Historically the Steelers have built their teams through the draft. This philosophy combined with drafting the best available player has been the blueprint in Pittsburgh.
When you review the past ten years drafts, the current 0-4 record should not come as a great surprise. If you build through the draft, then you need to add quality players from each years draft. You need to make the right selection, develop the player and retain the player. There is't an absolute number but on average adding a minimum of three quality players each year should be expected. The following summarizes the current talent void.
2008 - no players on the current roster
2006 - no players on the current roster
2005 - 1 player on roster
2004 - 1 player on roster
To only have 2 players from four years drafts is a major problem. The reasons vary for the poor retention numbers but when you build through the draft, this cannot occur if you want to compete for championships.
Part of this failure falls on the GM, part of it on the coaches and part on their philosophy. A lot of discussion has already occurred on the GM and coaching, but what about philosophy. Is it time to abandon solely building through the draft. Should the Steelers become more active in free agency?