Steelers' 2021 Redraft Features Big Changes And Multiple Pro Bowl Players Kevin Colbert Passed On

The Pittsburgh Steelers began the 2024 offseason by hiring Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator. Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin waved goodbye to Mitch Trubisky, Chukwuma Okorafor and Pressley Harvin III. Pittsburgh is reportedly struggling internally with the decision of who is going to play quarterback in 2024, and Tomlin sent social media into a frenzy when every draft prospect he shook hands with at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, AL, catapulted to the top of the Steelers draft board.

Pittsburgh did make the AFC playoffs in 2023, winning 10 games. It was a one-game improvement over a nine-win campaign in 2022. The Steelers extended their five-game playoff losing streak when they fell to the Buffalo Bills, 31-17. The roster still has holes, but Khan and Andy Weidl filled some of them with the 2023 NFL draft and will now get a second crack to bolster the roster in April.

The Steelers are also faced with deciding how to handle the 2021 draft class, who now could receive contract extensions. It starts with the decision on Najee Harris' fifth-year option and whether to exercise it and continue with the tandem of Harris and Jaylen Warren. Pittsburgh also has to decide whether to extend Pat Freiermuth. It is the perfect time to evaluate Kevin Colbert's penultimate draft class and examine how they hold up by conducting a redraft of the Steelers' picks. 

Steelers Go After Offensive Line Early 

Round 1 - Pick 24

The Steelers select Landon Dickerson, offensive lineman from the Alabama Crimson Tide. Dickerson has played guard with the Philadelphia Eagles, started 46 games, and made two consecutive Pro Bowl appearances. It isn't a slam dunk that Matt Canada and Tomlin would have used him properly, but he would undoubtedly be an upgrade over several players who have worked on the Steelers' line since.

The Steelers selected Najee Harris in the first round. The conventional analytics wisdom in the current NFL is that you don't pick a running back in the first round. The former Crimson Tide running back gets a lot of flack from analysts and fans because he was selected too high. Harris is the only Steelers' running back who has started his career with three 1,000-yard seasons, and he set the franchise rookie record for receptions. He isn't a bust, but Harris is not as valuable as Dickerson would have been.

Round 2 - Pick 55

The Steelers select Creed Humphrey, center from the Oklahoma Sooners. Humphrey has become arguably the best center in the NFL during his three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He finished third in the NFL Offensive Rookie Of The Year voting in 2021 and has been selected to consecutive Pro Bowls. Jackson Powers-Johnson, Zach Frazier or Sedrick Van Pran could help salve this wound if Khan and Weidl elect to pick them in 2024, but this is one of the more significant mistakes Colbert ever made, and that is saying something.

Pat Freiermuth is an enigma. He looks like an elite tight end when he is on the field and the Steelers use him. The problem is he has disappeared for long stretches with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph and Trubisky at the helm. He had his best year with Ben Roethlisberger, and if the Steelers elect to let him go, they could regret it, especially if he lands with a quarterback who enjoys throwing the ball in the middle of the field.

Round 3 - Pick 87

The Steelers select Rhamondre Stevenson, running back from Oklahoma. The Steelers wanted to add a franchise-type running back for Roethlisberger's final season, and Stevenson would have fit the bill nicely. Stevenson has shown flashes of brilliance, including a 1,000-yard sophomore season, despite only carrying the ball 210 times. He is averaging 4.5 yards per carry for his career.

Colbert selected Kendrick Green in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft to convert him to a center. Yup, he passed on Humphrey and selected Green with his next pick. Yikes.

Round 4 - Pick 128

The Steelers select Talanoa Hufanga, safety from the USC Trojans. The Steelers have indeed chosen only 13 Pac-12 players in Tomlin's 17 seasons as a head coach. Still, Colbert, who selected Troy Polamalu from USC, should have seen this coming. Hufanga is not Polamalu, but he is a big hitter who would have allowed Minkah Fitzpatrick to stay in center field, where he belongs. The Steelers could have brought him along slowly, with Terrell Edmunds still under his rookie contract.

Pittsburgh selected Dan Moore Jr. with this pick. He has started 49 games for the Steelers, which is very good for a fourth-round draft pick. Unfortunately, those 49 games were on one of the worst offensive lines the Steelers have fielded in the last 50 seasons. Oddly, Moore has done very well against Myles Garrett. The problem is Moore's other 43 starts.

Round 4 - Pick 140

The Steelers select Brevin Jordan, tight end from the University of Miami. The reputation of the Miami program has suffered in recent years, but they have produced a lot of great NFL tight ends. Jeremy Shockey, Bubba Franks, Jimmy Graham and Greg Olsen immediately come to mind. Jordan has not come close to that production level with the Houston Texans, but he is only one year into being paired with CJ Stroud. 

The Steelers selected Buddy Johnson with this pick. He appeared in four games in 2021 for the Steelers and two with the Dallas Cowboys in 2023. This was a wasted draft pick and is one of the reasons that Khan had to be so active in free agency, signing multiple inside linebackers in the 2023 offseason. 

Round 5 Pick 156

The Steelers selected Isaiahh Loudermilk, defensive lineman, from the Wisconsin Badgers. The Wisconsin pipeline to the Steelers' defense was still being built, but you can't deny a team's draft tendencies. Loudermilk has not become a starter; most fifth-round draft picks do not. He has been a consistent depth piece, and the Steelers could have done much worse with this pick. If you have any doubts, please see the previous three picks. 

Round 6 & 7

The Steelers selected Quincy Roche, Tre Norwood and Pressley Harvin III. This is, unfortunately, par for the course over the last third of Colbert's career. None of them are on the current roster three years later after Harvin was released this week. 

Roche did not make the team in 2021, but did catch on briefly with the New York Giants. The Steelers gave him a second opportunity in 2023 to make the team, but he was cut at the end of August. Sixth-round picks are not throwaways, but they don't turn into the greatest of all time, except that one time. 

Norwood played 32 games for the Steelers in 2021 and 2022 but was cut at the end of August before the 2023 season. He split the remainder of the 2023 season on the San Francisco 49ers and Buffalo Bills practice squads. Harvin was the Steelers' punter for three seasons. He has talent but saved his worst punts for when Pittsburgh needed his very best, or at least league average. He was cut because his very best was below league average. 

Some of you may take issue with ignoring Amon Ra St-Brown and Nico Collins in the redraft, but the Steelers had every reason to believe in Chase Claypool after his 2020 rookie season. Colbert did not pick a wide receiver in this draft because they were convinced Diontae Johnson, Claypool and JuJu Smith-Schuster were one of the best-receiving corps in the NFL. Even the imaginary redraft can't ignore the fact that the receiver position was not perceived as a need in 2021.

What do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you agree with these choices? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq. 

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