Steelers to Host Under-the-Radar DT on Pre-Draft Visit

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be hosting a sleeper pick on the defensive line for one of their 30 in-person pre-draft visits.

According to a report by Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda, the Steelers will be hosting Northern Iowa defensive tackle Khristian Boyd on a pre-draft visit to UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.

The Steelers first got a good look at Boyd at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl, where he impressed many scouts who were getting their first look at him against higher-level competition. 

Shrine Bowl Takeaways: Steelers OL Targets Emerge, DL Impresses

“(Scouts) love my get off, my power that I play with, my leverage, my hands and of course my strength,” Boyd said to the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “Then they said I could definitely improve on my pass rushing. They think I’m very versatile, too.

“I wanted to show that when I went to the Shrine and Hula Bowl and I feel like I did that. I’ve heard from a lot of teams (that) I’ve got a draftable grade.”

At the Shrine Bowl, Boyd measured in at 6-foot-2, 320 pounds. That could make him a candidate to play nose tackle for the Steelers, who used the 6-foot-4, 309-pound Keeanu Benton and the 6-foot-4, 302-pound Montravius Adams at that spot in 2023.

Boyd was not invited to the 2024 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, so his UNI pro day on Monday was supposed to be his last big chance to make an impact on NFL teams. Instead, a hamstring injury during training limited him to only participating in the bench press (he put up an impressive 38 reps).

That has teams lined up to get one last look at Boyd before the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Steelers are one of 15 teams showing more interest in the FCS defensive lineman by scheduling a pre-draft visit with him.

According to NFL Mock Draft Database, Boyd’s stock has been on the rise since his Shrine Bowl performance. Once considered borderline to be drafted at all, his current average drafted position is at No. 179, early in the sixth round.