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#3 - Antonio Brown, WR, 2010
In the same draft Pittsburgh picked Maurkice Pouncey, the team hit another home run when they drafted wide receiver Antonio Brown in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. Brown was an immediate special teams standout before becoming the best wide receiver of his generation.
Brown had six consecutive 1,000-yard seasons from 2013 to 2018 and was the favorite target for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He was also named to seven Pro Bowls.
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Brown was named a first-team All-Pro for four consecutive years and led the NFL in receiving yards twice. Despite off-field controversies, both during and after his time in Pittsburgh, Brown was a fantastic player and a remarkable draft selection by Colbert.
#2 - Troy Polamalu, S, 2003
Strong safety Troy Polamalu was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 16th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft and was a pivotal part of the Pittsburgh team that won two Super Bowls in four years. Polamalu was a hard-hitting lynchpin of Pittsburgh’s defense and was voted to eight Pro Bowls during his career.
He was also named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2010 and was voted into the NFL 2000s All-Decade Team.
Polamalu was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February 2020 and will undoubtedly go down as one of Kevin Colbert’s best draft selections of all time.
#1 - Ben Roethlisberger, QB, 2004
A year after Polamalu’s selection in the first round, Kevin Colbert and owner Dan Rooney hit another home run selection when they drafted quarterback Ben Roethlisberger from the University of Miami (Ohio) with the 11th overall selection in 2004. Big Ben would be the starting quarterback for Pittsburgh from 2004 until announcing his retirement following the 2021 season.
Roethlisberger led the team to two Super Bowl titles in the first five years of his career, and this was after starting his rookie season with an astonishing 13-0 record.
Big Ben would end his career with six Pro Bowl nods and lead the NFL in passing yards twice. He threw for 418 touchdowns, passed for 64,088 yards, and will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection.
