With the #6 overall pick in the 2004 draft, the Cleveland Browns select…
With the 2021 NFL Draft just several short weeks away, I thought it would be fun to highlight a “What If?” scenario and the dig into the ripple effect that would take place following. I typically enjoy the N”if”L scenarios so I decided to create my own.
In 2004, the Pittsburgh Steelers used the 11th pick of the 1st round to draft “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. A pick that would completely change the franchise for the next 17 years. From where they finished the 2003 season at 6-10 it the last time they would finish a season under .500 through today. With Tommy Maddox as the entrenched starter and 2003 Fifth Round Draft Pick Brian St. Pierre as his backup, the Steelers were determined to grab a top signal-caller with their #11 spot. Several teams prior to #11 could or should have selected a QB (with the Giants and Chargers actually doing so in Eli Manning and Philip Rivers) so the options could have dwindled fast. The main team left with a huge question at QB was the Cleveland Browns (with QBs Kelly Holcomb & Tim Couch each getting 8 starts in 2003). With the #6 overall pick, they selected TE Kellen Winslow Jr. This set Pittsburgh up to take the small school, big-bodied QB that would lead them to 3 Super Bowls and several AFC Championship games over the following 17 years.
But what if…
What would have happened if the Cleveland Browns had made the smarter decision to draft Ben Roethlisberger at #6 instead of Kellen Winslow Jr? This would have made a LOT of sense given that Ben is an Ohio native and played his college ball at Miami of Ohio. If Ben was selected here, what effect would that play on the rest of the draft AND future drafts? Would the Steelers have jumped on the next best QB on the board, JP Losman, who was selected by the Buffalo Bills at #22? For the sake of this exercise, let’s say no. Traditionally the Steelers tend to lean on the Linebacker position, which makes Jonathan Vilma out of Univ of Miami an enticing option but the Steelers were pretty well set at the position boasting one of the best defensive units in history.
Jerome Bettis was entering his 12th season in the NFL and it was no secret that he was eyeing retirement. With the Steelers not having a clear solution after Bettis (Willie Parker didn’t come aboard until after the Draft), this would be the perfect time to draft his replacement by snagging the highly touted Steven Jackson out of Oregon State. The rest of the 2004 draft would fall into place in a similar fashion to how it actually played out.
The 2004 season would have ended up a far-cry from the actual 15-1 season ending in the AFC Championship game with a loss to the Patriots. Instead, Maddox’s injury leads to Brian St. Pierre under center and the Steelers finish a mere 8-8 by riding a historic defense to overall team mediocrity. Jerome Bettis hangs up his cleats after 2004 giving way to Steven Jackson as the bell-cow back and now the Steelers look to the NFL Draft again for a potential solution at QB.
After Alex Smith is taken #1 overall by the 49ers, the Steelers sit with a middle round pick and the world watches as none other than Aaron Rodgers falls into their lap at #16 (as he originally slid to Green Bay at #24). Paired with Steven Jackson, rookie Aaron Rodgers leads the Steelers to a 14-2 regular season followed by a Super Bowl 40 victory over the Seattle Seahawks becoming the youngest QB to ever win a Super Bowl and the only rookie QB to ever accomplish that feat.
Rodgers & Jackson, combined with Hines Ward, Plaxico Burress & Antwaan Randle El would go on to win multiple Super Bowls in Pittsburgh over the next 10 years. Between an offense putting up points in Costco Sized bulk and a defense that was borderline legendary (Polamalu, Porter, Foote, Farrior, Keisel, Clark, Taylor, etc…), Rodgers would become one of the winningest QBs in NFL History.
The Fallout…
This ripple effect would have had lasting impressions on several franchises for years to come. With Steven Jackson going to Pittsburgh, the Rams would look elsewhere for a RB. The 2005 draft had a trio of highly coveted backs come off the board too early for the Rams so instead they’d wait for 2006 and grab either Joseph Addai or DeAngelo Williams. The Browns would have drafted a talented QB that could have potentially turned around their franchise for a decade or they could have burnt him out and cut him like many other promising names. Green Bay would have had to go with Plan B since Rodgers was gone and instead select Jason Campbell as the understudy to Brett Favre. Campbell, with time to learn and grow, turned into a solid replacement to Favre several years later. Steelers RBs such as “Fast” Willie Parker & Rishard Mendenhall would have ended up elsewhere and may never have enjoyed the success they had as Steelers Running Backs. The Ravens would have struggled to keep pace with the Steelers new look offense and potentially changed their own draft plans a bit in a few years and maybe gone a different route than Joe Flacco. The Ravens might have also had to deal with a more competitive Browns team that could have turned into an additional loss during the regular season and kept them out of the playoffs.
- Ryan Samuelson
