Editor’s note: This NFL Draft will be the 20th under the watch of Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert. His two-decade tenure has produced two Super Bowls and a consistent playoff contender. Colbert’s drafts mostly reflect that. Like all NFL personnel men, though, he’s had picks he would like to have back. In conjunction with the Trib’s coverage leading up to the April 25 start of the draft, we look back at Colbert’s three best and three worst picks in each round during his tenure.
The Steelers have been one of the NFL’s best drafting teams over the past two decades. But if there is a spot where they most have lacked, it’s probably cornerback. And nowhere are their struggles at the position more evident than in the fifth round.
Over a nine-year span from 2009-17, the Steelers took a cornerback in the fifth round five times (Joe Burnett, Crezdon Butler, Terry Hawthorne, Shaquille Richardson, Brian Allen). They combined for no more than a handful of defensive snaps for the team.
But Colbert hit one home run on a fifth-round corner. Early on, he struck gold there at outside linebacker, too.
Here’s a quick look at some of the Steelers’ best and worst work while drafting in Round 5 since 2000:
Three best
1. Clark Haggans
LB, 2000, 137th overall
Colbert’s best fifth-round pick was his first one. Haggans had 32½ sacks over a six-year span with the Steelers (60 starts), and his career endured for 13 seasons. That he played the role of (1A) Steelers edge rusher to the Joey Porter or Jason Gildon doesn’t diminish his long and steady career as a late-round pick.
2. William Gay
CB, 2007, 170th overall
Gay is almost the defensive-back version of Haggans: often the No. 2 at his position but over a long and reliable career. There are almost too many misses to mention in regards to the Steelers in drafting cornerbacks, but Gay joins fourth-rounder Ike Taylor as their best picks at the position.
3. Jesse James
TE, 2015, 160th overall
That Steelers management never truly embraced the idea of James as a No. 1 tight end shouldn’t overshadow that the Detroit Lions (via a four-year, $25 million contract signed last month) do. James appeared in 62 consecutive games (including playoffs) for the Steelers, starting 36, and he’s only 24.
Three worst
1. Terry Hawthorne
CB, 2013, 150th overall
The Steelers in consecutive seasons tried to patch a leaky secondary with a fifth-round pick who couldn’t even make the practice squad as a rookie. Hawthorne never caught on with any other NFL team, either. His career was limited to two preseason games with no recordable stats.
2. Shaquille Richardson
CB, 2014, 157th overall
Richardson was only slightly better than Hawthorne. Though he never appeared in a regular-season NFL game, at least he showed enough to keep getting invited to training camps and practice squads across the league.
3. Omar Jacobs, QB
2006, 164th overall
The worst quarterback draft pick of the Colbert era, Jacobs ended up as a wasted pick when the Steelers took him 2½ months after a 23-year-old Ben Roethlisberger led the Steelers to a Super Bowl win. Jacobs never appeared in an NFL regular-season game.
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