Steel Balls

Fans and media are usually wrong about their early draft analyses, but even coaching legends can turn out to be less accurate than a Joe Flacco pass under pressure. After the first day of the 1974 draft, an article by Phil Musick in the Pittsburgh Press stated that the year had “produced a skinny crop of collegians” and that  the first round pick “would probably be the only meaningful one” for the Steelers. Chuck Noll agreed, stating that the draft would be worthwhile for only “about a round and a half”, meaning the pickings were slim by the time the Steelers had gotten to their second selection. In fact, this draft was so meaningless, the Steelers traded their third round pick to Oakland.

History proved Noll wrong, because although the first round pick, Lynn Swann, would turn out to be pretty meaningful, picks in rounds two (Jack Lambert), four (John Stallworth), and five (Mike Webster) each would join Swann in the Hall of Fame. Their draft class is generally regarded as the best in NFL history, not bad for a skinny crop.

We can only wonder what might have been done with that missing third round pick. Oakland used that pick to nab a pretty good Pro Bowl fullback, Mark van Eeghen. Perhaps if the Steelers had used their third round pick there would have been a butterfly effect that would have negated their brilliant downstream picks.

To read the entire article, click the image below. Note that Phil Musick bore a pretty solid resemblance to Austin Powers. Yeah, baby.

P.s. By the time that article was written, the first five rounds were done and in the books. The rest of the rounds came in day two.

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