The Pittsburgh Steelers will have to make a move at center, something that even Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan have acknowledged over the last few weeks. With no true starter yet, only a few options could start from day one. But Jordan Reid of ESPN does believe that Georgia center Sedrick Van-Pran Granger belongs in the discussion as someone who can make a difference from day one.
“With two picks in the third round, Pittsburgh could target Van Pran as its new starter up the middle. He finished his Georgia career with 45 consecutive starts and could start on Day 1 for the Steelers,” Reid said.
At one point considered a first-round pick, his NFL Mock Draft Database average now has him in the middle of the third round.
Listed at 6-foot-4, 310 pounds, Van Pran came out as a redshirt junior after starting for three seasons at Georgia and winning two national championships. This past season, he was a first-team All-America selection by ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
For most of the season, Van Pran was considered to be the top center prospect in the country. So how did he end up fourth?
For one, Powers-Johnson came out of relative obscurity in the Pacific Northwest. An underclassmen, it wasn’t even a sure thing that he would come out for the draft this season. With Oregon having a strong year and several other high draft picks on the offense, he got a lot more attention in 2023 than he had coming in.
Then, he went to Mobile and had about as good of a week at the Senior Bowl as possible. Van Pran and Barton, meanwhile, made the curious choice to withdraw from attending the Senior Bowl, and Frazier went but didn’t practice while rehabbing a broken leg.
Pittsburgh has plenty of needs, including tackle, wide receiver, and cornerback in what appear to also be deep first-round groups. If they could take a tackle — like perhaps Van Pran’s teammate Amarius Mims — in the first round, and then land Van Pran on Day Two of the draft, that would probably be a close to an ideal result for Omar Khan and company.
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