TD's Draft Choices?

[Frez]

Anyone have a list of the draft selections Tom Donahoe made with the Steelers?

[34-78-83]

I'm pretty sure Simon does...

[Buffalo_Stampede]

Anyone have a list of the draft selections Tom Donahoe made with the Steelers?

539991[/snapback]

 

Does it matter? They went to two superbowls under Donahoe and like 2 other AFC championships.

 

His luck has run out it seems, but his drafts in Buffalo arent bad except for choices he made about the QB. Trading picks for QB's just hasnt worked.

[The Jokeman]

Anyone have a list of the draft selections Tom Donahoe made with the Steelers?

539991[/snapback]

Click here and then looked at all the picks from 1991 - 1999.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Does it matter?  They went to two superbowls under Donahoe and like 2 other AFC championships.

 

His luck has run out it seems, but his drafts in Buffalo arent bad except for choices he made about the QB.  Trading picks for QB's just hasnt worked.

540028[/snapback]

 

I think probably his biggest QB error was his first: picking Johnson over Flutie. At the time, I agreed with the move because of RJ's upside. But Flutie won games and if we had Flutie as QB with the defenses that GW put together his second and third years, there's no doubt we would have been a playoff team and GW would have still been here.

[Orton's Arm]

So he wasn't the GM when they drafted Neil O'Donnell, but he was the GM when they took Kordell Stewart. Interesting.

[Alaska Darin]

1999

1 1 13 13 Troy Edwards WR Louisiana Tech

2 2 28 59 Scott Shields DB Weber State

3 3 12 73 Joey Porter DE Colorado State

4 3 13 74 Kris Farris T UCLA

5 3 34 95 Amos Zereoue RB West Virginia

6 4 14 109 Aaron Smith DE Northern Colorado

7 5 3 136 Jerame Tuman TE Michigan

8 5 33 166 Malcolm Johnson WR Notre Dame

9 7 8 214 Antonio Dingle DT Virginia

10 7 13 219 Chad Kelsay LB Nebraska

11 7 22 228 Kris Brown K Nebraska

 

1998

1 1 26 26 Alan Faneca G Louisiana State

2 2 11 41 Jeremy Staat DE Arizona State

3 3 5 66 Chris Conrad T Fresno State

4 3 31 92 Hines Ward WR Georgia

5 4 25 117 Deshea Townsend DB Alabama

6 4 31 123 Carlos King RB North Carolina State

7 5 14 137 Jason Simmons DB Arizona State

8 6 25 178 Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala RB Utah

9 6 33 186 Ryan Olson DT Colorado

10 7 32 221 Angel Rubio DT Southeast Missouri State

 

1997

1 1 24 24 Chad Scott DB Maryland

2 2 23 53 Will Blackwell WR San Diego State

3 3 22 82 Paul Wiggins T Oregon

4 3 31 91 Mike Vrabel DE Ohio State

5 5 24 154 George Jones RB San Diego State

6 6 23 186 Daryl Porter DB Boston College

7 6 36 199 Rod Manuel DE Oklahoma

8 7 22 223 Michael Adams WR Texas

 

1996

1 1 29 29 Jamain Stephens T North Carolina A&T

2 3 11 72 Steven Conley LB Arkansas

3 3 31 92 Jon Witman RB Penn State

4 4 31 126 Earl Holmes LB Florida A&M

5 4 37 132 Jahine Arnold WR Fresno State

6 5 31 163 Israel Raybon DE North Alabama

7 6 33 200 Orpheus Roye DE Florida State

8 6 36 203 Spence Fischer QB Duke

9 7 33 242 Carlos Emmons LB Arkansas State

 

1995

1 1 27 27 Mark Bruener TE Washington

2 2 28 60 Kordell Stewart QB Colorado

3 3 27 91 Brenden Stai G Nebraska

4 4 22 120 Oliver Gibson DE Notre Dame

5 4 27 125 Donta Jones LB Nebraska

6 5 17 151 Lethon Flowers DB Georgia Tech

7 5 27 161 Lance Brown DB Indiana

8 6 28 199 Barron Miles DB Nebraska

9 7 27 235 Henry Bailey WR UNLV

10 7 39 247 Cole Ford K USC

 

1994

1 1 17 17 Charles Johnson WR Colorado

2 2 21 50 Brentson Buckner DE Clemson

3 3 23 88 Jason Gildon LB Oklahoma State

4 3 26 91 Bam Morris RB Texas Tech

5 4 19 122 Taase Faumui DE Hawaii

6 5 9 140 Myron Bell DB Michigan State

7 5 17 148 Gary Brown T Georgia Tech

8 6 17 178 Jim Miller QB Michigan State

9 6 19 180 Eric Ravotti LB Penn State

10 7 15 209 Brice Abrams RB Michigan State

 

1993

1 1 23 23 Deon Figures DB Colorado

2 2 15 44 Chad Brown LB Colorado

3 3 20 76 Andre Hastings WR Georgia

4 4 24 108 Kevin Henry DE Mississippi State

5 5 23 135 Lonnie Palelei G UNLV

6 5 28 140 Marc Woodard LB Mississippi State

7 6 22 162 Willie Williams DB Western Carolina

8 7 17 185 Jeff Zgonina DT Purdue

9 7 21 189 Craig Keith TE Lenoir-Rhyne

10 8 20 216 Alex Van Pelt QB Pittsburgh

 

1992

1 1 11 11 Leon Searcy T Miami (FL)

2 2 10 38 Levon Kirkland LB Clemson

3 3 11 67 Joel Steed DT Colorado

4 4 10 94 Charles Davenport WR North Carolina State

5 5 11 123 Alan Haller DB Michigan State

6 7 11 179 Russ Campbell TE Kansas State

7 7 20 188 Scottie Graham RB Ohio State

8 8 7 203 Darren Perry DB Penn State

9 8 10 206 Hesham Ismail G Florida

10 8 19 215 Nate Williams DT Mississippi State

11 9 11 235 Elnardo Webster LB Rutgers

12 10 10 262 Mike Saunders RB Iowa

13 11 11 291 Kendall Gammon G Pittsburg State (KS)

14 12 10 318 Cornelius Benton QB Connecticut

[The Jokeman]

So he wasn't the GM when they drafted Neil O'Donnell, but he was the GM when they took Kordell Stewart. Interesting.

540034[/snapback]

He never officially was the GM of the Steelers, his title there was the "director of football operations" after being a scout from 1986-1990. So, he definately had a part in the drafting of O'Donnell.

[The Jokeman]

I think probably his biggest QB error was his first: picking Johnson over Flutie. At the time, I agreed with the move because of RJ's upside. But Flutie won games and if we had Flutie as QB with the defenses that GW put together his second and third years, there's no doubt we would have been a playoff team and GW would have still been here.

540033[/snapback]

and how much longer were we going to win with Flutie? less you forget Flutie went 5-11 with San Diego (good for the 5th overall pick in the draft) and we went 3-13 (good for the 4th overall pick) with RJ and AVP.

[Orton's Arm]

I think probably his biggest QB error was his first: picking Johnson over Flutie. At the time, I agreed with the move because of RJ's upside. But Flutie won games and if we had Flutie as QB with the defenses that GW put together his second and third years, there's no doubt we would have been a playoff team and GW would have still been here.

540033[/snapback]

The defense didn't get good until the third year of the TD era. In 2002, it was Bledsoe-to-Price making up for a questionable defense.

 

Flutie's best year was 1998. In 2001, the Bills were a rebuilding team, and there wasn't room for an over-the-hill, expensive QB.

[BuffaloRebound]

Those are some solid drafts with Pittsburgh. The difference being Cowher is a hell of a coach and those draft picks developed under a winning philosophy. I still think Donahoe and Mularkey should be given another year. I would like to see Mularkey start to question Donahoe a little more publicly. The perception that they are too chummy-chummy doesn't sit well. I think the fans would like to see that the Coach and GM are as pissed off about this season as the fans.

[Rico]

1999

  1 1 13 13 Troy Edwards WR Louisiana Tech

  2 2 28 59 Scott Shields DB Weber State

  3 3 12 73 Joey Porter DE Colorado State

  4 3 13 74 Kris Farris T UCLA

  5 3 34 95 Amos Zereoue RB West Virginia

  6 4 14 109 Aaron Smith DE Northern Colorado

  7 5 3 136 Jerame Tuman TE Michigan

  8 5 33 166 Malcolm Johnson WR Notre Dame

  9 7 8 214 Antonio Dingle DT Virginia

10 7 13 219 Chad Kelsay LB Nebraska

  11 7 22 228 Kris Brown K Nebraska

 

540036[/snapback]

Chris's brother?

[Orton's Arm]

He never officially was the GM of the Steelers, his title there was the "director of football operations" after being a scout from 1986-1990. So, he definately had a part in the drafting of O'Donnell.

540038[/snapback]

But he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, and maybe he wasn't the one who argued passionately about the need to take O'Donnell.

 

He was the one who decided to replace O'Donnell with Kordell Stewart. It was a chance to get younger and cheaper at QB! It was a chance to get more mobile! It was a chance to give defenses an extra dimension to prepare for! Brilliant!

[The Jokeman]

Chris's brother?

540054[/snapback]

Yep.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

What a shocker.

 

In only two of those nine years did he take an OL with a 1st or 2nd.

[Billsjunkie]

Those are some solid drafts with Pittsburgh.  The difference being Cowher is a hell of a coach and those draft picks developed under a winning philosophy.  I still think Donahoe and Mularkey should be given another year.  I would like to see Mularkey start to question Donahoe a little more publicly.  The perception that they are too chummy-chummy doesn't sit well.  I think the fans would like to see that the Coach and GM are as pissed off about this season as the fans.

540052[/snapback]

 

 

Those are solid drafts? Look just like Buffalos to me. Drafts with one good player coming out of each. Hines Ward was probably his best pickup ever.

[PIZ]

With the power struggle Donahoe had with Cowher in Pittsburgh, and Rooney ultimately choosing Cowher, you wonder how much influence Cowher had on those drafts. The Bills lines are terrible. Beyond Terrible. You wonder if any coach could have won with them. Could Mularkey really be a good coach? Maybe Ralph gives him more control over picking his own players?

[34-78-83]

But he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, and maybe he wasn't the one who argued passionately about the need to take O'Donnell.

 

He was the one who decided to replace O'Donnell with Kordell Stewart. It was a chance to get younger and cheaper at QB! It was a chance to get more mobile! It was a chance to give defenses an extra dimension to prepare for! Brilliant! 

540059[/snapback]

 

Put O'Donnel aside for a moment.

From my understanding, and according to many diehard Steeler fan friends of mine (I have all together too many friends that are Steeler fans), a big part of the power struggle between Cowher and TD at the end was that TD wanted NO PART of Kordell as QB, and Cowher wanted to stick with him. These guys know their Steelers info well enough IMO that I will trust them.

[Orton's Arm]

Put O'Donnel aside for a moment.

From my understanding, and according to many diehard Steeler fan friends of mine (I have all together too many friends that are Steeler fans), a big part of the power struggle between Cowher and TD at the end was that TD wanted NO PART of Kordell as QB, and Cowher wanted to stick with him. These guys no their Steelers info well enough IMO that I will trust them.

540087[/snapback]

I'd argue that any time you spend a second round pick on a QB, the decision to replace your starter has already been made. Maybe the rumors are true, and TD wanted to back out of that decision later on. Who knows? But I remember O'Donnell didn't stay in Pittsburgh very long after Kordell Stewart was drafted.

[2003Contenders]

Back to the Johnson Flutie thing...

 

For all of the speculation that we have that TD is a control freak, I really do think that this particular decision was all GW. It would have been perfectly in keeping for GW to have felt that he ALONE could take this talented but fragile young QB and mold him into being a superstar. He had recruited Mike Shepard, Holmgren's QB coach to take over as GM -- and he was convinced that RJ would thrive in the West Coast offense.

 

TD, meanwhile, had just come from ESPN, where as an analyst when asked about the QB situation in Buffalo, he cited Flutie's record as a starter and asked "What's the question?"

 

I think GW sold TD on the point that past injuries had made RJ something of an unknown commodity, while Flutie's age provided lesser upside. GW went through the motions of talking to the players in the clubhouse about their opinions -- but his decision was clearly made up.

Sadly it was this arrogance that marked GW's career in Buffalo, and I am sure he is feeding off of this "Defensive genius" stuff we keep hearing out of Washington.

 

All of which is to say... when making a list for the prosecution regarding TD's failures in Buffalo, I'd pass on this particular allegation.