The 2022 pre-draft visit portion of the offseason is now underway, and that means we should soon start hearing about the Pittsburgh Steelers bringing players to town for in-person chats. With that, it will be interesting to see if the Steelers bring any of the top quarterbacks to Pittsburgh for visits, especially on the heels of the Pro Day rounds both general manager Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin made these past few weeks. On Monday however, we learned thar Liberty quarterback Malik Willis will soon be very busy making his pre-draft visits.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN on Monday, Willis is scheduled to visit next week with, amongst others, the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. Schefter goes on to say that Willis already has met with the Steelers, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, and other teams.
While the Steelers were mentioned by Schefter, that visit may have just been Tomlin having dinner with Willis prior to his Pro Day taking place, as we know for sure that happened. While not totally out of the question, I don’t think the Steelers have brought any non-local players to Pittsburgh for pre-draft visits just yet. Those visits might start today or Tuesday, based on the team’s history.
As for the Panthers and Falcons both having Willis scheduled for pre-draft visits this month, that’s not a bit surprising with both teams set to pick in the top 10 this year. After all, neither team was able to meet with Willis for dinner at his Pro Day because of Tomlin having dibs.
The Panthers pick sixth overall in the first round this year, and they seem poised to draft a quarterback with that selection. The same might be the case with the Falcons, who are scheduled to pick eighth overall in this year’s draft. The common thought for weeks now is that Willis won’t make it to the Steelers at 20th overall, and thus if they really want him, they would likely need to trade up into the top 10 to draft him.
The Steelers have been widely connected to Willis for most of the offseason, especially since this year’s Senior Bowl took place in early February. Tomlin reportedly told Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze a few weeks ago that the Steelers would like to draft Willis this year, but that he feared the young quarterback wouldn’t still be on the board at 20th overall.
Colbert made all of the top quarterback Pro Days this offseason, and Tomlin was with him for all but one of them. The one Tomlin failed to get to took place last Monday in North Carolina, with quarterback Sam Howell being the main attraction. Tomlin missed that Pro Day due to his needing to be in Florida for the annual league meetings.
The Steelers are allowed to bring 30 non-local players to Pittsburgh for pre-draft visits. We hope to be able to pass along all 30 player names as part of the process. Hopefully the first round of visits will take place this week.
