Vikings Draft 2020: Five-year history of the 25th overall pick

Artie Burns – CB

Artie Burns was a semi-surprise of a first-round pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers back in 2016. Many had him pegged him with more of a second-round value, but the Steelers saw something in this guy and they just had to have him.

Burns hasn’t been the biggest bust in NFL history, but he hasn’t provided great value for being selected late in the first round either.

In his career, Burns has racked up 149 tackles, four interceptions, and 27 pass breakups. He seemed to have peaked in 2017, as he started every game and he played at a high level.

Since then though he’s been in and out of Pittsburgh’s lineup and he was often a healthy scratch in 2019. Burns clearly needs a change of scenery and will likely get that in 2020, as the Steelers decided not to pick up his fifth-year option, making him a free agent this offeason.

Other Players Available:

The players picked after Burns were mostly busts. These selections included Paxton Lynch, Joshua Garnett, Robert Nkemdiche, and Vernon Butler.

There were some studs who went off the board early in the second round in 2016. In hindsight, Chris Jones, Xavien Howard, Jaylon Smith, and Hunter Henry all would’ve been much better choices than Burns.

While the Steelers didn’t draft as badly as the Arizona Cardinals (Nkemdiche) or San Francisco 49ers (Garnett), they could’ve traded down and acquired more picks to potentially land a better player than Burns.