The Pittsburgh Steelers made an incredibly underrated front office hire this past off-season when they scooped up the Philadelphia Eagles vice president of player personnel, Andy Weidl, and gave him the title of Assistant General Manager. Weidl had previously interviewed for the vacant general manager job twice before the Steelers decided to stay in-house and promote Omar Khan to GM after Kevin Colbert stepped down following the 2022 NFL Draft that featured key draft picks of Kenny Pickett, George Pickens, DeMarvin Leal, Connor Heyward and Mark Robinson.
Photo Credit: visn.com
Now, Khan and Weidl are tasked to deliver on their first NFL Draft at the helm of the Steelers front office. Although there is uncertainty of how these two will tackle the draft and how they view the Steelers current roster needs, we can look back at past drafts from both the Steelers and the Eagles and exhibit some confidence that they can deliver what the team needs.
Steelers Draft History with Khan
Although the Steelers and their front office have been heavily criticized for their misses in previous drafts, the team has delivered recently with some exceptional drafting. I already mentioned the 2022 draft class above and how it has already delivered in just its rookie season, but we can look back all the way to 2017 (when Khan was promoted to VP of football and business administration), to some notable Steelers that have contributed in a positive way acquired from the draft:
- TJ Watt (Rd. 1, 2017)
- JuJu Smith-Schuster (Rd. 2, 2017)
- Cam Sutton (Rd. 3, 2017)
- James Conner (Rd. 3, 2017)
- Terrell Edmunds (Rd. 1, 2018)
- James Washington (Rd. 2, 2018)
- Chukwuma Okorafor (Rd. 3, 2018)
- Diontae Johnson (Rd. 3, 2019)
- Chase Claypool (Rd. 2, 2020)
- Alex Highsmith (Rd. 3, 2020)
- Kevin Dotson (Rd. 4, 2020)
- Najee Harris (Rd. 1, 2021)
- Pat Freiermuth (Rd. 2, 2021)
- Dan Moore Jr. (Rd. 4, 2021)
- Tre Norwood (Rd. 7, 2021)
- Pressley Harvin III (Rd. 7, 2021)
This entire list does not even include the fleeces of trades the front office pulled off to acquire Minkah Fitzpatrick for the 2020 first rounder and the 32nd overall pick in this upcoming draft for Claypool, which all were done with Khan having some say in the process.
PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 6: Omar Khan, Director of Football and Business Administration for the Pittsburgh Steelers, looks on from the sideline before a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Heinz Field on December 6, 2015 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers defeated the Colts 45-10. (Photo by George Gojkovich/Getty Images)
But what is even more encouraging is Andy Weidl's drafting and player development of the Eagles and what he can potentially do with the player development of the Steelers' current young core.
Eagles Draft History with Andy Weidl
Weidl became the director of player personnel for the Eagles in 2018 and has had a great amount of input in draft and roster management under Eagles GM Howie Roseman since then. The front office has also had massive amounts of success since then, winning the NFC East in 2019 and being a constant force in the NFC East up until now because of contributions from Weidl. Eagles fans have been more than happy (outside of the selection of Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson), with how the Eagles drafts have gone, which has resulted in selections of:
- Dallas Goedert (Rd. 2, 2018)
- Avonte Maddox (Rd. 4, 2018)
- Josh Sweat (Rd. 4, 2018)
- Jordan Mailata (Rd. 7, 2018)
- Miles Sanders (Rd. 2, 2019)
- Jalen Hurts (Rd. 2, 2020)
- Quez Watkins (Rd. 6, 2020)
- Devonta Smith (Rd. 1, 2021)
- Landon Dickerson (Rd. 2, 2021)
- Kenneth Gainwell (Rd. 5, 2021)
The Eagles 2022 NFL Draft class was considered one of the best in the entire league this past season, with the selections of Jordan Davis and Nakobe Dean from Georgia, as well as their center of the future in Cam Jurgens headlining a 5-man rookie class. Now, the Eagles find themselves as the 1 seed in the NFC playoffs after securing the best record in the league this season (14-3).
Furthermore, the Eagles traded with the New Orleans Saints and received their first round pick this season (currently 10th overall), as well as keeping their own, while selecting Smith last season.
Credit: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It is hard to look at this current Eagles roster and not give credit to Weidl for how things have turned out, and now he and Khan both hold the future of the Steelers in their hands.
Furthermore, it is also hard not to be excited, right? Steelers fans should be confident this team can move forward in the right direction with these two at the helm, especially with how well Weidl did with the Eagles player development into what they have now. With a team as young as the Steelers, fans should not be concerned.
What do you think, #SteelerNation? Are you confident that Andy Weidl and Omar Khan can draft and develop this team into playoff contention again? With three picks in the first 49 overall selections, what positions should these two look to add to? Let me know in the comments below or @anthonyravasio on Twitter.
