Top Ten Draft Successes of the Kevin Colbert Era: No. 4 -- LB Clark Haggans, 5th Round, 2000

by Michael Bean on Apr 27, 2011 3:02 AM EDT

Onward with the top ten draft 'successes' and busts of the Kevin Colbert era. Let's turn back to the 'successes' list with my entry at No. 4, LB Clark Haggans, taken in the fifth round of the 2000 Draft. As a reminder to those who may not have seen the rest of the list:

I'm excluding first round picks from my list of 'successes'. As I explained in previous posts, it's obvious why I would exclude the first rounders. Quite simply, if you don't hit a homerun with your first round picks in this league, you're in trouble. Those top picks have to pan out if you want to compete consistently. So, let's exclude what are expected to be great picks, and turn our attention to the later rounds to see where Colbert and his army of scouts struck gold with their talent evaluation.

Back to Haggans...

While putting together this list, I didn't immediately think of Haggans as a guy worthy of serious consideration. Then I looked back at his career with the Steelers and quickly realized that he was more than worthy of inclusion.

Here are Haggans' final numbers during his eight years with the black and gold (2000-2007) 8 years, 107 games, 61 starts, 32.5 sacks, 1 INT, 17 passes defended, 12 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 304 tackles.

Taken in the fifth round of Kevin Colbert's first draft as the director of football operations in Pittsburgh, Haggans played sparingly in 2000 and 2001. His primary contributions came on special teams before seeing regular snaps on defense beginning in '02, which ironically was the year that the Steelers seemingly had drafted their outside linebacker of the future in Alonzo Jackson. It's hard to break your way into the rotation on defense when you have Joey Porter and Jason Gildon ahead of you on the depth chart, but Haggans, notorious for his relentless work ethic, did play his way into the rotation in his third season.

Despite just starting two games in '02, Haggans finished with 6.5 sacks, third most on the team. In '03, Haggans again played behind Porter and Gildon, and logged just one sack. When Gildon left the team following the '03 season, Haggans finally got his opportunity to start in his fifth season. He took advantage of the opportunity, starting 13 games and registering 6 sacks, 2 FFs, and 1 FR. The Steelers finished with the No. 1 ranked defense that season.

Anyway, I won't rehash every last season, but I do want to mention that his four best seasons ('02, '04 - '06) were pretty darn solid. Haggans had 27.5 sacks in those four seasons, 14 PD, 1 INT, 10 FFs, 2 FRs and 215 tackles.

For comparison's sake, here's LaMarr Woodley's totals through four seasons: 39 sacks, 3 INTs, 13 PD, 7 FFs, 7 FRs, 186 tackles.

Higher sack totals by Woodley, and several big turnovers that helped turn games in Pittsburgh's favor. But Haggans was every bit as good in pass coverage really, and his tackle totals were higher than the Steelers second round pick in '07. Then again, Wood has only played in four seasons to date, so it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison.

Anyway, the point is that Haggans was more than just a stop-gap contributor in the middle part of last decade. He played at a very high level on several really great Steelers teams. The main reason for Haggans' surprisingly solid career as a fifth rounder is his work ethic. If you do just a bit of research, you'll encounter countless articles about how hard of a worker he is.

In August of 2005, James Farrior had this to say: "Clark is a guy who has no end to his motor. He's always going to work hard and you know what you're going to get from him every time."

That work ethic has allowed Haggans to continue playing at a relatively high level despite being 34 years old. Arizona Cardinals strength coach John Lott had this to say about Haggans: "Clark is a breath of fresh air in today's world," Lott says. "He's somebody who has an old-school approach to a new-school way of playing."

Haggans believes his relentless work ethic actually contributed to some of his injuries earlier in his career with the Steelers. One more quick word from Lott:

Lott, in his 15th NFL season, won't call Haggans the hardest worker he has had, "but he's in the conversation," Lott said.

Try to schedule an interview with Haggans, and it won't happen before 11 a.m. That's when he wraps up a workout that started at 7:30. And he joins Lott and the rookies on their weekly ascent of Camelback Mountain; no Cardinal has made it up faster than Haggans (26 minutes).

Good stuff.

Great work by the Steelers legendary scouting department, and nice call by Colbert drafting Haggans during his first draft with the Steelers. And finally, congratulations to Haggans for willing his way to a productive and long NFL career when little was expected of him coming out of Colorado State. Go Steelers!

Kevin Colbert's Top 10 Draft 'Busts'

No. 3: LB Alonzo Jackson, 2nd Round, 2003

No. 4: DT Kendrick Clancy, 3rd Round, 2000

No. 5: WR Willie Reid, 3rd Round, 2006

No. 6: WR Limas Sweed, 2nd Round, 2008

No. 7: OLB Bruce Davis, 3rd Round, 2008

No. 8: OLB Thaddeus Gibson, 4th Round, 2010

No. 9: WR Plaxico Burress, 1st Round, 2000

No. 10: OG Kendall Simmons, 1st Round, 2002

**********

Kevin Colbert's Top 10 Draft 'Successes'

No. 5: WR Mike Wallace, 3rd Round, 2009

No. 6: OT Willie Colon, 4th Round, 2006

No. 7: LB Larry Foote, 4th Round, 2002

No. 8: OG Chris Kemoeatu, 6th Round, 2005

No. 9: OT Marvel Smith, 2nd Round, 2000

No. 10: WR Antonio Brown, 6th Round, 2010

**********

Are You Smarter Than The Experts?
Correctly predict the first 32 picks of the 2011 NFL Draft and you’ll win $10,000,000!
BEST ROUND EVER IN PRIMETIME
Enter at facebook.com/BudLight
Here We Go

Enjoy Responsibly ©2011 Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Bud Light® Beer, St. Louis, MO. ©2011 NFL Properties LLC. All NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. No Purchase Necessary. Contest open to U.S. residents (except CA) 21+. Contest begins 12AM CDT on 4/1 and ends 5:59:59PM CDT on 4/28. See Official Rules for complete details. Void where prohibited.

Tweet Comment 10 comments | Add comment | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Hmm someone notable is getting left out

But I loved Haggans as a Steeler. Very underrated and very efficient. Was a great run stuffer and a pretty decent pass rusher opposite Joey.

Love you Clark! Thanks for the memories and the contributions to Superbowl XL!

A long way from Pittsburgh PA, in fact, 8653.2 miles to be precise. My blood still bleeds black and gold like the rest of Steeler Nation, proud fan since 2002.

BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia

by Michael Hewitt on Apr 26, 2011 11:00 PM EDT reply actions

max starks

To be honest, he should have been at No. 10 instead of Antonio Brown, but Starks’ career really hasn’t been that great. Started very few games for a guy drafted so long ago, and he’s cost quite a bit of money the last few years. For a third rounder, not that noteworthy.

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Apr 26, 2011 11:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Thats probably fair enough

I suppose I put a bit more stock into him being our starting LT or RT for the past few years than most, he certainly hasnt been amazing, but he also hasnt been bad, and has been a mainstay on a pretty patchwork OL since 2005. I would probably rank him in the 6-10 range like you say.

A long way from Pittsburgh PA, in fact, 8653.2 miles to be precise. My blood still bleeds black and gold like the rest of Steeler Nation, proud fan since 2002.

BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia

by Michael Hewitt on Apr 27, 2011 5:40 AM EDT up reply actions

Steady player

Porter was the guy who got the headlines at OLB but Haggans was a reliable player too. Nothing flashy, he just did his job. Good pick by Colbert.

Proud fan of Pittsburgh's professional sports teams and the Pirates too.

by Black&GoldTrain on Apr 26, 2011 11:08 PM EDT reply actions

He is a classic Steeler that I love

Totally underrated by the entire world, even his own fans, but still makes plays and you know that he will never let you down.

I remember playing Madden 2005 (I think) the first year I ever got into the NFL and running a Haggans blitz literally every single play.

Xbox Live Gamertag - IMIeursault currently MW2 and Madden 11.

Official BTSC representative in the Xbox Live Online Franshise 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/user/infamousxBouncers sub to it for commentary's of the games in the online franchise aswell as other Madden and Call of Duty gameplay.

by Josh Roberts (ESGB) on Apr 27, 2011 4:58 AM EDT reply actions

I had Madden 07

and resigned Haggans long term. I kept Harrison as backup LB and left Foote with Farrior to man the inside.

"Franco made that play because he never quit on the play. He kept running, he kept hustling. Good things happen to people who hustle."

by PCISteeler on Apr 27, 2011 6:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Kept Harrison as a backup behind Haggans? Imagine Deebo and Porter together.

Was 07 the McNabb cover?

Xbox Live Gamertag - IMIeursault currently MW2 and Madden 11.

Official BTSC representative in the Xbox Live Online Franshise 2010.

http://www.youtube.com/user/infamousxBouncers sub to it for commentary's of the games in the online franchise aswell as other Madden and Call of Duty gameplay.

by Josh Roberts (ESGB) on Apr 27, 2011 6:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Shaun Alexander if I recall

A long way from Pittsburgh PA, in fact, 8653.2 miles to be precise. My blood still bleeds black and gold like the rest of Steeler Nation, proud fan since 2002.

BTSC's token Kiwi fan. That means I'm a New Zealander. Yes, that small country next to Australia....no we are not part of Australia

by Michael Hewitt on Apr 27, 2011 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions