Steelers take a surprising sleeper pick who has Mike Tomlin connection in Mel Kiper's latest mock draft

New Pittsburgh Steelers GM Omar Khan has certainly made his presence known so far this offseason. The Steelers have been very busy during the free-agency period, signing new players and letting current ones move on. This is especially true at the cornerback position. It was no secret that corner was going to be an area they needed to target. Cam Sutton moved on from the Steelers, heading to the Detroit Lions, but Pittsburgh picked up veteran and future Hall of Famer Patrick Peterson from the Minnesota Vikings.

Now all that remains to be seen is how they will continue to address corner during the 2023 NFL Draft. Will the team stick with what they have done in free agency, or will they still pick a corner early in the draft as most analysts have predicted?

Steelers draft a surprising cornerback, according to Mel Kiper

According to NFL mock draft guru Mel Kiper, the Steelers will be sticking with a corner with their pick at 17. Kiper previously paired the Steelers with Joey Porter Jr., a corner out of Penn State. Of course, Porter's name made that an instant sensation in the Steel City as his father, Joey Porter Sr., was a Pro Bowl linebacker who played for Pittsburgh from 1999-2006. 

Now Kiper is saying they will still go corner, but it won't be Porter. He has the Nittany Lion going to the New England Patriots at No. 14, making him unavailable for the Steelers. 

Instead, Kiper selects Deonte Banks from Maryland:

"Cameron Sutton is out, veteran Patrick Peterson is in, but Pittsburgh's biggest need hasn't changed. It has to get younger and faster at cornerback. Banks matched Forbes' [Emmanuel Forbes from the University of Mississippi] 40-yard dash time (4.35) at the combine, and he did it 31 pounds heavier (though he measured six-foot, two inches shorter than he was listed in college). His 2022 tape is one of the best I've seen in this class in terms of man coverage. He can shut down an entire side of the field. He's a fit for Mike Tomlin's defense."

It isn't a secret that head coach Mike Tomlin has a connection to the University of Maryland. His son, Dino, spent three years there prior to transferring to Boston College. While Tomlin was a spectator at his son's games, it seems likely he was also assessing new talent. Additionally, Banks was one of the players the Steelers met with at the recent combine. 

Banks doesn't appear to be a first-rounder just based on his stats from his time in Maryland. However, he plays much better than the numbers say, you only have to watch some film to see the way he shuts receivers down. He played in 30 games and had 83 tackles, 13 passes deflected, and two interceptions. 

He is a bit of a freakish athlete for his size, besides the 40-yard dash mentioned by Kiper, he had a 42-inch vertical, the best out of the cornerbacks, and an 11-foot 4-inch broad jump which was second.

If Kiper's board becomes a reality how it stands today, then Banks would be the fourth corner taken after Porter, Oregon's Christian Gonzalez, Illinois' Devon Witherspoon, and Mississippi State's Emmanual Forbes. 

Kiper's board is likely to not be endorsed by Steelers fans, it left all of the big-name cornerbacks taken as well as the top three tackles and Lukas Van Ness, the defensive tackle, already taken. What will likely frustrate fans more is who is still sitting there when we selected Banks which includes, receivers Jordan Additions, Zay Flowers, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba as well as defensive tackles Calijah Kancey and Bryan Bresee. 

If Kiper's picks come true, it will be an eventual draft day on Steelers' Twitter.