Steelers' Omar Khan Is Gambling On 'Moneyball' To Jumpstart Roster Overhaul In 2023

For generations, the Pittsburgh Steelers have built a strong reputation on a foundation of development. Using a historic scouting method, coaches and scouts knew what to look for in young prospects and free agents that no other team seemingly had. Steelers’ Hall of Fame scout, Bill Nunn, proved to be the spearhead of their unique scouting blueprint in the earlier days of the franchise. Through that, he was pivotal in the creation of the Steelers’ dynasty of the 1970s. Since then, the Steelers have shown they will not leave any stone unturned in their hunt for the right talent to effectively play up to the Steelers’ standard.

However, heading into the 2023 season, it looks like there has been a significant shift in that mentality. For an organization who prides themselves on having a keen eye for young talent that can be developed into becoming elite, the Steelers have constructed their roster completely opposite of that. Through the past calendar year, the Steelers have welcomed a slew of free agent starters, fresh rookie draft classes, but cut players they scouted and drafted in prior years.

Ben Roethlisberger single-handily re-wrote the Steelers’ record books throughout his career. But throughout his 18-year career, Roethlisberger set the mark of being the longest-tenured player in franchise history. Included in that is the most games played as a member of the Steelers with 249 games. Mike Webster sits in second place with 220 games. Tied for eighth place on the list is Cameron Heyward with 183 games.

There are only six players on the Steelers’ 2023 roster that were drafted by the team and are playing on a contract extension beyond their initial rookie deal. Those names are Heyward, TJ Watt, Diontae Johnson, Mason Rudolph, Zach Gentry and Chukwuma Okorafor. One could argue the return of Quincy Roche could make that list grow to seven names, so we can include him as an honorable mention. 

Beyond them, not one member of any Steelers’ draft class from 2017 or earlier is still on the team. Further, Watt, Rudolph, Johnson and Gentry are the only draftees remaining from draft classes between 2017 and 2019. Heyward is the only one remaining from draft classes before 2017.

If we look at the current roster heading into camp in 2023, there is a definitive split between those players who were drafted by the Steelers and those who were active with another team before finding their spot in Pittsburgh. There are currently 27 players on the roster who were drafted by the Steelers. There are 32 names on the roster who were acquired by trade or free agency. In another way to put it, over half of the Steelers' current roster wasn't drafted by the organization. While this may just be an indicator of the change of direction the league has gone, this goes completely against the way the franchise likes to do, and has historically done.

Let’s take a look at the past two Steelers’ Super Bowl-winning rosters. Specifically, let’s look at the starters. Starting with the historic 2005 team who won Super Bowl XL. There were six names who weren’t drafted by the Steelers. That list includes Willie Parker, Jerome Bettis, Dan Kreider, Jeff Hartings, James Farrior and Kimo Von Oelhoffen. The average age across the starting roster for that season was 27.43 years old and is one of the oldest rosters to win a Super Bowl.

If we look just three years later at the 2008 team that won Super Bowl XLIII, the optimal Steelers' trend continued. Of the names on the starting roster, there were only five who weren’t drafted by the Steelers. However, three of those names were signed as undrafted free agents. Those were Parker, James Harrison and Darnell Stapleton. Two of those names were acquired by way of free agency in Farrior and Ryan Clark. 

The other 17 starters were all drafted by Pittsburgh. The average age of the starting roster was 26.31 years old, while the average age for the entire roster was 27 years, 11 months and 16 days. At the time, it was the oldest roster in NFL history to win a Super Bowl, but has since been dethroned by the 2021 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 2019 New England Patriots.

In comparing the rosters from some of the best teams from the previous generation to the 2023 current roster, the mindset has clearly been drastically altered. The Steelers began as an organization who could find, say, 17 rookies and grow them into starters on a championship-winning team. Now, they’re pivoting into a team that brings in other players to make up over half of the starting roster, while cutting names they spent draft capital on. This begs the question as to ‘why’ this is happening.

General Manager, Omar Khan has cultivated an impressive reputation as being a numbers and salary cap guru. As weird as this may sound, it is as if Khan is taking a page out of the Oakland Athletics’ playbook from 2002. For those who are unfamiliar with the backstory, former-Athletics’ General Manager, Billy Beane, coined the phrase “Moneyball” in his construction of the team’s roster in 2002. Ironically enough, that mentality and Khan's are eerily similar.

With the help of Paul DePodesta, Beane leveraged unique free agents and cheap trades to build the roster. That roster ended up setting league records and won an astounding 20 consecutive games that season. With Khan leveraging the free agency market to re-construct the roster, there are similarities between the two instances. Although this proved to be somewhat successful in 2002, this isn’t how the Steelers have operated in the past. It looks like Khan is trying to build his own "Moneyball" for 2023.

We saw shades of this in the past several seasons in the additions of free agents who found themselves starting in different parts of the season. Although former-General Manager, Kevin Colbert had the final say at the time, Khan was also very much included in the process. However, with names like Mark Barron, Jonathan Bostic, Morgan Burnett and Ladarius Green, it is difficult to say this system works in Pittsburgh.

The roster for 2023 is beginning to look like a lot of what we’ve seen in those seasons. Khan brought in potential-starters at inside linebacker in Elandon Roberts, Tanner Muse and Cole Holcomb after signing Myles Jack in 2022. He continued by adding to the trenches in Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig, and Breiden Fehoko. He also went out and signed 12-year veteran, Patrick Peterson. 

He then traded for nine-year veteran, Allen Robinson. Khan added more to the defense by then signing Keanu Neal and Markus Golden. The overhaul of new players who are coming into the Steelers’ training camp has been unprecedented compared to what the Steelers are used to seeing. Although this may look optimistic for a fresh look for the season, the Steelers' track record says otherwise.

Only time will tell in determining if Khan was finally able to crack the code. But, if history is any indicator, the odds are not favorable towards the Steelers. While it is obvious the blueprint for today’s NFL is to “buy” a roster from the outside to land top talent at every position to win a Super Bowl, it falls completely outside of the Steelers’ standard operating procedure. 

Further, the Steelers have proven they don't need a lot of outside help to win championships. Khan’s attempt at his own version of a “Moneyball” strategy is glaring. This will either be one of the best things to come to Pittsburgh in decades or will just lead to another season without a playoff win with the team searching for answers.

Do you like the Steelers' new strategy? Do you prefer more draftees than free agents on a starting roster? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation