The Steelers will never have another draft like 1974.
Neither will any other NFL team.
Four of the Steelers’ picks that year – Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster - would make the Hall of Fame. Then, just to show off, the Steelers signed Donnie Shell as an undrafted free agent and he’ll join them in Canton whenever COVID allows.
Recently, the 2017 draft class is impressive, starting with TJ Watt and JuJu Smith Schuster. James Conner has made a Pro Bowl and Cam Sutton has blossomed into a versatile, key contributor.
But the 2020 draft has already surpassed those in one way.
Not only did all 7 draft picks make the team, but all 7 have played – and 6 have made a positive impact.
The weird thing is, we had heard how difficult it would be for rookies without Rookie Mini-Camp, without OTA’s, without full squad Mini-Camp, without a traditional Training Camp and especially without any pre-season games when they could simulate “real” football. How would the coaches know if they could play?
Yet here we are just over halfway through the season and the rookies are not just playing but, for the most part, playing well.
Chase Claypool leads the Steelers (and is tied for 5th in the NFL) with 9 touchdowns - plus he covers kicks.
Alex Highsmith has played enough to help keep Watt and Bud Dupree fresh, has made plays in kick coverage and his third quarter interception in Baltimore sparked a 10-point comeback.
Kevin Dotson was thrust into early-season action because of injuries to David DeCastro and Stefan Wisniewski and quickly established himself as a more-than-capable NFL player.
With Tyson Alualu out, Carlos Davis finally got a shot at Nose Tackle and had 2 tackles in Dallas, 1 behind the line of scrimmage.
Safety Antoine Brooks hadn’t taken one defensive snap through the first 8 games then got 28 snaps against Cincinnati – nearly half the game - and was in on 2 tackles.
Anthony McFarland is the one rookie who hasn’t made much of an impact but the way things have gone for the rookies so far, don’t be surprised if he rips off a long TD run one of these games.
Certainly coaches and personnel people will welcome a return to normalcy when they can once again work extensively with their rookies before trusting them in games that matter but this year’s evidence suggests that, even without the off-season overload, rookies can be trusted if given a chance.