Pittsburgh Steelers: Greatest Draft Class Of The Last 20 Years

The Pittsburgh Steelers are on quite a run of excellence. Mike Tomlin famously has not had a losing season as a head coach. A big part of this is how well the Steelers draft players. While Tomlin and his staff get the most out of them, Pittsburgh tends to hit on their picks more often than most. As the NFL Draft approaches, we ask the question, what is the greatest draft class for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the past 20 years?

Pittsburgh Steelers: Greatest Draft Class

There’s one weird thing about the draft classes of the past 20 years that even spreads to the one that I think is the greatest. A lot of the players the Steelers draft do good for two to three years on the team and then move on to other teams or flame out. Pittsburgh seems to draft, develop, and then let go and gain back compensatory picks. With that said, I settled on one class as the greatest draft class, 2017.

The 2017 Draft Class

Round 1: T.J. Watt OLB

Round 2: JuJu Smith-Schuster WR

Round 3: Cameron Sutton CB

Round 3: James Conner RB

Round 4: Joshua Dobbs QB

Round 5: Brian Allen DB

Round 6: Colin Holba LS

Round 7: Keion Adams OLB

Ignore rounds 5-7 as they did very little for the team. However, the Steelers nailed the first four rounds of this draft. While only one member of this class is still on the team, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the team drafted the talent.

T.J. Watt

It helps to bolster a draft class when you have one of the greatest defensive players in the league and possibly all-time. He has set the single-season sack record and is a player that teams have to game plan around. Even if all of the other picks were garbage Watt alone might propel a class into the top tier. The only knock would be his health, but a lot of that is simply dumb luck.

JuJu Smith-Schuster

The Steelers know how to draft wide receivers, and Smith-Schuster is another hit. He spent five seasons in Pittsburgh and caught for almost 4,000 yards while finding the endzone 26 times. Pittsburgh’s ability to find high-end wide receiver talent in the draft is likely why they do not pay top dollar to keep their guys around. However, this doesn’t mean Smith-Schuster is bad as he was just an important part of a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl team.

Cameron Sutton

I am a little surprised the Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t try to hang onto Sutton especially considering the reasonable contract he got from the Detroit Lions. While Sutton isn’t going to be the star of a secondary, he is a solid piece. The goal for every secondary is to not have someone that an offense can pick on. Sutton holds his ground and can play his assignment well.

James Conner

When the Le’Veon Bell saga was ongoing, a big part of why the Steelers refused to pay him was Conner. He came in and put up great numbers and was a solid part of the backfield. To get that kind of value in the third round is exactly what you want out of a running back. Conner fell victim to what most running backs fall to. The positional value isn’t there though he has found work around the league.

Josh Dobbs

I didn’t know whether to consider Dobbs, but the fact that the Titans decided to play him in a do-or-die game last season says he at least has some value. While that may have said more about Malik Willis than Dobbs, he still played fairly well in the game. Taking a flyer on a quarterback in the fourth round is exactly the kind of swing you want to make.

Other Possible Classes

The 2010 class was briefly considered. Maurkice Pouncey anchored the line for a long time, but the big one was the sixth-round Antonio Brown pick. While lately, he has gone off the rails, his time in Pittsburgh was special. Running back Jonathan Dwyer and wide receiver (surprise, surprise, another receiver) Emmanuel Sanders were also a part of this class. Ultimately, what set the 2011 class as the greatest draft class for the Pittsburgh Steelers was T.J. Watt.

The Steelers are in an odd spot right now, and it will be interesting to see how they approach the draft. The offense looks solid, but it could always use more weapons. The defense needs to add pieces around Watt in order to maximize his effectiveness. Keep an eye on whether they draft a receiver. That guy will probably go on to be the steal of the draft.