Steelers' Complete 87-Year History Of Drafting The 2024 Positions Of Need

The Pittsburgh Steelers, known as the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time, selected Bill Shakespeare with their inaugural first-round pick in 1936. Shakespeare, no relation to the famous playwright, was a pretty good football player for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and threw the deciding touchdown pass in the "Game Of The Century" of the first 100 years of college football as voted by the Associated Press in 1969. He was so thrilled with being the first draft pick in Pittsburgh history that he declined to join the team and chose a business career instead. 

It was the first time the Steelers' top draft pick did not work out, but it would not be the last. Pittsburgh has had some of the best drafts in NFL history. From 1969 to 1973, Dan Rooney, Chuck Noll, Bill Nunn, and Dick Haley picked five future Hall of Fame players. In 1974, they picked four Hall of Fame players in the greatest draft in NFL history and added a fifth with undrafted free agent Donnie Shell. 

The Steelers have four pressing needs they must attempt to fill starting on April 25th. Pittsburgh needs starting-caliber players at the center, tackle, cornerback, and wide receiver. There has been much speculation about who Omar Khan, Andy Weidl, and Mike Tomlin might target in the first round. Pittsburgh has rarely spent a first-round pick on the offensive line and has drafted more fullbacks (7) than tackles and centers combined (6) in the first round. Here is the Steelers' 87-year history of targeting the 2024 four positions of need early in the draft. 

Offensive Tackle

Most Recent - 2023: Khan and Weidl selected Broderick Jones as their first selection in an NFL Draft. The Steelers have picked five offensive tackles in the first round in franchise history and have never had a tackle selected as a First Team All-Pro. Will Jones be the one who finally gets the nod?

Most Successful - 1992: Leon Searcy, with the 11th pick overall, was Bill Cowher and Tom Donahoe's first draft pick. Searcy spent four years in Pittsburgh and was the starting right tackle in Super Bowl XXX. He left the Steelers after the 1995 season and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars, where Searcy earned second-team All-Pro honors in his final season and made his only Pro Bowl.

Biggest Bust - 1996: Cowher and Donahoe needed to replace the departed Searcy in 1996, and they elected to pick Jamain Stephens, the 29th pick in the 1996 draft. Stephens started 11 games in two years for the Steelers. Pittsburgh was so impressed by his play after his second year they shipped him to the Cincinnati Bengals, where he started four games in three seasons. 

Cornerback

Most Recent - 2016: Kevin Colbert's only first-round selection at cornerback was Artie Burns. The Steelers have not dipped their toe back into the cornerback pool in the first round since. He is the only player in the position that Pittsburgh has taken in the first round during the 21st century.    

Most Successful - 1987: It doesn't get much better than picking a Hall of Fame player in the first round. Rod Woodson was everything the Steelers hoped for and more when they selected him with the 10th pick in the 1987 draft. He is arguably a top-three cornerback in NFL history, along with fellow Steelers legend Mel Blount and Deion Sanders.

Biggest Bust - 2016: The Steelers selected 10 cornerbacks in the 20th century, except Art Davis in 1956, who suffered a career-ending knee injury in his rookie season, and Bobby Gage in 1949, who retired after two seasons for a better job at a textile firm, all had solid NFL careers. The aforementioned Burns was a disaster and symptomatic of the roster rot that set in during the last decade of Colbert's tenure. 

Wide Receiver

Most Recent - 2006: Colbert might not be the best at drafting cornerbacks, but it is hard to argue that he was not great at identifying wide receiver talent. In 2006, he selected Santonio Holmes with the 25th pick in the first round. Holmes only spent four seasons in Pittsburgh but won a Super Bowl MVP and produced one of the most iconic moments in Steelers history with an incredible catch to win Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals. 

Most Successful - 1974: Pittsburgh has selected some dynamite wide receivers in the first round. Only one has made the Hall of Fame, Lynn Swann, who headlined the greatest draft in NFL history. Swann's acrobatic performance in Super Bowl X against the Dallas Cowboys is still iconic and well worth the watch on YouTube while fans are starving for NFL action.  

Biggest Bust - 1999: It is a testament to just how good the Steelers have been at picking wide receivers in the draft that only Troy Edwards could be called their lone bust out of eight first-round picks. The Steelers reached for Edwards from Louisiana Tech with the 13th pick in the 1999 draft. In fairness, it was a woefully thin draft at the position but a prime example of over-drafting a position of need, especially when Donald Driver was still hanging around in the seventh round and was arguably the next-best wide receiver after Torry Holt in the draft class.

Center

Most Recent and Most Successful - 2010: Tomlin and Colbert selected Maurkice Pouncey with the 18th pick in the 2010 NFL Draft. Pouncey is the only center the Steelers have ever picked in the first round. Pouncey was selected to the Pro Bowl in nine out of 10 seasons, and the only miss was his sophomore season, which was lost due to injury after one game. He was selected twice as a First Team All-Pro and named to the Second Team three more times. 

Pouncey should eventually end up in Canton when he becomes eligible to be elected. Will Jackson Powers-Johnson join him as the second first-round selection in franchise history at the position? Based on recent reports of the Oregon Ducks center sliding, he might be available when the Steelers go on the clock in round one. 

Steelers' Next Chapter Of Draft History Is Now In The Capable Hands Of Omar Khan

Khan's first draft class was impressive. It is too early to tell if any of the class will rise to Hall of Fame levels, but Jones, Joey Porter Jr, Keeanu Benton, Darnell Washington, and Nick Herbig played meaningful roles in helping the Steelers return to the playoffs. 

It will be a tough act to follow, considering that another successful draft class might cost Pittsburgh one of the best talent evaluators in the NFL, assistant general manager Weidl. If it helps the Steelers establish a base capable of winning playoff games, it is a price that most Steelers fans will be willing to pay.