Steelers: 2017 draft class already making a huge impact

Image credits to Yahoo Sports

By Joe Smeltzer

Over the past few years, much of the publicity the Steelers have generated has been negative.

The "terror twins," aka Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell, have frustrated fans and media alike with their behavior, with Bell developing a reputation as an ungrateful, greedy punk, and Brown an immature at best, malicious at worst prima donna.  As this season progresses, however, two players, who have the same respective positions as Bell and Brown are blossoming into stars on the field and causing minimal if any, theatrics off of it.

Since Bell has yet to show up to work this season, James Conner has taken the reins as Pittsburgh's starting tailback. Conner had a local following in the Steel City years before the Steelers selected him in the third round of the 2017 draft with a stellar career as a Pitt Panther that culminated with him beating Hodgkin's Lymphoma to play the 2016 season. Every sports fan knows Conner's story, and his work ethic and humility have made him one of the easiest players in the NFL to cheer.

Through the first five weeks, Conner has more than held his own as the starter. He's not in the same class as a superstar like Bell, but Conner has rushed for 100 yards three times in six weeks and is averaging 4.4 yards per carry with seven touchdowns. Given the talent that surrounds Conner on offense, his production has been more than good enough for Pittsburgh.

Unlike Bell, Brown has shown up for work (most of the time) this season and has put up respectable numbers. Ahead of Brown, however, in several statistical categories, such as yards, yards per game,  yards per catch and receptions,  is the man who the Steelers picked the round before Conner in that draft, former USC Trojan JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster and Conner have different personalities. Conner is a person who more fits the mold of a guy shows up to work and does his job to the best of his ability. Smith-Schuster, on the other hand, has a little more "diva" in him. The kid has shown signs of immaturity-- he's 21, after all-- and fans and media fear that he could take on many of Brown's personality traits.

While Smith-Schuster has been immature at times, he's never caused a disturbance for the Steelers the way Brown and Bell have. For a team that's known for poor behavior both on and off the field, the 2017 draft class is a breath of fresh air for Pittsburgh.

Conner's humility is a nice diversion from Bell's absence, while Smith-Schuster's progress has made Brown's whining easier to deal with. Another member of that draft class, linebacker TJ Watt, is healing the wounds of some past draft-day blunders at the position.

While the Steelers have, for the most part, done well on draft day over the past decade, the franchise hasn't had much luck with linebackers. Pittsburgh wasted a first-round pick on Jarvis Jones, went with Jason Worilds when future Dallas Cowboys staple Sean Lee was available and, so far, has not gotten enough out of Bud Dupree. The only high round linebacker that Pittsburgh hit the mark on, Ryan Shazier, suffered a likely career-ending injury last season at just 25 years old.

Watt was Pittsburgh's first-round pick in 2017, and so far, he's played like a first-rounder.  Watt currently is tied for NFL lead in sacks and has established himself as the most dominant player on Pittsburgh's front-seven.

Despite drafting near the bottom of the first round for most of the past decade, the Steelers have developed a lot of impact players in both the early and later rounds. Brown and center Maurkice Pouncey were both drafted in 2010. The next year, Cam Heyward and Markus Gilbert went to Pittsburgh. David DeCastro was the 2012's first-round pick and Bell went in the second round of the 2013 draft.

All six of those guys have played huge roles on three AFC North championship teams, but the 2017 draft class might end up being the best of the Mike Tomlin/Kevin Colbert era, and could be as good as any class Pittsburgh has had since 1974 when the Steelers selected four future Hall of Famers.

The Steelers' first, second and third round picks in 2017 are all making a first-round level impact, and hell, they've outperformed most of that batch of first rounders. So while most of the headlines regarding the Steelers revolve around either the "terror twins," or Ben Roethlisberger, three young players are set to lead the Steelers into the post-Big Ben era. Their names are Conner, Watt and Smith-Schuster. They're all good, and they're all going to get better.