Top 10 worst Pittsburgh Steelers draft picks of all-time

7. OLB Jarvis Jones, 2013 (#17)

Another first-round miss from the 2010s, Jarvis Jones, at least has the distinction of changing how the Steelers approached the first round of the NFL Draft. On paper, Jones seemed to be a perfect prospect and heir apparent edge rusher to players like James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley. He was a two-time All-SEC and All-American, along with the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year. 

Unfortunately, Jones did not perform well at the NFL Scouting Combine. He was already relatively undersized, even for an edge rusher in a 3-4 defense. But his athletic testing earned him a Relative Athletic Score of 2.58 (2.92 all-time).

These athletic limitations became apparent when Jones took the field, as he struggled to make an impact as a rookie and throughout his career. Pittsburgh did not pick up his fifth-year option, and when his contract expired, Jones had only recorded six career sacks and 11 TFLs despite appearing in 50 games with 35 career starts. 

As previously mentioned, this selection and its resulting failure led the Steelers to put much greater weight on athletic testing, especially with first-round picks. Look at the first-round selections that followed Jones: Ryan Shazier (RAS: 9.88), Bud Dupree (9.47), T.J. Watt (9.92), Terrell Edmunds (9.89), and Devin Bush (9.32).

The notable exception here is Artie Burns, who only earned a RAS of 5.00. Interestingly, the pick the Steelers wanted to make, William Jackson III, earned a better but not elite RAS of 7.05. So while Jarvis Jones certainly was a bust, he at least alerted the Steelers to an error or blind spot in their evaluation process.