Three rookies Steelers should target in 2024 NFL Draft

The Steelers have officially secured the No. 20 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft after their 31-17 loss to the Bills in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Here are three rookies Pittsburgh should consider drafting come April.

QB Bo Nix, Oregon

The Steelers cannot go into the 2024 season with only the quarterbacks on their current roster. Mason Rudolph is likely headed elsewhere. Kenny Pickett has not shown enough, throwing 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 25 games. And Mitchell Trubisky should be cut sooner rather than later.

USC's Caleb Williams, UNC's Drake Maye and LSU's Jayden Daniels will all likely be long gone by the time they make their first pick and Washington's Michael Penix Jr. may be as well as his draft stock continues to rise.

That's why drafting Nix makes a ton of sense. The fifth-best quarterback and No. 22 overall prospect on Pro Football Focus' big board established himself as one of the most intriguing players in the draft, passing for 4,508 yards, 45 touchdowns and only three interceptions in 2023.

Nix would provide Pickett with the competition he's never had, and he may even be the QB1 by the start of the season.

Tackle Amarius Mims, Georgia

Pittsburgh drafted a Georgia tackle (Broderick Jones) with its first-round pick last year and it worked out well. So why not double dip?

It's time for the team to move on from left tackle Dan Moore Jr., who struggled once again this year allowing eight sacks. Drafting Mims, who has primarily played right tackle, would allow the Steelers to move Jones back to his natural position of left tackle. 

The 6-foot-7, 340-pound lineman ranks as PFF's fifth-best tackle and No. 23 overall prospect and would further strengthen Pittsburgh's offensive line that showed growth to end 2023.

CB Kool-Aid McKinstry, Alabama

The Steelers need to find another cornerback to pair with rookie Joey Porter Jr. Veterans Patrick Peterson and Levi Wallace struggled mightily all year and their futures in Pittsburgh are already up in the air. The team may look to free agency to fill the position, but if not, McKinstry could be the answer.

The 21-year-old ranks as PFF's fourth-best cornerback and No. 19 overall prospect after posting 93 tackles, two sacks, two interceptions and 23 passes defensed from 2021-23. McKinstry paired with Porter Jr. could create one of the better cornerback duos in the NFL for years to come.