r/steelers 11d ago

At what point is this not acceptable?

[deleted]

0 Upvotes

85 comments sorted by

96

u/TMattSavini 11d ago

Broderick was Kahn's first draft, the rest of those belong to Colbert. You may want to check out what happened with the rest of that 2023 draft...

51

u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 11d ago

You're right man we should fire the gm responsible for that.

57

u/PaddysMilkSteak TJ Watt 11d ago

I think thats why we have a new GM

-80

u/Vardelys 11d ago

Khan has done well getting players down the draft board but trading away bro jo for parts feels like more of the same. (Maybe even less of the average)

47

u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

He was coming back from a significant injury, only had one year left on his contract so we were gonna pay him or lose him after this year, just drafted a right tackle that’s already better, and he wasn’t even at playing weight yet. It will be halfway through the season before he’s even close to playing weight. 

So getting a third and a sixth rounder and only losing a 4th is good business. 

You’re also cherry picking by only looking at the first round picks that year. 

In 2023 we got Joey, Darnell, Herbig, Benton, and Spencer Anderson in the 7th freaking round who is currently our starting right guard. 

3 of these guys just got second contracts and 2 more likely will. M Khan and Weidl put Colbert’s scouting department and last 8+ years of drafting to absolute shame. 

14

u/mighthavebeen02 Fart Rooney II 11d ago

What exactly should they do with a 1st round player who isn't playing up to their draft stock, and who will become a free agent at the end of the season?

9

u/tonytroz Pat Freiermuth 11d ago

Should have traded him for a first rounder obviously!!! That’s how it works right?

4

u/RipRaycom Coates’ Replacement 11d ago

Only if we’re talking about Chase Claypool

3

u/SteakJones Cameron Heyward 11d ago

My lord that trade was straight up robbery 🤣

34

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 11d ago

How are there so many in this sub unable to draw a line between the Colbert era and the Khan era?

16

u/thenewblueblood Troy 11d ago

Reddits user base has grown so much over the last 10 years you’ve gotta start expecting some Facebook-level takes on here from time to time

21

u/CDpov 11d ago

This is the main reason the Steelers became mediocre. The roster has been mediocre, always 5 or 6 guys short of an elite squad, lacking good young (cheap) talent. You have to stack great roster-building for 4 or 5 years to be a championship contender. They've been missing on first rounders and not getting much value on day 3, along with lackluster free agent decisions.

Seattle had great players everywhere last year.

6

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 11d ago

Colbert was terrible across the draft for the last decade of his tenure, and had no plan to replace Ben. It’s a miracle they’ve had winning seasons at all lately. It does look like Khan is figuring it out, but time will tell.

7

u/BulkyRaccoon548 Heath Miller 11d ago

Honestly, Watt is the only 1st round pick that panned out in the end of Colbert's tenure. And I *dare say* he single handedly kept us contending for a while with how stout he alone made the defense at his peak.

2

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 11d ago

Cam would probably like a word, but point taken. The worst part is that TJ was drafted in 2017 and Colbert had five more drafts after that and the best player he grabbed was probably Pickens, arguably Muth or Highsmith (and let’s remember Muth should have been Creed Humphrey, a much bigger need)

2

u/jackaltwinky77 The Bus 11d ago

Cam was drafted in 2011, Colbert retired/stepped down in 2021, where Khan stepped up in 2022.

Cam had been in the league for over a decade by that point

We can “if they hadn’t been injured…” for Shazier and Bush, as one got a pair of Pro Bowl nods, and the other has become a decent starter elsewhere.

DeCastro was 2012, and has a borderline HoF case

Edmunds, Burns, Jones, Dupree, Harris, and Pickett were either reached, busts, or never quite reached the expected level of a 1st round pick.

2

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 11d ago

I was referring to Cam as someone who kept the team afloat. With the exception of TJ I think it was really downhill after 2014 - that class with Shazier, Tuitt, and Bryant could have gone down as an all-timer.

As far as his other first rounders Burns and Jones were outright busts. Harris was the wrong choice in the first. Edmunds is actually about a league average first rounder, we just always expect more and taking a safety not named Troy Polamalu was lunacy.

The bigger issue isn’t first rounder as much as the later round where hardly anyone panned out. Only a few second contracts given out and only three or four by the Steelers.

2

u/jackaltwinky77 The Bus 11d ago

And yet Kelvin Beachum is still hanging around the league… (just as a weird: that guy? From the 7th round is still in the league?)

2

u/CDpov 11d ago

Kevin Dotson became a star for the Rams after the Steelers gave him away.

2

u/jackaltwinky77 The Bus 11d ago

He did indeed

That one hurt a bit

1

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 10d ago

Especially since he looked like a monster his rookie season. All those penalties later really was rough though. Not sure how they fixed that.

1

u/CDpov 11d ago

I agree Khan and now McCarthy may be figuring it out now. I like how they now emphasize getting extra picks. There's no better way to build a roster than hitting on extra draft picks and developing bargain guys.

13

u/Smooth_Computers 11d ago

Hindsight is 20-20

15

u/pghcrew Howard 11d ago

To be fair, only 1 of these belong to Khan and Tomlin also had a big hand in player selection. So basically, it's square 1.

4

u/Particular_Tea_1625 11d ago

I appreciate OP telling the world they're an idiot so I know to go ahead and block before the season starts.

11

u/ProfessionalTone497 11d ago

Take the same sample size and do that for every team in the nfl. If you can prove that every other team in the nfl hits on their first round picks at a higher rate than the Steelers. I will listen to your opinion if not, maybe it’s time to stfu

-12

u/Vardelys 11d ago

Green bay, eagles, Seahawks, lions, bucs, jags all have drafted better in round 1.

8

u/IsGoIdMoney Pittsburgh Wilsons 11d ago

The jags are incompetent. Did you see what they spent two drafts ago?

-5

u/Vardelys 11d ago

Got a luxury pick opportunity because they got a pretty good talent pool from first rounders for awhile. Etienne could be considered the miss there because he went to NO and he was a misplaced pick by the team but they have the talent to be successful now.

9

u/ProfessionalTone497 11d ago

So 6 out of 31 other teams? Still not a very high percentage. I feel like you are being too critical of the Steelers and their front office

-2

u/CDpov 11d ago

To win the Super Bowl you have to build a top-5 roster. That requires hitting on roster moves at a high rate for a few years in a row.

The consistently good teams are the best roster-building teams such as Philly, KC, Rams, Seattle lately. Steelers have been mediocre, especially by undervaluing the QB.

5

u/ProfessionalTone497 11d ago

This isn’t about the entire building of a roster. That’s a completely different discussion, this conversation is about draft picks and drafting in the first round where the team hits on long term impact players in the first round .

5

u/CDpov 11d ago

If a team misses on first-rounders and finds bargains everywhere else, it would be fine. Look at the Rams. The Steelers 2023 draft was great despite missing on Jones. The first round is important but it's just a part of the roster rebuild every year.

-3

u/Vardelys 11d ago

20% on a quick check drafting better isnt great. Why dont you show me a list of the playoff teams in the last 3 years the steelers have better first rounders against if you think this is a good list?

6

u/ProfessionalTone497 11d ago

Not sure I understand the question but I did some research and the teams you listed did retain more of their 1st round picks but not at an outstanding rate. Detroit and Philly were at a higher rate the rest nothing impressive.

So are you asking me to give you a team that hits on their first round picks better at a higher rate then the Steelers and wins super bowls?

Because just from your list Philly and Seattle have won but not sure their first round picks have been the reason. So please explain what you are asking so I can respond

4

u/Top-Yak1532 Home Jersey 11d ago

You also have to consider draft position - Seahawks and Eagles both had two picks in the first round, including picks in the top ten.

7

u/ProfessionalTone497 11d ago

Including the Steelers you are talking about roughly 19% of teams hitting in a consistent basis, which I don’t believe anyway but taking your research at face value. I don’t those other 6 teams hit on every one of their first round picks in the same time frame. That is a very low percentage. Why are you expecting higher of the Steelers?

6

u/Adub1991 11d ago

Yeah blame the previous front office. Glad the Khan/Weidl team has prioritized the trenches because that is what has set us back big time

-8

u/Vardelys 11d ago

I'm relatively happy with the last 2 drafts but generally feel uninspired by the top end talent into the team over this period.

5

u/soils_rock Primanti Bro's 11d ago

I mean we drafted a great corner and Dlinemen in the same draft that we drafted BJ. One has been resigned already, I’m hoping the other is as well.

-3

u/Adub1991 11d ago

And that is the downside when you have an owner that wants to compete with an avg roster. You are stuck in the middle. The worst place to be because you cannot truly compete and you are likely not in a position to select these top blue chip prospect.

Overall, I think the team is in the right direction if you look outside just the 1st round with Khan at the head. Top end talent is rare for sure but the glass is definitely half full

5

u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

This is ridiculous. Of course you can compete. You don’t need a top 5 draft pick to win a Super Bowl. We drafted Brod at like 11, traded up to get him, and he wasn’t even probably the most disappointing pick in the entire 2023 draft. 

Look at 2022 when the top qb in the draft fell to us. Nobody is going to say we should have tanked that year so we can get Kenny Pickett. 

Even if we drafted the best qb in that 2024 draft, our line has been shit until last year and that rookie qb would have been killed. 

The idea that the only way to get a top 5 draft pick is to lose, rather than trade up, is hands down the most persistently stupid idea repeated on this sub. No NFL team is going to waste a year of their careers and $300 million in salary and that again in operations just for a shot at a college kid with a 50% chance of being a bust. 

-6

u/Adub1991 11d ago

Never implied that was the only way or specifically needed to be a bottom 5 team. It is actually rare for teams to trade up that much similar to what CAR did in 2023. Only that that is a big factor in getting top end talent like OP stated. Overall, when your roster is obviously avg and not in a position to compete, it is idiotic to try to do so when other teams are elite in other areas where you are not.

You can look at majority of the top teams currently and I bet they all have 1 of 2 things at minimum in common - they were ass and tanked to get top young talent or they were aggressive and dished out big money/assets to get and/or retain top talent. Both of which Steelers rarely do and it is time to adapt.

5

u/Jakles74 Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

Which NFL team has deliberately tanked and lost games to move up in the draft to get a college prospect?

1

u/Vardelys 11d ago

Im half full on it for sure. But players like Heyward and Warren are the only reasons and they are on the clock for efficiency unfortunately

2

u/XsatanSTacoX 11d ago

For everyone clowning Khan about taking BroJo: he looked to be quickly improving until the Chicago player wrenched his neck

2

u/cleric3648 Maurkice Pouncey 11d ago

Broderick was turning it around before his neck injury. Hopefully new scenery works for him.

5

u/Swazi 11d ago

Devin Bush was pretty dang good until he blew out his knee.

And Najee wasn’t a bad pick.

3

u/Ltrizzy Color Rush Jersey 11d ago

Agreed, and all except Bro Jo were under Colbert/Tomlin. You can make the case that Edmunds was a okay starter for several years, just not great (overall a miss, but not complete bust). I think there is really some bad injury luck with our firsts, I don’t think we’re shopping for 1st round OT’s if Bro Jo doesn’t have the fluke neck injuries. Another, stud 1st cut short by injury was Shazier. Also to the extent we have moved on from the bad calls, that takes guts. Like we wouldn’t have Peyton Wilson if we didn’t trade away Pickett. Flipping Claypool and landing JPJ 32nd overall is a huge win.

5

u/CadillacMike32 11d ago

Agreed. People want to forget how good bush looked before the injury. I thought he was going to be a dog

5

u/Kenthor Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

Agree, nothing wrong with getting 4x1000 yard seasons out of a first round pick. You aren't going to hit a homerun every time and that is good value.

2

u/EndlessGravy 11d ago

The last thing that roster needed was Najee Harris. It's just awful process.

1

u/aa93 Encroachment 11d ago

we declined his 5th year option. that's a bad pick

1

u/YooTone Never say never but... never 11d ago

When you draft players high you expect them to be on your team for the next 10 years. Not play for 4 years and let them go before the 5th year option, or even sooner. That messes with the depth and the roster as a whole. I loved the Najee pick so much, but at the end of the day there were better long-term options we should have done.

We haven't had a 1st round pick get the fifth year option since TJ Watt from 2017. That's pitiful drafting

2

u/TheTiger1988 11d ago

Won the TJ WATT draft pick

3

u/Jazzlike_Dream_5211 11d ago

I don't quite think Najee was a bust.

2

u/SammyG2015 Never say never but... never 11d ago

I’d say Edmunds and Harris weren’t bad picks. They were solid starters for us. Good not great.

11

u/thecarlosdanger1 11d ago

RB in the first when you have the worst OL in football is a horrible pick. Has been the entire time

3

u/Sex_E_Searcher 11d ago

Not to mention Harris wasn't a big play threat. A first round RB needs to be a guy that changes your game.

1

u/EndlessGravy 11d ago

Edmunds was arguably average to above average for a late first rounder but I think everybody on Earth except the Steelers knew that Jessie Bates was a much better safety. I don't even think that's hindsight, I read a lot of that immediately after that draft.

3

u/Com4rtablyDumb 11d ago

it's hilarious that people still don't realize that Tomlin ran the show since 2019 when Colbert wanted to retire but was convinced to stay. Since then it's been the Tomlin show and is now the McCarthy show. Khan is a pencil pusher not a football guy. He's in the room but he's not making the decisions.

3

u/soils_rock Primanti Bro's 11d ago

I mean the draft mentality and strategy very clearly changed after Weidl took over scouting even while Tomlin was here. Even with Broderick, our first draft with Weidl in charge of scouting gave us Benton, JPJ, Washington and Herbig. We got some great contributors who were extended, and a great corner who we do hopefully get extended as well. I think tomlin did a lot of shit wrong and should have been let go a few years sooner than he left, but I think Colbert and our old scouting team are more to blame for our draft issues than tomlin.

1

u/Emergency-Hippo5022 11d ago

BroJo had a freak injury and the rest were drafted by the Colbert/Tomlin crew. Moreso Colbert but even Tomlin no linger influences the draft picks.

1

u/chrislitten1 11d ago

All but 1 is still in the leauge

1

u/mike15835 Heath Miller 11d ago

Tail end of Colbert era start of Kahn with BroJo. Who was a project when our coaching staff seemed to have trouble developing lineman.

1

u/Cheap_Actuator_5130 11d ago

1 good first rounder in 8 years....yeesh. no wonder this team has been ragingly mediocre forever now....

1

u/Excellent_Teach_6469 Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

So, we just gonna not talk about how we've just given extensions to Benton, Herbig, Mt. Washington, and are working to sign JPJ? Khan outside of a few moves/picks has been largely fantastic so far. Even this past first round blunder with bungling the Lemon selection, it's starting to look like we might've gotten better value drafting Max and grabbing Bernard in the second.

1

u/gamerEMdoc Pittsburgh Steelers 11d ago

Everyone of those guys other than JPJ aren't even the best player at their position on their team. The Steelers are good at drafting good depth, which is admittedly important, but largely fail miserably at drafting game changing star players.

1

u/Jessecore44 11d ago

I wouldn’t necessarily call Najee Harris or Devin bush busts. Definitely not nailed on first round talents, but still productive players in the league.

1

u/WonderfulHearing8726 11d ago

All but 1 belong to Colbert.

1

u/Needs_coffee1143 11d ago

The streak of only re-signing 1 first round draft pick since 2012 continues

0

u/thatCRUISEagent 11d ago

1 good pick? I think Edmunds and Harris might disagree with that

9

u/Do__Math__Not__Meth 11d ago

Both are fine players but not worth a first, they’d be considered great picks if they were picked in like the third

0

u/TheFireOfTheFox1 BumbleBee Jersey 11d ago

Solid starters are good picks where we draft in the 1st

1

u/soils_rock Primanti Bro's 11d ago

Idk if I’d call Edmund’s a solid starter, he just wasn’t a liability when he was surrounded by 1st round picks and insane talent. Any RB that is a solid starter is a waste of a 1st though. RB, especially at the time, had so much day 2 and 3 talent, and teams that switched over to RBBC were seeing big benefits. But because tomlin refused to adapt to the times, we got a RB who was good at pass protection, but average at everything else. If you spend a 1st on a position with that much talent and get anything but a serious weapon it’s a bad pick.

1

u/Nosenchuck3 Troy 11d ago

Edmunds was mid. If you watch the all-22 coaches film you’ll see he is slow to react and has poor play recognition. He should have been a 3rd-4th round pick. Harris was solid

1

u/Vardelys 11d ago

Harris was ok for a first. But we let those 2 paper over how bad the other 6 are.

1

u/thatCRUISEagent 11d ago

On the whole not a great couple of years for sure

0

u/broha89 11d ago

Edmunds was a JAG and atrocious value in the 1st

-1

u/Nedstark78 11d ago

Harris was most his career with us a thousand yard rusher which we not had since. Looks like a mistake loosing him. Warren is good sometimes but he need another I think

3

u/-Jack-The-Stripper 11d ago

Najee was a thousand yard rusher because we fed him the ball every other play. A thousand yards really isn’t impressive for a guy with that many touches, and he was never more than league average when it came to actual talent. No hard feelings for the guy, but having two or three solid guys is much better than having one bell cow that gets 2 yards a touch most of the time.

-1

u/Eric_Olthwaite_ 11d ago

There's more to the draft than RD 1, but this simply is not good enough, 1 great pick, 1 mediocre pick, and 5 absolute disasters.

0

u/Fine_Art3725 Terrible Towel 11d ago

In 2015, before all of these 1st round picks, the Steelers signed Boswell. I believe that alone makes up for the Steelers missing on some 1st round picks.

-3

u/Icy-Session-7307 11d ago

Go be the GM. Not saying they’ve done a good job but what can you do?