The NFL Draft will take place outside of Acrisure Stadium April 23-25. In advance of the event, we will be looking back at each of the 25 Pittsburgh Steelers drafts in the history of the Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium era.

Every day this week, we will pick the best player from each class. We’ll also give you the Steelers’ 25 best draft picks since the stadium opened.

For Monday’s entry, we start with the foundation that was laid out for the three Super Bowl teams that connected Bill Cowher’s era to Mike Tomlin’s with the 2001-05 classes.

2001: Casey Hampton | Round 1, Pick 19 (NT, Texas)

Hampton was good from the moment he got to Pittsburgh, starting 11 games as a rookie. But he certainly didn’t flash in the same way as Defensive Rookie of the Year Kendrell Bell.

For the first two years of his career in Pittsburgh, Bell looked like he was going to be the next great linebacker in Steelers history, bridging the 1990s into the new century and the new stadium. Unfortunately, injuries quickly derailed his career, leaving Pittsburgh after four seasons and retiring in Kansas City after three more.

Hampton, meanwhile, continued to be the steady run-stuffing presence he was picked to be for 12 consecutive years in Pittsburgh — five of which ended with Pro Bowl nominations, and three trips to Super Bowls.

Aside from that, the rest of the class didn’t yield much. Chukky Okobi was a useful, versatile interior lineman for six years, but never became the starting-worthy replacement to Jeff Hartings that some hoped he’d be. Rodney Bailey had a few moments, including 9.5 sacks in 2002 (2.5 in one game at Cincinnati on Oct. 13).

• Kendrell Bell | Round 2, Pick 39 — LB, Georgia

• Mathias Nkwenti | Round 4, Pick 111 — T, Temple

• Chukky Okobi | Round 5, Pick 146 — C, Purdue

• Rodney Bailey | Round 6, Pick 181 — DE, Ohio State

• Roger Knight | Round 6, Pick 182 — LB, Wisconsin

• Chris Taylor | Round 7, Pick 218 — WR, Texas A&M

2002: Brett Keisel | Round 7, Pick 242 (DE, BYU)

Even though there weren’t any superstars, this was one of the best draft classes in the Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium era. It yielded six regular contributors to the 2005 Super Bowl-winning roster. Keisel wasn’t the most important of those in that championship season, although he did have two sacks in the AFC title game in Denver. The BYU product ended up with 30 sacks and 156 games as a Steeler, including a Pro Bowl season in 2010 as a seventh-round pick.

It’s a toss-up between Antwaan Randle-El and Larry Foote after that, followed by Chris Hope, then Kendall Simmons and Verron Haynes.

• Kendall Simmons | Round 1, Pick 30 — G, Auburn

• Antwaan Randle El | Round 2, Pick 62 — WR, Indiana

• Chris Hope | Round 3, Pick 94 — DB, Florida State

• Larry Foote | Round 4, Pick 128 — LB, Michigan

• Verron Haynes | Round 5, Pick 166 — RB, Georgia

• Lee Mays | Round 6, Pick 202 — WR, Texas-El Paso

• LaVar Glover | Round 7, Pick 212 — DB, Cincinnati

2003: Troy Polamalu | Round 1, Pick 16 (S, USC)

This was a no-brainer to go with Polamalu, but in a few other seasons on this list, Ike Taylor could be a winner. And when we reveal our list of top 25 players drafted in the Heinz/Acrisure era, Taylor will be on it.

Aside from those two major contributors, this draft was thin on numbers and thin on results as the Steelers dealt picks No. 92 and 200 to move up in the draft to select Polamalu.

• Alonzo Jackson | Round 2, Pick 59 — LB, Florida State

• Ike Taylor | Round 4, Pick 125 — CB, Louisiana

• Brian St. Pierre | Round 5, Pick 163 — QB, Boston College

• J.T. Wall | Round 7, Pick 242 — RB, Georgia

2004: Ben Roethlisberger | Round 1, Pick 11 (QB, Miami, Ohio)

For as easy as the Polamalu choice was to make from the 2003 class, choosing Ben Roethlisberger from the 2004 class was even easier. Max Starks ended up being a very useful tackle who could play both sides and stayed with the Steelers for nine years, 123 games and three trips to the Super Bowl.

Featured Local Businesses

More local businesses

So this draft basically had a grand slam homer, a solid double to the opposite field and six strikeouts. All the other picks combined for just 42 games as Steelers, 36 of which were from Colclough. He had just one interception in his Steelers career.

• Ricardo Colclough | Round 2, Pick 38 — DB, Tusculum

• Max Starks | Round 3, Pick 75 — T, Florida

• Nathaniel Adibi | Round 5, Pick 145 — DE, Virginia Tech

• Bo Lacy | Round 6, Pick 177 — T, Arkansas

• Matt Kranchick | Round 6, Pick 194 — TE, Penn State

• Drew Caylor | Round 6, Pick 197 — C, Stanford

• Eric Taylor | Round 7, Pick 212 — DT, Memphis

2005: Heath Miller | Round 1, Pick 30 (TE, Virginia)

Four out of five years to open the new stadium, the team’s first-round pick was a nailed-on success. Heath Miller was the latest on this list. He started 167 games, was an invaluable part of three Super Bowl rosters and retired after a decade in Pittsburgh with just about every franchise tight end record under his belt.

Bryant McFadden had two stints with the Steelers and played in three Super Bowls as well. His defense on two late pass incompletions to Reggie Wayne from Peyton Manning were integral to the Steelers surviving the Divisional Round in Indianapolis on the way to Super Bowl XL.

The Steelers also got a combined 81 starts out of Trai Essex and Chris Kemoeatu.

• Bryant McFadden | Round 2, Pick 62 — CB, Florida State

• Trai Essex | Round 3, Pick 93 — OL, Northwestern

• Fred Gibson | Round 4, Pick 131 — WR, Georgia

•Rian Wallace | Round 5, Pick 166 — LB, Temple

•Chris Kemoeatu | Round 6, Pick 204 — G, Utah

•Shaun Nua | Round 7, Pick 228 — DE, BYU

•Noah Herron | Round 7, Pick 244 — RB, Northwestern

On Tuesday, we’ll take a look at the draft classes from 2006-10. That’s when some of the debates get a lot harder, and the star picks begin to get thin.