Kevin Gorman: Steelers can't afford any more mistakes in first 3 rounds

Kevin Colbert is on the clock, and the Pittsburgh Steelers general manager spoke Monday like a man who has both time and history on his side.

Colbert promised to practice patience, preaching the philosophy that the Steelers will “always believe in building through the draft and enhancing it through free agency” in one breath and saying that none of their free-agent signings of Steven Nelson, Mark Barron and Donte Moncrief “will preclude us from taking a corner, linebacker or a receiver” in the other.

That’s good, given those are three positions that the Steelers should be prioritizing when the NFL Draft starts Thursday night. What concerns me is Colbert’s continuation: “It just makes it a little less urgent because the people that we draft, the longer we can keep them off the field the better for them, historically.”

If the Steelers want to become the first team in NFL history to win a seventh Super Bowl, Colbert might want to start showing some sense of urgency. Maybe even a dose of humility, something the Antonio Brown debacle failed to provide the franchise.

The Steelers are talking like a team that is a Super Bowl contender and has the luxury of drafting and developing players to contribute down the road. They seem to forget that they haven’t been to the Super Bowl since the 2010 season and that they didn’t even qualify for the playoffs last season.

The Steelers are talking like a team whose free-agent signings are always a success, but only their refusal to preclude drafting a safety in the first round last year prevented the signing of Morgan Burnett from being a total bust. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin went so far as to say that starting Terrell Edmunds “wasn’t borne out of an opportunity earned. It was really more out of the lack of availability of others.”

With the departures of Brown and Le’Veon Bell, Ben Roethlisberger now lacks the availability of All-Pros at wide receiver and running back. As much as the Steelers have defended those defections by reminding us JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner were both Pro Bowlers, Tomlin laughed when Colbert questioned the validity of Pro Bowl picks.

Where the Steelers didn’t get the return we expected on Brown, they do have four picks in the first 83 selections. So Colbert was correct in emphasizing the importance of the first three rounds, especially after he pointed out it’s where the majority of Pro Bowl players are picked.

It’s worth mentioning that the Steelers had four picks in the first 92 last year, and only Edmunds was a major contributor. Receiver James Washington had 16 catches for 217 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Mason Rudolph was beaten out for the backup job by Josh Dobbs. Offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor started one game but mostly was used in jumbo packages.

The previous draft class is proof you shouldn’t make snap judgments: T.J. Watt, Smith-Schuster and Conner all played starring roles in their second season. But the Steelers have to either be willing to trade up to draft a difference maker or hope that one slips to them at No. 20, the way that David DeCastro (24th), Cameron Heyward (31st) and Maurkice Pouncey (18th) did.

The Steelers need to find a star, even if it means trading up in the draft the way they did for Troy Polamalu and Santonio Holmes. Where Colbert warned that they like to put a name with the number before trading draft picks — pointing out Brett Keisel and Kelvin Beachum were seventh-rounders who became starters — a counter is that far more seventh-round picks didn’t make the team, including nose tackle Joshua Frazier last year.

If the Steelers are going to boast about having four picks in the top 83, they better make the most of them.

“We’re always talking about 1, 2 and 3. Those players should be significant players that we draft,” Colbert said. “If you don’t have those players work out the way they should, it may create a situation where you have to sign more free agents than you’d like.”

Colbert’s point probably was directed at the development of cornerback Artie Burns, a 2016 first-rounder who lost his starting job last season and forced the Steelers to sign Nelson. But it’s also an admission that the Steelers can’t afford more second- and third-round mistakes like cornerbacks Senquez Golson and Curtis Brown, receivers Sammie Coates and Dri Archer or tackle Mike Adams with one of their top four picks.

Where those are the glaring misses, the drafting based on need instead of taking the best player available can also have consequences. The Steelers say their philosophy is to follow their draft board, but Burns and linebackers Bud Dupree and Jarvis Jones are examples of reaches to fill a need.

“It’s always going to be a factor,” Colbert said, adding he has followed a philosophy set in the 1970s by Chuck Noll and Art Rooney Jr. and carried on by Bill Cowher into Tomlin’s tenure. “If they’re rated close, the player that’s slightly below the other one is a better fit, then of course you’re going to take him. But if you drop into a significant, different depth in a round, then you’re going to make a mistake. And that’s been proven time and time historically. Drafting for need has never built a winning franchise. … Of course, you’re going to take a player here and there that might be a better fit. They better be close. If not, it’s a mistake that’ll get you.”

The Steelers don’t need to just find a fit. They need to find some stars to replace the ones they lost. They can’t afford more mistakes. History might be on their side, but the clock is ticking.

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