10 all-time greatest Pittsburgh Steelers second-round picks in the NFL Draft

#9 Gerald Williams, DT

Having a 13-year career, he played nine in Pittsburgh. Arguably he is one of the best nose tackles to play in the ‘80s and ‘90s for the Steelers. Drafted in 1986, He began his career under Chuck Noll and eventually went to Carolina early on in the Cowher era. He started 127 of his 161 games and had five forced fumbles and 25.5 sacks. He also amassed 396 combined tackles and 68 solo tackles.

He was a dominant force on those Steelers teams that were not very good between 1986 and 1991. Certainly not offensively. Had he played on the Steelers in the 2000s when the teams were much better, who knows he probably would get more credit for his dynamic play.

#8 Ray Pinney, OT

Ray Pinney gets the number eight spot, Mostly because he played on one of the best NFL dynasties ever assembled. Plus Chuck Noll had that knack of mining the draft for quality offensive linemen allowing him to create a dynamic rushing game with Franco Harris.

Pinney had a 13-year career with the Steelers when he was drafted in the 2nd round of the NFL draft. He was a backup in 1976 and didn’t become a full-time starter until 1978 when they won their third Superbowl. He would have helped them win their 4th Superbowl in 1979, except he missed the 1979 season to injuries; thus, he had to watch from the stands.

Still, he remained a starter playing until 1987, one of the last remaining members of the Steelers dynasty to retire. While it’s hard to define greatness in offensive linemen as they generally have very few stats, Pinney did have two receptions and two touchdowns to his credit.