For the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2022 NFL Draft was a pivotal one. With it being the final draft for former general manager Kevin Colbert, the team had a plethora of critical holes to fill amidst a sea of question marks on the depth chart. Head coach Mike Tomlin was about to venture into his first season without a franchise veteran quarterback in Ben Roethlisberger for the first time of his career. Not to mention, Stephon Tuitt was considering early retirement at the time of the draft, thus presenting another potential hole along the defensive front. The Steelers had to be swift and effective with their strategy, but in ESPN’s alternate universe, the results could have looked much different than what we saw.
ESPN tapped on the shoulders of their NFL writing team to re-do the first two rounds of last year’s draft. From their analysis, it looks like the Steelers retrospectively had an impressive couple of opening rounds in 2022. Before we dive into the Steelers’ picks in a parallel universe, there are a couple of rookies who would have found themselves in other cities. First up, arguably one of the best rookies from 2022.
With the Baltimore Ravens’ 14th overall pick, George Pickens, wide receiver.
For those of you who are thinking back, the Ravens used this pick on safety Kyle Hamilton from Notre Dame. While Hamilton didn’t necessarily have a bad season, it is evident that the Ravens missed a key receiver in the passing game, which suffered throughout the season. Meanwhile, Pickens had a stellar rookie year after being ultimately selected 52nd overall. ESPN’s Jamison Hensley detailed his hypothetical selection:
Hamilton was a solid pick who shook off early struggles and finished strong. He concluded the season with five passes defended and 46 total tackles. But imagine Lamar Jackson lofting touchdown passes to Pickens in the end zone. Pickens' elite pass-catching ability -- he led all rookies in yards per reception (15.4) - is tough to pass on because he provides much-needed playmaking ability on the outside.
To start the 2022 offseason, the Steelers had only Mason Rudolph on the roster at quarterback. Tomlin made it clear he wanted a veteran with situational mobility to come in and compete for the starting spot, which led to the signing of Mitch Trubisky in March. With the 2022 quarterback class being relatively shallow in terms of talent level, this led fans to believe we could see someone other than a quarterback being called by Pittsburgh at the 20th overall spot. Fast forward to the evening of April 28, 2022, it was Kenny Pickett who returned back to where he played in college; we all saw how this fared for the Steelers. With a strong rookie outing now in the books, where did Pickett fall in this scenario?
With the New Orleans Saints’ 16th overall pick, Kenny Pickett, quarterback.
Looking back to how the first round progressed, the Saints traded this pick to the Washington Commanders with which they used the select Jahan Dotson out of Penn State. In hindsight, Pickett in New Orleans would have been a welcome sight for Saints fans looking at their quarterback play in 2022. When Jameis Winston went down with a broken back, Andy Dalton took over under center at the beginning of October. Dalton ended up throwing for 2,871 yards with 18 touchdowns, nine interceptions, and carried the Saints to a 6-8 record in that span. Pickett finished with 2,404 passing yards, seven touchdowns, nine interceptions, but achieved a 7-5 record in those games he played. ESPN’s Katherine Terrell explained her logic in the selection:
The Saints have struggled to find the right quarterback for the past two seasons and, with no 2023 first-rounder plus limited salary-cap space, their options aren't great. With Chris Olave off the board, they could use the first of their two picks on a quarterback instead of starting over for the third straight year. Pickett's numbers aren't great -- seven touchdown passes, nine interceptions - but he and the Pittsburgh offense improved down the stretch.
With both of the Steelers’ first two draft picks now gone before the 20th overall spot, who gets the call from Pittsburgh?
With the Steelers’ 20th overall pick, Derek Stingley Jr., cornerback.
Thinking back to mock drafts last year, landing Stingley Jr. at the 20th overall spot would have sounded like a dream come true. The Steelers seem to have a constant need for elite talent at the cornerback position, yet never address that concern. Called by the Houston Texans, Stingley Jr. was the third-overall selection of the draft and was poised for a strong rookie season. Although it began as such, a nagging hamstring injury sidelined him for the second half of the season, concluding his rookie year with one interception in nine games. ESPN’s Brooke Pryor broke down the selection:
In this scenario, both Pickett and receiver George Pickens are off the board, leaving the Steelers to address another position of need. With corner near the top of their 2023 off-season wish list, drafting Stingley would check a major box in shoring up a spot that lacked a true lock down player after the retirement of Joe Haden. Stingley finished the season on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, but he didn't allow a touchdown as the nearest defender in coverage and showed potential.
If we skip ahead to the Steelers’ 52nd overall selection in the second round, we find ourselves where we thought Malik Willis would have landed. But seeing as though hindsight was the clear guide in this instance, Willis is clearly off the table. Therefore, there is another name that may be unfamiliar to Steelers fans who gets the call. To add a bit of context in reality, some names that were available at this time in the draft were Skyy Moore, Dameon Pierce, Tariq Woolen, and Isiah Pacheco. In this go-around, the Steelers stuck with the similar theme we saw in reality.
With the Steelers’ 52nd overall pick, Rashid Shaheed, wide receiver.
Compared to how the draft actually unfolded, this was one of the biggest jumps ESPN displayed. Shaheed was signed to the Saints after going undrafted out of Weber State and had a fairly mundane rookie year. He only caught 28 passes on 34 targets for 488 yards and scored twice. For comparison, Pickens caught 52 passes on 84 targets for 801 yards and four touchdowns. On paper, Pickens was obviously the right choice over Shaheed. Pryor explained her reasoning in the selection:
The Steelers have a history of successfully drafting wide receivers in the second round, but Pickens was long gone in this scenario. It was a toss-up between the undrafted Shaheed and fourth-rounder Romeo Doubs, but Shaheed edged out Doubs because of his late-season consistency and fleet-footed versatility -- a big plus in the Steelers' offense. While Doubs missed more than a month because of an ankle injury and was minimized in his return (thanks to the emergence of Christian Watson), Shaheed became a bigger factor as the season went on, finishing with two touchdowns and 488 receiving yards.
I think I speak for all of Steelers fans when I say the actual draft pick duo of Pickett and Pickens was far better than the alternative of Stingley Jr. and Shaheed. Even though we’ve only seen one season from the pair, they showed they can develop into the dynamic duo that fans have missed since Roethlisberger had Antonio Brown a mere five seasons ago. It is difficult to think of another alternative scenario that would have surpassed the Steelers’ actual selections in the first two rounds of the 2022 draft, especially looking at what ESPN presented.
Who would you have picked in retrospect? Do you like who the Steelers picked in this scenario?
More must-reads: