The NFL Draft will take place outside of Acrisure Stadium on April 23-25. In advance of the event, we will be looking back at each of the 25 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 Tuesday’s entry, we start with the 2006 draft class after the Super Bowl XL victory, and take you through the impactful group that opened the 2010 AFC Championship season.
2006: Santonio Holmes | Round 1, Pick 25 (WR, Ohio State)
Holmes’ rookie season was rather forgettable. He has just one touchdown and no 100-yard contests before the regular-season finale in Cincinnati. But the Ohio State product led the NFL in yards per catch (18.1) in 2007, was a postseason superstar in 2008 (including his legendary Super Bowl XLIII touchdown), and had a career-best 79 catches for 1,248 yards in 2009.
But his Steelers career only lasted those four years. That said, he was the best pick from this group. Second-rounder Antony Smith was best known for getting chewed out by Dick LeBeau and his ill-advised prediction in advance of a game against the New England Patriots. Willie Reid had a bad foot injury to start his career and never caught on.
Willie Colon was the only other player to even give Holmes a run. None of the other five picks ever played a game for the Steelers.
• Anthony Smith | Round 3, Pick 83 (DB, Syracuse)
• Willie Reid | Round 3, Pick 95 (WR, Florida State)
• Willie Colon | Round 4, Pick 131 (G, Hofstra)
• Orien Harris | Round 4, Pick 133 (DT, Miami, Fla.)
• Omar Jacobs | Round 5, Pick 164 (QB, Bowling Green)
• Charles Davis | Round 5, Pick 167 (TE, Purdue)
• Marvin Philip | Round 6, Pick 201 (C, California)
• Cedric Humes | Round 7, Pick 240 (RB, Virginia Tech)
2007: LaMarr Woodley | Round 2, Pick 46 (OLB, Michigan)
Mike Tomlin’s first draft produced perhaps the hardest choice for this exercise. It was a coin flip between a shorter, dynamic career of LaMarr Woodley versus nearly a decade of consistently good play from Lawrence Timmons.
Woodley led the NFL in tackles for loss with 20 in 2009. He racked up 57 regular-season sacks in seven years with the Steelers. He made the Pro Bowl and was second-team All-Pro in ‘09. He was on his way to his best year in 2011 with nine sacks in 10 games before that year was derailed by a hamstring injury.
Timmons (670) trails only James Farrior (740) when it comes to solo tackles in the stadium’s history. The former Seminole played 158 games, never missing a start from 2011-16. He was also a Pro Bowler and second-team All-Pro in 2014.
Woodley’s postseason performance gives him the edge. He had 11 sacks and 12 tackles for loss in eight postseason games, including a game-deciding sack of Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XLIII.
Willie Gay produced great value after falling to the fifth round. Over two stints with the Steelers, Matt Spaeth gave the club seven years of service as a depth tight end.
• Lawrence Timmons | Round 1, Pick 15 (LB, Florida State)
• Matt Spaeth | Round 3, Pick 77 (TE, Minnesota)
• Daniel Sepulveda | Round 4, Pick 112 (P, Baylor)
• Ryan McBean | Round 4, Pick 132 (DT, Oklahoma State)
• Cameron Stephenson | Round 5, Pick 156 (G, Rutgers)
• William Gay | Round 5, Pick 170 (DB, Louisville)
• Dallas Baker | Round 7, Pick 227 (WR, Florida)
2008: Rashard Mendenhall | Round 1, Pick 23 (RB, Illinois)
I thought this was going to be a great draft when it happened. It was anything but that.
Mendenhall was definitely the best pick of the group, but he never ended up living up to his first-round pick status. However, he did have an excellent 2010 season, posting 1,273 yards on the ground and 13 rushing touchdowns. He also totaled 3,309 rushing yards and 29 scores between 2009-11. While widely remembered for his Super Bowl XLV fumble, he also compiled four touchdowns in the 2010 postseason and had a 121-yard outing in the AFC title game versus the New York Jets.
As for Limas Sweed? Well, at least he gave us this.
• Limas Sweed | Round 2, Pick 53 (WR, Texas)
• Bruce Davis | Round 3, Pick 88 (LB, UCLA)
• Tony Hills | Round 4, Pick 130 (OT, Texas)
• Dennis Dixon | Round 5, Pick 156 (QB, Oregon)
• Mike Humpal | Round 6, Pick 188 (LB, Iowa)
• Ryan Mundy | Round 6, Pick 194 (DB, West Virginia)
2009: Mike Wallace | Round 3, Pick 84 (WR, Mississippi)
Early in his Steelers career, Tomlin referred to Mike Wallace as “One-Trick,” as in “one-trick pony.” But it was a really good trick.
Wallace’s 4.33 speed was evident as soon as he arrived in Pittsburgh. As a rookie, the Ole Miss receiver led the NFL in yards per catch at 19.4. That number jumped to 21.0 during his second season when he was second in the league. During that 2010 campaign, he also posted 10 touchdowns and 1,257 receiving yards. Wallace followed that up with another 1,193 in 2011.
But Wallace’s greatest contribution may have been holding out and turning down the team’s contract offer before the 2012 season. That’s when he refused five years and $42 million. The club then turned around and offered it to Antonio Brown. He went on to four more All-Pro teams.
Wallace, meanwhile, made an additional $51.5 million between stops in Miami, Minnesota, Baltimore and Philadelphia. Plus, he totaled another 25 touchdowns and 4,030 receiving yards. So he did just fine as well.
As far as others in the class, the Steelers gave “Ziggy” Hood five years, but he never showed first-round flash. After three seasons of minimal production, Wallace’s high school teammate Keenan Lewis had one really good season in 2012, then went to the New Orleans Saints in free agency.
Moon’s A.Q. Shipley never played for the Steelers but carved out an eight-year NFL career with stops in Indianapolis, Baltimore, Arizona and Tampa Bay.
• Evander Hood | Round 1, Pick 32 (DE, Missouri)
• Kraig Urbik | Round 3, Pick 79 (T, Wisconsin)
• Keenan Lewis | Round 3, Pick 96 (DB, Oregon State)
• Joe Burnett | Round 5, Pick 168 (DB, Central Florida)
• Frank Summers | Round 5, Pick 169 (RB, UNLV)
• Ra’Shon Harris | Round 6, Pick 205 (DT, Oregon)
• A.Q. Shipley | Round 7, Pick 226 (C, Penn State)
• David Johnson | Round 7, Pick 241 (TE, Arkansas State )
2010: Antonio Brown | Round 6, Pick 195 (WR, Central Michigan)
Because things ended in such cataclysmic fashion between Brown and the Steelers, there will be a temptation to suggest that Maurkice Pouncey should be the selection here. He was a great Steeler and extended the legacy of All-Pro centers in Pittsburgh. Not to mention, he validated the first-round pick immediately, finishing third in Offensive Rookie of the Year balloting despite playing a less-than-glamorous position along the offensive line.
But, before the circus came to town, Brown gave the Steelers Hall-of-Fame-level production from a sixth-round slot. So he has to be the choice.
Emmanuel Sanders went on to better things in Denver, claiming three 1,000-yard seasons, two Pro Bowls and a Super Bowl ring. He also got to another Super Bowl in San Francisco. But the Steelers still got four years, 161 catches, 11 touchdowns and 2,030 receiving yards out of him before he left.
After a slow start to the first three years of his Steelers career, Jason Worilds totaled 15.5 sacks over the 2013-14 seasons and got a $9.75 million transition tag. He then surprisingly retired to become a Jehovah’s Witness the day before free agency began in 2015.
Jonathan Dwyer gave the Steelers 729 yards from scrimmage in 2012, and a total of three 100-yard games in his career before moving on to Arizona in 2014. Stevenson Sylvester started just two games at linebacker, but was a four-year contributor on special teams.
• Maurkice Pouncey | Round 1, Pick 18 (C, Florida)
• Jason Worilds | Round 2, Pick 52 (DE, Virginia Tech)
• Emmanuel Sanders | Round 3, Pick 82 (WR, SMU)
• Thaddeus Gibson | Round 4, Pick 116 (DE, Ohio State)
• Chris Scott | Round 5, Pick 151 (G, Tennessee)
• Crezdon Butler | Round 5, Pick 164 (DB, Clemson)
• Stevenson Sylvester | Round 5, Pick 166 (LB, Utah)
• Jonathan Dwyer | Round 6, Pick 188 (RB, Georgia Tech)
• Doug Worthington | Round 7, Pick 242 (DT, Ohio State)