Draft season is essentially just a crowd-sourcing of opinions. So why not add one more. Pittsburgh Steelers’ beat reporter Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes the team will pass up on drafting a QB at #20. Instead, they will turn their attention to the Steelers’ defensive line through Georgia by selecting either NT Jordan Davis or DL Devonte Wyatt.
He made the remarks during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan, as tweeted out by host Andrew Fillipponi.
Davis and Wyatt both “check the boxes” for a Steelers’ first-round pick from a Pro Day standpoint. Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert attended this year’s Bulldogs’ Pro Day. Davis is one of the draft’s freakiest athletes. At 341 pounds, he ran a 4.78 40 along with a 32-inch vertical and 10’3″ in the broad. Together, he had the second highest Relative Athletic Score (RAS) ever recorded, only second to WR Calvin Johnson.
On tape, Davis is a space eater but able to penetrate and shoot gaps. In our profile, we summed him up this way:
“The bottom line is the goal of the draft is to add talent and guys who significantly impact your defense and force offenses to change their gameplan. Davis will do that. He’s well-worth a first round pick instead of chasing a greater positional value but worse player overall.”
We issued a 9.2 grade, a top ten player in this draft and immediate starter. For Davis, he may not be on the board at #20. He’s expected to be taken somewhere in the top 19 picks.
Wyatt didn’t test nearly as off-the-charts and comes in a smaller package at 6027, 304 lbs with just under 33-inch arms. As part of that elite Georgia defense last season, he recorded 39 tackles (seven TFL) and 2.5 sacks to go along with two forced fumbles.
In our draft profile, Jonathan Heitritter wrote:
“He best profiles as a penetrating 4-3 DT, but he can still be a disruptive 3-tech or 4-I that can even kick inside if needed to hold his own as a run defender or attack the A-gap. His quick twitch and movement skills make him a fun chess piece that can be schemed many different ways given his ability to blow things up in the backfield.”
And put a second-round grade on him. The biggest negatives on Wyatt for the Steelers are his age and off-field concerns. Wyatt just turned 24 years old, making him one of the oldest players in an unusually old class. He was also arrested in February of 2020 on a variety of charges after allegedly kicking in the front door of a girlfriend in what police dubbed a “family violence” charge.
Over the past several drafts, Pittsburgh hasn’t selected any player with a hint of character concerns, much less used a first-round pick on one. So Wyatt’s inclusion here is surprising. Still, he’s a first-round talent, checks the Pro Day box, and there’s a potential need here with Stephon Tuitt’s status still uncertain.
