The picks are in and we’re in the thick of OTAs. Now it’s time to grade the Steelers draft class.
The Steelers 2021 Draft Class.
Yes, 5 years is a long time to wait to grade a draft class, but if a 5-year wait was right for Chuck Noll, then it’s right for me.
The Steelers 2021 Draft Class was Kevin Colbert’s penultimate one and while this draft wasn’t as bad as some of ones that sandwiched it, that isn’t entirely a good thing. Let’s dive into why.
Pat Freiermuth and Najee Harris represent the yin and yang of the Steelers 2021 Draft Class. Photo Credit: Karl Roser, Steelers.com
Round 1 Najee Harris – Another Rookie Tease
Critics condemned Colbert and Mike Tomlin for “Wasting a first rounder on a running back” as soon they drafted Najee Harris.
- But Najee Harris delivered solid early returns.
After holding his draft party at a Bay Area homeless shelter, his rookie season suggested Harris could prove the critics wrong. And then some.
Harris played his rookie year behind an offensive line built with spit, duct tape and bubble gum, yet he still rushed for 1200 yards, scored 7 touchdowns and caught 74 passes for 467 yards.
- Unfortunately, he failed to build on his rookie success.
Yes, he played well in fits and spurts. Yet at other times he subjected us to “Sludge Ball,” resulting in 3rd and longs which the offense couldn’t convert.
Najee Harris breaks one in the 4th quarter. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
That inconsistency makes it easy to forget his 4 consecutive 1000 yard seasons, his additional 1000 yards receiving, 34 touchdowns and 68 consecutive starts. Those numbers show that the Steelers did get some value out of Najee Harris even if his overall draft grade is Disappointment.
True NFL Draft grades only come with years of hindsight
Round 2 Pat Freiermuth – Muuth!
If Najee Harris spent his rookie season teasing that he might live up to his first-round status, Steelers fans watched 2nd round pick Pat Freiermuth during his rookie year and asked if he might be the next Heath Miller.
Pat Freiermuth stiff arms Jordan Battle en route to the end zone. Photo Credit: Chaz Palla, Tribune-Review
Truthfully, Pat Freiermuth hasn’t and will likely never reach that level. Instead, at a time when the Steelers have fielded some outright JV offenses, Freiermuth has always been a consistent Varsity player. Grade: Over Performer
Round 3 Kendrick Green – It Isn’t Easy Being Green
Anyone who ever needs a reminder of why you never want to enter an NFL draft with an absolute need to pick a starter, look no further than Kendrick Green.
Thanks to Maurkice Pouncey’s surprise retirement while the Steelers were in Salary Cap Armageddon the Steelers were forced to draft a starting center in the 2021 NFL draft. So they drafted Kendrick Green.
Kendrick Green struggled until Mike Tomlin benched him for J.C. Hassenauer in week 16. Green made the roster in 2022, but never earned a game day helmet.
The Steelers gave him some work at fullback at St. Vincents in the summer of 2023. But he couldn’t do enough to prove he needed a roster spot, so they traded Green to the Houston Texans where he’s started four games. Grade: Bust
Round 4 Dan Moore – More Than Expected
The Steelers didn’t only need to draft a starting-capable center in the 2021 NFL Draft, they also needed a tackle. So they drafted Dan Moore Jr. in the 4th round. Dan Moore won the left tackle starting job in training camp, and then proceeded to start all but one game for the next four years.
- Moore suffered growing pains, and could never make the shift to playing right tackle.
But he improved with each passing year, although not enough to deter the Steelers from drafting Broderick Jones and Troy Fautanu. But drafting an offensive tackle in the 4th round who becomes an immediate starter and then proceeds to start 66 games is an outstanding success by any measure. Grade: Over Performer
Round 4: Buddy Johnson — The 4th Round Throw Away
As a non-draftnic all Steelers draft picks start with a clean slate. I do listen to experts, but take their wisdom with a grain of salt. Still, the eye rolls that accompanied Buddy Johnson’s pick perked up my ears.
- And it didn’t take long to understand the eye rolls.
Buddy Johnson appeared in 4 games for the Steelers as a rookie, played 6 defensive snaps and 59 special teams snaps. The Steelers cut him the next summer. So fellow 4th rounder Dan Moore made 66 starts whereas Buddy Johnson played 65 total snaps. Grade: Bust
Round 5: Isaiahh Loudermilk – The Rookie Tease
With no 5th round pick, the Steelers traded their 2022 4th rounder to grab Isaiahh Loudermilk. The Steelers drafted Isaiahh Loudermilk counting on having both Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu.
- Tuitt never played a down and Alualu was lost after just 6 quarters.
Thanks to those injuries, Loudermilk got playing time immediately. And in hindsight, it is easy to forget that Loudermilk actually had a fairly promising rookie year, batting down 3 passes, and recording a sack while playing 29% of the defensive snaps.
- But like Najee Harris, Loudermilk failed to build on his rookie year.
He averaged about 19% of the defensive snaps over the next three years, and his career highlight was blocking a field goal in the 2024 Sunday Night Football loss to Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys. The Steelers brought him back for a 5th year, but he got injured after two games. Grade: Disappointment
Round 6: Quincy Roche – The Preseason Flasher
Quincy Roche started the summer off at St. Vincents strong enough for Steel City Insider’s Jim Wexell to include him in a group of rookies who were “are rounding out another exceptional draft.”
By summer’s end, the Steelers coaches didn’t quite agree, as they cut Quincy Roche hoping to sneak him on the practice squad.
The New York Giants signed him, and Roche appeared in 14 games, made 3 starts, recording 2.5 sacks.
Alas, he spent his second year bouncing on and off New York’s practice squad and was cut loose in January. The Steelers brought him back to Pittsburgh, but his highlight was getting pancaked during Friday Night Lights by “fullback” Kendrick Green. He got cut 25 days later. Grade: Bust
Round 7a – Tre Norwood – Short-Term Swiss Army Knife
Officially the Steelers drafted Tre Norwood as a safety, but Mike Tomlin immediately labeled him a “Swiss Army Knife” indicating that he’d play both safety and corner. Tre Norwood saw action in all 17 games as a rookie, logging a full third of the defensive snaps.
Tre Norwood intercepts a Baker Mayfield pass at the end of Ben Roethlisberger’s final game at Heinz Field. Photo Credit: Caitlyn Epee, Steelers.com
While no one was suggesting a name change to Donnie Polamalu or Troy Shell the early returns were good, with Norwood deflecting four passes and hauling in an interception to secure Ben Roethlisberger’s final win at Heinz Field.
Like other members of the Steelers 2021 Draft class, Norwood never sustained his rookie momentum, and was gone after 2022. Grade: Serviceable Pickup
Round 7b: Pressley Harvin III — Mr. Inconsistency
The Steelers used their final pick in the 2021 NFL Draft on Pressley Harvin III, a punter out of Georgia Tech, hoping to find a long-term upgrade at the position. Pressley Harvin punted for 3 seasons, was good at times, but he lacked consistency and was gone after 2023. Grade: Disappointment.
Steelers 2021 Draft Class Helps Explain, Extend Playoff Drought
When the 2021 Steelers unexpectedly made the playoffs, Jim Wexell’s initial assessment of “another exceptional draft” looked smart. Everyone, except Kendrick Green and Buddy Johnson had shown concrete reasons for hope – as had Roche with the Giants.
- Sadly, only Pat Freiermuth and Dan Moore built on their rookie success.
The others did enough to hang on as backups, or even starters, but none developed into anything exceptional. In many ways, his draft class was similar to the Steelers 2018 Draft Class, which set the seeds for stagnation.
For its part, the Steelers 2021 Draft Class deepened the roots of the franchise’s current playoff drought by adding players who, with the exception of Freiermuth, never developed into differnece-makers and who instead excelled at being ordinary. Overall grade: C.
