Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN released his second mock draft of the offseason on Thursday and it should come as no surprise that he still has a cornerback being selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers at 25th overall.
In fact, Kiper still has the Steelers selecting Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller in the first round just as he did a little more than a month ago.
Kiper’s reasoning:
The Pittsburgh secondary really held the defense back in 2015 and will be a big focus this offseason. Unfortunately, the Steelers can’t win bidding wars in free agency because of the cap situation, so they need to add help in the draft and also hope that Senquez Golson comes back ready to provide an impact.
Fuller, who only played in three games last season because of an MCL injury that he suffered during preseason camp, decided to declare for the 2016 NFL Draft as an underclassman in January. In 2014, Fuller, whose older brother now plays cornerback for the Chicago Bears, recorded 54 total tackles to go along with two interceptions and 14 pass breakups. He reportedly measures in at 6-0, 196-pounds.
Once again, it’ts hard to imagine the Steelers drafting a cornerback in the first round and especially being as this year’s class is regarded as being deep at the position. Fuller is scheduled to take part in the scouting combine so it will be interesting to see how much he’s able to do being as he had knee surgery last year.
