Steelers Draft Grade, C-/D+, from 2015: To determine why the Steelers have missed the playoffs the past two years and are as far from the Super Bowl as they were in 1986, regard the errors in the drafting game

The enigmatic Bud Dupree

Photo: Pro Football Weekly

… horrible draft: Then look at 2016

These NFL draft gurus on ESPN love to pump the NFL draft, giving them superbly meaningless grades after the selections have ended just to improve their TV ratings.

However, the only way to grade a draft is to look at it five years later, and that is how the current woes of the Pittsburgh Steelers can be evaluated.

Just look at the 2015 draft, one made five years ago. I am grading it today, giving it a C-/D+. That is how bad it was.

To refresh your memory, here are the picks from 2015 with my 2020 grades beside them,

1st Round - Bud Dupree, OLB. Grade: C-
2nd Round - Senquez Golson, CB. Grade: F
3rd Round - Sammie Coates, WR. Grade: D+
4th Round - Doran Grant, DB. Grade: F
5th Round - Jesse James, TE. Grade: B+
6th Round - L.T. Walton, DL. Grade: C+
6th Round - Anthony Chickillo, OLB, B-
7th Round - Gerod Holliman, S. Grade: F

Okay, maybe I am a little tough, but combine this draft with the subsequent one, without grades, and you will understand why the Steelers had to trade their number 1 pick from 2020 in order to patch up a secondary that Tom Brady decimated in a 33-3 opening game to the 2019 season.

Remember the 33-3 decimation in Game #1?

To understand the problems created by the 2015 and 2016 drafts, just read the lines from the Sports Illustrated story last fall that was making the Patriots a sure thing for the 2020 Super Bowl,

It only took two offensive drives for the Patriots to make their case for Lombardi Trophy No. 7. After stalling on the opening possession (and with the help of a little trick play from Julian Edelman to James White), Tom Brady capped a seven-play, 82-yard drive with a 20-yard strike to Josh Gordon, who was reinstated by the NFL last month following his latest suspension under the substance abuse policy …

And Brady continued to capitalize, slicing Pittsburgh through the middle and upping the lead to 17–0 with a 25-yarder to Phillip Dorsett in the second quarter. One drive later, New England was heading into the halftime locker room with a 20–0 lead, giving the Steelers their largest deficit at the break since the 2004 AFC Championship game, when the Patriots led 24–3.

Alaa Abdeldaiemsep, “Tom Brady, Patriots Steamroll Steelers 

to Make Early-Season Statement,” Sept. 9, 2019

The Steelers were horrible defensively, but also offensively. Remember that Ben Roethlisberger’s quarterback rating was just 65 in the six quarters that he played in 2019.

However, this all started with the 2015 draft.

Let me justify these grades

First, I will end with Bud Dupree, whom the Steelers signed to a one-year tender just before the draft, one in which they selected another outside linebacker.

Let me look at the F’s that I gave.

2nd Round - Senquez Golson, CB. Grade: F

A controversial pick since he was not high on the list of my teams and gurus, with his height, 5-9, being the problem. He never appeared in an NFL game, primarily because of injuries.

You might argue that the injuries hurt the grade, but when a second-round pick does not appear in any games for the team, it was a loser.

4th Round - Doran Grant, DB. Grade: F

Doran Grant dressed just three times for the Steelers, according to one guru. He never played a down.

You cannot expect wonders from a fourth-round pick, but those mid rounds are often an oasis for teams. Not in this case.

7th Round - Gerod Holliman, S. Grade: F

Again, you might argue that an F is too tough for a seventh-rounder, but again, this was a guy who had some great college credentials and appeared to be a good chance to be one of those late-round wonders.

However, nothing happened with this pick either.

3rd Round - Sammie Coates, WR. Grade: D+

Coates appeared to be somewhat promising in his second season after a non-productive rookie year. He started well in 2016, but was very inconsistent from that point forward.

Coates had the hands of Limas Sweet at times.

Another super disappointment.

Two better selections

5th Round - Jesse James, TE. Grade: B+

Jesse James was the best selection in that draft, and one of only two of the selections still in the NFL. For a fifth-round pick to become a starter and productive player, only to sign a free-agency tender from another team, says a great deal about how later picks can become productive.

6th Round - Anthony Chickillo, OLB, B-

In five seasons with the Steelers, Chickillo recorded 97 takes and 7.5 sacks, not terribly impressive, but not horrible for a sixth-round pick.

So, for a sixth-rounder, B- is a pretty decent grade.

The enigmatic Bud Dupree

A first-round selection should have more than one good season in five years, but that is what happened with Bud Dupree.

That, however, is the case with outside linebacker Bud Dupree, who has great physical skills but has underperformed in four of his five seasons.

To further understand the problems that the Steelers faced in 2019 and will probably continue in 2020, look at the subsequent draft, 37 percent of his sacks and 34 percent of his tackles occurred last year.

The Steelers made him their franchise player right before the 2020 draft, but did not sign him to a long-term contract. Why that is the case is anyone’s guess. Dupree might be hoping for a long-term free-agency contract with another team, but he needs another good season to do so.

The truth is that Dupree has not been a very good first-round selection. He has underachieved over five years, with just one good one.

So, that is why this draft was such a loser.

To refresh your memory on the 2016 draft class, here is the complete draft class:

1, Artie Burns, CB, Miami.
2. Sean Davis, S, Maryland.
3. Javon Hargrave, NT, South Carolina State.
4. Jerald Hawkins, OT, LSU.
5. NO PICK.
6. Travis Feeney, LB, Washington.
7. Demarcus Ayers, WR, Houston.

Those first two picks are the reason that GM Kevin Colbert had to trade for Minkah Fitzpatrick in Week 3, giving up their first-round selection this year. 

One beat writer analyzed the 2016 draft this way last year,

Beat writer’s take: Kevin Colbert routinely mentions how important it is to hit on their first-round picks because of their organizational philosophy of building through the draft, extending their homegrown players and then supplementing through free agency. Colbert hasn’t missed much over his 20 years but sure whiffed with Artie Burns with the 25th overall pick — the first time they drafted a corner in the first round in nearly 20 years. Burns’ fifth-year option wasn’t picked up, and he will be gone after the season, which is a major disappointment since he was penciled in as a starter last year at this time. Sean Davis has been erratic but positional changes have led to that. Javon Hargrave is easily their best pick as he is a unique talent in the middle. Other than that, the draft has been a major disappointment but that will happen when you miss on your first-rounder. — Mark Kaboly

"2016 Draft Grades," Behind the Steel Curtain, 2019

And that was the reason that of the top four defensive backs in the Steelers defensive backfield in 2020, only one has been drafted.

How many of them are still in the NFL?

That is why the woeful drafts of 2015 and 2016 created the situation that led to missing the playoffs in each of the past two years.