Starting a new century, the Steelers wanted an offensive boost. Well, they got one with Plax, but they also got a pain in the ass who likes to shot himself in the leg. Please join us as we review a draft class that was… well, you decide.
2000
1st Round, 8th pick: Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan State
Check out the rest of the picks and our analysis after the jump.
2nd Round, 38th pick: Marvel Smith, T, Arizona State
3rd Round, 72nd pick: Kendrick Clancy, NT, Mississippi
3rd Round, 77th pick: Hank Poteat, CB, Pittsburgh
4th Round, 103rd pick: Danny Farmer, WR, UCLA
5th Round, 137th pick: Clark Haggans, LB, Colorado State
5th Round, 163rd pick: Tee Martin, QB, Tennessee
6th Round, 173rd pick: Chris Combs, DE, Duke
6th Round, 204th pick: Jason Gavadza, TE, Kent State
Notable Busts: Unfortunately our Penn State boys didn’t live up to their hype: 1st pick Courtney Brown and 2nd pick LaVar Arrington; 4th pick Peter Warrick; 17th pick Sebastian Janikowski. You might not think Janikowski is a “bust” because he hasn’t been bad by any means, but really, if you pick a kicker in the first round, he should be able to kick a Wiffle ball through the uprights from 80 years away. He was drafted for his long kicks, but his longest in his career is 57 yards (mine’s 54 yards and I have a leg like an 8 year old girl).
Notable Late Round Gems: 4th Round, pick 118, Tyrone Carter!; Round 6, pick 168, Marc Bulger; Round 6, pick 199, Tom Brady
Plax actually looked like a great first round pick for the Steelers. He gave us 5 decent seasons with 2 of them going over 1,000 yards. However, the Steelers don’t put up with attitudes in the organization and they were seeing one in Plaxico. They shipped him to the Giants and made him their problem. The rest is history.
The rest of the draft was just OK for the Steelers. Marvel Smith gave the Steelers 2 rings and saw the Pro Bowl. However, his back problems and his age were lowering his value lately. This year the Steelers didn’t resign him and the 49ers picked him up. Kendrick Clancy never got much playing time. We loved University of Pittsburgh’s Hank Poteat and still love saying his last name. Unfortunately the Steelers didn’t care and he’s been bouncing around the league and has stopped at the Browns, for now. Clark Haggans was actually a walkon for Colorado State before eventually earning a scholarship. He helped out the Steelers’ linebacker corps for 8 years and got himself 9 sacks during the 2005 season and one in the Super Bowl. Other than that, the only time the other players saw the field was during preseason. None of the 2000 draft is still around for the Steelers, but Haggans and Smith were major parts of XL, Plax could have been a great receiver if it wasn’t for him being a douche, and Marvel also helped with XLIII. Oh, and PO-TEET is still the man.
Draft Grade: C
You think we got the 2000 draft analysis right? Let us know in the comments.
