25 Biggest Draft Mistakes in Pittsburgh Steelers History

The Pittsburgh Steelers, despite some of the most amazing drafts in the history of the National Football League, have had their fair share of duds. The struggles have been all over the place, but multiple misses have happened recently in the second round.

Here's a look at the 25 biggest draft mistakes in the team's long history.

25. Bryon "Whizzer" White

Year Drafted: 1938

Round: 1st

Analysis

It's awfully hard to fault the Steelers for this one. White was the top-rated player in the draft after a standout career as a halfback for the Colorado Buffaloes. The problem was that he only played one season for Pittsburgh before moving on. Eventually he played in Detroit, but he gained greater fame for becoming a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

Overall, a correct choice, but White didn't give the Steelers any long-term success.

24. Kendall Simmons

Year Drafted: 2003

Round: 1st

Analysis

Simmons wasn't a bad player, but he never lived up to being a first round choice and was the only first round choice of the first decade of this century to not pan out as a starter/Pro Bowler. Simmons lost his career to diabetes issues and a torn Achilles that never correctly healed.

When he did play, Simmons was a viable starting right guard, but he was never a consistent blocker, something the Steelers had expected him to be when they made him the 30th overall pick in that draft.

23. The Buddy Dial Trade

Year Drafted: 1964

Round: N/A

Analysis

The problem here was not a draft pick, it was what the Steelers did for draft rights.

They traded star receiver Buddy Dial to the Dallas Cowboys for the draft rights to a guy named Scott Appleton. You may remember Appleton if you know every player in the history of the NFL draft, but otherwise you've probably never heard of him.

Appleton never played for the Steelers. Instead, he signed with the then relatively unknown American Football League.

22. Gabe Rivera

Year Drafted: 1983

Round: 1st

Analysis

We'll get to the bigger issue here much later, but Rivera was another draft pick that turned into a disaster for the Steelers. He was a great defensive lineman coming out of college at Texas Tech, but he would never make it at the NFL level thanks to a tragic car accident during his first season that paralyzed him.

The Steelers couldn't have predicted this incident, but the pick lives in infamy.

21. Kordell Stewart

Year Drafted: 1995

Round: 2nd

Analysis

Stewart gave the Steelers many productive seasons, but he never was able to lead the Steelers to the top and his unwillingness to play multiple positions and be "Slash" ruined his career. He spent too much time trying to fit into a quarterback spot that simply was not made for him.

Instead, the Steelers could have had a guy like Curtis Martin, who was taken early in the third round.

20. Fred Gibson

Year Drafted: 2005

Round: 4th

Analysis

Gibson was thought to be a good choice for a fourth rounder. The Steelers had had success with mid-round receivers before (Hines Ward being the best example in recent history). Gibson, however, never made an impact and didn't make it out of camp. He avoided contact, couldn't learn the offense and struggled in limited game action.

Gibson never made it anywhere, but two guys drafted after him (Trent Cole and Joshua Cribbs) made excellent careers for themselves in the NFL.

19. Plaxico Burress

Year Drafted: 2000

Round: 1st

Analysis

Burress was productive if a bit inconsistent during his time in Pittsburgh. He was drafted with the idea that he'd be the team's best receiver, but he didn't unseat Hines Ward in that regard and never performed like a top-tier NFL receiver until Tommy Maddox and then Ben Roethlisberger were throwing him the football.

The Steelers could have drafted Chad Pennington at a time when they desperately needed a new quarterback to replace Kordell Stewart. Instead, they would go with Kent Graham, who did nothing.

18. Tee Martin

Year Drafted: 2000

Round: 5th

Analysis

Ouch. Same draft as the last slide. This mistake is bigger, however. Pennington never became a star quarterback. The Steelers banked on Tee Martin to be the guy who would replace Kordell Stewart. He'd replaced Peyton Manning at Tennessee and had done well for himself. He never was able to catch on at the NFL level, however.

One round later, the Steelers watched a future Hall of Fame quarterback named Tom Brady come off the board. A year later, that guy would beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game and has beaten them consistently ever since.

17. Daniel Sepulveda

Year Drafted: 2007

Round: 4th

Analysis

This issue is less about the player than about the way he was acquired. Daniel Sepulveda has been an excellent punter for the Steelers when healthy (although he's been missing in the team's two Super Bowl appearances during his tenure because of a torn ligament). The Steelers, however, traded up to acquire him, sending two picks to Green Bay.

Punters aren't a dime a dozen, but they're close. Some of the best punters in the league are found after the draft or very, very late. Fourth round is a spot where you can still get important skill players and several were still available here.

16. Trai Essex

Year Drafted: 2005

Round: 3rd

Analysis

Essex has never yet developed into the lineman the Steelers envisioned. They picked him in the third round thinking that his versatility to play any position on the line would help them revive an aging offensive line. Instead, he became an underwhelming presence that got way too many chances.

Essex was let go in the offseason this year before finding his way back when the line turned out worse than expected and was banged up during camp.

15. Anthony Smith

Year Drafted: 2006

Round: 3rd

Analysis

Anthony Smith was a mistake on several levels. He chose to guarantee a victory against the New England Patriots and then was consistently burned on almost every offensive play. He showboated constantly, failed to make plays regularly and couldn't become a good compliment to Troy Polamalu.

The Steelers had to pull draft day strings to get him too, which further adds to the issues with this choice.

14. Mark Malone

Year Drafted: 1980

Round: 1st

Analysis

The Steelers knew after their fourth Super Bowl that they needed to start thinking about the world after Terry Bradshaw. With that in mind, they drafted Mark Malone in the first round of the 1980 draft. Malone was an effective starter, but he was never Terry Bradshaw and couldn't get the Steelers another Super Bowl.

Malone's biggest claim to fame is bearing a striking resemblance to actor Tom Selleck.

13. John Rienstra

Year Drafted: 1986

Round: 1st

Analysis

Rienstra became a sign of the late 80s for the Steelers: a guy who just couldn't get it together on a team that was in the same situation. He would have fit in well on the current line, where blocking mostly seems to be an optional thing. Rienstra couldn't have stopped a nose bleed.

The problem here is that Rienstra was not only a first round pick, he was the highest pick the team had during the 1980s. That is an awful combination.

12. William Gay

Year Drafted: 2007

Round: 5th

Analysis

I've beaten down William Gay plenty of times. He just isn't an NFL player. He's targeted often when he's on the field, which tells you that opposing quarterbacks know something that apparently the Steelers do not.

Gay doesn't cover well, doesn't make plays and his biggest contributions have been in tiny spurts where he saves the defense by making a late tackle after a player has been slowed by another defender.

11. Will Blackwell

Year Drafted: 1997

Round: 2nd

Analysis

Certainly not the biggest name already on this list, Blackwell is a huge bust when you compare what he did (nothing in the receiving game, a few random spurts on returns) with the hype he had coming out of college for the 1997 draft. He was thought to be a huge steal for the Steelers.

As it turns out, the only thing stolen was the money that was spent on him. Blackwell never lived up to even part of the hype.

10. Alonzo Jackson

Year Drafted: 2003

Round: 2nd

Analysis

The Steelers take a linebacker almost every year, sometimes more (2010 draft ring a bell?). In 2003, the team chose Alonzo Jackson, a promising player with a great personal story out of Florida State. Jackson never adjusted to the NFL level.

The Steelers could have had Lance Briggs at linebacker instead of Jackson or could have shored up their questionable secondary with Asante Samuel. Getting Samuel and Troy Polamalu in the same draft would have made the Steelers one of the most successful teams drafting that year.

9. Ricardo Colclough

Year Drafted: 2004

Round: 2nd

Analysis

The Steelers followed up their amazing success in Round 1 (Ben Roethlisberger) with Ricardo Colclough. He was meant to be a guy who could be a dual threat: a cover corner to play opposite Ike Taylor and a threat in the return game. He turned out to be neither.

The Steelers have taken many chances on small school guys (Nate Washington, Mike Wallace) but this was one that just didn't pan out.

8. Troy Edwards

Year Drafted: 1999

Round: 1st

Analysis

The Steelers have mostly missed on first-round wide receivers. None has been worse the Edwards, who never enjoyed a productive season with the team. Edwards was likely a better fit as a slot guy, not as a starter. He was, however, unproductive wherever the Steelers put him.

The Steelers could've had their pick of several successful offensive linemen or defensive players, but instead they were stuck with Edwards.

7. Walter Abercrombie

Year Drafted: 1982

Round: 1st

Analysis

Good running backs make people miss. Abercrombie was drafted by the Steelers with the hope that he would be the next Franco Harris. He did make people miss. He made them miss Harris, whom he could never emulate or imitate.

Abercrombie was injury prone and ineffective as a runner. The Steelers have missed big on running backs at times, but Abercrombie was one of the worst misses because of who he was supposed to replace.

6. Kendrell Bell

Year Drafted: 2001

Round: 2nd

Analysis

Bell was Defensive Rookie of the Year after bursting onto the scene and making people wonder if he would be the next great Steelers linebacker. He even got an action figure from McFarlane. The problem was that, after 2001, he never re-appeared in team history except as the guy who fell apart and then got hurt.

Bell was shipped off the Kansas City a few years later and did nothing there to recover. He remains one of the only linebackers the Steelers have missed on in round 1 or 2.

5. Jamain Stephens

Year Drafted: 1996

Round: 1st

Analysis

Leon Searcy left after the Steelers lost Super Bowl XXX. They drafted Stephens to replace him. This was a mess from the start. He came out of a small school. The Steelers even admitted he wasn't going to be an immediate fit. He arrived in camp out of shape and collapsed the first day of workouts.

The team cut him the same day. It's hard to compete with a guy who was cut after only a day of camp after the team admitted immediately that he wasn't likely to be a good, immediate fit.

4. Most of the 2008 Draft

Year Drafted: 2008

Round: Multiple

Analysis

The Steelers did nab starter Rashard Mendenhall and key backup Ryan Mundy in this draft. In between, the only player they've really gotten any production out of is backup quarterback Dennis Dixon, who's work has been sketchy at best.

The Steelers swung and missed on Limas Sweed, Bruce Davis and Tony Hills, all expected to become productive starters at key spots. This is easily their worst draft class in over a decade.

3. Tim Worley

Year Drafted: 1989

Round: 1st

Analysis

Worley never became the productive running back that was expected when the Steelers drafted him in the first round of the 1989 draft. He became more fumble-prone than Rashard Mendenhall has ever been and also got into drugs during his brief career. That made him one of the least successful running backs in NFL history, and he did it all without major injury concerns.

They also missed on another first-rounder in the same draft, which makes 1989 probably their worst effort in the first round ever.

2. Huey Richardson

Year Drafted: 1991

Round: 1st

Analysis

After Worley, you'd think the team wouldn't make another big mistake on picks in the first round. They did only a few years later, taking Richardson in 1991. He played only five games his rookie season, played awful in those games and  was cut after the season ended. It was a sad end to Chuck Noll's run in Pittsburgh.

Richardson was out of football the next year. He's widely considered the worst draft pick in team history.

1. 1983 and "The Pass"

Year Drafted: 1983

Round: 1st

Analysis

The Steelers had a chance to take Terry Bradshaw's replacement in 1983. It was "the year of the quarterback." They had a chance to even take a local guy in Dan Marino, arguably the most successful passer of his generation and second only to Peyton Manning and Brett Favre right now. His only blemish was not winning a Super Bowl, something he likely would have done in Pittsburgh.

Instead, the chose Gabe Rivera, which we already covered. Not getting any quarterback with their picks that year is a sin. Not getting a guy who played down the street is even worse. This is the team's worst draft mistake ever.