Pittsburgh Steelers Counterfactual: What if we had picked CB Quinten Rollins instead of CB Senquez Golson?

In the left corner we have Senqueeeeeeeeez Gooooolsooooon, weighing in at 176 pounds and standing 5 feet 9 inches tall. Coming to us out of the SEC conference via Mississippi, drafted in round 2 as the 56th overall pick.

And, in the right corner we have Quinteeeeeeeeeeeen Roooooollins, a raw talent hailing from Miami of Ohio and standing 5 feet 11 inches tall, drafted late in the second round.

I'm done writing in my UFC voice.  Senquez Golson v. Quinten Rollins. Did the Steelers choose poorly in this year's draft? And, does it matter?  Let's take a look.

Senquez Golson. After a large percentage of SteelersNation lost its collective mind when ILB Bud Dupree was picked in the first round, nearly causing a civil war, the fans breathed a sigh of relief when the Steelers addressed deficits in the secondary by drafting Golson in the second round. Secondary. Second round. It seemed as if it were meant to be, for about 10 seconds. Then, the complaining and skepticism rang out across the Internet. He's too short! Why?! Huh?! He's too short!

Quinten Rollins. The kind of raw talent dbacks coach Carnell Lake and the rest of the Steelers staff loves to develop. Rollins was a basketball player before deciding to give football a shot before he graduated from Miami of Ohio. His only downsides going into the draft were his lack of experience and worries that his first and true love was basketball. The NFL would be a mistress to him, it was feared. Rollins was available when the Steelers picked Golson, but was snatched up by the Green Bay Packers later in the second round.

Did the Steelers make a mistake? Only time will tell. I remember being annoyed that we picked up RB Le'Veon Bell instead of RB Eddie Lacy. Their entire rookie year, I was envious of Green Bay for picking the more durable and productive player. Well, Lacy is certainly a mighty fine running back, but he has nothing on our own Le'Veon Bell.

While I'm hesitant to say that Green Bay ended up with the more talented cornerback, I'm kind of actually saying that. I am hedging and saying "kind of" because I want to leave the door open for Golson to have a phenomenal sophomore season and stifle any feelings of regret or remorse about his selection over Rollins.

Golson is nursing a "lingering" shoulder injury and may be out for the entire season. Meanwhile, Rollins appears to be the steal of the 2015 draft (too bad he wasn't a Steeler). In the Packers season-opener, Quinten "Raw Talent" Rollins broke up two passes and was responsible for another incompletion after he leveled astoundingly hard hit on Patriots RB James White. Boom!

Does Golson's injury signal a crisis at cornerback? Not necessarily. Right now, one of the Steelers' biggest problems is the secondary's slow adjustment to Cover 2. Another problem could be weaknesses inherent to a Cover 2 scheme, which can be easy for opposing offenses to pick apart. Back to my original question. Crisis? No. Not a crisis. There are plenty of guys on the Steelers roster who have the potential to get the secondary back on track and there is still time for players to learn new schemes.

Would it be nice if Golson could start now and contribute to the cause? Of course. Would have been even nicer if we knew back in May that Golson would be injured so we could have drafted a healthy player? Double of course, but the Steelers GM does not have fortune-telling powers, and there is no un-injuring Golson's shoulder.

Where does that leave the Steelers? Well, obviously it is what it is: The Steelers have a hurt second-round pick and a secondary that continues to struggle. Nonetheless, younger guys like B.W. Webb, Kevin Fogg, and others are stepping up and showing signs of potential. Now that safeties Mike Mitchell and Shamarko Thomas are finally practicing together, there is hope the secondary will put up a more coordinated and effective effort.

Although it would be nice to have a productive cornerback with a super-high ceiling (like Rollins, whom, ahem, we could have had instead of Golson), to channel Mike Tomlin: we have whom we have and we accept that. Fans can play the counterfactual game all day. Fact is, we have Golson. Fact is, a disappointing rookie year does not mean that he can't go on to have a phenomenal career. For the moment it appears Rollins was a better pick, but this could be a Lacy-Bell situation where Golson's true talent becomes apparent and Steelers Nation can eventually rest satisfied and maybe even gloat over the front office's second-round pick.