We told you earlier this week why we don’t do mock drafts. If you can’t remember, it’s because we sure as hell have no idea who’s going to be good and who isn’t. Even the Steelers don’t get every pick right, but they’ve done a lot better than we ever would. Or the Detroit Lions.
1999
1st Round, 13th pick: Troy Edwards, WR, Louisiana Tech
Check the jump to see the rest of the rounds and our analysis.
2nd Round, 59th pick: Scott Shields, DB, Weber State
3rd Round, 73rd pick: Joey Porter, LB, Colorado State
3rd Round, 74th pick: Kris Farris, T, UCLA
3rd Round, 95th pick, Amos Zereoue, RB, West Virginia
4th Round, 109th pick, Aaron Smith, DE, Northern Colorado
5th Round, 136th pick, Jerame Tuman, TE, Michigan
5th Round, 166th pick, Malcolm Johnson, WR, Notre Dame
7th Round, 214th pick, Antonio Dingle, DT, Virginia
7th Round, 219th pick, Chad Kelsay, LB, Nebraska
7th Round, 228th pick, Kris Brown, K, Nebraska
Notable Busts: 1st pick, Tim Couch; 3rd pick, Akili Smith; 12th pick, Cade McNown. Seriously, there are so many but those are the biggest losers people remember.
Notable Late Round Gems: Other than Joey Porter and Aaron Smith; Round 7, pick 213, Donald Driver
Troy Edwards was probably one of the few first round picks that didn’t go through for the Steelers. But to the Steelers credit, the 1999 draft was filled with crappy players. Troy actually looked decent his rookie year grabbing 714 yards and 5 touchdowns while only starting 6 games, but he never came close to those numbers after that. Only 3 years after drafting him, the Steelers got rid of the midget and he never did anything else for the Rams, Jags, or Lions. Check it out.
Obviously grabbing Joey Porter in the 3rd Round and Aaron Smith in the 4th Round were obvious great late grabs. A little known fact is that Joey began college football as an H-back and didn’t start playing defense until his junior year. He’s still dominating the league with his mouth and his pressure (was second in the league in sacks last year). Aaron Smith set a university record with 44 sacks while at Northern Colorado but people still overlooked him. Overall, it was a pretty decent draft for the Stees. Even though Aaron Smith is the only player still currently on the team (helped us to 2 Super Bowls), it would have been hard to get to Super Bowl XL without Peezy, Amos gave us a few decent seasons and helped lengthen The Bus’s career by giving him breaks, and Kris Brown was a good replacement for me (Norm) until he was sent to be the Texan’s main leg (Norm’s note: Actually I lied, he wasn’t. He was a no-good punk and sucked. The Stees never should have let me go). Even if Troy didn’t pan out, or second round pick Scott Sheilds, not many players from 1999 did.
Draft Grade: B+
What do you think about the Steelers 1999 draft? Tell us in the comments.
