The 2016 Pittsburgh Steelers have made it to the Divisional Round of the playoffs after securing the three seed, by virtue of winning the AFC North.

Have you ever thought: how did they accomplish this?

Of course we know of the big names who are big contributors on the team: guys like Ben Roethlisberger, David DeCastro, Maurkice Pouncey, Lawrence Timmons, Ryan Shazier and Bud Dupree. Those players were meant for bigger and better things, as all that were named were first round draft picks.

But did you realize the 2016 Steelers are comprised of a majority of “overlooked” players? That is, athletes who were taken in the sixth, or seventh rounds of the NFL draft… or not selected at all?

Below is a list of those players who had to wait until day three of the draft (rounds 4-7) to hear their name called, or, didn’t hear their name mentioned at all.

	Name	Pos	1st Team	Enter NFL
1	Ayers, Demarcus	WR	PIT	2016/R7
2	Berry, Jordan	P	PIT FA	2015/SFA
3	Boswell, Chris	K	HOU FA	2014/CFA
4	Brown, Antonio	WR	PIT	2010/R6
5	Chickillo, Anthony	OLB	PIT	2015/R6
6	Cockrell, Ross	CB	BUF	2014/R4
7	Dangerfield, Jordan	S	BUF FA	2013/CFA
8	Finney, BJ	C	PIT FA	2015/CFA
9	Fort, LJ	LB	CLE FA	2012/CFA
10	Foster, Ramon	G	PIT FA	2009/CFA
11	Golden, Robert	S	PIT FA	2012/CFA
12	Grimble, Xavier	TE	NYG FA	2014/CFA
13	Hamilton, Cobi	WR	CIN	2013/R6
14	Harrison, James	LB	PIT FA	2002/CFA
15	Hubbard, Chris	G	PIT FA	2013/CFA
16	James, Jesse	TE	PIT	2015/R5
17	Johnson, David	FB	PIT	2009/R7
18	Matakevich, Tyler	LB	PIT	2016/R7
19	Mathews, Ricardo	DE	IND	2010/R7
20	Maxey, Johnny	DE	PIT FA	2016/CFA
21	McCullers, Daniel	NT	PIT	2014/R6
22	Mettenberger, Zach	QB	TEN	2014/R6
23	Mihalik, Brian	T	PHI	2015/R7
24	Moats, Arthur	LB	BUF	2010/R6
25	Nix, Roosevelt	FB	ATL FA	2014/CFA
26	Rogers, Eli	WR	PIT FA	2015/CFA
27	Shabazz, Al-Hajj	CB	IND FA	2015/CFA
28	Toussaint, Fitzgerald	RB	BAL FA	2014/CFA
29	Villanueva, Alejandro	T	PHI FA	2014/SFA
30	Walton, Leterrius	DT	PIT	2015/R6
31	Warren, Greg	LS	PIT FA	2005/CFA
32	Williams, Vince	LB	PIT	2013/R6

Okay, first things first. I know the list isn’t perfect in regard to CFA/SFA acquisitions, but I made my best attempt to illustrate based on the information available.

For example, Alejandro Villaneuva was originally signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, but was cut, and picked up by the Steelers. He was always a “street free agent”.

Al-Hajj Shabazz went undrafted, and was subsequently signed by the Indianapolis Colts as a “college free agent”… though he would be a “street free agent” later when he was signed to a futures contract by Pittsburgh.

All of those details can get murky, so I’ll try to leave it with the basic principal of this article: the players listed were all overlooked in one way or another; and this season’s Steelers team is loaded with them.

Roughly 32 of them to be exact.

Outliers

First, let’s examine some outliers: Ricardo Mathews and Arthur Moats joined the Steelers through your standard variety free agency. Both were late round picks by their former teams, with Moats selected in the sixth (by Buffalo), and Mathews in the seventh (by San Diego).

Zach Mettenberger was claimed off of waivers after being released by the Chargers during the preseason. He was originally taken in the sixth round by the Tennessee Titans.

Another “overlooked” player is cornerback Ross Cockrell, who was also claimed off of waivers after being released by the Bills. Cockrell is the highest drafted player of this discussion, taken in the fourth round of the 2014 draft.

After being cut, he is now a starting cornerback for the Steelers. (Not too bad for an unwanted player, who was originally taken on the last day of the draft.)

Others off the scrap heap

As previously mentioned, Villaneuva and Shabazz were both given looks with other teams before coming to Pittsburgh. There are several others in the same category, who didn’t make other NFL rosters before sticking with the Steelers.

Kicker Chris Boswell might be the biggest find, originally signed as a college free agent by the Houston Texans. His story is not unlike many other kickers, who come and go, with only 32 jobs truly available, barring injuries. Yet, some teams have used draft picks to secure their kicking future, such as Tampa Bay, who burned a second round pick on Florida State’s Roberto Aguayo.

We’ll call it a “push” on finding Boswell, but consider other teams took a pass.

S Jordan Dangerfield, OL Brian Mihalik, and LB L.J. Fort all spent time on other practice squads before being acquired by the Steelers. Dangerfield has made some contributions, but not much can be said about the latter two, at least not in actual games.

RB Fitzgerald Toussaint came aboard in 2015, and became the featured back in the playoffs. He too has seen limited time this season, but had two solid games in the postseason (except of course, a fumble which could’ve happened to any running back against the Denver Broncos in the Divisional Round last season).

WR Cobi Hamilton, FB Roosevelt Nix, and TE Xavier Grimble are other practice squad casualties and journeymen players who have had an impact in games this season. Of the three, only Hamilton was drafted (Round 6, Cincinnati) while the others have walked onto NFL teams as college free agents. Cobit has become a dependable hand at receiver, after Markus Wheaton and Darrius Heyward-Bey were injured mid-season.

Nix is a former acclaimed college defensive tackle who was signed as a linebacker and converted to a dependable fullback, while Grimble has two touchdown receptions on the year.

These “unwanted” players haven’t been overlooked by the Steelers and have had an overall positive impact.

College and Street Free Agents

There’s a bunch of player who fall into this category as well.

The most famous needs no introduction, or explanation: James Harrison. Harrison’s story is well-documented, having bumped back-and-forth between the Steelers and Ravens practice squads, and a trip to NFL Europe, before becoming the franchise’s all-time sack leader.

I doubt there will ever be a better undrafted pickup than Harrison.

LS Greg Warren is another Super Bowl winning player who has had a long, consistent career.

Sticking with the specialists, Jordan Berry was signed as college free agent, who finally fixed the Steelers decade-long search for a dependable punter.

Berry set a franchise record this season for net punting average.

S Robert Golden is capable of stepping in to help the defense, but excel’s as a special teams captain.

Offensive linemen Ramon Foster, B.J. Finney and Chris Hubbard are all college free agents who have started, and excelled when called upon. Obviously Foster has grown into the full-time starter over the years. Finney started at both guard and center this season, and Hubbard made a successful transition from guard to tackle, and the extra big body “tackle eligible” in jumbo packages.

DE Johnny Maxey joined the team this year as another undrafted college player who has made the active roster. He hasn’t seen a lot of time, but has flashed his ability, which has been talked up by his coaches.

The final “big find” of the undrafted players on the Steelers roster is second-year receiver Eli Rogers out of Louisville. Rogers oftentimes reminds us of Antonio Brown, and has tried to supplant the latter as a punt returner (though he ultimately lost the job following a few games out due to a foot injury).

Overall, several undrafted starters dot the depth chart: Harrison, Rogers, Warren, Foster, and Berry. Combine that with names from the last section such as Boswell, Hamilton, Villanueva, and Nix, plus previously waived Ross Cockrell, and now we begin to see the bigger picture of how these overlooked players are shaping the Steelers.

Yet, Pittsburgh has always been known for building in the draft…

Drafted players

Of the 32 players listed nearly all of them were taken in the 5th round or later.

And by “nearly” I mean 30 of the 32: Jesse James is the only player taken in the 5th round on this list. Ross Cockrell is the only other player not taken later, selected by Buffalo in the fourth round. (And both became starters this season.)

That means the other players are all sixth/seventh round picks, or undrafted. Since we covered all of the various college/street free agents, let’s talk about how deep the Steelers draft.

Topping this list is Antonio Brown, perhaps one of the greatest sixth round finds ever. Barring any setbacks, he could own every Steelers record for a receiver, and has already made inroads toward doing the same league records.

Several sixth/seventh round selections have been contributors this year:

• Demarcus Ayers (R7)
• Anthony Chickillo (R6)
• David Johnson (R7)
• Tyler Matakevich (R7)
• Daniel McCullers (R6)
• Letterius Walton (R6)
• Vince Williams (R6)

Each of these seven late finds is special in their own way.

The best of the bunch is a tie between Williams and Walton, who have both stepped up when called on for starting roles. Ayers has been a key contributor as of late, and Anthony Chickillo has flashed, when healthy, earlier this year.

Matakevich is a special teams tackling machine. Johnson is vital to Pittsburgh’s running game as a lead blocker, and McCullers stuffs the middle when utilized.

Conclusion

The Steelers active roster consists of 53 players: 21 of those players were acquired via the draft or free agency, while the remaining 32 are detailed in this article. That’s a significant amount of talent which has been found, and developed under GM Kevin Colbert and HC Mike Tomlin. Each deserves credit for rebuilding the team into a contender quickly, while never truly coming out of contention (two 8-8 seasons).

Analyzing the depth chart, how they came to be with the Steelers, and understanding the job Tomlin and his staff have done with what they’ve been handed, makes it much more difficult to dismiss his accomplishments by calling him a “cheerleader”.

Consider that Coach T lost some other role players due to suspensions and injuries; higher picks such as Cameron Heyward, Markus Wheaton, Senquez Golson and Martavis Bryant, and it becomes much more clear that the Steelers may do the best job of developing players than any other team in the league.