Draft season is in full force. Everyday we’re seeing headlines of coaches at pro days, scheduled team visits, and promising players getting arrested. We’re seeing new mock drafts daily and almost everybody knows exactly who their team is gonna draft in the first round.

“In God we trust, all others bring data.” – W. Edwards Deming

Although it is true that one can make an educated guess who their team will draft based on the current roster and need, statistics and history also must be accounted for. Examining the past trends of teams reveals hints of the team’s philosophy and the direction they’ll likely take in the draft.

For this article, I examine the frequency of the Steelers drafting players whom they brought in for a visit.

I used SteelersDepot.com for my lists and the link for the articles I used is attached to the years.

Let’s begin.

2015

1. Bud Dupree – Pro Day Dinner (we’re gonna count this as a visit)
2. Senquez Golson – Visited
3. Sammie Coates – Visited
4. Doran Grant – Visited
5. Jesse James – never reported to have officially visited 
6a. Anthony Chickillo – n/a
6b. L.T. Walton – n/a
7. Gerod Holliman – Pro Day Dinner 

2014

1. Ryan Shazier – Visited 
2. Stephon Tuitt – Visited
3. Dri Archer – n/a
4. Martavis Bryant – Visited
5a. Shaq Richardson – Visited 
5b. Wesley Johnson – n/a
6a. Jordan Zumwalt – n/a
6b. Daniel McCullers – n/a
7. Rob Blanchflower – Visited 

Fun fact: Current Steeler CB Ross Cockrell was brought in for a visit.

2013

1. Jarvis Jones – Visited
2. Le’Veon Bell – n/a
3. Markus Wheaton – n/a
4a. Shamarko Thomas – Visited 
4b. Landry Jones – n/a
5. Terry Hawthorne – n/a
6a. Justin Brown – Visited
6b. Vince Williams – Visited
7. Nick Williams – n/a

Fun Fact: Former Steeler CB B.W. Webb was brought in for a visit.

2012

1. David DeCastro – n/a
2. Mike Adams – Visited
3. Sean Spence – n/a
4. Alameda Ta’amu
5. Chris Rainey – n/a
7a. Toney Clemons – Visited 
7b. David Paulson – Visited
7c. Terrence Frederick – n/a
7d. Kelvin Beachum

Fun Facts:

• New Steeler TE LaDarius Green was brought in for a visit.
• Former Steeler RB (for a brief moment) Isaiah Pead was brought in for a visit.

2011

1. Cam Heyward – n/a
2. Marcus Gilbert – Visited
3. Curtis Brown – Visited
4. Cortez Allen – Visited
5. Chris Carter – n/a
6. Keith Williams – Visited
7. Baron Batch – n/a 

2010

1. Maurkice Pouncey – Visited
2. Jason Worilds – n/a
3. Emmanuel Sanders – Visited
4. Thaddeus Gibson – n/a
5a. Chris Scott – n/a
5b. Crezdon Butler – n/a
5c. Stevenson Sylvester
6a. Jonathan Dwyer – n/a
6b. Antonio Brown – Visited
7. Doug Worthington 

Fun Facts:

• Infamous former Steeler RB LaGarrete Blount was brought in for a visit.
• Former Steeler DE Clifton Geathers was brought in for a visit.

Final Thoughts & Analysis:

I threw some graphs together for those who are more visual learners. The first shows the ratio of visits to draftees for the whole draft. The second shows the ratio for the first four rounds.

56 draft picks. 25 brought in for visits. That equals 45%.

25 top 4 draft picks. 15 brought in for visits. That equals 60%.

You can definitely notice some trends here. Last year had the greatest ratio of players drafted vs players brought in within the past 6 drafts. Although the radio has gradually increased from 2013-2015, it’s not a safe bet to assume this trend will increase. However, I do think it is a safe bet to assume that at least half of the Steelers draft picks will be brought in for visits.

Last year all 4 of our top 4 draft picks were brought in, but it’s likely that 2015 was an anomaly. It is much more likely that 3, maybe even 2, of our top 4 picks will be brought in for visits.

I hated my statistics classes, but data doesn’t lie.

Thanks for reading.

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