If you listen to the podcast or follow our yearly Pittsburgh Steelers’ draft coverage, we talk plenty about the “Blue’s Clues.” Meaning, the long trail of bread crumbs the Steelers have left us to identify their draft preferences and who, based on that, they’re likely to select each year. Especially early in the draft. Pittsburgh has rare continuity, the same head coach since 2007 and though Omar Khan is entering just his second draft, he’s been in the Steelers’ building since Valentine’s Day 2001 and learned from previous GM Kevin Colbert.
If there’s a top “Blue’s Clue” that’s held true year after year, it’s the correlation between the team’s head coach/general manager Pro Day attendance and the team’s first round pick. Dating back to at least 2010, each one of the team’s first round selections had the Steelers’ head coach (i.e. Tomlin) and/or general manager (Colbert or Khan) at his Pro Day. The Steelers like to get a first-person view of the prospect while getting to know them in their environment. Around their teammates, around their coaches, support staff, and family, elements you don’t get on pre-draft visits when the player comes to you.
While the Steelers decision-makers are usually at a slew of Pro Days, sometimes in the double-digits, Tomlin and Khan only attended four of them during the 2024 circuit: Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, and Michigan. There could be several reasons for the reduction. Scheduling conflicts due to league meetings, the Big 12 Conference Pro Day (it still seems like a bad idea – was any GM or head coach even there?), etc. Regardless of reason, the four are the four. If there’s a year for the team’s streak ends, it’s this one. But if it holds true, who are the most likely prospects they’d draft?
Before narrowing down the field, let’s toss out any even faintly plausible draft pick from those four schools. First rounds who aren’t clear and obvious top five selections. From there, we’ll reduce the field to more realistic names.
Georgia: TE Brock Bowers, OT Amarius Mims, WR Ladd McConkey
Clemson: CB Nate Wiggins
Alabama: OT JC Latham, CB Terrion Arnold, CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
Michigan: QB J.J. McCarthy, CB Mike Sainristil
Again, wide net to start. Realistically, Bowers is likely be off the board and even though Arthur Smith loves his tight ends, taking him if he’s somehow at No. 20 is a luxury. Michigan is a real stretch on both ends. McCarthy probably goes top ten, Sainristil most likely a second round pick but there are some credible mock drafts placing him late in Round One.
I could’ve put EDGE Dallas Turner for Alabama but he’s a Top-12 projection at a position the Steelers have no urgent need at. At least at quarterback, there’s an argument that Wilson and Fields are short-term dart throws who might not be here in 2025.
Let’s whittle the list down to a more realistic group.
Georgia: OT Amarius Mims, WR Ladd McConkey
Clemson: CB Nate Wiggins
Alabama: OT JC Latham, CB Terrion Arnold, CB Kool-Aid McKinstry
Michigan: None
Removing Bowers and the two Wolverines, McCarthy and Sainristil. Some names are more likely than others. McConkey probably won’t go that high while Latham and the Bama corners could be gone. But they’re in that 10-20 range so I’ll keep them in.
Mims makes sense as the high-upside right tackle with all the tools and size. Wiggins is a high-end cover corner the team brought in for a visit. Latham is a road grader with experience at right tackle while Arnold and McKinstry are among the top corners in the draft. Of the Tomlin/Khan list, that list of six is realistic and tracks with team needs. If you had to pick a “podium” of three most likely names, Mims, Wiggins, and Latham are in the lead while Arnold would be an interesting candidate if he fell.
We’ll see if the Steelers’ first rounder is from this pool. If not, we’ll have to wonder if this is a one-off, an inevitable end to the streak, or the sign of a changing view of how Pittsburgh will pick their top prospect.
