Steelers Now
Pittsburgh Steelers legend James Harrison did not hold back on Mike Tomlin in a recent rant on his Deebo & Joe podcast. Harrison, who is an often critic of Tomlin, thinks his former head coach has failed to draft elite players since 2016.
In that time frame, the Steelers have just three drafted players on their current roster that have signed extensions with the club — T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Pat Freiermuth.
“We need a quarterback, and to be honest with you, I highly doubt if we find it,” Harrison said. “Since our last playoff win in 2016, we can’t even pick right on the first and second rounders. We have made more misses than hits on our first and second rounders.
Former general manager Kevin Colbert has been ripped for missing on first-round players from 2018-2022, but Harrison thinks Tomlin deserves most of the blame.
“That’s all on Coach T, man, Harrison said. “You’re making the decision on your 1s and 2s, and you’re telling me that of all that from ‘16 to the time frame of everybody that comes up for renewal, we’ve only renewed (three) guys, that means you’ve had to self-admit you made a mistake by not renewing them.”
Harrison thinks the Steelers being stuck in mediocrity has also played a factor in the team missing on draft picks and failing to find their next franchise quarterback.
“That means you’re drafting 15 or 16 and it’s very hard, very difficult, to find a diamond-in-the-rough quarterback, and that’s what we need for the future of our Steelers,” Harrison said.
If the season ended today, the Steelers would draft at No. 20.
“Over the last 8-9 years dude, this is what happens when we get into situations like this. Must win games. We don’t close it out,” Harrison said of the Steelers’ embarrassing 13-6 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“We’re losing to bad teams, and we’re losing to them late in the season, dude. You can’t do that and expect to get anything other than what we’ve been getting. A just about .500 season with no playoff wins since 2016.”
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Legend Calls Out Mike Tomlin for Failed Draft Picks: ‘That’s All on Coach T’
