Another way to look at Troy Polamalu's legacy with Steelers

Another way to look at Troy Polamalu's legacy with Steelers
4/14/2015
Scott Brown, ESPN Pittsburgh Steelers reporter

When the Pittsburgh Steelers traded up 11 spots in the first round of the 2003 NFL draft to take Southern Cal safety Troy Polamalu, they started a run that might be the best in franchise history, as far as first-round selections.

Hyperbole, given the Steelers’ drafts that laid the foundation for the teams that won four Super Bowls from 1974 to 1979? Hardly.

A review of five-year periods in franchise history shows two are clearly above the others when it comes to Steelers first-round picks.

Here is a closer look at each one:

2003: Polamalu (16th overall) -- He is one of only seven players in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl at least eight times. All the others are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Polamalu and Charles Woodson are the only players since 2003 with at least 30 career interceptions, 10 forced fumbles and 10 sacks. Polamalu should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

2004: QB Ben Roethlisberger (11th) -- The Steelers don’t add to their collection of Lombardi trophies if they don’t draft Roethlisberger behind Eli Manning and Philip Rivers. They also don’t remain in the Super Bowl discussion as they rebuild their defense if Roethlisberger doesn’t continue to play at the top of his game into his 30s. Roethlisberger already holds a slew of team records, including all-time passing yards (39,057) and touchdowns thrown (251).

2005: TE Heath Miller (30th) -- The Steelers got a steal in the bottom of the first round when they drafted Miller out of Virginia. The 11-year veteran has been the definition of steady and reliable -- and has long been one of the best all-around tight ends in the NFL. Miller is third on the Steelers’ all-time list, with 532 receptions and 6,034 receiving yards.

2006: WR Santonio Holmes (25th) -- The Steelers traded up seven spots to take Holmes, and he rewarded them in his third season with the toe-tapping catch that delivered the franchise’s sixth Super Bowl title. Holmes lasted just four seasons in Pittsburgh before the Steelers traded him because he became too much of a headache. But the fifth-round pick the Steelers received from the Jets for Holmes was flipped for cornerback Bryant McFadden and the 195th pick of the 2010 draft in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals. The Steelers picked a wide receiver named Antonio Brown with the pick received in the McFadden trade.

2007: LB Lawrence Timmons (15th) -- The first draft pick of the Mike Tomlin era got off to a bit of a slow start, but he has been entrenched as a starter since 2009 and made his first Pro Bowl last season. Timmons led the Steelers with 132 tackles in 2014, almost double that of free safety Mike Mitchell, who was second on the team with 70 stops. Timmons has started 69 consecutive regular-season games and missed just two games in his career.

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The article goes on to break down the best 5-year drafting stretch for the Pittsburgh Steelers during the dynasty years of the 70's prior to the one listed above. It's a compelling case for the more recent stretch being better overall, albeit not quite as successful in terms of Super Bowl rings. Interesting look.

Interesting read. Thanks for posting it!

And they say Colbert sucks.

Fuck 'em.

A draft's success is not based just on first round picks -  a good argument can be made that where the front office and scouts earn their paychecks is finding starters in the lower rounds

The Steelers secret in the drafts through 1974 was not in the first round picks - it was the starters drafted in in the lower rounds, for reasons including but not limited to the Steelers superior knowledge of talent playing at small black colleges

The four  HOF picks from the 1974 draft are well known.  However, it arguably was the 1971 draft that was just as important by setting the table for success starting in 1972 with these picks

Steelers found eight Super Bowl starters in 1971 draft

The greatest NFL draft that history forgot took place in Pittsburgh 40 years ago. It long has been overshadowed by the greatest draft ever, the one that produced four Hall of Famers for the Steelers in 1974.

That 1974 draft, however, could not touch the one the Steelers produced in 1971 in one important area. The '71 draft yielded eight Super Bowl starters, not to mention one Hall of Famer and six Pro Bowlers.

If '74 was the most glamorous draft in NFL history, the Steelers' '71 draft may have been its most productive, the one that formed the backbone for at least their first two Super Bowls. It still gnaws at Art Rooney Jr., the man in charge of that draft, that NFL Films gave it no mention in its series on "Top 10 Draft Classes." Pro Football Weekly listed it at No. 4. Both had the '74 draft as tops.

"When NFL Films did it, they didn't even have it included," Rooney Jr. said. "I asked them about it; they had some reason. I didn't want to argue, didn't want to look ungrateful."

The Elite Eight of '71 included wide receiver Frank Lewis, Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Ham, guard Gerry "Moon" Mullins, defensive end Dwight White, tight end/tackle Larry Brown, defensive tackle Ernie "Fats" Holmes, safety Mike Wagner and cornerback Glenn Edwards, signed as an undrafted rookie running back who the Steelers converted to defense.

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/steelers/2011/04/25/Steelers-found-eight-Super-Bowl-starters-in-1971-draft/stories/201104250160

Nothing Colbert has done matches either the 1971 or 1974 drafts

Atlanta Dan wrote:

Nothing Colbert has done matches either the 1971 or 1974 drafts

I don't know if anything or anybody will ever match a draft class like '74. That class was nothing short of miraculous talent. Didn't something like five or six end up in the HOF?

Atlanta Dan wrote:

A draft's success is not based just on first round picks -  a good argument can be made that where the front office and scouts earn their paychecks is finding starters in the lower rounds

Two starters - that's all a team needs in any given draft. Two starters. Perhaps a special teams body. Anything more than that and it was a phenomenal draft.

It's why when I see things like 'Well, the 2010 wasn't that great because they only got Pouncey and Brown ...'

Only. Two perennial All Pro players isn't enough, evidently.

@Gingerchip

(It's not letting me quote.)

Four HOFers: Swann, Lambert, Stallworth, & Webster.

That is an unfair comparison, Back then the league rules were different, there were no salary caps, and players typically spent their entire careers on one team.

While the recent FO of the Steelers has failed in comparison to it's overall production on the field, it still shouldn't get passed us that the level of the college game has changed and the players no longer have an off-season. They are constantly working. In the 70's guys had an off-season and they had off-season jobs. The problem now is that injuries can be covered up, and it isn't until the players hit the field that we see the potential for greater injuries.

I feel like a lot of us Steelers fans and non-fans take for granted what we have seen out of Polamalu over these last 12 seasons. We all know he is great, but I think in the future we will all really look back and realize how lucky we were to see this man play. I really think #43 will be retired one day and hanging up there next to Greene's #75 and Stautner's #70.

This has to be one of my favorite plays he made during 2008. What a great year that was!