The only way to evaluate NFL drafts is five years out, and the Steelers want to forget the 2016 selections

Artie Burns: Where is he now?

… Is Kevin Colbert overrated?

The only true evaluation of an NFL Draft can occur after five years when the players truly have an opportunity themselves. 

With that in mind, I have been going back over the Pittsburgh Steelers 2016 draft, and the evaluation is gruesome. 

In reality, they made only one quality pick, and showing how poor the team is, not one of them is still with the Steelers, and their number 1 pick is not playing in the league. 

Was this Kevin Colbert’s worst draft? Some think so, though there were some other weak ones. 

Looking at 2016

The number one pick was criticized by many from the outset. For instance, this is what Yahoo Sports says now about what they said then,

Pittsburgh Steelers

Grade we gave then: C-

Funniest line in retrospect: “Reaching for need is a sin.”

It’s funny because it’s true.

Best evaluation in retrospect: 

We hated the Artie Burns pick then, just as you, dear Steelers fan, do now. We picked Javon Hargrave as our favorite pick, so that’s a win.

How we did: We kinda nailed the whole thing, to be honest. Score one for the immediate-grade crew.

Yahoo Sports

“C-“? 

That is pretty accurate.

2016 picks

1. Artie Burns CB (Miami)

2. Sean Davis CB (Maryland)

3. Javon Hargrave DT (South Carolina State)

4. Jerald Hawkins T (LSU)

6. Travis Feeney OLB (Washington)

7. Demarcus Ayers WR (Houston)

7. Tyler Matakovich OLB (Temple)

Evaluation

Artie Burns [first round 25th overall pick]

The selection of Burns rankled experts and Steeler fans alike. Here is what he did in his four years,

• Started 32 games
• Recorded 149 tackles, 4 interceptions, two fumbles recovered in four years
• Recorded had 65 tackles in his first year and 54 in his second, which were his best years.

Blog: Among the worst in recent memory

According to one blogger at “Still Curtain,” Burns was a bust and Sean Davis, another corner who was right behind him, was not significantly better,

Apart from taking Javon Hargrave in the third round, this draft would have been among the worst Steelers classes in my lifetime. Artie Burns was one of the biggest busts in recent memory, while Sean Davis never proved to be more than a below-average starter for Pittsburgh.

The second half of the draft wasn’t much better, as the Steelers missed on Jerald Hawkins, Travis Feeney, and Demarcus Ayers. Former 7th-round compensatory pick and special teams standout Tyler Matakevich is now the second-highest-paid player from this draft class. That tells you just how poor it was.

Not one of these players signed a second contract.

The Still Curtain

My evaluation

The reality is that five years out, you can get an good analysis of how well the drafting has gone. This shows why they had to give up draft picks in a trade with Miami to find an outstanding DB. 

Since the Burns fiasco, Colbert did hit the jackpot with the 2017 selection of T.J. Watt, which was criticized by some at the time. 

Not now. The jury is still out on Devin Bush and Chase Claypool, who was a second rounder since they lost their first round one to Miami in a trade. 

Terrell Edmunds in 2018 has been adequate, but certainly not superb, and of course, Bud Dupree is gone from 2015. In fact, everyone is gone from 2015, too. 

That begs the question: Is Colbert over the hill?

Certainly, he is in the twilight of his career, and his best years were the early ones.