Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers season did not end how everyone had hoped. The team missed out on the playoffs for the first time in three seasons and were sent packing despite a strong 7-2 finish to the season. The future has a chance to be very bright for Mike Tomlin‘s group going forward, however. The offense is young and showed tremendous progress the latter half of the year and as long as play-makers T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick are on defense, the group is going to have a shot to win football games. Now arrives the offseason and it’s time to already start thinking about April’s daft.
The Steelers are set up nicely early in the draft. With three picks in the top 50, there are going to be opportunities to boost a few position groups that need the help if the team wants to take rise to a new level. It’ll be interesting to see if they fall in love with a guy and want to use some of this capital to trade up early, but last time that happened, Devin Bush was selected 10th overall and we all know how that has turned out. These are the positions general manager, Omar Khan and Tomlin must hone in on with pick #17:
1.) Defensive Line
As of right now in this very moment, given the offensive line’s strong improvement in November and December, the defensive line is going to need a ton of depth. Larry Ogunjobi, Tyson Alualu , Chris Wormley and recently added, Renell Wren and Jonathan Marshall, are all unrestricted free agents and could see themselves either retiring (in Alualu’s case), or on a new team in 2023. That leaves only Cameron Heyward, Montravius Adams, DeMarvin Leal and Isaiahh Loudermilk.
The dream would be for Clemson‘s Bryan Bresee to drop out of the top 10 and the Steelers to potentially trade up for him if it makes sense. He would be a huge asset on the interior defensive line, but after him, the next best prospect is most likely Baylor‘s Siaki Ika and he is not worth a mid first-round selection. The right player has to be there, but this positional group needs to be boosted. If it isn’t in the first round, it better have been in free agency or early in the second with #32 overall.
2.) Cornerback
One of the top priorities for Pittsburgh should be re-signing defensive back, Cameron Sutton, but there are going to be more reinforcements needed in this area. Sure, the defense led the NFL with 20 interceptions, but half of them came from positions other than cornerback. Turnovers are huge, but what the franchise is seriously lacking is a top, shut-down corner who can match up with the Ja’Marr Chase‘s of the world.
There is a solid amount of depth at this position in the draft and the Steelers have been linked to the likes of Georgia‘s Kelee Ringo and South Carolina‘s Cam Smith. Pittsburgh hasn’t used a first round pick on a cornerback since Artie Burns in 2016. The front office can’t shy away from the fear that the next guy will be a bust like Burns was. They need to make a move, and possibly with their first round pick in April.
3.) Offensive Line
Although third on the list, this may be the way Khan goes with #17. The team seems to have found a long-term solution at quarterback with Kenny Pickett and the next step is building around him and more important, protecting him and keeping him healthy. The left side of the line performed well down the stretch, but the play of left tackle, Dan Moore Jr. and guard, Kevin Dotson shouldn’t guarantee them their jobs and certainly not avoid welcoming competition.
Paris Johnson Jr. out of Ohio State, Broderick Jones from Georgia and and Anton Harrison being draft eligible out of Oklahoma could all potentially be options at #17 and #32. The offense really started to show strong potential the final two months of the season and the running game began to come along, but this unit still wasn’t a top one in the NFL. A big body who can help protect Pickett and dominate the line of scrimmage should be hard to pass up.
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