The Pittsburgh Steelers’ 2014 draft class had the kind of talent that can shape a franchise for years. Instead, the group unraveled before its best pieces ever got the chance to become the foundation they looked like they could be.
That class had nine selections, and most of them never moved the needle much. But three names stood out immediately: Ryan Shazier, Stephon Tuitt and Martavis Bryant.
Each flashed the kind of ability that can change games, and maybe even change a team’s identity. None of them got the full runway.
Ryan Shazier was the first-rounder out of Ohio State who looked built for stardom from the moment Pittsburgh brought him in. Former general manager Kevin Colbert and former head coach Mike Tomlin got exactly what they wanted at linebacker: a rocked-up athlete with blazing 4.38 speed, a 42'' vertical, a 10'10'' broad jump and a 6.91 3-cone. He paired that testing with sharp instincts and a feel for the game that made him one of the league’s best splash-play defenders.
Once he became a full-time starter in 2015, Shazier piled up seven interceptions, 24 pass defenses, seven forced fumbles, seven sacks, three fumble recoveries and 22 tackles for a loss over just 37 games. He made back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2016 and 2017, even though he never played more than 13 games in a season.
Then came the moment that changed everything: a career-ending spinal cord injury on December 4, 2017. Shazier had turned 25 just three months earlier, and he was on a track toward perennial All-Pro status before his career stopped far too soon.
Stephon Tuitt’s story is different, but the end result is just as frustrating for Pittsburgh. The Steelers grabbed the Notre Dame defensive lineman when he was only 20, and the physical traits jumped off the page. At 6'5'' and 304 pounds with nearly 35'' arms, Tuitt added 31 bench-press reps at the 2014 NFL Combine before going in the second round.
He spent his rookie year in a part-time role behind Cameron Heyward, Brett Keisel and Cam Thomas, then became a full-time starter in 2015. At 22 years old, he posted 54 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks and an interception in 14 games. His best season came in 2020, after a year lost to injury, when he put up 45 tackles, 11 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and 25 quarterback hits in 15 games.
But injuries piled up, and the loss of his younger brother, who was killed in a hit-and-run crash, also took a toll. Tuitt didn’t officially retire until 2022, but his final NFL snaps came in 2020, when he was still only 27.
For a defensive lineman with his length and power, that’s the kind of exit that leaves you wondering what might have been. He and Heyward could have formed a terrifying interior pairing for years.
Then there was Martavis Bryant, the most maddening case of the bunch. He had the talent to go much higher than the fourth round, but character concerns pushed him down the board. Even before he reached Pittsburgh, there were warning signs: he missed the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl for failing to meet academic requirements, and maturity was already part of the conversation.
On the field, though, Bryant was electric. His first NFL catch went for 35 yards and a touchdown, and he wasted no time turning heads. Over his first 19 games with the Steelers, including just seven starts, he produced 1,019 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging 19.6 yards per catch.
Then the career veered off course. In 2015, Bryant served a four-game suspension after multiple failed marijuana tests.
In 2016, he was hit with a season-long ban without pay for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Pittsburgh eventually moved on, trading him to the Raiders on April 26, during the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft, for a third-round pick.
He played only eight more games that year and never appeared in another NFL game.
At nearly 6'4'' and 211 pounds, with elite long speed and explosion, Bryant had a rare skill set. But by age 24, he had already self-sabotaged his Steelers career, and his final snaps in Pittsburgh came at 26.
That’s the cruel part of the 2014 class. One career-ending injury, one early retirement and one suspension-riddled collapse kept a potentially special Steelers draft from ever becoming what it looked like it could be.
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