# List of Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft picks

The Pittsburgh Steelers, a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, participated in the first NFL draft prior to the 1936 season. The franchise changed its name to the Steelers prior to the 1940 season, to represent the city's heritage of producing steel.
The event, which is officially known as the "Player Selection Meeting", is held each April. The draft is used as the primary means to distribute newly available talent (primarily from college football) equitably amongst the teams. Selections are made in reverse order based on the previous season's record, i.e. the club with the worst record from the previous season selects first. Through 2009, only two exceptions were made to this order: the Super Bowl champion always selects last (32nd), and the Super Bowl loser is awarded the penultimate (31st) pick. Beginning in 2010, teams making the playoffs will be seeded in reverse order depending upon how far they advance. The draft consists of seven rounds. Teams have the option of trading selections for players, cash and/or other selections (including future year selections). Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades. The Steelers have traded away their first-round pick eight times; they have had two first-round selections in two drafts.
The Steelers' first selection in the inaugural NFL draft was William Shakespeare, a halfback from Notre Dame. The Steelers have selected first overall three times, drafting Bill Dudley in 1942, Gary Glick in 1956 and Terry Bradshaw in 1970. The team has selected second overall once, and third overall four times. Through 2023, ten Steeler first-round picks have gone on to have playing careers deemed worthy of enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Bill Dudley, Alan Faneca, Joe Greene, Franco Harris, Bobby Layne, Troy Polamalu, Lynn Swann, and Rod Woodson. The team's most recent first-round selection was Broderick Jones, an offensive tackle from the University of Georgia.

## Key

Position Key :
| Abbreviation | Position | Abbreviation | Position | Abbreviation | Position |
| B | Back | K | Kicker | NT | Nose tackle |
| C | Center | LB | Linebacker | FB | Fullback |
| DB | Defensive back | P | Punter | HB | Halfback |
| DE | Defensive end | QB | Quarterback | WR | Wide receiver |
| DT | Defensive tackle | RB | Running back | G | Guard |
| E | End | T | Offensive tackle | TE | Tight end |
Symbol Key :
| Symbol | Meaning |
| ^ | Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| * | Selected number one overall |
| † | Selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career |
| — | No draft pick that year |
| Year | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft |
| Pick | Number of the pick within the first round |
| Position | Position of the player |
| College | Attended college |

## Player selections

Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft picks :
| Year | Pick | Player name | Position | College |
| 1936 | 3 | William Shakespeare | RB | Notre Dame |
| 1937 | 5 | Mike Basrak | RB | Duquesne |
| 1938 | 4 | Byron White | RB | Colorado |
| 1939 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1940 | 3 | Kay Eakin | RB | Arkansas |
| 1941 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1942 | 1 | Bill Dudley*† | RB | Virginia |
| 1943 | 7 | Bill Daley | FB | Minnesota |
| 1944 | 10 | Johnny Podesto | RB | St. Mary's (CA) |
| 1945 | 2 | Paul Duhart | RB | Florida |
| 1946 | 3 | Doc Blanchard | FB | Army |
| 1947 | 5 | Hub Bechtol | WR | Texas |
| 1948 | 3 | Bobby Layne† | QB | Texas |
| 1948 | 9 | Dan Edwards | WR | Georgia |
| 1949 | 6 | Bobby Gage | RB | Clemson |
| 1950 | 8 | Lynn Chandnois | RB | Michigan State |
| 1951 | 9 | Butch Avinger | FB | Alabama |
| 1952 | 6 | Ed Modzelewski | FB | Maryland |
| 1953 | 5 | Ted Marchibroda | QB | Detroit |
| 1954 | 7 | Johnny Lattner | RB | Notre Dame |
| 1955 | 6 | Frank Varrichione | OT | Notre Dame |
| 1956 | 1 | Gary Glick* | DB | Colorado State |
| 1956 | 5 | Art Davis | RB | Mississippi State |
| 1957 | 5 | Len Dawson† | QB | Purdue |
| 1958 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1959 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1960 | 6 | Jack Spikes | FB | TCU |
| 1961 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1962 | 5 | Bob Ferguson | RB | Ohio State |
| 1963 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1964 | 10 | Paul Martha | RB | Pittsburgh |
| 1965 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1966 | 3 | Dick Leftridge | RB | WVU |
| 1967 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 1968 | 10 | Mike Taylor | OT | USC |
| 1969 | 4 | Joe Greene† | DT | North Texas |
| 1970 | 1 | Terry Bradshaw*† | QB | Louisiana Tech |
| 1971 | 8 | Frank Lewis | WR | Grambling |
| 1972 | 13 | Franco Harris† | RB | Penn State |
| 1973 | 24 | J. T. Thomas | DB | Florida State |
| 1974 | 21 | Lynn Swann† | WR | USC |
| 1975 | 26 | Dave Brown | DB | Michigan |
| 1976 | 28 | Bennie Cunningham | TE | Clemson |
| 1977 | 21 | Robin Cole | LB | New Mexico |
| 1978 | 22 | Ron Johnson | DB | Eastern Michigan |
| 1979 | 28 | Greg Hawthorne | RB | Baylor |
| 1980 | 28 | Mark Malone | QB | Arizona State |
| 1981 | 17 | Keith Gary | DE | Oklahoma |
| 1982 | 12 | Walter Abercrombie | RB | Baylor |
| 1983 | 21 | Gabriel Rivera | DE | Texas Tech |
| 1984 | 23 | Louis Lipps | WR | Southern Mississippi |
| 1985 | 20 | Darryl Sims | DE | Wisconsin |
| 1986 | 9 | John Rienstra | G | Temple |
| 1987 | 10 | Rod Woodson† | DB | Purdue |
| 1988 | 18 | Aaron Jones | DE | Eastern Kentucky |
| 1989 | 7 | Tim Worley | RB | Georgia |
| 1989 | 24 | Tom Ricketts | OT | Pittsburgh |
| 1990 | 21 | Eric Green | TE | Liberty |
| 1991 | 15 | Huey Richardson | DE | Florida |
| 1992 | 11 | Leon Searcy | OT | Miami |
| 1993 | 23 | Deon Figures | DB | Colorado |
| 1994 | 17 | Charles Johnson | WR | Colorado |
| 1995 | 27 | Mark Bruener | TE | Washington |
| 1996 | 29 | Jamain Stephens | OT | North Carolina A&T |
| 1997 | 24 | Chad Scott | DB | Maryland |
| 1998 | 26 | Alan Faneca† | G | LSU |
| 1999 | 13 | Troy Edwards | WR | Louisiana Tech |
| 2000 | 8 | Plaxico Burress | WR | Michigan State |
| 2001 | 19 | Casey Hampton | DT | Texas |
| 2002 | 30 | Kendall Simmons | G | Auburn |
| 2003 | 16 | Troy Polamalu† | DB | USC |
| 2004 | 11 | Ben Roethlisberger | QB | Miami (OH) |
| 2005 | 30 | Heath Miller | TE | Virginia |
| 2006 | 25 | Santonio Holmes | WR | Ohio State |
| 2007 | 15 | Lawrence Timmons | LB | Florida State |
| 2008 | 23 | Rashard Mendenhall | RB | Illinois |
| 2009 | 32 | Evander Hood | DT | Missouri |
| 2010 | 18 | Maurkice Pouncey | C | Florida |
| 2011 | 31 | Cameron Heyward | DE | Ohio State |
| 2012 | 24 | David DeCastro | G | Stanford |
| 2013 | 17 | Jarvis Jones | LB | Georgia |
| 2014 | 15 | Ryan Shazier | LB | Ohio State |
| 2015 | 22 | Bud Dupree | LB | Kentucky |
| 2016 | 25 | Artie Burns | CB | Miami |
| 2017 | 30 | T. J. Watt | LB | Wisconsin |
| 2018 | 28 | Terrell Edmunds | S | Virginia Tech |
| 2019 | 10 | Devin Bush | LB | Michigan |
| 2020 | 99– | ZZZNo pick | ZZZ– | ZZZ– |
| 2021 | 24 | Najee Harris | RB | Alabama |
| 2022 | 20 | Kenny Pickett | QB | Pittsburgh |
| 2023 | 14 | Broderick Jones | OT | Georgia |
| 2024 | 20 | Troy Fautanu | OT | Washington |