Steelers Draft Dominance, Part Two

By now, you've probably noticed that four of the five draft classes I posted on Saturday were all linked to the 70s teams.

That makes sense for a few reasons:

1. ESPN awarded three points for each Super Bowl win and most of the players drafted by the Steelers in the 70s had at least two of those, if not four -- and all the guys that were Hall of Famers from the 74 class had four each.
2. You get 15 points for a Hall of Fame inductee and the 70s team currently has nine or ten guys in Canton. The Steelers built those 70s teams through the draft, so anyone drafted from 1970 to 1978 has a good shot of being one of those HOFers.
   
3. Up until 1992, the draft was 12 rounds. It was shortened to eight rounds in 1993, then seven rounds in 1994. So, guys like James Harrison and Willie Parker, who were undrafted free agents, don't count. They probably would've been drafted by someone -- maybe even not the Steelers -- if the 2004 draft was 12 rounds. At any rate, the more guys you have on the list, the more chances you have of drafting someone that is going to get you points. Since there are no deductions for drafting someone that was out of the league two years after you took them, there's no downside to having 12 rounds of eligible players.
4. It took a while for Stallworth and Swann to make the Hall. And a lot of players that were drafted since 1990 are either still in the league or aren't yet eligible for Canton. Some of them, like Dermonti Dawson, will probably make it as veteran inclusions or on their seventh or eighth shot at induction. Then again, he was selected in 1988, so maybe we should just move on.

Looking back at the drafts the Steelers have had since 1994, there are really only a few that have serious star power, being players that have a shot at the Hall of Fame, have multiple Pro Bowl or All-Pro appearances, and have won multiple Super Bowls.

1. The 1997 draft, due mostly to the fact that they drafted Mike Vrabel. And he had all his success with the Patriots.
2. The 1998 draft, where we took Alan Faneca in the first, Hines Ward with a compensatory selection in the third, and Deshea Townsend in the fourth. We also took Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala in the sixth. That has no bearing on the points system, it's just a fun name to say.
3. The 2003 draft, due mostly to Troy Polamalu, Ike Taylor, and Brian St. Pierre -- you also get points for losing Super Bowls, so he was on the Super Bowl XLIII squad for Steelers West.
4. The 2004 draft, which is based mostly on potential. We really only got Max Starks and Ben Roethlisberger out of that draft. Well, that and a whole lot of crappy players, most of whom are now out of football.

The points system breaks down like this:

Super Bowl loss (1 point)
Offensive rookie of the year (2 points)
Defensive rookie of the year (2 points)
Pro Bowl (2 points)
Super Bowl win (3 points)
AP All-Pro second team (3 points)
AP All-Pro first team (4 points)
AP Defensive Player of the Year (6 points)
AP Offensive Player of the Year (6 points)
AP Most Valuable Player (8 points)
Hall of Famer (15 points)

Currently, Faneca has the lead among players drafted by the Steelers since 1994, with 33 total points. If he makes another Pro Bowl and is voted second-team All-Pro another time, that's another five points. Seems pretty realistic, given that he's been first- or second-team All-Pro every year this decade, and given that you're usually voted into the Pro Bowl for another two years after you're past your prime. That puts him at 56 points, which is more than Bradshaw, Swann, or Stallworth.

If he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, that's another 15 points and puts him at 71, which is one step above Jack Ham and one step below Rod Woodson.

And, if you think about it, he would be the starting guard on the team of the decade, has been voted first-team All-Pro six times, second-team All-Pro twice, and he's likely to go to the last two Pro Bowls of this decade. Larry Allen quit too early and Steve Hutchison started too late. Faneca gets the nod -- in my opinion at least -- even if he has to wait a few years after his first year of eligibility to get in.

Now, Hines Ward was voted second-team All-Pro three times (2002-2004) and went to four straight Pro Bowls from 2001-2004. He's got two rings and a Super Bowl MVP to his credit, but he was never voted first-team All-Pro and his statistics won't hold up against the other star receivers of the 00s.

He does have the fact that he's the best blocking receiver of his era and the most physical receiver of his era. A lot of voters will be sympathetic to the fact that he played in a run oriented offense and adapted to it quite well. Plus which, he has 724 catches for 8,896 yards and 65 touchdowns (12.4 yards per catch, too) and that's not bad.

Look at some of the other greatest receivers this century (and I'm sure I missed someone):

Marvin Harrison: 791 catches, 10,493 yards, 95 touchdowns, 13.1 yards per catch
Torry Holt: 817 catches, 11,872 yards, 68 touchdowns, 14.6 yards per catch
Terrell Owens: 729 catches, 10,815 yards, 109 touchdowns, 15 yards per catch
Randy Moss: 694 catches, 10,475 yards, 107 touchdowns, 15.1 yards per catch
Hines Ward, 724 catches, 8,896 yards, 65 touchdowns, 12.4 yards per catch

Even guys who you think would have better numbers, but don't:

Issac Bruce: 614 catches, 9,116 yards, 50 touchdowns, 14.8 yards per catch
Plaxico Burress: 505 catches, 7,845, 78 touchdowns, 15.5 yards per catch

Guys who will beat Hines' past nine seasons pretty easily by the time they accrue nine seasons, but they aren't considered his contemporaries:

Larry Fitzgerald: 426 catches, 5,975 yards, 78 touchdowns, 14 yards per catch
Andre Johnson: 486 catches, 6,379 yards, 77 touchdowns, 13.1 yards per catch

Here's the big thing: Of the four guys that are considered to be contemporaries of Hines Ward, all of them had inferior 2008 seasons statistically.

Owens turns 36 in December and recently signed with the Bills. Harrison turns 37 in August and is currently a free agent. Holt is getting traded from the Rams (probably to the Jaguars) and is only a year younger than Ward. Moss is going to be dealing with a surgically repaired Tom Brady next season and is a year younger than Ward.

Add in the fact that Ward has the same number of Super Bowl rings as Moss, Holt, Harrison, and Owens combined, he has a Super Bowl MVP (Harrison and Holt can't claim that), and he's got that most physical/best blocker thing going for him, and a very compelling case can be made that he should be in the Hall of Fame.

Also adding in the fact that Owens and Moss haven't exactly lit things up in the postseason -- neither have Holt or Harrison, really, but at least they have won a championship -- it looks better and better for Hines. Obviously, if the Steelers manage to win another championship in the next three seasons, or before Ward retires, then he's pretty much a lock.

I actually think he's close to being a lock regardless, as long as he doesn't completely fall apart the new few years, or have a bitter contract dispute that ends up with him playing in Cleveland or something.

So... I really didn't mean for this to turn into a debate about whether or not Ward belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that argument kind of makes or breaks this draft class.

If he doesn't get inducted, then he's worth 23 points. Add Faneca's 71 and Deshea's six (for Super Bowl victories in XL and XLIII), and you get a very respectable 100 points total. That would put them in the top 20, tied with the 1989 Detroit Lions (mostly based off the career of Barry Sanders).

If he does get inducted, then that bumps the total up to 115, which would boost this class into the top-10 all time, making this class the new #10 and bumping the 81 Giants off the list. If the Steelers win another Super Bowl with Ward and Townsend on the roster (which would pretty much make Ward a shoe-in), then that puts this class at 121, which would rank them ninth all time and bump the 81 49ers off the list.

The 97 class is mostly Vrabel's success with New England and Roethlisber, at current, only has ten points for the 2004 class.

The 2003 class has Polamalu (22 points) and Ike Taylor (six points for two Super Bowl wins in XL and XLIII). If Troy makes the Hall of Fame, that puts him up to 37 and, with some more Pro Bowls, a possible Defensive Player of the Year, and some more first and second-team All-Pro votes, he could be in the 50s.

Still, that's not going to be enough. The 1998 class, at present, is our only hope of cracking the top 10. And, by the time Faneca and Ward get inducted into the Hall of Fame -- if they even get there -- 121 points might not cut it anymore.

But, two Hall of Famers in one class is still impressive. Not 1974 impressive, but impressive.