Rod Woodson Names Who Would’ve Drafted Him If The Steelers Did not

Rod Woodson is one of the greatest players in the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. During his time there, he established a reputation as one of the best players in the league, earning the Defensive Player of the Year award in 1993. However, Woodson’s NFL journey didn’t start so smoothly, suffering a slight fall on draft day. The Steelers landed him with the 10th pick in the first round of the 1987 draft. Recently, Woodson revealed which team would’ve drafted him if Pittsburgh had passed on him.

“They said I was gonna go anywhere between the second, or third, or fourth player coming off the board,” Woodson said recently on In The Front Row with Mike Vaccaro. “Back in that day, we didn’t have any cellphones, so we had a hard line, sitting there on Jefferson Street waiting for the teams to call us.

“I was the 10th player taken, but the New Orleans Saints called when the eighth pick was up, and they said, ‘If you’re sitting there at 11, we’re gonna take you.’ And the phone rang at 10, it was the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’re like, ‘Do you wanna be a Steeler?’ I’m like, ‘Absolutely.’”

It would’ve been fascinating to see how Woodson’s career would’ve panned out if he were with the Saints. While their franchise wasn’t as successful as the Steelers, in 1987, they were the better team. That year, the Steelers went 8-7, missing the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Saints went 12-3, being one of the best teams in the NFL and making the playoffs for the first time in their franchise’s history.

Unfortunately, they got crushed in the first round of the postseason by the Minnesota Vikings. Perhaps they would’ve had more success with Woodson on their team, though. The player they ended up taking at 11 was defensive lineman Shawn Knight. He only lasted one season with the Saints, getting traded the following year for defensive tackle Ted Gregory.

Gregory also wasn’t a very successful NFL player. He suffered an injury during his first year in New Orleans, and after that, he never played again. It marked the beginning of a slight decline for the Saints, as they missed the playoffs in the following two seasons.

After that, the Saints found a little more success, making the postseason a few times, but they wouldn’t win a playoff game until the 2000 season. That was actually their franchise’s first postseason victory. With Woodson on their team, they likely would’ve had a better chance at completing that goal earlier.

It’s interesting to consider how history might have been different had the Steelers passed on Woodson. While they didn’t win a Super Bowl with him, he made their team much better. The Saints eventually won a Super Bowl, too, although it took a while. Woodson would also get himself a championship. Steelers fans are likely happy with how history actually played out.