Did the Pittsburgh Steelers Front Office Make a Mistake Drafting Dri Archer?

When one ventures into the exercise of hindsight, it is really going down the rabbit hole. It is easy after the fact to question the moves of an NFL team. When the Pittsburgh Steelers drafted running back Dri Archer in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft, fans were excited.

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And rightfully so. Archer was coming into the league as the fastest prospect in the entire draft. Archer ran an official 4.26 40-yard dash, which—if you didn't know—is blazing. What a weapon he would be for this Pittsburgh offense.

But then you turned on the film, and things were a little less exciting. Archer's 2013 season at Kent State was a huge disappointment over his 2012 campaign. After 1,627 yards of offense and 20 touchdowns in 2012, Archer could only muster 620 yards of offense and 10 touchdowns the following season.

So for the Steelers front office, it became a matter of hedging its bets. If it thought it could get the 2012 incarnation, pick No. 97 would seem like a steal. But if that season was an anomaly and he couldn't adapt to the NFL game, it would be a serious reach. How much of a reach? We all remember this guy.

"

I've tried to fight it but Dri Archer looks just like Chris Rainey.

— James C Wexell (@jimwexell) October 5, 2014"

Pittsburgh rolled the dice, and immediately, I wondered what it would do with Archer. Having running backs Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount in place meant his role as a pure running back would be diminished. Nevertheless, Archer's skills transcended just a runner.

The hope was that Archer would spark the return game and allow wide receiver Antonio Brown to focus completely on catching passes. Archer would also have the opportunity to utilize all that speed and quickness as a weapon in the passing game.

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Sounds like a perfect plan, right? Eh, not so much. Through five games, you would barely know Archer was on the roster. He's not alone in this, as rookie wide receiver Martavis Bryant has also been largely inconspicuous to this point. 

However, Archer's situation is different. This is a top-100 pick on a team that needs to win now. You don't spend early picks on players who cannot contribute, especially not in a season where Pittsburgh must right the ship of the past two years. Back-to-back .500 records and no playoffs are hard to swallow.

So if we are even talking about this, we must ask ourselves two questions. First, was Archer a wasted pick? If we are talking about this season, I'm afraid the answer is yes. With the injuries that have hit this team, there are some real positions of need that could have been addressed.

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And while that is hindsight, understand that defensive back, outside linebacker and offensive line were positions of need well before the draft. Injuries just highlighted that. Along similar lines, lots of turnover at defensive line added that to the list of "need" positions going into the draft.

The answer is also yes because as of yet, the Steelers haven't found a way to use Archer. I mean, is this good coaching?

"

3rd-&-1: Steelers take Bell off for renowned short-yardage extraordinaire Dri Archer; give it Will Johnson up the gut. I miss Bruce Arians.

— Dave Dameshek (@Dameshek) October 5, 2014"

If Archer's role is so convoluted that this is considered, I'm not sure anyone can count on Archer to make an impact any time soon.

"

Can talk about how fast Dri Archer is all day long, but it doesn't matter if you don't find more ways to get the ball in his hands.

— Brent Sobleski (@brentsobleski) September 28, 2014"

Now, onto the second question. If the Steelers hadn't draft Archer, who would they have drafted instead? It would be easy to scour the Internet, look for players who were drafted after Archer and are playing well and just plug them in.

Instead, it is better just to let all this play out. If a player like defensive tackle Justin Ellis or cornerback Walt Aiken ends up being great, just know both play positions the Steelers addressed later in the draft and could have been had with the Archer pick.

Meanwhile, early returns on Archer are mixed. Let's all hope that Pittsburgh can capture some of that 2012 magic, that the light will come on for the coaching staff and that he'll be great before he is gone.