I didn’t need to evaluate every player in rounds 2 through 5 of the NFL draft, from 2010 through 2018, for you to know the Steelers have had significant struggles identifying defensive backs that could contribute on Sundays. Most of us can reel off the names, though doing so might be painful. Crezdon Butler. Curtis Brown. Ryan Grant. Should I continue?
I hear you and I’ll stop. Nobody needs to wade too deeply into the carnage to get the point. When I first began to analyze the data, I knew I would find numerous busts for the Steelers at the positions of cornerback, free safety, strong safety, and the ambiguous catch-all positions that draft gurus like to use, “defensive back” (DB), and “position flexible safety” (SAF).