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Steelers first round picks of the modern era.

steelerscotty

steelerscotty

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These are our 1st round picks by Chuck Noll and fowrard. Ive given each pick a grade that is my opinion of how well they did as steelers. H=we hit well. Ranging from long term starters to pro-bowl/HOF. S=solid. Guys who were steady and more than just contributors. C=contributor. Maybe not what we hoped, but still had some value to the team. B=bust. Wether from injury or poor play. I=incomplete. I wouldnt even began to assign a real grade until year 3 is complete.

Once again these are just my opinions. Im sure we can all agree guys like Mean Joe=H. But what about a guy like Chad Scott? Surely he was no Rod Woodson but he wasnt a total bust either. I have him graded as an S. I gave DeCastro and Heyward both an S but i believe they will become an H's. We have actually done pretty well overall with our first round pics. H=13, S=13, C=6, B=11, I=2

STEELERS FIRST-ROUND DRAFT SELECTIONS (1969-2013)
YEAR NAME POSITION COLLEGE
1969 Joe Greene (4) DT North Texas State H.
1970 Terry Bradshaw (1) QB Louisiana Tech H.
1971 Frank Lewis (8) WR Grambling C.
1972 Franco Harris (13) RB Penn State H.
1973 James Thomas (24) DB Florida State S.
1974 Lynn Swann (21) WR Southern California H.
1975 Dave Brown (26) DB Michigan B.
1976 Bennie Cunningham (28) TE Clemson S.
1977 Robin Cole (21) LB New Mexico S.
1978 Ron Johnson (22) CB Eastern Michigan S.
1979 Greg Hawthorne (28) RB Baylor B.
1980 Mark Malone (28) QB Arizona State B.
1981 Keith Gary (17) DE Oklahoma C.
1982 Walter Abercrombie (12) RB Baylor B.
1983 Gabriel Rivera (21) NT Texas Tech B.
1984 Louis Lipps (23) WR Southern Mississippi H.
1985 Darryl Sims (20) DE Wisconsin B.
1986 John Reinstra (9) G Temple B.
1987 Rod Woodson (10) CB Purdue H.
1988 Aaron Jones (18) DE Eastern Kentucky C.
1989 (2) Tim Worley (7) RB Georgia B.
Tom Ricketts (24) OT Pittsburgh B.
1990 Eric Green (21) TE Liberty S.
1991 Huey Richardson (15) LB Florida B.
1992 Leon Searcy (11) OT Miami S.
1993 Deon Figures (23) CB Colorado H.
1994 Charles Johnson (17) WR Colorado C.
1995 Mark Bruener (27) TE Washington S.
1996 Jamain Stephens (29) OT North Carolina A&T B.
1997 Chad Scott (24) CB Maryland S.
1998 Alan Faneca (26) OG Louisiana State H.
1999 Troy Edwards (13 WR Louisiana Tech C.
2000 Plaxico Burress (8) WR Michigan State S.
2001 Casey Hampton (19) NT Texas H.
2002 Kendall Simmons (30) OG Auburn S.
2003 Troy Polamalu (16) S USC H.
2004 Ben Roethlisberger (11) QB Miami (Ohio) H.
2005 Heath Miller (30) TE Virginia H.
2006 Santonio Holmes (25) WR Ohio State S.
2007 Lawrence Timmons (15) LB Florida State H.
2008 Rashard Mendenhall (23) RB Illinois C.
2009 Ziggy Hood (32) DE Missouri B.
2010 Maurkice Pouncey (18) C Florida H.
2011 Cameron Heyward (31) DE Ohio State S.
2012 David DeCastro (24) OG Stanford S.
2013 Jarvis Jones (17) OLB Georgia I.
2014 Ryan Shazier (15) LB Ohio State I.
 
Thanks for the list. I Googled Tim Worley and found this from - http://www.steelers.com/news/articl...m-Worley/51823c12-9099-4200-9288-4361b2535db2

What kind of impact did Chuck Noll have on you?

Believe it or not Chuck Noll had a major impact on me. He epitomized hard work. I believe today you don’t see the type of strategy that Chuck Noll portrayed as far as our work habits, our practices. We went at it in practice. We went full speed in practice, hitting hard. In the games it was pretty simple to play because of that. Chuck Noll taught me a whole lot. He taught me toughness, patience, how to slow the game down and not just rely on my speed. He taught me about the mental part of the game. I have nothing but the utmost respect and honor for him. It was wonderful and amazing playing for the legend.

Chuck Noll was the guy who wanted to draft me. There was a statement made when I was in college that I reminded him of a young Jim Brown. When I heard that it blew my mind. When you hear these types of things, and I believe I had that much talent, but when your character doesn’t match your ability there are sabotage buttons all around you. Every time I felt like I was moving up the ladder, I would press the sabotage button because my character couldn’t handle the responsibility. That’s what happened.

Read the rest of it. Stand up guy. Know that Noll was a GREAT Coach.
 
Worley wasn't a bad player IMO but he wasn't a good fit for the team we had at the time, plus he was somewhat of a head case.
 
I think Bruener should be a hit. The guy was solid for years and a important piece in the run game. Deon Figures wasn't a hit. Guy wasn't much more than a nickel back and then he got shot in the knee. Charles Johnson is boarder lone a hit. He had a few pretty good seasons especially 98 after Yancy left.
 
I know Cowbert had hits from 2000 on in the first round, but to be fair, in his first 8 years, his picks were very average to below average other than Faneca.

1992 Leon Searcy (11) OT Miami S.
1993 Deon Figures (23) CB Colorado H.
1994 Charles Johnson (17) WR Colorado C.
1995 Mark Bruener (27) TE Washington S.
1996 Jamain Stephens (29) OT North Carolina A&T B.
1997 Chad Scott (24) CB Maryland S.
1998 Alan Faneca (26) OG Louisiana State H.
1999 Troy Edwards (13 WR Louisiana Tech C.
 
There a bunch of guys you can make an argument up or down, one way or the other. Overall we seem to do a pretty good in the 1st round, worse time was easily the 80's, two hits and mostly busts.
 
Cope said:
I know Cowbert had hits from 2000 on in the first round, but to be fair, in his first 8 years, his picks were very average to below average other than Faneca.

1992 Leon Searcy (11) OT Miami S.
1993 Deon Figures (23) CB Colorado H.
1994 Charles Johnson (17) WR Colorado C.
1995 Mark Bruener (27) TE Washington S.
1996 Jamain Stephens (29) OT North Carolina A&T B.
1997 Chad Scott (24) CB Maryland S.
1998 Alan Faneca (26) OG Louisiana State H.
1999 Troy Edwards (13 WR Louisiana Tech C.
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Stevens was a bust and toy edwards was the one that got us colbert and his predecessor fired. Cowher wanted Javon Kursk and instead got jaborni
 
Wingman said:
Stevens was a bust and toy edwards was the one that got us colbert and his predecessor fired. Cowher wanted Javon Kursk and instead got jaborni
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Are you ******* drunk? Lmao
 
Steelerfan81 said:
Are you ******* drunk? Lmao
Click to expand...

Not at this time.

After a stellar college career for North Carolina A&T, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round (29th overall) in the 1996 NFL Draft. Blessed with great size (6'6), the Steelers selected him as a "project" player and projected him to be a great starting tackle with several years of development.

Despite the lofty expectations placed on him by the Steelers, Stephens' career with the Steelers was marred by mediocrity and a poor work ethic on Stephens' part. Despite his lack of development, he managed to start ten games (he played in 11) for the Steelers in the 1998 season, beating out Paul Wiggins for the starting right tackle job in training camp.
1999 Training Camp Incident

Stephens is infamously known by Steelers fans for an incident that occurred on July 30, 1999 the first day of Steelers training camp. That day, a visibly out-of-shape Stephens (he appeared to be several pounds over his listed weight of 330 pounds) failed to complete a series of 40-yard runs that were traditional on the first day of camp under Bill Cowher. He nearly collapsed after the 11th of 14 scheduled runs, then barely walked through the remaining ones. Cowher was so disgusted by this embarrassing display that he cut Stephens hours later.[1]

Sounds like a bust to me.


Troy Edwards
His production in the NFL never approached his college numbers, even though Edwards had a decent rookie season with 61 catches for 744 yards and five touchdowns. He tallied just 18 and 19 catches, respectively, during the 2000-2001 seasons with no touchdowns. The Steelers picked wideout Plaxico Burress with their first-round pick in 2000, so Edwards was expendable. They sent him to the Rams for a future sixth-round pick.

Jevon Kearse was drafted by the Tennessee Titans as the 16th pick of the first round. On July 28, 1999, he signed a five-year, $6.1 million contract; however, according to NFLPA records he earned incentives that increased Kearse's compensation in his first five years to nearly $9 million.

In Kearse's debut game with the Titans, he helped them achieve a 36-35 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Steve McNair had been injured, and with backup quarterback Neil O'Donnell in his place, Kearse helped lead the Titans to win the next four out of five games. In the first month of his NFL career, he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month.

For all but one month of the season, he was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month, and ended up becoming NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year with the help of his rookie record-breaking performance with 14.5 sacks (which led the AFC) that year and forced eight fumbles, which also led the NFL. He also recorded 57 tackles and he batted away nine passes while also making seven of his tackles for losses. He accounted for two sacks (quarterback Rob Johnson) and two forced fumbles in the AFC Wild Card game vs. the Buffalo Bills. He was also credited with a safety in that game known as the "Music City Miracle." Kearse was also second in the balloting for the AP Defensive Player of the Year, losing out to Warren Sapp. He was a consensus All-Pro and was the first rookie defensive end in AFC history and the first rookie DE in the NFL since Detroit's Al "Bubba" Baker in 1978 to be named a Pro Bowl starter. That year the Titans made it to Super Bowl XXXIV in which he started, however they lost to the Kurt Warner-led St. Louis Rams.

Sorry spelled his name wrong but this is the player that brought the differences between Tom Donahoe and Cowher to a head and is responsible for the him or me choice we have all heard so much about over the years. Sorry if I was not clear earlier.

As to the rest of the picks there were 2 that were good Bruner and Searcy one great Faneca, and 3 average and two busts not really bad but that was the donahoe cowher picks.
 
I wasn't arguing your point. I was really asking if you were drunk. Stevens, Toy, and Kursk made me think so.
 
Steelerfan81 said:
I wasn't arguing your point. I was really asking if you were drunk. Stevens, Toy, and Kursk made me think so.
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Misunderstood arthritis has been bad I feel like I am typing while wearing baseball gloves sometimes and the pain is rather distracting. Now that I am on the same page as you I can see where you might think so LOL.
 
I remember screaming at my TV when we drafted Jamain Stephens. Mike Alstott, Mushin Muhammad, Tony Brackens, sitting there.

Also, that was the draft I wanted Leeland McElroy so I would not have done any better. Man, I loved watching him in college.
 
1980 Mark Malone (28) QB Arizona State B.
1982 Walter Abercrombie (12) RB Baylor B.

Were these guys busts? I thought they were at least contributors (but might have been to young to understand what was really going on back then)
Did Malone guide at least one of those 80's teams to the playoffs?
Was Abercrombie the main Rb during the 80's?
 
SteelVictory said:
1980 Mark Malone (28) QB Arizona State B.
1982 Walter Abercrombie (12) RB Baylor B.

Were these guys busts? I thought they were at least contributors (but might have been to young to understand what was really going on back then)
Did Malone guide at least one of those 80's teams to the playoffs?
Was Abercrombie the main Rb during the 80's?
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Malone was a slightly better than average QB, he just had the misfortune to follow Bradshaw. Also had a severe knee injury early in his career so he was not quite as good as he may have been.
People were expecting Abercrombie to be a breakaway running threat which was the rage at the time (Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, etc.), but that wasn't really his game. He was a serviceable starting RB, not great, not bad, pretty good at catching passes as I recall, but at that time our OL wasn't very good either. You might rank him a bust because he was a first round pick but if he were a second or third rounder then he doesn't look so bad.
 
Deion Figures a hit? I'd say C.

I think Santonio has to be a hit.

Abercrombie was a bust for being, I believe, #12 overall player taken. I was a huge fan of the pick though.
 
Cope said:
I know Cowbert had hits from 2000 on in the first round, but to be fair, in his first 8 years, his picks were very average to below average other than Faneca.

1992 Leon Searcy (11) OT Miami S.
1993 Deon Figures (23) CB Colorado H.
1994 Charles Johnson (17) WR Colorado C.
1995 Mark Bruener (27) TE Washington S.
1996 Jamain Stephens (29) OT North Carolina A&T B.
1997 Chad Scott (24) CB Maryland S.
1998 Alan Faneca (26) OG Louisiana State H.
1999 Troy Edwards (13 WR Louisiana Tech C.
Click to expand...

Amazing how much better they got early when he won the power struggle with Donahoe.
 
Ron Burgundy said:
Malone was a slightly better than average QB, he just had the misfortune to follow Bradshaw. Also had a severe knee injury early in his career so he was not quite as good as he may have been.
People were expecting Abercrombie to be a breakaway running threat which was the rage at the time (Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, etc.), but that wasn't really his game. He was a serviceable starting RB, not great, not bad, pretty good at catching passes as I recall, but at that time our OL wasn't very good either. You might rank him a bust because he was a first round pick but if he were a second or third rounder then he doesn't look so bad.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. The Bar is set higher for those drafted higher.
 
Troglodyte said:
Deion Figures a hit? I'd say C.

I think Santonio has to be a hit.

Abercrombie was a bust for being, I believe, #12 overall player taken. I was a huge fan of the pick though.
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I was a big Figures fan and he was one of our best CB's for a period of time. I would say a "C" is fair in this ranking system.

Abercrombie didn't pan out to be the next Franco, but I woudn't call him a bust either. I think "C" would be fair as well.

Santonio a "hit". Oh the irony
 
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