Steelers “Sour 16” Bracket: 1999 Troy Edwards vs 2009 Evander “Ziggy” Hood

BTSC continues to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers least successful first round selections since 1969 with a Cowher/Tomlin region matchup between a hard-luck corner from Colorado and a more recent LB pick from UGA. But first let’s conclude the first round with the final Noll region match from the first round.

1993 Deon Figures 7% (95 votes)

2013 Jarvis Jones 93% (1,263 votes)

1,358 votes total

As always, the criteria for selection is performance in a player’s Steeler career. There may be some players that you find not worthy of conclusion on this list. That is a good thing. That proves that the Steelers remain a very good drafting team, especially in the first round.

2009 Round 1 Pick 32

DE Evander “Ziggy” Hood-Missouri

Because of the Super Bowl XLIII victory, Pittsburgh picked last in the first round. Ziggy Hood was the result. No. 96 had 11 sacks and 144 tackles in five seasons as a Steeler. He moved on to Jacksonville in 2014, spent ‘15 in Chicago and reemerged as a starter Washington in 2016. Hood was a starter in Super Bowl XLV against Green Bay.

1999 Round 1 Pick 13

WR Troy Edwards

This was a very myopic pick. The Steelers thought they needed a receiver (even though Hines Ward was already in-house), so they took the best, although undersized receiver, still available. Fortunes started out well for Edwards with 61 catches as a rookie that netted him the Joe Greene Great Performance Award, but it soured from there. Edwards only started seven games for the black and gold. In his three years in Pittsburgh, Troy had 1,212 yards and six total TDs. Edwards was traded to St. Louis for one season and played with both Detroit and Jacksonville. He concluded his career with Grand Rapids in the Arena League. Edwards was infamous in Pittsburgh for running out-of-bounds and coming back in on punt defense in the 2001 AFC Title Game. The Patriots took advantage of the subsequent penalty and Troy Brown returned the re-punt for a TD.

The leading vote-getter moves on to the second round. Be sure to vote below and continue logging in to BTSC for plenty of offseason news, mocks, commentary and fun.