Steelers' Mediocre State Has A Strong Explanation That Goes Back Over A Decade

The Pittsburgh Steelers are looked up to by fans of teams at the bottom of the league, but the fan base in the Steel City might be the most frustrated group of supporters in the NFL. There haven't been losing seasons, but the lack of postseason success and constant mediocrity has the black and gold faithful on edge. The Steelers want to be contenders, but sometimes the team seems too far away from that goal. It is the same team year in and year out, just with a couple roster tweaks here and there. The Steelers won't be able to find any major success until they break from this mold and stack multiple great offseasons together.

Before Omar Khan, Kevin Colbert served as the general manager of the Steelers. He served in the role from 2000 through 2022, and his tenure could be split into two halves that are extremely different. 

Colbert saw a ton of success early on in his career, while the second half of his time as general manager was pretty rough, and Pittsburgh is still paying the price. Ray Fittipaldo wrote about this for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where he used information from DraftMetrics to evaluate some draft classes for Pittsburgh. 

"Colbert oversaw the Steelers’ drafts for 23 years from 2000-22." Fittipaldo wrote. "For the 11-year span from 2012-22, the Steelers had a 27% success rate, which was below the league average, ranking 20th among the 32 teams. Villiotti broke down the picks by round, and the Steelers also were below average on their success rate for first and second-round picks, the two rounds where teams find most of their starters. They had a 60% success rate in those rounds compared to the league average of 62.5%."

Throughout the last decade of Colbert's reign the Steelers performed poorly in the draft. There were some gems like David DeCastro, TJ Watt, and Le'Veon Bell, but a ton of the picks did not work out. This group is highlighted by players like Artie Burns, Sean Davis, Terrell Edmunds, and Colbert's last first-round pick, Kenny Pickett. 

Colbert did not end his career on a great note after beginning his career in Pittsburgh with so much success. The former general manager drafted Troy Polamalu, Ben Roethlisberger, Heath Miller, and Santonio Holmes in four consecutive first rounds. That's two Hall Of Famers, the best tight end in the history of the Steelers, and the eventual Super Bowl XLIII hero. 

That is how a championship-contending roster gets put together, and Colbert just was not able to do that during the later stages of his career. Watt was drafted by Pittsburgh in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, and he is the most recent first-round selection from Colbert's time that is still on the team. 

From 2018 through 2022 the organization struck out, and that is a big reason as to why the team is in the current state that it is. The franchise did not have a first round pick in 2020 as it was traded in exchange for Minkah Fitzpatrick, which was a good move by Colbert. However, he did draft Chase Claypool in the second round of the 2020 draft.

Steelers' Current Quarterback Issues Fall On Colbert's Shoulders

Colbert had plenty of seasons to figure out a succession plan for Roethlisberger. His only meaningful attempt at making sure Pittsburgh had a quarterback behind Roethlisberger was when the organization selected Mason Rudolph in 2018. He did not work out for the Steelers, although there is a chance he will be the starter for Week 1 in 2025.

The lack of a succession plan for like after Roethlisberger and then immediately reached for Pickett really hurt the Steelers, and the organization is still paying the price for it today. Colbert did a lot of great things for Pittsburgh, including bringing the organization its fourth and fifth Super Bowls, but things did not end well for the former executive as the head decision-maker.

What do you think about Colbert's resume with the Steelers? Let us know in the comments below!

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