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Kevin Colbert's Drafts · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:01
SPEAKER_02: Hi everybody, welcome to the Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
0:04
SPEAKER_02: I am your co-host, Tim Hannon, and with me as always, I'm Steve Wert.
0:10
SPEAKER_02: And today we're going to talk about Kevin Colbert's drafts.
0:30
SPEAKER_02: So Kevin Colbert was the general manager of the Steelers for a long time.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: He oversaw 23 drafts for the Steelers and made a total of 183 draft picks.
0:41
SPEAKER_02: We're going to spend this time briefly going through each of those drafts.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: And because there are 183 picks, we're obviously not going to talk about every single guy that he picked.
0:51
SPEAKER_02: We're really going to focus only on the day one and day two picks from each of those drafts, aka the first three rounds.
0:59
SPEAKER_02: Because really, you know, in NFL drafts, those are those are really the the only rounds that matter.
1:04
SPEAKER_02: And then if you get kind of lucky later, then good for you.
1:08
SPEAKER_02: But we won't mention any names of relevance drafted in later rounds.
1:13
SPEAKER_01: James Connor would uh beg to differ, since I think he was a third round pick.
1:17
SPEAKER_01: I guess we'll find out.
1:19
SPEAKER_01: You will find out.
1:22
SPEAKER_02: So uh with that, let's let's jump right in.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: So Kevin Colbert is hired in the uh off season in 2000, right before the 2000 draft.
1:33
SPEAKER_02: And we we did a whole episode detailing kind of the um the context behind when Tom Donohoe was fired and and why Kevin Colbert was brought in.
1:42
SPEAKER_02: You can go back and listen to that episode for some of that background.
1:46
SPEAKER_02: But his first draft pick, his first draft, the Steelers actually have the number eight overall pick.
1:52
SPEAKER_02: And oddly enough, Steve, it's the highest draft pick that Kevin Colbert will get to make in his career as Steelers GM.
1:59
SPEAKER_02: So his very first pick is the highest pick he'll ever get to make.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: He'll never get to pick that high again.
2:05
SPEAKER_02: And going into that draft, tell me if this sounds like a familiar story.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: Going into that draft, the Steelers needed a quarterback, and there was a lot of buzz around which quarterback will they select or will they select a different position.
2:20
SPEAKER_02: And the quarterback that everybody had in mind was Chad Pennington for Marshall.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: The Steelers go a different route.
2:26
SPEAKER_02: They select wide receiver Plex Coburris from Michigan State.
2:30
SPEAKER_02: In the first round, Plex definitely had his moments with the Steelers.
2:34
SPEAKER_02: Um, I would argue he probably didn't live up to that number eight overall pick.
2:38
SPEAKER_02: In the second round, they select Marvell Smith.
2:41
SPEAKER_02: Uh Smith was a member of both Super Bowl teams, although he was injured for the second Super Bowl.
2:46
SPEAKER_02: And he did make a Pro Bowl in 2004.
2:49
SPEAKER_02: And then the third round, they took, they had two picks.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: They took Kedrick Clancy, a defensive tackle, and Hank Petit, a defensive back out of Pitt.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: Both of those guys did not amount to much.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: And in the later rounds, the fifth round, they got Clark Haggins, who was a starter and outside linebacker for several years, so they ended up being a pretty good pick.
3:07
SPEAKER_02: And then they had a second fifth round pick where they famously selected quarterback T.
3:11
SPEAKER_02: Martin out of Tennessee.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: And why that was kind of famous now is because they passed on Michigan quarterback Tom Brady instead.
3:20
SPEAKER_02: So that was the 2000 draft, Steve.
3:22
SPEAKER_02: Comments.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: Uh they didn't uh T Martin is the not Peyton Manning or Tom Brady, unfortunately, for T Martin.
3:30
SPEAKER_01: Although he's a pretty good offensive coordinator from what I hear in college, so it all worked out for T Martin.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh Kendrick Clancy was not good.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: Hank Moti was not as big as a bust as I think you make him out to be.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, it's a third round.
3:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's not, you know, you're not going to draft normally a Hall of Famer there, but he did play for New England for several years, and he was a pretty decent punt returner for the Steelers.
3:56
SPEAKER_01: But as a defensive back for the Steelers, he was not that great.
4:00
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I probably remember him as more of a bust because I was a huge fan of his at Pitt.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: He went to Pitt and uh thought he was really good, thought he had the potential to be like another Rod Woodson, and I was sorely mistaken.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: No, no, definitely nowhere near Rod Woodson.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: Maybe like Dechey Towns, not maybe Deche Townsend.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, maybe not quite even that.
4:22
SPEAKER_02: As a as a ceiling, yes, but he never he definitely did not ever live up to that, unfortunately.
4:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: And don't don't be too mad about the T.
4:30
SPEAKER_01: Martin because a lot of you know, San Francisco, who did San Francisco draft in this?
4:34
SPEAKER_01: Like somebody athlete horrible uh uh out of Hostra over Tom Brady in the first round.
4:40
SPEAKER_01: It's a joke who they drafted.
4:42
SPEAKER_02: So Yeah, T T Martin had won a national championship at Tennessee after Peyton Manning had left.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't like T Martin did nothing in college, but it was I don't understand the guy from Hostra.
4:54
SPEAKER_01: Like, what did you see?
4:55
SPEAKER_01: Like, this guy wasn't exactly Steve McNair.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it I don't know.
5:00
SPEAKER_01: He did nothing, too.
5:01
SPEAKER_01: Like they started Tim Rate out of Louisiana Tech over him.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: I don't know why I know so much about that guy, but just because I guess because it's like the Tom Brady, like San Francisco really set their organization back for years, not not drafting Tom Brady.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: Right.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, I mean you could make the same, I guess not that we set ourselves back years, but certainly things might have turned out differently.
5:25
SPEAKER_02: But that's the draft for you.
5:27
SPEAKER_02: Um Giovanni Carmisi is the guy you're thinking about.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: That's him, yeah.
5:31
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he is like a very Italian, like, yeah, we're drawing Giovanni Carmisi.
5:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
5:38
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna not throw the ball y.
5:43
SPEAKER_02: So that was Colbert's first draft.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: His second draft in 2001.
5:47
SPEAKER_02: Uh, the first round pick, they take a nose tackle out of Texas, a guy named Casey Hampton.
5:53
SPEAKER_02: Hampton ends up being a five-time Pro Bowler.
5:56
SPEAKER_02: He's later named to the Steelers all-time team.
5:59
SPEAKER_02: He's a uh borderline Hall of Famer, I would say.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so that was a pretty good pick.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: And then the second round, the Steelers select Kendrell Bell, a linebacker, uh, who, you know, uh that was another like gangbuster pick because Bell ended up being the defensive rookie of the year that year.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but injuries really limited how long he was good.
6:21
SPEAKER_02: He's really only good for about a year and change, and then he just never really did anything again in the NFL.
6:27
SPEAKER_02: So really good pick for a very, very short amount of time.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: Um, one thing of note in this draft, oh, and they didn't have a third-round pick, and and there's nobody of note later.
6:37
SPEAKER_02: One thing of note in this draft, they traded down for Hampton, uh, and they traded up for Bell, and their third round pick was actually forfeited.
6:48
SPEAKER_02: That's why they didn't have a third-round pick.
6:50
SPEAKER_02: The NFL took it away.
6:51
SPEAKER_02: And there's an interesting story behind that, but I'll I'll save that for a different episode.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: He played special teams for a little while, didn't he?
6:59
SPEAKER_01: Or was he always like a backup?
7:00
SPEAKER_01: I I vaguely remember that guy.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: He was a center.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was he was the fifth-round pick that year.
7:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: I vaguely remember him playing here and there.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: But Casey Hampton is way better than all the other people that like get worshipped at nose tackle.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: And I'll take that to my yeah, I'll take that to the mattresses for Mr.
7:21
SPEAKER_01: Hampton there, because like he was definitely way better than Ted Washington or Albert Haynesworth, or I name name like uh who is Vince Wilfork.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: He know Vince Wilfork wishes he was Casey Hampton.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he just he was way better than any of those guys, and he's probably not gonna make the Hall of Fame because you know there's too many Steelers, uh whatever.
7:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it it I think there's a good argument for him to be there.
7:51
SPEAKER_02: Um of course we're a little biased, but um, definitely a really good draft.
7:56
SPEAKER_02: So at this point, Colbert's uh on a certain of the, you know, because I think the 2000 draft he just came in, right?
8:03
SPEAKER_02: So the 2001 draft is probably his first one he can really put his stamp on.
8:08
SPEAKER_02: He follows that up in 2002 uh with the first round pick is Kendall Simmons, a guard, who, you know, that solid player, had a lot of injuries that kind of limited him.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: He was a starter on the Super Bowl 40 team, and that was a really good offensive line.
8:24
SPEAKER_02: And then the second round, they take Antoine Randall L, who was a quarterback in college, but the Steelers draft him as a wide receiver.
8:31
SPEAKER_02: And Randall L was always a an okay wide receiver, but the other stuff he did, uh trick plays and things like that, end up being huge later on for the Steelers.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: And then the third round, they take a safety, Chris Hope, who is also a solid starter for several years and is also a starter on that Super Bowl 40 team.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: And then for the later round picks, they they strike gold in the later round too.
8:55
SPEAKER_02: The fourth round, they take Larry Foote.
8:57
SPEAKER_02: He starts on both Super Bowl teams at linebacker, and then way down at the very end of the draft, pick number 242, they take Brett Keisel, the beard out of BYU.
9:10
SPEAKER_02: So uh you can already see even in his first three drafts, Colbert's really laying the foundation of that team that's going to go on and and make it to three Super Bowls.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: What how many draft picks do they have total?
9:25
SPEAKER_01: Like eight?
9:26
SPEAKER_01: Is there eight?
9:27
SPEAKER_01: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: And four or five of those guys ended up being like really solid players, if not really good.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: Like I think I think you're underrating Randall a little bit.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: He was a really good wide receiver.
9:41
SPEAKER_01: Like the slot, he wasn't a like outside, but in that slot role he played, he was really good.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: Then, like you said, that when you could add in the trick plays, that I don't know.
9:50
SPEAKER_01: I I thought he was better than average, like I mean, maybe top 10 at slot receiver if there is such a ranking, you know.
9:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he was at least as good as Brandon Stokely or any of those people that you know played for the Patriots as slot wide receiver.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: Chris Hope was solid.
10:10
SPEAKER_01: I he was like a good like player.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: I think the guy they're gonna get later is better than him, but he was good.
10:18
SPEAKER_01: And Larry Foote ended up playing well.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: And I I thought Kendrill Simmons was was a solid pick.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: So that was a pretty good draft.
10:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, LeVar Glover didn't work out, but hey.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: They're not all home runs here, right?
10:31
SPEAKER_02: Well, and and two things to note.
10:34
SPEAKER_02: Number one, the Steelers in the year before I made it to the AFC Championship game.
10:39
SPEAKER_02: So Kendall Simmons was was picked number four.
10:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, pick number thirty, and Randall was pick number sixty-two.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: And then the second thing is um Randall, in addition to to playing wide receiver and all the trick plays, was also a pretty effective kick returner, too.
10:53
SPEAKER_02: So don't want to leave that out.
10:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he returned the punt for a touchdown, I think.
10:59
SPEAKER_02: At least once or twice.
11:00
SPEAKER_02: I remember the the Detroit game in 2005, him doing that.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: I I I could I don't have it in front of me how many.
11:07
SPEAKER_02: But I but you know that even just getting field position, even if he didn't return it all the way, he was pretty effective in that role, too.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: 2003 is definitely um a year that stands out uh because in the first round the Steelers trade up, and as a result, they don't actually have a lot of picks in this draft.
11:28
SPEAKER_02: They only have five picks in the draft.
11:30
SPEAKER_02: But they they make a gamble, they trade up, and boy, does it pay off because they they make a trade to get a defensive back out of USC named Troy Palomalu.
11:41
SPEAKER_02: And uh and boy, you know, do the Steelers do the Steelers go on to have those great defenses without Troy Palomalu.
11:48
SPEAKER_02: It it's hard to foresee that happening.
11:52
SPEAKER_02: Um that might be it probably the guy picked the year after is the most important pick of Golbert's career, but you could definitely make an argument that Troy is is number two on that list.
12:03
SPEAKER_02: Uh the second round, however, is the complete opposite.
12:07
SPEAKER_02: They select Alonzo Jackson, a linebacker from Florida State, and boy, is he just the worst.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: Um, so so it's funny.
12:15
SPEAKER_02: In the first round, you might have probably a top three all-time pick for Colbert, and then the second round you probably have a bottom three all-time pick for Colbert and Alonzo Jackson.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: There's no third round pick, and then the fourth round, they take Ike Taylor, who you know is really the best, the team's best cornerback for the next decade.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: So that ends up being a huge pick as well.
12:38
SPEAKER_02: And then, like I said, they only have five picks.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: The next few picks uh don't really do anything.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: But Brian St.
12:42
SPEAKER_02: Pierre is in that draft, and uh he ends up being impersonated very famously by a uh a fan who wanted to pick up girls and thought, well, nobody's gonna believe I'm Ben Rothesberger or Tommy Maddox.
12:55
SPEAKER_02: But if I say I'm Brian St.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: Pierre, they probably won't know who that is.
12:58
SPEAKER_02: They might recognize the name, but not the face.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: So that was a very famous story.
13:02
SPEAKER_02: The guy pretending to go around being Brian St.
13:04
SPEAKER_02: Pierre to pick up women.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: Obviously, before like smartphones, and you could easily disprove this fact.
13:12
SPEAKER_01: Right.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: But it was an interesting I I give them uh A for uh cunning and effort.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, I will say this like they in if you figure in a lot these two drafts, 2000-2000, they basically rebuilt their whole defensive secondary.
13:28
SPEAKER_01: Like, and all three of those guys ended up working out and they won a Super Bowl with all three of them.
13:35
SPEAKER_01: So I mean that's that's that's really good in two drafts to like basically totally they totally because that was the weakest.
13:42
SPEAKER_01: Remember, like we've said that so many times over the course of our podcast, how weak our past defense was, and he basically rebuilt it in two seasons.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, that's a that's a great point.
13:54
SPEAKER_02: We did an episode about the 2002 team that that was led by Tommy Maddox, and and that team just got shredded through the air, absolutely shredded.
14:04
SPEAKER_02: There were so many games that the Steelers had to win that year, you know, 37 to 34 or something like that, because they just couldn't stop teams from passing.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: And and you're right, I didn't even think about that.
14:15
SPEAKER_02: Three of the four defensive back starters on the Super Bowl team in 2005 of a good secondary all came in these two drafts.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: And then there's gonna be another one coming up in another year or two.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be the final piece, kind of.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, they still have DeShea Townsend, which was not a Colbert draft pick.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was pre-Culbert.
14:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:40
SPEAKER_02: Well, the 2004 draft, hey, we actually just did an episode on the 2004 draft.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: And the first guy picked uh quarterback out of Miami, Ohio, Ben Rothisberger.
14:50
SPEAKER_02: I guess he was okay.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, obviously that was like I said, I think that has to stick out as the as the most important pick of the Colbert era, the best pick of the Colbert era.
15:03
SPEAKER_02: Uh the it's it's the Steelers just aren't the Steelers without Ben.
15:06
SPEAKER_02: They don't win two Super Bowls without Ben.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: Alonzo Jackson.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: I mean, come on.
15:12
SPEAKER_02: They don't do any of this without Ben.
15:14
SPEAKER_02: So that's huge.
15:16
SPEAKER_02: And just like the previous year, the second round is a stark, stark contrast because they select a defensive back from Tuscaloosum named Ricardo Coakley.
15:27
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, it He was bad.
15:31
SPEAKER_02: He was really bad.
15:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the thing I remember about Coakley, so so first of all, the Steelers trade it trade up with the Colts to get him.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: And the guy that the Colts drafted with the Steelers' original pick, Steve, it's Bob Sanders, who's a future NF NFL defensive player of the year.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: They already had both their safety, so I guess I I guess you can't have Bob Sanders and Troy Paul Moe in the same back, it's just not gonna work.
15:56
SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
15:57
SPEAKER_02: Fair.
15:58
SPEAKER_02: It's just it's just that that's who they picked.
16:00
SPEAKER_02: Like we traded up and they traded down to take Bob Sanders, we traded up to take Ricardo Coakley.
16:07
SPEAKER_02: And and this guy, the thing I remember the most about him was um so number one, he wasn't very good defensive back, but in in 2006, two years after this, Coward just insisted on using him as a punt returner, and I I could never understand why.
16:24
SPEAKER_02: He was not a good punt returner.
16:26
SPEAKER_02: And they're playing the Bengals at home, and they're winning, and and Coakley tries to field a punt deep in his own territory in the fourth quarter, and he bobbles it, and he and he tried and he tries to pick it up and run, and then he fumbles it a second time, and the Bengals recover and they score, and that's the end of the game.
16:45
SPEAKER_02: So that was just to me, that summarized that guy's whole career in that one play.
16:50
SPEAKER_02: Uh the third round, the Steelers select Max Starks from Florida, uh, another guy that's a really solid presence on the offensive line for years to come.
17:00
SPEAKER_02: And then nobody really of note in the later rounds.
17:03
SPEAKER_02: Seriously, whoa.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: Ouch.
17:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's later rounds.
17:07
SPEAKER_02: They got two people out of that draft.
17:11
SPEAKER_02: They did, but the guy that got in the first round, I mean, you could have got one person and it wouldn't have mattered because they got the guy that got in the first.
17:20
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
17:22
SPEAKER_02: 2005, uh, another year where they have a low pick because they had made the AFC championship game the year before.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: And with the 30th pick overall, they draft Heath Miller, the tight end from Virginia.
17:36
SPEAKER_02: Heath is obviously another great pick, becomes a the uh just a fixture in the offense for years to come.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: The second round they take Bryant McFadden, who is a defensive back, another really um good.
17:50
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if that's the guy you're referring to, Steve.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: Is like the puzzle.
17:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like and it's weird, they just keep looking like every draft you've done so far, like in the first or second round, they've dra well in the second round, they've drafted all defensive backs.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: They just keep going like you see, like it was Petit, then it was, you know, um, what's his name?
18:12
SPEAKER_01: Paul Malo, and then you know, it's just then Coakley, and they they just kept like, okay, and Chris Hope.
18:19
SPEAKER_01: It's just like they kept defend drafting defensive backs, and it finally paid off here.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: Like they finally had the missing piece.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: Ike Taylor, Brian McFadden, Chris Hope.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, and then throw town Deshay Townsend was you know pretty solid too when they moved him like as that third or fourth defensive back.
18:38
SPEAKER_02: So it worked out.
18:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
18:41
SPEAKER_02: It did.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: Third round is Trey Essex, a tackle.
18:45
SPEAKER_02: He was he was a fairly good utility guy who kind of filled in whenever there was injuries.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: And then in the later rounds, nobody really of note again.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh Chris Kiamatu, the sixth-round pick, uh guard, did eventually become a starter, uh, although I'll never really be quite sure why.
19:03
SPEAKER_02: Um he's the guy that he's the guy that got the holding penalty on the on the uh final drive of Super Bowl 43 to start the drive off.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: I thought he I thought he was on that offensive line, which that was terrible.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: That was a terrible offensive line.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: Outside of Max Starks, who was okay, you know, good.
19:20
SPEAKER_02: I mean, but so yeah, so 2005, uh, that's also the year that the Steelers uh win that their um fifth Super Bowl.
19:31
SPEAKER_02: And again, you can see from these drafts the years before how this all sort of came together, turned them from a a very mediocre team, actually bad team in the late 90s, to a contender to an eventual Super Bowl champion.
19:45
SPEAKER_02: So already by this point, I think Cobert's really building a legacy.
19:49
SPEAKER_02: 2006, he follows that up.
19:52
SPEAKER_02: Uh, the first round pick is Santonio Holmes, the wide receiver from Iowa State.
19:58
SPEAKER_02: Uh, that's obviously a huge pick.
20:00
SPEAKER_02: Holmes does not have a real long career as a stealer, but I I will argue to this day that there's no way we win that second Super Bowl without Santonio Holmes.
20:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it wasn't just him making that catch in the end zone either.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: It was that whole season and postseason.
20:15
SPEAKER_02: You know, he caught the pass to beat the Ravens in Baltimore that gave us the division.
20:21
SPEAKER_02: He crushed San Diego in the playoffs.
20:23
SPEAKER_02: He uh was huge in the AFC championship game.
20:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he just led the way that year.
20:28
SPEAKER_02: So Santonio Holmes was just a huge pick.
20:31
SPEAKER_02: There's no second-round pick in 2006.
20:34
SPEAKER_02: They have two third-round picks who are both bad.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: Uh Anthony Smith, a defensive back, whose most famous moment was uh trash talking the Patriots and Tom Brady the week before they played them, the year they were undefeated.
20:50
SPEAKER_02: And when Tom Brady smoked him very easily in the end zone, Brady even went up and said something to him.
20:57
SPEAKER_02: I can't even imagine what that was.
20:59
SPEAKER_02: And then uh Willie Reed, a wide receiver from Florida State, who was supposed to be a good kick returner, but wasn't.
21:05
SPEAKER_02: So those weren't really good picks.
21:07
SPEAKER_02: Later rounds, fourth round, they got Willie Cologne, uh, who's an offensive lineman, who, you know, for a fourth round pick, you know, he lasted a while.
21:14
SPEAKER_02: He started a lot of games.
21:16
SPEAKER_02: He was average, but not bad for a fourth round pick, a guy that they were able to plug in and be useful.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: It's crazy.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: Like out of these drafts, you look at him, and there's like maybe one or two good players.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: Like Anthony Smith, like I remember I I saw him play in college, and he was not he was okay, but I never thought he was anything special.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, that that's that's another like the first pick was good.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: I guess like it seems like the way it goes in these drafts.
21:47
SPEAKER_01: If you get like one good pick, you're doing pretty, you know, you're doing pretty well.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: It depends how good that pick is, too, right?
21:56
SPEAKER_02: Like yeah.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: Casey Hampton, Troy Pulamalu, Ben Rosberger, Heath Miller, Santonio Holmes.
22:05
SPEAKER_02: I mean, these are these are you know, they these are these aren't just guys like like Chris Hope, like you mentioned Chris Hope.
22:12
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that guy was a very solid safety, good starter, right?
22:16
SPEAKER_02: But if you had all Chris Hope's, you wouldn't have won two Super Bowls, right?
22:21
SPEAKER_02: Right.
22:22
SPEAKER_02: Right.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of it's just kind of weirder is like like look, they're they drafted another defensive back.
22:29
SPEAKER_01: How many defensive backs do they do?
22:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the the thing with defensive backs, um, that'll be a trend, especially when we get into like the the 2010s, uh, because they're trying to sort of do the same thing then as is rebuild that defensive backfield.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: 2007 is an interesting year because that is Mike Tomlin's first year as Steeler head coach.
22:52
SPEAKER_02: So Bill Cower has retired at this point, and Mike Tomlin is hired, and and really his first initiation into being the Steelers coach is you know, having input on this 2007 draft.
23:06
SPEAKER_02: And this is another pretty good draft.
23:08
SPEAKER_02: The first round they take Lawrence Timmins, linebacker from Florida State.
23:13
SPEAKER_02: He's a starter and inside linebacker for literally the next decade, and a pretty good one, too.
23:18
SPEAKER_02: I think Lawrence Timmons is one of the more underrated players in Steeler history.
23:22
SPEAKER_02: You know, he'll never go down as an all-time great or ring of honor kind of guy, probably.
23:28
SPEAKER_02: But he was very, very good for a long period of time.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: And then in the second round, kind of the opposite, another guy that was really good, but but probably better than Timmins, but for a much shorter period of time, was Lamar Woodley, who was an outside linebacker, a really good pass rusher.
23:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh and again, his his greatness was was a little short-lived, but boy, in his years where he was really good, he was he was dominant.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that defense, yeah, that defense.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: Him and when you had him and Harrison, that's I don't know, you could argue that all day.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: I think we have.
24:00
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
24:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh the third round, Matt Space, the tight end, did not really do all that much.
24:06
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then for later rounds, the fourth round, the Stewart's actually actually draft a punter from Baylor named Daniel Sepulveda.
24:14
SPEAKER_02: And I remember that, Steve, that was very controversial at the time.
24:17
SPEAKER_02: What are you doing taking a punter in the fourth round?
24:20
SPEAKER_02: You jagoffs.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: I mean, people were really, really fired up about that pick.
24:25
SPEAKER_02: And the argument at the time was, well, you know, uh a punter can really change field position if you have a guy that is a solid punter for you know the next amount of years, then that could really be a uh a weapon.
24:38
SPEAKER_02: Unfortunately, Sepulveda doesn't prove all the doubters wrong because he's often hurt and does not really amount to much.
24:47
SPEAKER_01: He was a good punter.
24:48
SPEAKER_01: He just got hurt.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: Like I remember I just remember he always seemed like he was hurt.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: But like when he punted, he wasn't bad.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: He was good.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: But like you said, like it's not like a field goal kicker.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: Like a field goal kicker can like win you games.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: Like that Tucker for Baltimore, like you know when you play defense against Baltimore at the end of the game, if they get inside the 50, it's like there's a good chance he's gonna make that kick.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: So but a punter, I don't know.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: I don't think a punter has I'd rather, I mean, not that like you look at the other people at the back.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: Well, I don't want to say Willie Gay, you know, in the fifth round.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: That's that ended up being a good pick, but most nine times out of ten, there really aren't that many like impactful players.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: I I'm just I can't that's like we're not even halfway through, and I can't even believe like how little like there's like all these players just at the back half of the draft, and we're not even doing all of them, really, right?
25:45
SPEAKER_01: There's just so many people that just did nothing.
25:47
SPEAKER_01: It's like it's kind of crazy.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: That's I mean, that's the NFL draft.
25:52
SPEAKER_02: There's seven rounds, and there used to be more.
25:54
SPEAKER_02: There used to be like like uh even as recently as the 80s, I think there were like 12 rounds.
26:00
SPEAKER_02: So, I mean that the NFL drafts were just littered with late-round guys that never did anything.
26:06
SPEAKER_02: Uh like you said, the fifth round, William Gay, that ends up being a good pick.
26:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh, because big play Willie Gay is around for a long time.
26:15
SPEAKER_02: And as we detailed in our fun facts episode, uh is tied for the Steeler record for most pick sixes in Steeler history.
26:24
SPEAKER_02: So whenever that guy made plays, he he made big plays.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: Is that him and Rod Woodson?
26:30
SPEAKER_01: It has to be him.
26:31
SPEAKER_01: It is, yeah.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: He's tied with Rod Woodson.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: That's the only time you ever say their names in the same that, or you say who are Steelers.
26:39
SPEAKER_01: That's about the only time you say Willie Gay and Rod Woodson in the same sentence.
26:43
SPEAKER_02: I I always like that trivia question because it's a really hard one.
26:46
SPEAKER_02: You would, you know, because you would want to answer, like, I don't know, Donnie Shell, Melbourne, Troy.
26:51
SPEAKER_02: You know, it has to be somebody like that.
26:53
SPEAKER_02: Carnell Lake.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: It's nope, it's big play Willie Gay.
26:58
SPEAKER_02: So up to this point, really, Colbert is making a lot of really good picks.
27:03
SPEAKER_02: Uh again, the Steelers are a dominant team during this era.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: I think, though, uh, starting with this next draft, 2008, this is where things start to go a little bit south.
27:16
SPEAKER_02: And if you want to, you know, it it drafts take a few years to pan out, right?
27:22
SPEAKER_02: So if you want to look a few years ahead to like that 2012-2013 kind of mediocrity time that they had, I think these drafts are where you start.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: And it's funny because the Steelers have two eras where they made multiple Super Bowls, right?
27:37
SPEAKER_02: They have the 70s where they made four Super Bowls, and they and then they have the 2000s where they made three Super Bowls.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: And if you look at the 1970s and you look at the drafts uh at the end of that decade and then into the start of the early 1980s, even when they were still winning Super Bowls, they're not drafting guys to replace the aging stars.
28:00
SPEAKER_02: And at this point in 2008, history starts to repeat itself.
28:05
SPEAKER_02: So the first round pick that year is a running back from Illinois, Richard Mendenhall.
28:10
SPEAKER_02: And we've talked about Mendenhall before.
28:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it it's tough.
28:16
SPEAKER_02: His career is a little tough because people he's so easy to get mad at.
28:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh there was a recent thing that came out where he said that the fumble in the Super Bowl wasn't his fault.
28:27
SPEAKER_02: And uh there was a thing way back when where he defended like Osama bin Laden.
28:32
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it he just was an easy guy to dislike in general, but he also really never took really lived up to that promise of a first-round pick.
28:40
SPEAKER_02: He he had moments, he definitely had his moments, but he was not um that stalwart running back that the Steelers drafted him to be.
28:48
SPEAKER_02: And then in the second round, they take a wide receiver named Lima Sweet, who was supposed to be this tall receiver.
28:54
SPEAKER_02: That was a big thing then.
28:56
SPEAKER_02: You had guys like um you know Calvin Johnson and people like that, Randy Moss, these these guys that could just get positioned and you could just throw the ball up deep, and didn't matter if they recovered, they could still make the catch.
29:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, Limas wasn't one of those guys, even though that's what he was projected to be.
29:12
SPEAKER_02: In fact, his most memorable moment was dropping a pass where he was wide open in an AFC championship game that year, and then pretending to be hurt afterwards.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: And then in the third round, they draft Bruce Davis, a linebacker.
29:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and there's no record of him ever actually playing in a game in the NFL.
29:32
SPEAKER_02: I I remember him being drafted.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: I don't yeah, I don't wow.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: He was a third round pick.
29:39
SPEAKER_01: I mean, wow, those third round picks, huh?
29:42
SPEAKER_01: Even Dennis Dixon and Ryan Monday, who were drafted later, had much better careers in the NFL than Bruce Davis.
29:51
SPEAKER_01: Or Lima Swede.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think Dixon ended up starting somewhere else after he started here, didn't he?
29:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he started here because Ben was suspended and Charlie Batch was hurt.
30:04
SPEAKER_02: So I mean, starting, I would put in air quotes, but you know.
30:09
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, just just again, like I said, this is really and this is really the first draft that you can look at and not pick out like a wow, what a great, you know, you said it before, Steve, like one or two really good picks, and this is really the first draft where you're like, hmm, that didn't happen.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh that continues into the next year, 2009.
30:32
SPEAKER_02: The first round pick.
30:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
30:35
SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe not as bad as you think.
30:38
SPEAKER_02: Well, so let's go through it.
30:39
SPEAKER_02: The first round pick is Ziggy Hood, uh, the defensive end.
30:43
SPEAKER_02: And now, granted, this is again a year after they won the Super Bowl, so this was the 32nd pick.
30:48
SPEAKER_02: So keep that in mind.
30:49
SPEAKER_02: You know, Colbert is always drafting low in these drafts because the Steelers are always uh contenders.
30:55
SPEAKER_02: So that's not an easy pick when you're drafting all the way down to 32, but Ziggy Hood was a huge bust.
31:01
SPEAKER_02: There's no second round pick, but the Steelers have three third-round picks.
31:05
SPEAKER_02: The the first pick in that third round is Craig Erbeck, a tackle who never plays in the NFL.
31:11
SPEAKER_02: Uh, the second pick is Mike Wallace, a wide receiver, who, you know, another guy that for a time really had um some stardom.
31:21
SPEAKER_02: He was a great deep threat, really fast, uh, but you know, didn't didn't last all that long.
31:28
SPEAKER_02: And then Keenan Lewis was a defensive back who I always thought was really good, and who the Steelers gave up way too early on, and ended up being pretty decent for New Orleans.
31:38
SPEAKER_02: Uh so some, and then nobody really of note in the later rounds.
31:42
SPEAKER_02: So some some not a complete bust of a draft, but Keenan Lewis didn't work out for us.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: And Mike Wallace, it was pretty short-lived, and then he wanted all this money, and he really wasn't worth it, and he proved that when he went elsewhere.
31:57
SPEAKER_02: So, again, not not a great draft here either.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: I think Mike Wallace is a solid pick, and that's what in the third round.
32:07
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, he was really fast, but he never really developed completely, at least with the Steelers, to like where you thought he could be, you know.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: He just was, like you said, just kind of always a really fast guy, and he never developed the rest of his like game beyond like go that way as fast as you can, you know.
32:27
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a that's pretty accurate.
32:30
SPEAKER_02: So so again, some of these drafts now starting to peter out a little bit, and you can see why a few years after this, they're they're not that competitive anymore.
32:39
SPEAKER_02: 2010, uh things pick up in the first round again.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: They take Marquise Pouncey, a center from Florida.
32:47
SPEAKER_02: Pouncey is a nine-time Pro Bowler.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he is almost, I I don't know, Steve, probably gonna be in the Hall of Fame, I would think.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: I guess.
32:58
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure.
32:59
SPEAKER_02: I I I I mean, he he's definitely in the con in the in the conversation.
33:04
SPEAKER_02: Right.
33:04
SPEAKER_01: How many centers can the Steelers have in the Hall of Fame?
33:07
SPEAKER_01: I guess I guess it's gonna be three here.
33:10
SPEAKER_02: It it it it probably should be.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
33:13
SPEAKER_02: So that's that's a really good pick.
33:15
SPEAKER_02: The second round, not so much.
33:16
SPEAKER_02: It's Jason Rolds, uh the linebacker from Virginia Tech.
33:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh he's a bust, and he retires very suddenly at the age of 27 for reasons that are still unknown.
33:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh some people thought um it was because he was a Jehovah's Witness and and wanted to um get more deeply involved with his faith there.
33:37
SPEAKER_02: But he never really explains why he just sort of up and retires.
33:41
SPEAKER_02: Uh third round is Emmanuel Sanders, Emmanuel Sanders, a wide receiver, who's uh ends up being a really solid wide receiver who I believe is still in the league today, at least he was this previous season for Buffalo.
33:55
SPEAKER_02: So he actually has a really long career.
33:56
SPEAKER_02: Again, sort of similar to Wallace.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: Uh only a few of those years are with the Steelers.
34:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but that was a pretty good pick in the third round.
34:05
SPEAKER_02: And then later on in the draft, um, this is another probably top three pick for Colbert, especially because it doesn't come until the sixth round.
34:13
SPEAKER_02: It's uh Antonio Brown, who ends up becoming the best wide receiver in the history of the team.
34:20
SPEAKER_02: And the Steelers get him at pick number 195 in the sixth round.
34:25
SPEAKER_02: So after two kind of down drafts, I think Colbert really starts to rebuild at this point.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there it well the reason they I think they kind of took a flyer on Brown there because like he was such like I think their reason he fell to the sixth round that the all the you know off the field stuff, he even I mean, did he got kicked out of a couple schools before he ended up at Central Michigan?
34:53
SPEAKER_01: Correct, didn't he?
34:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I mean, but they like a sixth-round pick, it's like, well, take a chance, maybe he works out, maybe he doesn't.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: You know, you've seen you know, you ain't really losing much.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: So uh, hey, yeah, that that is a good draft.
35:10
SPEAKER_01: And uh Pouncy, Sanders, and Brown, that's that's solid.
35:13
SPEAKER_02: I mean, not not too much else going on in there, but uh some guys that would definitely uh pick up the the slack for you know some of those stars from the previous decade getting older.
35:27
SPEAKER_01: I do remember Stevenson Sylvester for some reason.
35:30
SPEAKER_01: I remember that name.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if he played any, but the sixth round pick out of Utah or no fifth round pick out of Utah.
35:39
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, good good on you.
35:41
SPEAKER_02: I do not remember him.
35:47
SPEAKER_02: The 2011 draft, the first round pick that year.
35:50
SPEAKER_02: So this is another year where they're coming off of a Super Bowl.
35:52
SPEAKER_02: So they have the number 31 overall pick because they had lost that Super Bowl.
35:56
SPEAKER_02: And they take Cam Hayward, defensive end from Ohio State.
36:01
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, Steve, is it safe to call him an all-time great stealer at this point?
36:05
SPEAKER_02: I think it is.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: I never know what the like, I don't know.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, he's definitely good, and I think he's like Steeler, like like he's definitely gonna be one of the better players, like Steeler Ring of Honor, but Hall of Fame, I don't know.
36:19
SPEAKER_02: I no, I I don't I don't think Hall of Fame.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: I I I yeah, I said all-time great stealer.
36:25
SPEAKER_02: So like Ring of Honor, yes, Hall of Fame.
36:27
SPEAKER_02: I I doubt it.
36:29
SPEAKER_01: I I'd never like that there's been some times when they were so bad against the run with him in their defense, like him making tackles five yards down the field.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, I'm glad you made that tackle, but that's not really what you're supposed to be doing.
36:44
SPEAKER_01: And he's a good player.
36:46
SPEAKER_01: Maybe just the people around him are haven't been that great, and it's you know tough to play defensive line by yourself.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: We're not all Aaron Donald, I guess.
36:57
SPEAKER_02: Fair.
36:59
SPEAKER_02: Uh the second round they take a tackle, Marcus Gilbert.
37:02
SPEAKER_02: Uh, he's he's pretty good.
37:04
SPEAKER_02: He's actually a starter for much of the 2010s, so that's a pretty solid pick.
37:08
SPEAKER_02: Third round is Curtis Brown at defensive back, who only plays in seven games, and then the rest of the draft is not really anything to speak of.
37:16
SPEAKER_02: So um again, you know, starting to uh get some some decent players, not quite the drafts he was having in the early 2000s, but um but but starting to get some decent players after after those bad drafts in the late 2000s.
37:33
SPEAKER_02: 2012 is another really solid first-round pick.
37:37
SPEAKER_02: It's David DeCastro, guard from Stanford.
37:41
SPEAKER_02: Uh he ends up being a six-time pro bowler, and you could probably make an argument that he's the best guard in the history of the team, other than Alan Fanica.
37:51
SPEAKER_02: Um I think you could easily make that argument.
37:53
SPEAKER_02: So DeCastro ends up being a huge pick and really solidifies the offensive line, uh, especially when you paired him next to the bouncy pick from two years earlier.
38:05
SPEAKER_02: One guy that does not help solidify the offensive line, a second round pick, Mike Adams, he was a tackle.
38:11
SPEAKER_02: He's a bust.
38:12
SPEAKER_02: Uh, his most famous moment came in a uh game that the Steelers were playing in London against the Minnesota Vikings, where Jared Allen of the Vikings just destroyed him, made three sacks, was all over Rothesburger because Adams could not block.
38:29
SPEAKER_02: And then the third round was another bust who was always hurt, linebacker named Sean Spence.
38:34
SPEAKER_02: Uh some other notable picks in this draft.
38:36
SPEAKER_02: In the fifth round, the Steelers select Chris Rainey, who was like a uh sort of a scatback guy that they drafted to return kicks, but he never really returned kicks.
38:47
SPEAKER_02: And then in the seventh round, and that'll be a trend by the way, that won't be the last time they do that and fail.
38:53
SPEAKER_02: And then in the seventh round, they select Calvin Beacham, who's a tackle, who uh you know, for being the seventh round pick, number two forty-eight overall, he ends up being a starter for a while.
39:05
SPEAKER_02: And in 2014, Pro Football Focus, who ranks to offensive lineman, actually rated Calvin Beacham as the fifth best tackle on football that year.
39:14
SPEAKER_02: So for the seventh round number 248 overall pick, that was pretty good pick.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean I don't know.
39:22
SPEAKER_01: DeCastro was good.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: You can start it starting to thin out a little, huh?
39:27
SPEAKER_01: Here.
39:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: And I I and Calvin, once again, like you see like every couple drafts, like there'll be some like guy jump out of the woodwork, like in the lower.
39:37
SPEAKER_01: Although that's kind of two in a row, like the Antonio Brown and then Calvin Beachum.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's kind of like two guys that kind of jump out, but they haven't replaced you know the other people either.
39:52
SPEAKER_01: You know.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: I mean, there's there's probably a reason why the Steelers made three Super Bowls and uh what two AFC championship games in those first ten years, right?
40:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and in the second ten years they made one AFC championship game and and zero Super Bowls.
40:10
SPEAKER_02: And and you can kind of start seeing it with these drafts.
40:15
SPEAKER_02: 2013, oh boy.
40:17
SPEAKER_02: The first round pick is a huge bust.
40:20
SPEAKER_02: Jarvis Jones, remember Jarvis, linebacker from Georgia?
40:24
SPEAKER_02: Not at all, not even a little bit, I don't think.
40:26
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:27
SPEAKER_02: Was not good.
40:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but the second round pick was the second round pick was Le'Veon Bell.
40:34
SPEAKER_02: He was really good, yeah.
40:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
40:36
SPEAKER_02: And Le'Veon Bell, um, one of the probably, I mean, really, if you're talking about the top three running backs in Steeler history, I I think you know, Franco Jerome and probably Le'Veon Bell is third.
40:50
SPEAKER_02: I mean, you could maybe put Willie Parker in there, uh, or John Henry Johnson or some other guys, but Le'Veon Bell would definitely be up for that spot.
41:00
SPEAKER_02: So Le'Veon Bell, you know, despite his uh character flaws and holdouts and rap career and everything else, boxing career that he has now, uh, he was a very, very productive running back for the Steelers.
41:14
SPEAKER_02: And then the third round, they take a wide receiver, Marcus Wheaton, who was, I don't know, he was a he was serviceable for a third-round pick.
41:21
SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then for the later rounds, the sixth round, they get Vince Williams, who becomes a starter and inside linebacker for a while.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so that was another pretty good late round find with with Vince Williams.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: Um, Marcus Wheaton.
41:37
SPEAKER_01: I don't even remember Marcus Wheaton.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember Jarvis Jones either.
41:42
SPEAKER_01: I did he ever play?
41:44
SPEAKER_02: I mean Yeah, he did.
41:46
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he just never really lived up to the potential that they had for him.
41:52
unknown: Yeah.
41:52
SPEAKER_02: And and Wheaton, I mean, Wheaton was just, you know, he was a wide receiver that caught some passes, you know, wasn't wasn't great, wasn't terrible.
42:00
SPEAKER_02: He was serviceable, they could use him.
42:03
SPEAKER_02: 2014.
42:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh, so they had taken Jarvis Jones the year before.
42:09
SPEAKER_02: They were I think one of the big things in this during this time frame was trying to rebuild the linebacker unit.
42:17
SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, you said, Steve, they had James Harrison, they had uh they had Lamar Woodley on the outside, then Lawrence Timmins was a starter inside for so many years, Larry Foote, James Farrier.
42:29
SPEAKER_02: I mean, the linebacking unit was so responsible for that defensive success.
42:36
SPEAKER_02: And by this point, they're really trying to build that back up.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: So they had taken Jones in 2013, and then they turn around the next year and take another linebacker in the first round, Ryan Shazer at pick number 15 overall.
42:49
SPEAKER_02: And Shazier was a really, really good player.
42:53
SPEAKER_02: I mean, he could just cover the whole field.
42:56
SPEAKER_02: He was so um he he just he had great speed, he had great tackling ability, had great awareness.
43:03
SPEAKER_02: I it's a shame we all know what happened to him.
43:06
SPEAKER_02: He was his career was tragically cut short in that game in Cincinnati where he sustained the spinal cord injury.
43:14
SPEAKER_02: But um for a while that looked like he was that looked like a pick that was going to really solidify the defense for for the next generation.
43:24
SPEAKER_02: And when he got hurt, it really just it took the defense really years to recover from that, Steve.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, sure, for sure.
43:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean this is kind of like when I look at this draft overall, and we haven't gone through the rest of the people, this is like the what could have been draft.
43:42
SPEAKER_01: Because like these guys were they were so close to like rebuilding here.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: This is really close close to like if all these guys even like just work out like they'd have been really good.
43:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and I think the guy that So let's do let's go through the other pick.
44:01
SPEAKER_02: So the second round, Stefan Tuit, who another guy that that's pretty good, has a really good season, um, a really good couple of seasons later on, but his career ends prematurely as well.
44:15
SPEAKER_02: Um Dore Archer was the third round pick.
44:18
SPEAKER_02: That was another guy like Chris Rainey a couple years before that was this like scatback guy and kick return guy that doesn't pan out.
44:26
SPEAKER_02: So I think that was kind of the end of that that experiment of them continuing to do that.
44:31
SPEAKER_02: And then the fourth round, very similar to Shazir, Steve, Martavius Bryant, who really could have been a legend.
44:39
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that guy was so talented when he was on.
44:43
SPEAKER_02: He was so talented wide receiver, and he ran into all kinds of substance abuse problems, and unfortunately, uh his career is cut short as well.
44:52
SPEAKER_02: So you're you're spot on there with the like what could have been draft.
44:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh it's crazy because like they had a really good like those those couple years there, they had Brown, they had Bryant, and then you had Bell coming out of the backfield, and they had uh I mean they had two or three really good wide receivers and uh running back to catch the ball.
45:12
SPEAKER_01: Like they were that offense was really good for a couple years.
45:16
SPEAKER_01: And I to it, I just don't like to it seems to me to be up and down.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: Like everybody's like, oh, how good is he?
45:23
SPEAKER_01: How good is he?
45:24
SPEAKER_01: And it's like I I watch him like sometimes he looks good, and then other times he just it's like what do you you don't he's not doing anything.
45:32
SPEAKER_01: I I don't know.
45:33
SPEAKER_01: Like I've never been on like as high on Stephon To it as other people have, but he was I'm not saying he's a bad player or a boss that just I don't know if he ever really like rose the level like people would hype him up to be, but I don't know.
45:49
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's just me.
45:51
SPEAKER_02: Well, to to your point about the offense, at this point, uh you know, Ben Rothesberger's still there.
45:57
SPEAKER_02: And and they've rebuilt around him with, like you said, some really talented receivers, running back, and the offensive line.
46:03
SPEAKER_02: They've really rebuilt the offensive line, probably the best offensive line they've had uh since you know way back in the in the at the start of the Colbert era.
46:13
SPEAKER_02: And that leads these next four years, 14 through 17, uh are the best four years of this era.
46:20
SPEAKER_02: The Steelers win the division several times, they win uh a handful of playoff games, they make it to the AFC Championship game.
46:28
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of that is driven by their offense.
46:31
SPEAKER_02: Their defense uh again had Shazir worked out, I think I think that might have been the reason that that era was short-lived because the defense didn't really hold up.
46:42
SPEAKER_02: And then when some of those talented offensive players like Bell and Brown and Bryant started uh, for lack of a better word, flaking out, then that that kind of fell apart as well.
46:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it just seems like they started to like maybe the character like caught up, like they kind of started picking talent over character.
47:04
SPEAKER_01: They kind of like I think they got away with it with Antonio Brown for a while, and they thought, okay, we can you know pick a guy like this and we'll be okay.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: And um, no, you can't.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
47:18
SPEAKER_01: Lesson like I mean, although I will say this, I mean, are you really gonna like they got a lot of years out of Brown before he just went totally nuts?
47:26
SPEAKER_01: I mean, or just I mean, could uh did he just keep it under wraps all those years just till he got enough money to where he's like, okay, I'm gonna just go back to being myself.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: You know, I I got enough money now, I can do what I want.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: So and what's his name, Le'Veon Bell?
47:43
SPEAKER_01: How much money did he cost himself in that stupid holdout?
47:47
SPEAKER_01: I mean, if he just would have signed the offer the Steelers were giving him, he would have been making more money than he is now, boxing or whatever.
47:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was not a good decision by him.
47:59
SPEAKER_02: I didn't think it was a good decision at the time of for the Steelers to make him that offer because running backs, you know, they they don't last all that long in terms of their time where they're really useful.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: So it kind of worked out for, I think, better for the Steelers that he didn't sign.
48:17
SPEAKER_02: 2015, uh so for the third year in a row, we mentioned that they were trying to rebuild the linebacking core, they select a linebacker.
48:29
SPEAKER_02: It's Bud Dupree, an outside linebacker out of Kentucky, who I I think has one really great season, that's his contract year of 2020.
48:39
SPEAKER_02: Um, other than that, I think he was I wouldn't certainly wouldn't call him a bust, but I I don't think he's lived up to the potential of a first round pick.
48:48
SPEAKER_02: And then in the second round, probably the worst pick of Colbert's career.
48:55
SPEAKER_02: And and and you know, Alonzo Jackson's right up there too, but in the second round in 2015, they select Sanquez Golsen, who's a defensive back.
49:05
SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, so so we talked earlier, we said, you know, it it was funny in the early 2000s they were trying to rebuild the DBs because they kept getting burned on the pass.
49:16
SPEAKER_02: Well, this era of the NFL is very much favorable to passing offense.
49:23
SPEAKER_02: And in 2015, they're trying to redo the same thing.
49:26
SPEAKER_02: And one of the guys they pick is Sanquez Golson.
49:28
SPEAKER_02: He's a he's a cornerback out of Mississippi.
49:31
SPEAKER_02: He never plays in one NFL game, not even in preseason.
49:34
SPEAKER_02: You literally cannot find an image on the internet or anywhere of Sanquez Golsen in a steeler uniform because it doesn't exist.
49:44
SPEAKER_02: What what?
49:45
SPEAKER_01: How does that work?
49:47
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
49:48
SPEAKER_01: He never even never even let like how done they didn't even play him in a preseason.
49:53
SPEAKER_02: He was hurt.
49:54
SPEAKER_02: He was always hurt.
49:56
SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
49:57
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
49:58
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he literally never suits up in a steeler uniform, never plays in an NFL game.
50:04
SPEAKER_02: And he was on the roster.
50:05
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't like they drafted him and he like had some kind of horrific accident, you know, that first year.
50:11
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it was it was one thing after another after another.
50:14
SPEAKER_02: He's on the roster for like three years, but never never plays anything.
50:18
SPEAKER_01: He collected all that rookie contract money and didn't have to earn a dime of it.
50:23
SPEAKER_02: Nice.
50:24
SPEAKER_02: Third round is Sammy Coates, a wide receiver who I I don't know, again, semi-serviceable, but doesn't really do much.
50:33
SPEAKER_02: And then in the later rounds, nobody really of note, but in the fifth round, Jesse James out of Penn State, who caught that pass.
50:40
SPEAKER_02: Darn it, he caught that pass.
50:43
SPEAKER_01: Anthony Ciccolo.
50:44
SPEAKER_01: There was Anthony Ciccolo who was mediocre on a good day.
50:51
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, these these drafts starting to starting to fade a little bit.
50:55
SPEAKER_02: 2016, uh, this this this year again, so they've drafted all these linebackers.
51:02
SPEAKER_02: So they've got the linebackers now.
51:04
SPEAKER_02: And and with having selected Golfson the year before, now let's go back to the defensive backfield.
51:10
SPEAKER_02: So you see a lot of defensive picks in this era, because like we talked about, you know, like Steve said, they had this very talented offense, uh, talented skill guys, good offensive line.
51:22
SPEAKER_02: And what they were missing was defense.
51:24
SPEAKER_02: So if they could just get the right picks on defense, they could make another Super Bowl run, but they don't do it.
51:30
SPEAKER_02: The the first round pick this year is Artie Burns, the cornerback from Miami.
51:35
SPEAKER_02: He is a ginormous bust.
51:37
SPEAKER_02: The second round pick is Sean Davis, who I wouldn't call him quite as big a bust as Burns, especially since he was a second round pick.
51:44
SPEAKER_02: But he never really lives up to that second round pedigree.
51:48
SPEAKER_02: Third round's a decent pick.
51:49
SPEAKER_02: It's it's defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, who um who was pretty decent.
51:55
SPEAKER_02: Actually uh ends up making a Pro Bowl for Philadelphia later on.
51:59
SPEAKER_02: So that wasn't a bad pick.
52:00
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but in terms of what they were trying to do, which was to you know, to have this really solid linebacking unit and have a really good defensive uh group of defensive backs to behind them, that has failed miserably.
52:15
SPEAKER_02: With they they've spent three uh top two picks in the last two seasons on defensive backs, and all three are busts.
52:24
SPEAKER_01: It's the exact opposite of the beginning of his yeah where all three worked out, all none of these have worked out.
52:31
SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, that's a good call.
52:33
SPEAKER_02: You were you were pointing out before how yeah, they got all three of those guys and they were starters on the Super Bowl team.
52:37
SPEAKER_02: And Steve, it's it's it's a what might have been, right?
52:40
SPEAKER_02: Because 2016, they're in the AFC Championship game.
52:43
SPEAKER_02: 2017 they have that 13-3 record.
52:46
SPEAKER_02: And and these are years that in the early 2000s or in the mid-2000s, those were Super Bowl years, and and they weren't these years, and you just wonder if they would have gotten three picks on the level.
53:00
SPEAKER_02: Even if, even if two of those picks, right?
53:02
SPEAKER_02: Not even all three.
53:03
SPEAKER_02: If they would have gotten two of those picks, just at least that they were good, not horrible, yeah.
53:09
SPEAKER_02: Right.
53:09
SPEAKER_02: Because like like you said, like Chris Hope wasn't, you know, wasn't a Hall of Famer, but he was very good, and and he helped solidify a secondary that was just rancid before he got there.
53:19
SPEAKER_02: And then Troy and Ike obviously were were were pretty big stars.
53:24
SPEAKER_02: You know, but even if even if two of these guys, Burns Davis and and Golson, even if two of them work out, you just wonder if the Steelers get over that hurdle that they couldn't get over uh losing playoff games to teams that were teams like New England and Jacksonville.
53:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
53:43
SPEAKER_01: I well that game again Bell was hurt too, that he wouldn't play that game against like the Patriots.
53:50
SPEAKER_01: And that goes back, why did they offer him all that money?
53:53
SPEAKER_01: Like I would have I would have been done with him after he sat out that that game against New England.
53:59
SPEAKER_01: I mean that that kind of soured me on him.
54:02
SPEAKER_01: It's like you're not even gonna try and play.
54:04
SPEAKER_01: It's like I mean, I'm not inside his body, but oh well.
54:10
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I agree.
54:11
SPEAKER_02: I think even if he plays, they don't beat Tom Brady with the defense that they had.
54:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, but again, you know, I I agree.
54:18
SPEAKER_02: I I didn't I didn't know why they wanted to resign him either, and I'm glad he turned us down.
54:23
SPEAKER_01: Well, even if he was legitimately hurt, then what's the point?
54:26
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, okay, let he's legitimately hurt, which maybe he was, then you're you're investing in something that's you know on the decline.
54:35
SPEAKER_01: I yeah.
54:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Bell had missed the 2014 playoffs and the 2015 playoffs with injuries, and then he missed that championship game with an injury.
54:45
SPEAKER_02: So uh, you know, when push come came to shove, he was not available, and that hurt as well.
54:54
SPEAKER_02: 2017, the Steelers say, you know what, we've had enough defensive backs, let's go back to linebacker.
55:00
SPEAKER_02: And this time they do pretty good.
55:02
SPEAKER_02: They draft a guy named TJ Watt, who uh later becomes the the NFL's defensive player of the year in 2021.
55:11
SPEAKER_02: So uh that's a great pick.
55:13
SPEAKER_02: Uh that you know really again, you can kind of look a few seasons beyond, right?
55:19
SPEAKER_02: Because 20 uh 19, 2020, the Steelers really start to to certainly don't have a defense, the caliber of what they did in the 2000s, but it's not the enormous embarrassment that it was, you know, in the early part of this decade or in the middle part of this decade.
55:37
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, and and TJ Watt was part of that.
55:41
SPEAKER_02: Second round, Juju Smith Schuster, wide receiver from USC.
55:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh I, you know, good receiver, definitely a good receiver.
55:51
SPEAKER_02: Uh, did some really good things here, was a little frustrating at times with his some of his antics and things like that, but a good pick.
56:00
SPEAKER_02: Uh and then in the third round, um, they go back to the defensive backfield, and this is a decent pick, Cam Sutton, who's currently a starter for them.
56:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh, not a star, but again, a guy on that level of, you know, if you could have gotten a guy like that a few years earlier when the team was really competitive and and in the playoffs every year and making it to AFC Championship games, you could have gotten more of those kinds of guys with things that turned out different.
56:27
SPEAKER_02: And then they also have a second, a second pick in the third round, and they take pit running back James Connor, uh, who we were all thrilled about at the time because we love James Connor.
56:36
SPEAKER_02: And he was pretty productive in his time here, but uh, but that was limited by injuries a lot.
56:43
SPEAKER_02: So pretty good 2017 draft.
56:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's like back to uh the good old days for uh you know, and I I don't I never understood like people when Connor was leaving.
56:54
SPEAKER_01: Oh, he's not a pro running back, he's not this, he's not that.
56:57
SPEAKER_01: He had some injuries, but he had a totally bounce back year with the Cardinals this year.
57:03
SPEAKER_01: So you know, you just can't run a running, like what do they play?
57:08
SPEAKER_01: 17 games now?
57:09
SPEAKER_01: Nobody's gonna get be able to handle that kind of workload anymore.
57:13
SPEAKER_01: And you know, okay, yeah, if he's not that good.
57:16
SPEAKER_01: Last time I saw him last season, he was running over Aaron Donald for a touchdown.
57:21
SPEAKER_01: So go figure.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: I guess I guess because he wasn't good enough.
57:24
SPEAKER_01: That wasn't good enough for the Steelers, whatever whoever they have in the backfield right now.
57:29
SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't know.
57:31
SPEAKER_01: I mean I'd probably be okay.
57:34
SPEAKER_02: Well, Najee, yeah, Najee Harris.
57:35
SPEAKER_02: I think that was what made Connor expendable.
57:37
SPEAKER_01: He run over Aaron Donald, that's for sure.
57:40
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm I you know I again running backs, it's it's hard to do.
57:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm totally biased because this is this is one of my favorite pit players.
57:48
SPEAKER_01: And he he was the exact opposite of Le'Veon Bell.
57:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
57:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's a lot of heart, and you know, even when he you try and play injured, and I don't know.
57:59
SPEAKER_02: No, I'm with you.
58:00
SPEAKER_02: I I love James Conner.
58:01
SPEAKER_02: I'll still I still love James Conner.
58:03
SPEAKER_02: I'll root for him until the day he retires.
58:05
SPEAKER_01: But people would bash him when he was late, you're like, oh, he isn't a pro, he's not that good.
58:09
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I'll know what you're talking about.
58:12
SPEAKER_01: So whatever.
58:14
SPEAKER_02: So 2018, the year after that, uh the first round pick is Terrell Edmonds, who is a safety.
58:21
SPEAKER_02: So again, they're trying really hard in the on the uh and the whole defensive backfield thing.
58:27
SPEAKER_02: And and Edmonds, it's it's so hard with Edmonds because everybody everybody kind of says the exact same thing about Terrell Edmonds.
58:35
SPEAKER_02: You know, he becomes a starter, he's a he's a starter for several years, they re-signed him again this year to start, and everybody says the same thing, which is if Terrell Edmonds was a third round pick, we'd all say, Oh, good pick.
58:49
SPEAKER_02: Guy came in, he started, you know, serviceable, pr pretty decent safety.
58:54
SPEAKER_02: But because he was a first round pick, he just he's an under-achiever at that point.
59:03
SPEAKER_02: So that's that's Terrell Edmonds.
59:05
SPEAKER_02: Second round is James Washington, wide receiver, who another guy that was an underachiever, did not uh really live up to any of that potential.
59:14
SPEAKER_02: Third round is Mason Rudolph, who was drafted as a successor to Ben, and at least thus far has not quite fulfilled that promise.
59:22
SPEAKER_02: Uh his his story's not completely written yet, of course.
59:26
SPEAKER_02: And then they also have a second pick in the third round, and they take uh Chuck Sokafor, who ends up being a decent tackle as a starter, and was recently awarded a pretty big uh contract extension by the Steelers.
59:41
SPEAKER_02: So okay draft here, I guess, Steve.
59:45
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
59:46
SPEAKER_02: This one's a this one's a little hard to rate.
59:49
SPEAKER_01: Um I think this is the draft class that Ben Rothelsberger screwed over, quite honestly.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: I think Washington and Rudolph Ben stuck it to them.
59:59
SPEAKER_01: I the and I think that's I don't know about Rudolph.
1:00:03
SPEAKER_01: Rudolph's gonna have to go somewhere else.
1:00:05
SPEAKER_01: Washington went to Dallas, didn't he?
1:00:07
SPEAKER_01: In the offseason, I do believe.
1:00:09
SPEAKER_01: I believe so.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_01: I it would not surprise me if he makes a Pro Bowl with them this year.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_01: Not at all, not even a little bit.
1:00:16
SPEAKER_01: Because I think I think Ben had a real stick up somewhere about Rudolph, and because is it Rudolph's good buddies with James Washington?
1:00:27
SPEAKER_01: So that kind of James Washington never got a chance here.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: Never and every time he was on the field, he made a play.
1:00:34
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what else more he could have done to prove to the coaching staff that he deserved to be here.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_01: So there was something else at play there, and that's I mean, I don't know anything more than any other person that doesn't have access to the team is, but and I I really I mean Rudolph probably isn't going to be a full-time, he's probably gonna be like another Landry Jones, like he's gonna be a decent backup, and you know, if you need a guy like a Charlie Batch and that that kind of quarterback, I I get the feeling that's where he's gonna settle in.
1:01:09
SPEAKER_01: And he'll if he can go somewhere else, I think he just needs a new start with a new team and a new like environment, a new city, and all that, and he'll be fine.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I I I disagree about Washington, but I've I've heard other people make that same argument as you, Steve.
1:01:28
SPEAKER_02: And I I think it's I think it's a fair argument, at least.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_02: And like you said, he certainly now has the chance to to prove you and those other folks right, you know?
1:01:39
SPEAKER_02: And he very well very very well may.
1:01:42
SPEAKER_02: I just thought if he was that good, I mean he was on the team for four years.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, but they never threw like he he would it seemed like when he was open he caught the ball, he made tough catches, and I mean maybe he wasn't getting open enough.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
1:01:57
SPEAKER_02: I'm not, you know, I'm not a coach, I'm not a scout, but it was odd how he seemed to like his playing time seemed to decrease over time, and and uh you're right.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like he fumbled or dropped a lot of passes, or like it just it just seemed like Ben would not throw him the ball.
1:02:17
SPEAKER_01: Because like he did well that year.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_01: Duck Hodges was the quarterback.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: That's was his best season.
1:02:25
SPEAKER_01: So I and that's saying something.
1:02:29
SPEAKER_01: You got that.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:31
SPEAKER_01: I just honestly think it's a bet it was a Ben thing with it.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: I really do.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: I really do.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_01: And I would not say, like I said, I would not be surprised at all.
1:02:38
SPEAKER_01: I I you know I I think he makes the I think he has a good season, maybe a Pro Bowl season, but I bet he catches at least 60 passes this year.
1:02:47
SPEAKER_01: With the I don't know who the Cowboys, I don't even not even know who the Cowboys' other wide receivers are.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_02: But all right.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_02: Well, time will tell on that one for sure.
1:02:58
SPEAKER_01: I could be wrong in whatever.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_01: Then I guess I get fired from my not outing for any team in the NFL ever.
1:03:07
SPEAKER_02: So these last four drafts of Colbert's career, I'm just gonna kind of mush them together because I feel like uh at this point, it's too early to really make any kind of hardline determination, although folks might disagree on some of these picks.
1:03:24
SPEAKER_02: So 2018, they trade up for a linebacker, Devin Bush, from Michigan.
1:03:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh again, story not completely written yet.
1:03:35
SPEAKER_02: Seemed like he was going to be really good, has really flamed out the last few years, really, really looked bad last year, but was coming off a serious injury.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_02: So I that one's hard to gauge.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_02: Uh the second round or the third round pick that year, no second round pick, because they traded up to get Bush.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_02: Third round pick is Deontay Johnson, the wide receiver, who again looks brilliant at times and then at times drops passes when he's wide open.
1:04:02
SPEAKER_02: I think, you know, is he an elite wide receiver?
1:04:05
SPEAKER_02: Is he a guy that is good but not great?
1:04:08
SPEAKER_02: I think we still have to see their third-round picks Justin Lane that year.
1:04:13
SPEAKER_02: In 2019, so for all these years of trying so hard to draft defensive backs and not really doing a good job.
1:04:20
SPEAKER_02: So in 2019, they just say, you know what, we're gonna trade away our first round pick for a guy we know is proven.
1:04:26
SPEAKER_02: Uh so they they trade their first round pick for uh Minka Fitzpatrick.
1:04:31
SPEAKER_02: They don't have a first round pick.
1:04:32
SPEAKER_02: Second round pick is Chase Claypool, another guy like Johnson, looks brilliant at times, looks, you know, celebrates first downs when this team's trying to thrust the ball down the field at other times.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_02: Third round pick's Alex Highsmith, another guy who, again, story not quite completely written.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_01: I like Highsmith.
1:04:52
SPEAKER_01: I think he's gonna be a good player.
1:04:54
SPEAKER_01: I I think he showed enough already that he's probably gonna get more playing time.
1:04:59
SPEAKER_01: Now, whether he gets exposed or not, we'll see.
1:05:03
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I think he looks good so far.
1:05:07
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_02: So that was I think I said 2019, that was 2020.
1:05:11
SPEAKER_02: 2021, Najee Harris, first round, Pat Firemouth, second round, Kendrick Green and Dan Moore in the third round.
1:05:19
SPEAKER_02: All four of those guys started in their rookie years.
1:05:23
SPEAKER_02: Uh so that's that's saying something there.
1:05:25
SPEAKER_02: Uh Ken Kendrick Green um probably maybe shouldn't have started at center.
1:05:32
SPEAKER_02: Uh Najee Harris looked pretty sharp.
1:05:34
SPEAKER_02: Firemouth looks like he has potential again.
1:05:37
SPEAKER_02: Way, way too early to tell.
1:05:39
SPEAKER_02: And then, of course, 2022, Kenny Pickett from Pitt is the first round pick.
1:05:43
SPEAKER_02: George Pickens, the receiver is the second round pick, and DeMarvin Leal, the defensive lineman, is the third round pick.
1:05:49
SPEAKER_02: And obviously, none of those guys have played an NFL game as of this recording.
1:05:53
SPEAKER_02: So, like I said, just kind of um combining all those years together, Steve, any any thoughts on those?
1:06:00
SPEAKER_02: Guys.
1:06:00
SPEAKER_01: I think Hendrick Green has the most like potential to be a total bust.
1:06:06
SPEAKER_01: Devin Bush would be is up there just because he like you shouldn't get that bad just from a knee injury.
1:06:14
SPEAKER_01: So maybe like kind of writes the ship and finds himself.
1:06:17
SPEAKER_01: But like it's like literally like he is like the career before the knee injury, and then the career after the knee injury.
1:06:25
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
1:06:28
SPEAKER_01: I thought he just tore his ACL.
1:06:31
SPEAKER_01: I don't maybe he did something else, or maybe that messed with his head because he just looks absolutely horrible.
1:06:37
SPEAKER_01: And he looks like he doesn't want to play at times.
1:06:40
SPEAKER_01: Like he'll just like run away from contact and stuff.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_01: And it's bad.
1:06:45
SPEAKER_01: It's been bad.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_01: He's had a really bad season.
1:06:48
SPEAKER_02: I think Claypool has the potential to be a bust, too.
1:06:51
SPEAKER_02: You know, he had that really stellar rookie year, got a lot of touchdowns, and then he really did not follow that up.
1:06:58
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's going from the like you're just like the third guy and you're getting like really easy, like you can just get by on talent to now you're like the guy and you get the team's other best corners, and now you have to be really disciplined.
1:07:14
SPEAKER_01: And that's he definitely looks like he has the talent.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we'll we'll see.
1:07:20
SPEAKER_02: Some some other guys in there that you know, so some guys have potential to be busts, some guys have potential to be stars.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_02: I think Harris definitely is at the at the top of that list.
1:07:30
SPEAKER_02: Uh Friarmuth.
1:07:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think Friarmouth's look gonna be good.
1:07:34
SPEAKER_01: I I yeah, I think we can safely say that.
1:07:38
SPEAKER_02: And and Deontay Johnson, I mean, who knows at this point, you know.
1:07:41
SPEAKER_01: He might be Jeff Jeff Graham.
1:07:44
SPEAKER_01: He right like just drops everything.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:07:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:07:47
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:07:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
1:07:49
SPEAKER_02: I mean, right.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_02: So it's it's again, uh time will tell.
1:07:55
SPEAKER_02: Uh so yeah, that that's that's the list we we just wanted to go through.
1:07:59
SPEAKER_02: I think it's just interesting to go through those drafts, kind of see the the through line of of recency over history there, right?
1:08:08
SPEAKER_02: Of how Super Bowl teams got built, of how they then got bad for a while.
1:08:12
SPEAKER_02: But then it wasn't quite, you know, it wasn't the 1980s, right?
1:08:15
SPEAKER_02: They they they had some bad drafts, they were they were bad, they weren't even that bad, they were just mediocre for a while.
1:08:22
SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, using the draft, they they rebuilt enough to be competitive again, but then not as competitive as they had been before that.
1:08:30
SPEAKER_02: So uh a lot of that, again, in football, I know you have free agency, you have trades, but so much in pro football still ties back to the draft.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_02: And you know, Colbert's legacy overall, I think, is still pretty solid.
1:08:43
SPEAKER_02: Uh obviously, you know, built some great teams and had some great picks.
1:08:47
SPEAKER_02: Steve, any any parting thoughts?
1:08:51
SPEAKER_01: Uh for whatever reason, there's teams in the last half after like De Paul Moes and all them were retired or left, like they just whatever there was just like whatever the it I can't put my finger on it, but whatever the it factor was, they didn't have.
1:09:08
SPEAKER_01: For some reason, Brown and Bell and Bryant, like it just seemed like even with even that even seemed to drift into Juju and like Claypool, like whenever you needed to make a play, they just like they would drop a pass, or I I I don't know.
1:09:23
SPEAKER_01: It just or they'd fumble.
1:09:25
SPEAKER_01: Like, didn't Juju fumble like weigh another game?
1:09:28
SPEAKER_01: It just seems like whenever the chips were down, those teams earlier in the decade would find a way to win, whereas these teams would just not necessarily find a way to lose, but they just couldn't get over the top for whatever reason.
1:09:41
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they weren't it wasn't they weren't championship teams.
1:09:44
SPEAKER_02: Championship teams.
1:09:45
SPEAKER_01: They just they were they were close, but it just like they just couldn't, you never got that.
1:09:50
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like that 15 in one year, even you know, where you thought, oh, this team is really even that year they went undefeated, like the first half of the season, you kind of had the feeling, well, they're gonna come back to earth because like the last couple wins they got kind of lucky.
1:10:04
SPEAKER_02: So when the Steelers played the Rams in the in the 79 Super Bowl, that that 79 team that won the fourth Super Bowl, um, by all accounts was probably the worst of those four Super Bowl winning teams.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but they they still won the Super Bowl that year, and they were down in the fourth quarter to a to a pretty mediocre Rams team.
1:10:24
SPEAKER_02: The Rams were like 9-7 that year.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_02: And there's a there's a quote by John Facenda in the highlights where he goes, Great teams aren't always great.
1:10:32
SPEAKER_02: They're just great when they have to be.
1:10:35
SPEAKER_02: And that really epitomized the the Steelers of that early Cobert era.
1:10:39
SPEAKER_02: Like you said, they were great when they had to be, they were great in big games, clutch moments, and the stealers of the of the following decade of the 2010s, to your point, you know, in those clutch moments, they really weren't, they didn't have it.
1:10:52
SPEAKER_02: So that's a really good observation.
1:10:55
SPEAKER_02: Well, folks, I hope you enjoyed that.
1:10:57
SPEAKER_02: Um please uh subscribe to the podcast.
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1:11:04
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