The 2019 NFL Draft will get underway two weeks from today but in the meantime, however, we’re sure to have several major media mocks to discuss. On Thursday, Adam Rank of NFL.com released a “what teams should do” mock draft and in it he has the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting a wide receiver at No. 20 overall.
Rank has the Steelers picking Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry in the first-round of his latest mock draft and he writes:
All right, guys. You have that Antonio Brown business behind you. And while you could still use some help defensively with top guys like Devin Bush, Greedy Williams and Byron Murphy still on the board, I’m asking you to go with a receiver. I know you still have James Washington and such. But adding a guy like Harry to your team will really help keep this offense rolling. I know it’s kind of a risk. You got AB in the sixth round. You got JuJu Smith-Schuster in Round 2. But go first round on your receiver here and really send a message about your priorities.
Harry, in case you missed it, measured in at this years scouting combine at 6023, 228-pounds with 33-inch arms and 9 1/2-inch hands. He ran the 40-yard-dash in Indianapolis in 4.53-seconds, did 27 reps on the bench and registered a 38.5-inch vertical jump to go along with a 10’2″ broad jump.
In his three seasons at Arizona State, Harry registered 213 receptions for 2,889 yards and 22 touchdowns. 82 of those receptions resulted in gains if 15 yards or more with 30 of them resulting in gains of 25 yards or more
Harry lined up in various spots in Arizona State’s offense during his career and that includes a fair share a snaps in the slot. At the NFL level, he’ll likely be used as an X or a big slot receiver. He’s considered to be one of the top three wide receivers in this year’s draft class and it won’t be surprising if he’s the first one at his position selected this year. The Steelers did have wide receivers coach Darryl Drake at Harry’s pro day a few weeks ago.
As for the Steelers passing up Michigan linebacker Devin Bush to draft Harry, it’s hard to imagine such a scenario happening at this stage of the process. However, stranger things have happened in the past and I still believe there’s a decent chance that Bush falls to 20 two weeks from today. It would be interesting to see the Steelers be forced to choose between Harry and Bush.
Also interesting when it comes to Rank’s mock draft is that he has Washington’s Byron Murphy as the first cornerback being selected and at No. 21 overall. A little bit more believable is Rank having three quarterbacks being selected within the first 13 overall picks and in total, four being drafted in the first-round. A little less believable is Rank having three total tight ends being selected in the first-round of this year’s draft.
Also, let the record show that Rank does not have Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker being drafted in the first-round.
