by Bo Marchionte
Pittsburgh – Kevin Colbert will retire from his duties as General Manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers shortly after the NFL Draft concludes this weekend. Recently he and head coach Mike Tomlin conducted their annual pre-draft press conference.
“It was a very productive Pro Day circuit,” said Colbert. “Coach Tomlin got there when he could outside of the owner’s meetings time frame when he had obligations to be there. It was a productive Spring.”
Colbert and crew have spent a large majority of their pre-draft preparation evaluating quarterbacks. Tonight, when the 2022 NFL Draft commences, we will know if I’m right in their thinking or dead wrong.
Pittsburgh is not taking a quarterback in round one.
Most insiders are reporting teams have roughly 15 to 18 players listed with first round grades. That leaves the Steelers, picking 20th, just outside the window of upper tier prospects.
Since 2000, when Colbert took over as GM, Pittsburgh has made 16 draft day trades. In 10 of those trades Pittsburgh elected to move up, five they dropped down and one they traded a player for a pick.
Amongst those 16 deals, only four have come in the first round of the draft. In three of those trades, Pittsburgh was moving up rather than dropping down on the draft board.
“When we go into it, we will have touched base with every team above us, below us; hey, they are interested in moving up, they are interested in coming down,” said Colbert. “We’ll guesstimate what it will cost to move from 20 to 7 (using example) and then from 20 back down to 32, and you’re always making those assessments.
“But we can always say what we gave up for Troy (Polamalu), a 3 and a 6, to move up more spots. Then we gave up to move for Santonio (Holmes), we gave up a 3 and a 4, and I forget how many spots we moved, maybe four.”
The Steelers have had a remarkable amount of success when maneuvering up and down the first round.
- 2001 – Trade Down – 16 to 19 – acquired Casey Hampton
- 2003 – Trade Up – 27 to 16 – acquired Troy Polamalu
- 2006 – Trade Up – 32 to 25 – acquired Santonio Holmes
- 2019 – Trade Up – 20 to 10 – acquired Devin Bush
“But in those of those endeavors, both those moves helped us win a Super Bowl, said Colbert. “That’s why we never will lock ourselves into — they have got draft charts with the numbers, and this is a good deal and not a good deal. I think you can determine all that only after the fact.”
With such uncertainty swirling around this current group of quarterbacks, I’d find it foolish to believe Pittsburgh miraculously will draft their quarterback savior 20th overall while the rest of the league sits idle and watches a player of that caliber drop to the six-time Super Bowl champions.
Wishful thinking but not reality.
Despite all the quarterback talk, I’m convinced that has been their smokescreen since day one. Personally, I feel they did their due diligence because they wanted to make sure they weren’t missing out on a prospect that could lead the franchise for years to come.
Their interest wasn’t based just on acquiring a quarterback via the NFL Draft but also eliminating the position from round one. It was to secure themselves no quarterback was worthy of the 20th overall pick. Hence the need to move up and get a top prospect that can help them immediately.
In my opinion there are two players that could provide Pittsburgh with a tremendous boost.
Georgia defensive Jordan Davis and Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton are players I feel the Steelers may covet in their attempts to rebuild a defense that struggled mightily last season at times.
Pittsburgh could eye a deal to move up with potential partners that could include the Washington Commanders (11th overall) and Minnesota Vikings (12th overall).
- Pick 13 |Houston Texans via Cleveland – Lovie Smith would love addition to front four
- Pick 14 |Baltimore Ravens – Once again the Ravens would land a sensational pick falling into their lap
- Pick 15 |Philadelphia Eagles – With two first round picks the Eagles could pounce quickly for Davis
- Pick 16 | New Orleans Saints – Another team armed with two number one’s the Saints are in play
- Pick 17 | Los Angeles Chargers – Doubt chargers make a move for Davis he’ll be gone by this pick anyways
- Pick 18 | Philadelphia Eagles – The 15th pick allows them offers other teams may not be able to match
- Pick 19 | New Orleans Saints – Like the Eagles the Saints could offer 16th pick and retain 19 overall to acquire Davis or Hamilton
Everyone is thinking quarterback. I just don’t view it that way.
“So, we will be knowledgeable of what it will cost, and we will decide as it unfolds,” said Colbert. “I never want to trade for a specific spot without knowing a specific player, or if you go back to Casey Hampton, when we traded back.
“We traded back three spots, we had three people, Casey included, who was the top of those three that we would have felt good about.”
Both Davis and Hamilton should be within reach by trading up and leaving Colbert making a big move before exiting from the football field to the golf course with his impending retirement nearing.
“So, we are always making those decisions,” said Colbert. “But it’s never black and white.”
Nah it’s Black-and-Yellow.
If I’m right Pittsburgh, Colbert will make a big move in round one but not for a quarterback.
Happy retirement Kevin!
Thanks for everything.