Maurkice Pouncey was one of the most important draft picks the Pittsburgh Steelers have made during the Mike Tomlin era. A first-round selection in 2010, he was a plug-and-play starter at the center position who would go on to have a decorated 11-year career, making the Pro Bowl in each of the nine seasons in which he was healthy for more than eight or nine snaps.
He wasn’t just a great player in his own right, however, but he was also what Tomlin would call an ‘energy-bringer’, and a player who helped to reshape the culture of the team, particularly with respect to the offensive line, which became one of the best in the league in the years that followed his selection.