The Pittsburgh Steelers have drafted 25 rookie classes since Acrisure Stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium in 2001. Last week at “Breakfast With Benz,” we tried to determine the best player from each of those draft classes.
With draft week upon us at Acrisure, we conclude our retrospective by ranking the 25 best picks since the stadium was constructed.
We ranked these players based primarily on their overall contributions to the team, their stats, their longevity with the franchise, individual and team postseason success during their tenure, and the value of their performance based on where they were selected in the draft.
As a preemptive reminder, the likes of Willie Parker and James Harrison were not drafted. So they aren’t on the list. If they had been, they would be.
1. Ben Roethlisberger (QB, Miami, Ohio; first round; No. 11 overall in 2004)
2. Troy Polamalu (S, USC; first round; No. 16 overall in 2003)
3. Antonio Brown (WR, Central Michigan; sixth round; No. 195 overall in 2010)
4. T.J Watt (OLB, Wisconsin; first round; No. 30 overall in 2017)
5. Cameron Heyward (DL, Ohio State; first round; No. 31 overall in 2011)
My first thought was to put Brown on top of this list because he was a four-time All-Pro out of a non-power 5 school that Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin picked in the sixth round. That’s insane value.
However, no one has played more games in that stadium than Big Ben. He’s a future Hall of Fame quarterback who was the most important player in black and gold this century. Like Brown, Roethlisberger was also a MAC school product who wasn’t a lock to go as high as he did.
Famously, the Steelers initially coveted Arkansas guard Shawn Andrews but pivoted late in the process to Roethlisberger. Plus, 10 other teams passed on him, including eight who didn’t take a quarterback. So, in the moment, Roethlisberger wasn’t quite the obvious selection as history would have it remembered.
But the Steelers made the right call.
In Polamalu’s case, the franchise had to construct a trade up of 11 spots to get him at No. 16. Again, not easy, but well calculated by Colbert, Omar Khan and Bill Cowher.
For these reasons — and how Brown’s time in Pittsburgh ended — yes, I’m going with Roethlisberger and Polamalu first and second before A.B. That’s also how I would rank them if we were strictly talking about who were the best players in the Acrisure Stadium era as well.
As for Watt and Heyward, both are building Hall of Fame resumes. Both were perfect fits for the Steelers’ defense, and both were home runs even though they were picked in the 30s of the first round.
That counts for something in the conversation.
6. Heath Miller (TE, Virginia; first round; No. 30 overall in 2005)
7. Maurkice Pouncey (C, Florida; first round; No. 18 overall in 2010)
8. Casey Hampton (NT, Texas; first round; No. 19 overall in 2001)
9. Ike Taylor (CB, Louisiana; fourth round; No. 125 overall in 2003)
10. Brett Keisel (DE, BYU; seventh round; No. 242 overall in 2002)
You could reconfigure Miller, Pouncey and Hampton in any order you want, and you’d get no push back from me. I’ll go with Miller at six because he’s got just about every record in the book at tight end in team history, whereas Pouncey and Hampton certainly have lots of other great players in front of them on the all-time team list at their positions.
Taylor was a fourth-round cornerback from a non-power 5 who was Pittsburgh’s best player at corner for a long time. He was the starter for three Super Bowl teams.
Keisel may not have been the 10th-best player in the Acrisure Stadium/Heinz Field era. But if you get 156 games, a Pro Bowl season and three Super Bowl trips out of a seventh-round pick at defensive end, that’s a fantastic pick.
11. David DeCastro (OG, Stanford; first round; No 24 overall in 2012)
12. LaMarr Woodley (OLB, Michigan; second round; No. 46 overall in 2007)
13. Lawrence Timmons (LB, Florida State; first round; No. 15 overall in 2007)
14. Le’Veon Bell (RB, Michigan State; second round; No. 48 overall in 2013)
15. Santonio Holmes (WR, Ohio State; first round; No. 25 overall in 2006)
The top 15 were all locks, easy to determine and fairly easy to slot. DeCastro made six Pro Bowls. Woodley and Timmons built the foundation for the Tomlin era as his first two picks.
Bell would’ve been higher if he stayed longer and didn’t leave under such significant contract acrimony. Holmes made the biggest catch of the century thus far for the franchise and was a postseason star for Tomlin as Cowher’s final first-round draft choice.
16. Mike Wallace (WR, Ole Miss; third round; No. 84 overall in 2009)
17. JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR, USC; second round; No. 62 overall in 2017)
18. Alex Highsmith (OLB, Charlotte; third round; No. 102 in 2020)
19. Antwaan Randle El (WR, Indiana; second round; No. 62 overall in 2002)
20. Larry Foote (ILB, Michigan; fourth round; No. 128 overall in 2002)
It gets dicey after the top 15. There were about 20 players for 10 spots. The answers were not quite as clear.
Wallace had more big-play numbers than Smith-Schuster in what was nearly a tie atop this tier. Highsmith has 45 sacks in six years so far. Randle El was a big roll of the dice that worked out, and he made a huge play in Super Bowl XL.
Foote was a mid-round pick who started every game in a season six times during his Steelers career and went to three Super Bowls with the club.
21. Stephon Tuitt (DE, Notre Dame; second round; No. 46 overall in 2014)
22. Ryan Shazier (ILB, Ohio State; first round; No. 15 overall in 2014)
23. William Gay (CB, Louisville; fifth round; No. 170 overall in 2007)
24. Vince Williams (ILB, Florida State; sixth round; No. 206 overall in 2013)
25. Kendrell Bell (ILB, Georgia; second round; No. 39 overall in 2002)
Tuitt, Shazier and Bell were all well-scouted, impactful picks that had their careers halted by injury. They were the right picks at the right time, and would’ve been higher on this list if health hadn’t gotten in the way.
Gay had five interceptions, six touchdowns and 160 games over 10 seasons as a fifth-round corner. Williams logged 120 games and 333 tackles as a late Day 3 guy.
Honorable mentions include Pat Freiermuth from the 2021 class. Check back in five years, and he may be on the list for the 30th anniversary. Zach Frazier may be as well.
Diontae Johnson was probably the first guy off the list as a Pro Bowler and second team All-Pro returner from a MAC school in the second round. Offensive tackles Max Starks (third round) and Kelvin Beachum (seventh round) got 135 starts at a premium position after the second round. Had James Conner stayed longer and been healthy more often, he would’ve been on the list, too. Javon Hargrave was under consideration. George Pickens, Najee Harris and Rashard Mendenhall got more of a thought than I really want to admit.
Mike Hilton and Ramon Foster are two more undrafted guys who would’ve been considered.