guard or at center, he easily would’ve served as an improvement over Trai Turner at guard, and likely would have been a better option than Green at center, who might be too small to play the position.
Meinerz was linked to the Steelers in the second round, which is why it came as such a surprise that when he fell to them in the third round, they passed on him in favor of Green. While Meinerz may not be better the Humphrey is, if the team could redo things today, they would be ecstatic to come away with Meinerz in the third round to secure either a center or guard long-term, in addition to finding their tight end and running back of the future in the first two rounds.