We have another 2018 major media mock draft to pass along to you on this Saturday and this one comes courtesy of Dane Brugler of NFL Draft Scout. It’s his third offering of the offseason and it includes the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting former Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander with the 28th overall selection in the first-round.
The addition of Joe Haden helped, but cornerback is still one of the weak spots on the Steelers’ roster. Alexander might be undersized, but he plays bigger with his athleticism, toughness and ball skills.
Mocking a cornerback to the Steelers in the first-round isn’t something we’ve seen a lot of this offseason and that’s probably because the team currently has Joe Haden, Artie Burns, Mike Hilton, Cameron Sutton and Brian Allen all returning in 2018 with the last two players being 2017 draft picks. With that said, Alexander is certainly a talented cornerback and one that’s expected to be selected in the first 60 or so picks of the 2018 NFL Draft.
In his three seasons at Louisville, Alexander, who measured in at this year’s scouting combine at 5102, 196-pounds, registered 77 total tackles, 7 interceptions, 15 defensed passes and a forced fumble. He ran the 40-yard-dash in Indianapolis in 4.38-seconds and posted a 35-inch vertical jump and 10’7″ broad jump. His 20-yard shuttle time was great at 3.98-seconds.
Alexander, however, missed several games last season because of injuries. He sprained his knee in the season-opener and missed the next four games as a result of it. He aggravated that injury midway through the season and missed two more games before returning for the final three. He also sat out Louisville’s bowl game after declaring for the draft.
Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin both attended the Louisville pro day this past week and reportedly had dinner the night before with a few players. While we don’t know for sure, there’s a good chance that Alexander was one of them.
It will be interesting to see if Alexander ultimately gets selected in the first-round of this year’s draft. In my opinion, it will come as a bit of a surprise if the Steelers are the team that winds up drafting Alexander and especially in the first-round. While the Steelers could indeed draft yet another cornerback this year, they’re more likely to do so sometime after the first three-rounds.
