Mock draft

I don't think we can afford to go TE in the first round. We need weapons, and Warren is certainly that, but we need a WR and RB bad and we punted in this mock until day 3. Not gonna cut it unless we do some serious work in FA. I like Warren and Watts as players, and DL seems correct around round3. I also love us taking Howard here too, though I am not certain he is lasting until round 4.

1. Emeka Egbuka - WR - Ohio State - really nice possession reciever. Good hands, developed route runner, can play inside and outside (though he might be best out of the slot). Reminds me a lot of Amon Ra. St. Brown stylistically

2. Treyveon Henderson - RB - Ohio State - speed in spades. Exceptionally developed player. Good vision, elite threat in space, good pass catcher and pass blocker, house call at any time, locker room leader. Going to be best in a tandem, but we have that in Warren. I think he's the 2nd best RB in the draft, and a perfect fit for the team.

3. TJ Sanders - DL - SC - I can live with your choice here

4. Howard would be great, but maybe another QB falls here (McCord or Howard are probably the only mid round guys I like)

5-7. Grab another CB, maybe an OL, or another WR or RB.

 

I don't see us in as dire need of a DL as others do. It certainly needs to be on mind with Larry in his last season and Heyward being mid 30's, but I don't think it is a top priority. There are definitely some good DL in this draft, so I won't be super upset, but this team has other areas that need that high end draft capital spent there before DL does. I'd prefer we wait until round 3 to look at DL.

I can agree with that, but we still would only have Warren and Patterson as our only backs. Are we really willing to be a Warren injury away from starting Patterson? This is probably the best RB draft in a long time. We can wait until day 3 to get another middling option (similar in production to Najee) that is a safe bet to be an NFL back, or we can take a shot at a high end player. I think there are a couple backs that have a real chance to be studs in this draft (Jeanty, Henderson, Judkins, Hampton), and all these guys are likely gone by end of round 2, early round 3. Addressing WR and RB in this draft is going to be key for our offense. I hope we pick the right guys. Don't get me wrong.... I do believe that we get better at RB simply by allowing Najee to walk and giving more carries to Warren, but that doesn't mean we have to sit on our hands here. This is a great opportunity.

I can feel you here. I doubt we go QB high, but if there is a mid round guy we like... then I could see us pulling the trigger. McCord and Howard might last to round 3 or later. Either of them are guys I'd be okay rolling with. Howard has the higher ceiling of the two IMO, but that's just me.

I would agree if we hit a high end WR, we won't go round 1 WR. Honestly, if we do, I'd be fine taking that DL or CB in the first and then taking RB in the second. I also think that we simply don't have the WR room to even consider moving GP in a trade. I think another year of GP and then letting our circumstances decide whether we extend him, franchise him, or let him walk.

It is really hard to mock at this stage of the game. There are too many variables in FA to make an educated guess. The only position I think we HAVE to address in the draft is RB. We can FA everything else and then draft what we don't sign.

 

What happened in those two losses against the Ravens the DL got manhandled, RB isn't their second need he won't be a bell cow anyway.

 

DL is a dire need Larry O will likely be one of their first cuts, Loudermilk is a free agent Leal can't stay healthy.

 

Yes, we lost to the Ravens and Henry had a big game... but that doesn't mean we "can't stop the run". There are provable metrics that say the truth is otherwise. We won't stop it every game, but there are less than 5 teams that stop the run better than ours did in 2024. That is a fact.

Disagree. RB is definitely a need. Don't need to be a Bell cow to be great.

 

We dont have to cut him. Loudermilk and Leal are depth pieces anyways. We definitely need a DL at some point, but our defense is already exceptionally talented. We need to add talent to the offense. If Henderson can bring a Gibbs type difference to this offense he would be more than worth it.

Its weird that a lot of us on here will pound the table for us to draft a 2 down player at NT, but balk at the idea of a RB taking 60-65 percent of the snaps and not being worth a second round pick.

 

At the RB position the Steelers typically have a specific size they look for. Off the RBs that fall into that range, there are 3 I think they will focus in on so far.
1. Ollie Gordon, OkState
2. Cam Skattebo, Arizona State
3. Ja'Quinden Jackson, Utah/Arkansas


These 3 RBs are used in the passing game just as much as the run game. Jackson went to Utah as a QB and asked to get some time as the RB. These guys also have the power game to break tackles and always fall forward.


I have looked at many of the top RBs in their game films. Watch how big the holes are they are running through, these are rare in the NFL. Also watch how much they get used in passing or even go out in routes. You also see them get run down from behind even after those big holes and they are 20 yards downfield. Many fans were disappointed with Najee. Not many of these RBs are doing even what he was able to do on college tape.


These are all my opinions only from my observations.

 

Walter Nolan DE Ole Miss, 6'4"-290


I like this player on his tape. Quick off the snap, powerful initial punch, shows 2 a pass rush moves, more than serviceable in run stop.

 

I think they passed on Najee for his style as much as it was not being up to snuff. Supposedly they are looking for a RB with more speed.... I understand that could literally be dozens of guys in the draft, but there are a couple really nice "speed" backs in this draft and Henderson is the best of the bunch (and probably the only one suited to 3 down usage). There is Sampson and James too, but even some of the bigger guys like Hampton, Judkins and even the Iowa kid that have enough speed to be really good players with their skillsets.

I don't disagree with your observations, I just really hope we don't go after a power back this time around. We should go for someone that is a bit more of an all-around back. If we want to take a shot on Skattebo on day 3 anyways (assuming we drafted a RB at 52), I could live with that.

 

Henderson is a good RB. He'll probably be one of the favorites during the draft. I'm just going by what the Steelers look for 'traditionally' in RBs. Typically in the 220-235 range. We'll have to wait and see how Khan sees the position.

 

Larry O isn't worth his contract they need to get younger and need more production from his position. Dude talking up Henderson like he's SaQuan Barkley .

 

They need more than just one guy on the DL, the Ravens are the Steelers biggest rival and ran the ball down their throat in their last two meetings. What do you think the Ravens will look to do to the Steelers next year?

 

Henry had 65 yards and a fumble in the first meeting... I'm sure they will run, but we can also gameplan around that too.

The Ravens averaged almost 240 rushing yards per game. They were the #1 rushing offense in the league. We played them three times and got run on twice (both road games). We stuffed them pretty hard once. When the top rushing unit in the league faces a top 5 rushing defense, something has to give. Something did in all 3 games. We were the ones that gave 2/3 though, so we lost 2/3.

I don't know why we have to cut a player to open up a hole to spend a first round pick on, but we want to ignore an area of need that we don't have to cut somebody to have.

 

Well, no, I am not talking about him like he is Saquon. I am saying that he could bring a Jahmyr Gibbs type of player to our offense. He is perfect for the modern running game, as his skills translate seamlessly to the NFL.

I'm not disagreeing that we will need to get younger at DL, but it isn't a "has to happen now" type of thing. We can ride another year, or simply address the position a little later in the draft.

 

Our RB room is Patterson and the option of Warren. Even if we keep Warren we NEED another RB. We are in agreement on this point. Henderson will be a good pickup for whatever team he goes to. I just don't want him in the 1st round. Or any RB really. I think we get much better as a team by addressing the DL. There are just better football players on both sides of the line I would take before a RB.


I don't typically like to lock in on just one player for the first round pick. This is where we get those difference makers every team needs. I don't mind taking another OT if he truly upgrades the OL. I'm not sold on BroJo and have not seen Fautanu in this system yet.

 

I'm not sure he would require us to take him in the first. Henderson should go somewhere in the second (and if we have to trade up a bit to get him, I am fine with that). Now, that isn't to say I WOULDN'T take him in the first, but I don't think we'd have to. Obviously our FA period will greatly affect our draft priorities. If we go out and sign a high end WR like Higgins, then WR is no longer on the board in round 1. If we sign a CB, then there goes that from the top of the board too. But this team doesn't have a ton of holes. We don't have a franchise QB obviously, but we really are only lacking a WR2, a RB, a CB2, and the need to get younger on the DL in the next 2 years. Aside from that, we're in decent enough shape. All teams in the league have a hole or two somewhere in their line up (usually in areas that they are relying on recent draft picks). But if we want our offense to succeed in any regard, we HAVE to improve our weapons. We really struggled in large part due to having Pickens doubled all the time and our "bell cow" RB basically being mediocre to ineffective for 14 of the 17 games this season. We simply can't afford not to go into next season without big upgrades at those spots (mainly to help whatever bridge QB we get, but also for whenever we get our next QB of the future).

Of course it is tough to lock in on one player. We have to have options. There are going to be a handful of players that we value at each one of our spots at a multitude of different players. There are going to be some good options around our draft position at DL, there should be a few corners, and there are a couple of good looking WR's too. That is where I would focus and then lock in hard in round 2 on a RB we like and just make it happen. Round 3-4 we can address the positions we didn't in the first, or even take a swing at someone like McCord or Howard at QB if we like either of them.

 

Have you watched Larry O play this season he has like a 10 million cap hit? He should be their first cut along with the OLB Smith.

 

I don't care they still shouldn't use a 2nd on an RB, no riding another year with the same ineffective DL would be a mistake. Heyward is the only DL that can get pressure or sack the QB.

 

One other great thing about Henderson is that at 5'10"-210, he can put on another 5-10LBs in the weight room and most likely not lose a noticeable amount of his sub 4.4 speed. I really like him the 2nd/3rd round.

 

It just simply is factually incorrect that our DL is "ineffective". We aren't top 5 against the run in the whole NFL because they suck. We were middle of the league in pressures, but 8th in QB knockdowns. By pretty much any metric our front 7 was quite good.

Yes, Heyward is the only of the DE/DT types that is a good pass rusher, but the defense is more built around getting the guys home from the edge. Having guys that collapse the pocket and force the QBs into the edge rushers who got a combined 27 sacks. There are only 12 DT's that got more than 5 sacks on the season in the whole league. We just simply aren't missing pass rush from those positions. Yes, our guys are getting older and Ogunjobi is in the last year of his contract, but there isn't anything wrong with the current DL. I don't think that a DL is a necessity in the first round by any stretch of the imagination. The facts prove otherwise.

 

Smith was always going to be cut, as he was a rental for insurance against injury at the position. And Ogunjobi is a 10.5 million dollar hit, but 3.5 in dead cap. We would save 7 million bucks cutting him. If we want to cut him and take a swing at a different player for a short term contract at DL, fine. We could take a run at DJ Jones or BJ Hill to play DT and move Benton into Ogunjobi's spot at a pretty net zero cap implication. This would be more than enough to be good up front and kick the "DL early in the draft" can a year or two down the road.

 

There is plenty wrong with the DL Larry O and Benton didn't do enough, they need to cut Larry and move Benton to DT and get a real NT.

 

That isn't enough they still need to draft a DL and sign one in free agency, Heyward will be 36 next season there's no guarantee he will have the same type of season again.

 

I guess you're right. Being top 5 against the run isn't good enough. They can theoretically do better and be the best against the run. Not sure how much that helps us win games, but there is a slim amount of room for improvement.