Steelers Draft Picks in the 21st Century: Special Teams

Steelers Eric Wilkerson
Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

We’re done with the offense. But we’re not quite ready for defense. That’s right, we’re on to the so-called third phase of football: The special teams.

Steelers draft picks in the 21st century series: Running Backs | Wide Receivers | Tight Ends | Offensive Line | Quarterbacks

Do the Steelers ever draft for special teams? There hasn’t been any out-of-the-blue “we’re taking Sebastian Janikowski in the first round” kind of snafuus from the team and nothing as glaring as these little gems from the past.

2000: None
2001: None
2002: None
2003: None
2004: None
2005: None
2006: None
2007: 4th round, Daniel Sepulveda, Punter, Baylor

Well, there he is, the lone punter selected in the draft by Kevin Colbert. Sepulveda ran a 4.6 40 and was a great college athlete, but he ended up only playing four years in the NFL thanks to injuries. Fourth round is probably a little high for a punter and Colbert and the Steelers never repeated their mistake.

2008: None
2009: None
2010: None
2011: None
2012: None
2013: None
2014: None
2015: None
2016: None
2017: 6th round, Colin Holba, Long Snapper, Louisville

In 2017 the Steelers spent a 6th round pick on a long snapper from Louisville named Colin Holba. While Holba is still in the leaguee, he didn’t make the Steelers roster out of training camp. To be fair it was towards the end of the 6th round and virtually no one taken after him has amounted to anything in the NFL except Seattle running back Chris Carson. But you still probably shouldn’t select long snappers in the draft in any round, ever.

2018: None
2019: None

2000-2020 draft special teams breakdown

Total selections: 2
Years selecting ST: 2/20

Selections by round:

1st round: 0
2nd round: 0
3rd round: 0
4th round: 1
5th round: 0
6th round: 1
7th round: 0

Selections by conference:

SEC: 0
ACC: 1
Big 12: 1
Big 10: 0
PAC 12: 0

Power 5: 2
Group of 5: 0

Notes:

You shouldn’t select long snappers in the NFL Draft. … Don’t spend 4th round picks on punters.

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