List of Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft picks

This is a list of first-round draft picks made by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. The Pittsburgh Pirates, a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, participated in the first NFL Draft prior to the 1936 season. The franchise changed its name to the Steelers prior to the 1940 season, to represent the city's heritage of producing steel.^[1]

The event, which is officially known as the "Player Selection Meeting",^[2] is held each April. The draft is used as the primary means to distribute newly-available talent (primarily from college football) equitably amongst the teams. Selections are made in reverse order based on the previous season's record, i.e. the club with the worst record from the previous season selects first. Through 2009, only two exceptions were made to this order: the Super Bowl champion always selects last (32^nd), and the Super Bowl loser is awarded the penultimate (31^st) pick. Beginning in 2010, teams making the playoffs will be seeded in reverse order depending upon how far they advance.^[3] The draft consists of seven rounds. Teams have the option of trading selections for players, cash and/or other selections (including future year selections). Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.^[4] The Steelers have traded away their first-round pick eight times; they have had two first-round selections in two drafts.

The Steelers' first selection in the inaugural NFL draft was William Shakespeare, a halfback from Notre Dame.^[5] The Steelers have selected first overall three times, drafting "Bullet" Bill Dudley in 1942, Gary Glick in 1956 and Terry Bradshaw in 1970. The team has selected second overall once, and third overall four times.^[5] Through 2009, seven Steeler first-round picks have gone on to have playing careers deemed worthy of enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Dudley, Len Dawson, "Mean" Joe Greene, Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann and Rod Woodson.^[6] The team's most recent first-round selection was Evander "Ziggy" Hood, a defensive tackle from Missouri.^[5]

Key

Player selections

Year	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes	Gallery of Steelers first-round draft selections Byron "Whizzer" White was selected fourth overall in the 1938 draft — he went on to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. 1954 first-round selection Johnny Lattner played only a single NFL season. Franco Harris caught the "Immaculate Reception in the 1972 NFL Playoffs. Lynn Swann (right), drafted in 1974, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Rod Woodson, drafted in 1987, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Alan Faneca (center) was a 5-time All-Pro for the Steelers after being drafted in 1998. Plaxico Burress caught the game winning TD of Super Bowl XLII for the New York Giants. Kendall Simmons (#73, right) was the team's Rookie of the Year in 2002. Troy Polamalu has made the Pro Bowl every year since 2004. Drafted in 2004, Ben Roethlisberger became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl in 2005 at the age of 23.[7] Heath Miller (#83, center) was the team's Rookie of the Year in 2005. Santonio Holmes was the MVP of Super Bowl XLIII.
1936	3	Shakespeare, WilliamWilliam Shakespeare	RB	Notre Dame
1937	5	Basrak, MikeMike Basrak	RB	Duquesne
1938	4	White, ByronByron "Whizzer" White	RB	Colorado
1939	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[a]
1940	3	Eakin, KayKay Eakin	RB	Arkansas
1941	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[b]
1942	1	Dudley, BillBill Dudley*†	RB	Virginia
1943	7	Daley, BillBill Daley	FB	Minnesota
1944	10	Podesto, JohnnyJohnny Podesto	RB	St. Mary's (CA)
1945	2	Duhart, PaulPaul Duhart	RB	Florida
1946	3	Blanchard, FelixFelix "Doc" Blanchard	FB	Army
1947	5	Bechtol, HubHub Bechtol	WR	Texas
1948	9	Edwards, DanDan Edwards	WR	Georgia
1949	6	Gage, BobbyBobby Gage	RB	Clemson
1950	8	Chandnois, LynnLynn Chandnois	RB	Michigan State
1951	9	Avinger, ButchClarence "Butch" Avinger	FB	Alabama
1952	6	Modzelewski, EdEd Modzelewski	FB	Maryland
1953	5	Marchibroda, TedTed Marchibroda	QB	Detroit
1954	7	Lattner, JohnnyJohnny Lattner	RB	Notre Dame
1955	6	Varrichione, FrankFrank Varrichione	OT	Notre Dame
1956	1	Glick, GaryGary Glick*	QB	Colorado State	[c]
1956	5	Davis, ArtArt Davis	RB	Mississippi State
1957	5	Dawson, LenLen Dawson†	QB	Purdue
1958	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[d]
1959	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[e]
1960	6	Spikes, JackJack Spikes	FB	Texas Christian
1961	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[f]
1962	5	Ferguson, BobBob Ferguson	RB	Ohio State
1963	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[g]
1964	10	Martha, PaulPaul Martha	RB	Pittsburgh
1965	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[h]
1966	3	Leftridge, DickDick Leftridge	RB	WVU
1967	99–	ZZZNo Pick	ZZZ–	ZZZ–	[i]
1968	10	Taylor, MikeMike Taylor	OT	USC
1969	4	Greene, JoeJoe Greene†	DT	North Texas
1970	1	Bradshaw, TerryTerry Bradshaw*†	QB	Louisiana Tech
1971	8	Lewis, FrankFrank Lewis	WR	Grambling
1972	13	Harris, FrancoFranco Harris†	RB	Penn State
1973	4	Thomas, J.T.J. T. Thomas	DB	Florida State
1974	21	Swann, LynnLynn Swann†	WR	USC
1975	26	Brown, DaveDave Brown	DB	Michigan
1976	28	Cunningham, BennieBennie Cunningham	TE	Clemson
1977	21	Cole, RobinRobin Cole	LB	New Mexico
1978	22	Johnson, RonRon Johnson	DB	Eastern Michigan
1979	28	Hawthorne, GregGreg Hawthorne	RB	Baylor
1980	28	Malone, MarkMark Malone	QB	Arizona State
1981	17	Gary, KeithKeith Gary	DE	Oklahoma
1982	12	Abercrombie, WalterWalter Abercrombie	RB	Baylor
1983	21	Rivera, GabrielGabriel Rivera	DE	Texas Tech
1984	23	Lipps, LouisLouis Lipps	WR	Southern Mississippi
1985	20	Sims, DarrylDarryl Sims	DE	Wisconsin
1986	9	Rienstra, JohnJohn Rienstra	G	Temple
1987	10	Woodson, RodRod Woodson†	DB	Purdue
1988	18	Jones, AaronAaron Jones	DE	Eastern Kentucky
1989	7	Worley, TimTim Worley	RB	Georgia
1989	24	Ricketts, TomTom Ricketts	OT	Pittsburgh	[j]
1990	21	Green, EricEric Green	TE	Liberty	[k]
1991	15	Richardson, HueyHuey Richardson	DE	Florida
1992	11	Searcy, LeonLeon Searcy	OT	Miami
1993	23	Figures, DeonDeon Figures	DB	Colorado
1994	17	Johnson, CharlesCharles Johnson	WR	Colorado
1995	27	Bruener, MarkMark Bruener	TE	Washington
1996	29	Stephens, JamainJamain Stephens	OT	North Carolina A&T
1997	24	Scott, ChadChad Scott	DB	Maryland
1998	26	Faneca, AlanAlan Faneca	G	LSU
1999	13	Edwards, TroyTroy Edwards	WR	Louisiana Tech
2000	8	Burress, PlaxicoPlaxico Burress	WR	Michigan State
2001	19	Hampton, CaseyCasey Hampton	DT	Texas	[l]
2002	30	Simmons, KendallKendall Simmons	G	Auburn
2003	16	Polamalu, TroyTroy Polamalu	DB	USC	[m]
2004	11	Roethlisberger, BenBen Roethlisberger	QB	Miami (OH)
2005	30	Miller, HeathHeath Miller	TE	Virginia
2006	25	Holmes, SantonioSantonio Holmes	WR	Ohio State	[n]
2007	15	Timmons, LawrenceLawrence Timmons	LB	Florida State
2008	23	Mendenhall, RashardRashard Mendenhall	RB	Illinois
2009	32	Hood, EvanderEvander Hood	DT	Missouri

Notes

• ^a The Steelers traded their 1939 pick (2nd overall) to the Chicago Bears.^[8]
• ^b The Steelers traded their 1941 pick (3rd overall) to the Chicago Bears (3rd overall)^[9]
• ^c This was a lottery bonus pick.^[10]
• ^d The Steelers traded their 1958 pick (8th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers.^[11]
• ^e The Steelers traded their 1959 pick (8th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers.^[12]
• ^f The Steelers traded their 1961 pick (6th overall) to the San Francisco 49ers.^[13]
• ^g The Steelers traded their 1963 pick (11th overall) to the Chicago Bears.^[14]
• ^h The Steelers traded their 1965 pick (3rd overall) to the Chicago Bears.^[15]
• ⁱ The Steelers traded their 1967 pick (9th overall) to the Green Bay Packers.^[16]
• ^j The Steelers acquired the 1989 pick (24th overall) from the Minnesota Vikings.^[17]
• ^k The Steelers traded their 1990 pick (17th overall) to the Dallas Cowboys for Dallas' 1990 pick (21st overall, obtained from Minnesota Vikings) and a third-round pick (82nd overall, obtained from San Francisco 49ers).^[5]
• ^l The Steelers traded their 2001 pick (16th overall) to the New York Jets for their first–round pick (19th overall), their fourth-round pick (111th overall) and their sixth-round pick (181st overall).^[18]
• ^m The Steelers traded their first–round pick (27th overall), third round pick (92nd overall) and sixth round pick (200th overall) to obtain the 2003 pick (16th overall).^[19]
• ⁿ The Steelers obtained the 2006 pick from New York Giants by trading their first–round pick (32nd overall), their third round pick (96th overall) and their fourth round pick (129th overall).^[20]

References

General

• "NFL Draft History: Full Draft - by Team". NFL.com. http://www.nfl.com/draft/history/fulldraft?teamId=3900&type=team. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. 
• "Steelers' All Time Draft History". Pittsburgh Steelers. http://news.steelers.com/MediaContent/2007/08/22/04/All-Time_Draft_Picks_80306.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 

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