Why Steelers 2022 draft could be one of the best in years

The Pittsburgh Steelers have made some questionable draft-day decisions in the past, but here’s why this could be one of their best drafts in years.

I know we say that it’s hard to tell much from an NFL Draft until years down the line, but is it? While we don’t know exactly how players are going to perform or the progress they will make in their NFL careers, I feel like my initial thoughts in past years have more or less lined up with how things have turned out for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s start back in 2014 — my first year grading draft prospects. The moment the draft was over, I felt really good about the results. Ryan Shazier was a uber-productive and athletic linebacker, Stephon Tuitt was overflowing with upside, and Martavis Bryant was oozing with talent despite off-field issues that caused him to slip.

If not for injuries to Shazier and Tuitt (along with suspensions that caused Byant to be shipped to the Raiders) this would have been an excellent class. I, for one, was not a fan of the Dri Archer selection in round three.

In 2015, I was so-so on Bud Dupree and I hated the Senquez Golson pick in round two. Golson never ended up playing a game with the Steelers due to injuries, but I wasn’t overly pleased with the results of this class, and I would later discover that my initial thoughts were pretty spot on.

Something similar happened in each of the following years. I did not like the 2016 and 2018 drafts but was ecstatic for their haul in 2017 (T.J. Watt, JuJu-Smith-Schuster, Cameron Sutton, James Conner).

My point is that if you take the time to put in the work during the pre-draft process, you typically have a general idea of what to expect with each draft class. So what does that mean for the Steelers 2022 draft?

Steelers 2022 draft could be one of the best in years

This isn’t something that I say very often and my loyal readers know that I can be very harsh on the Steelers at times, but I really believe this draft class has a chance to be one of the best Pittsburgh has seen in years.

How do I determine this? One thing I like to do is weigh the value of each Steelers draft choice against the NFL consensus board — the average players rankings of the ten most trusted NFL Draft experts.

When you do this in years past, you will find that players like Artie Burns, Senquez Golson, and Terrell Edmunds were significant reaches. These three were drafted 2-3 full rounds ahead of their consensus board rankings.

However, the Steelers got positive value out of players in the past like T.J. Watt, Martavis Bryant, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Pat Freiermuth. What we have found is that, typically, when the value is higher than the draft position, it usually ends up being a pretty good pick for Pittsburgh.

This year, the Steelers received excellent value on three of their first four picks when weighed against the consensus board. According to the board, Kenny Pickett was considered an 11-spot reach in the first round, but the next three selections were all ahead of value.

George Pickens was considered good value as his consensus ranking was 46th, but the Steelers took him at pick 52. One round later, DeMarvin Leal’s consensus rank was 57th overall, but Pittsburgh took him with the 84th pick in the NFL Draft.

Fourth-round pick, Calvin Austin, was considered the best value on the consensus board. The Steelers spent the 138th overall selection on him, but he was ranked 96th by the trustworthy panel of draft experts.

Obviously, there’s so much more that goes into this process. I did my own grading as well, but I came up with remarkably similar results. In my opinion, Kenny Pickett was an even bigger reach than the consensus board indicates, but Geroge Pickens and DeMarvin Leal were even greater steals, in my opinion.

In addition to all of this, Pittsburgh simply hasn’t drafted all that well over the past seven years — making the bar a relatively low one to clear. During that time, they produced a nice haul in 2017 and 2020. The other drafts, however, have been far less than spectacular.

Based on my pre-draft grading and the value of the players on the consensus board, I really think the Steelers are going to come away with one of the better drafts they’ve had in years. Obviously, much of their success rides on Kenny Pickett, but this draft has a chance to reshape the team in the future.