Every first-round pick in Pittsburgh Steelers history

Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers / Focus On Sport/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 18
Next

Steelers miss on Hall of Famer but round out the 60s with a home run

1965: No pick, traded to Chicago Bears. Received second and fourth round picks, Traded first round pick away that ended up being Dick Butkus.

We start off with a massive failure by the black and gold on two fronts. Firstly, they traded away the third overall pick for only a second and fourth rounder, which is embarrasing enough. To add insult to injury, that third overall pick was used on future Hall of Fame linebacker, Dick Butkus. A terrible draft trade for the Steelers.

1966 (Pick 3): Dick Leftridge (RB), West Virginia

Another failed first round pick and it is considered one of the worst choices in Pittsburgh history. Dick Leftridge would only be with the club for a year and only appeared in four games. He would leave the game of football after that season after a promising collegiate career at West Virginia.

1967: No pick, traded to Green Bay Packers. Received Lloyd Voss and Tony Jeter. Traded away 1967 first round pick.

Not the worst trade that this franchise has made when dealing out their first-round pick. They got a solid starter in Lloyd Voss that played respectfully with the Steelers for six years before moving onto another club. Tony Jeter did nothing to write home about, but he was a nice throw-in for this deal.

1968 (Pick 10): Mike Taylor (OT), USC

Mike Taylor was nothing special during his time in Pittsburgh, but he did stay with the club for two years. That might not seem like much, but that is a successful pick when compared to the lack of selections that stayed with the Steelers for any sort of time. Taylor was not an earth-shattering talent at offensive tackle and both parties went their separate ways after two seasons.

1969 (Pick 4): Joe Greene (DT), North Texas

Most will say this was the best pick in Steelers history and those folks would be right. He not only was a Hall of Fame player, but he changed the entire culture of the organization. Joe Greene made people proud to represent the Steelers organization and success soon followed after Greene joined the team.