Pittsburgh Steelers
Battle card · first-round draft history, season-by-season record, and how Steelers top picks have shaped the franchise.
R1 Picks
57
Hall of Famers
6
10.5% hit rate
Avg pick slot
19.9
Highest pick
#1
Terry Bradshaw · 1970
All-time record
534–339–4
0.611 win %
Playoff seasons
35
of 56
The Story
- Pittsburgh Steelers have made 57 first-round selections and produced 6 Hall of Famers (10.5% hit rate).
- Their highest selection on record is #1 overall in 1970, when they took Terry Bradshaw.
- Across 56 seasons in this dataset they have a 534-339-4 record (0.611) and reached the playoffs 35 times.
- In seasons after holding at least one top-10 pick, Pittsburgh Steelers added an average of 1.3 wins versus the prior year (6 such seasons in the data).
- Their most-drafted position group is OL, taken 11 times in Round 1.
- Georgia is their go-to talent pipeline, supplying 3 first-round picks.
- Their best season was 2004: 15-1-0 (+121 point differential).
- Their worst was 1988: 5-11-0 (-85 point differential).
Wins per Season
R1 Pick Slot by Year
Position Breakdown
Point Differential by Season
Impact of Top-10 Picks (Next-Season Wins Delta)
| Draft Year | Pick | Player | Prior-Year Wins | New-Year Wins | Delta | HoF? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | #8 | Frank Lewis | 5 | 6 | +1 | |
| 1986 | #9 | John Rienstra | 7 | 6 | -1 | |
| 1987 | #10 | Rod Woodson | 6 | 8 | +2 | HoF |
| 1989 | #7 | Tim Worley | 5 | 9 | +4 | |
| 2000 | #8 | Plaxico Burress | 6 | 9 | +3 | |
| 2019 | #10 | Devin Bush Jr. | 9 | 8 | -1 |
Hall of Fame Selections
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | #1 | Terry Bradshaw | QB | Louisiana Tech |
| 1972 | #13 | Franco Harris | RB | Penn St. |
| 1974 | #21 | Lynn Swann | WR | USC |
| 1987 | #10 | Rod Woodson | DB | Purdue |
| 1998 | #26 | Alan Faneca | G | LSU |
| 2003 | #16 | Troy Polamalu | DB | USC |
Every First-Round Pick
| Year | Pick | Player | Pos | College | HoF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | #1 | Terry Bradshaw | QB | Louisiana Tech | HoF |
| 1971 | #8 | Frank Lewis | WR | Grambling St. | |
| 1972 | #13 | Franco Harris | RB | Penn St. | HoF |
| 1973 | #24 | J.T. Thomas | DB | Florida St. | |
| 1974 | #21 | Lynn Swann | WR | USC | HoF |
| 1975 | #26 | Dave Brown | DB | Michigan | |
| 1976 | #28 | Bennie Cunningham | TE | Clemson | |
| 1977 | #21 | Robin Cole | LB | New Mexico | |
| 1978 | #22 | Ron Johnson | DB | Eastern Michigan | |
| 1979 | #28 | Greg Hawthorne | RB | Baylor | |
| 1980 | #28 | Mark Malone | QB | Arizona St. | |
| 1981 | #17 | Keith Gary | DE | Oklahoma | |
| 1982 | #12 | Walter Abercrombie | RB | Baylor | |
| 1983 | #21 | Gabe Rivera | NT | Texas Tech | |
| 1984 | #23 | Louis Lipps | WR | Southern Miss | |
| 1985 | #20 | Darryl Sims | DE | Wisconsin | |
| 1986 | #9 | John Rienstra | G | Temple | |
| 1987 | #10 | Rod Woodson | DB | Purdue | HoF |
| 1988 | #18 | Aaron Jones | DE | Eastern Kentucky | |
| 1989 | #7 | Tim Worley | RB | Georgia | |
| 1989 | #24 | Tom Ricketts | G | Pittsburgh | |
| 1990 | #21 | Eric Green | TE | Liberty | |
| 1991 | #15 | Huey Richardson | LB | Florida | |
| 1992 | #11 | Leon Searcy | T | Miami (FL) | |
| 1993 | #23 | Deon Figures | DB | Colorado | |
| 1994 | #17 | Charles Johnson | WR | Colorado | |
| 1995 | #27 | Mark Bruener | TE | Washington | |
| 1996 | #29 | Jamain Stephens | T | North Carolina A&T | |
| 1997 | #24 | Chad Scott | DB | Maryland | |
| 1998 | #26 | Alan Faneca | G | LSU | HoF |
| 1999 | #13 | Troy Edwards | WR | Louisiana Tech | |
| 2000 | #8 | Plaxico Burress | WR | Michigan St. | |
| 2001 | #19 | Casey Hampton | NT | Texas | |
| 2002 | #30 | Kendall Simmons | G | Auburn | |
| 2003 | #16 | Troy Polamalu | DB | USC | HoF |
| 2004 | #11 | Ben Roethlisberger | QB | Miami (OH) | |
| 2005 | #30 | Heath Miller | TE | Virginia | |
| 2006 | #25 | Santonio Holmes | WR | Ohio St. | |
| 2007 | #15 | Lawrence Timmons | LB | Florida St. | |
| 2008 | #23 | Rashard Mendenhall | RB | Illinois | |
| 2009 | #32 | Evander Hood | DE | Missouri | |
| 2010 | #18 | Maurkice Pouncey | C | Florida | |
| 2011 | #31 | Cameron Heyward | DE | Ohio St. | |
| 2012 | #24 | David DeCastro | G | Stanford | |
| 2013 | #17 | Jarvis Jones | LB | Georgia | |
| 2014 | #15 | Ryan Shazier | LB | Ohio St. | |
| 2015 | #22 | Bud Dupree | OLB | Kentucky | |
| 2016 | #25 | Artie Burns | CB | Miami (FL) | |
| 2017 | #30 | T.J. Watt | OLB | Wisconsin | |
| 2018 | #28 | Terrell Edmunds | S | Virginia Tech | |
| 2019 | #10 | Devin Bush Jr. | LB | Michigan | |
| 2021 | #24 | Najee Harris | RB | Alabama | |
| 2022 | #20 | Kenny Pickett | QB | Pittsburgh | |
| 2023 | #14 | Broderick Jones | OL | Georgia | |
| 2024 | #20 | Troy Fautanu | OL | Washington | |
| 2025 | #21 | Derrick Harmon | DT | Oregon | |
| 2026 | #21 | Max Iheanachor | OT | Arizona St. |