Generally when I make my Pittsburgh Steelers’ mock drafts, and the first will be here sooner than later, I don’t consider or mock trades. But they’re interesting to think about any under a new regime of Omar Khan and Andy Weidl, the odds of them being more flexible in-draft seems to have gone up. In Arif Hasan’s latest mock draft for Pro Football Network, he has the Steelers moving down four spots in the first round.
In his latest mock, he has the Los Angeles Chargers climbing four spots from #21 to #17 to trade with the Steelers. In return, Pittsburgh received picks #21, #85, and #156. With their new 21st pick, he has the Steelers taking Florida OG O’Cyrus Torrence. Explaining the rationale, Hasan writes:
“With five picks in the top 100, the Steelers can afford to attack their most-needed positions. Their offensive line is certainly not what it used to be, and this is a team willing to invest in interior linemen. O’Cyrus Torrence is one of the most powerful offensive linemen in the draft and can be dominant up front.
He overpowers even the strongest nose tackles and has a great sense of space and pass-protection awareness, along with a truly dominant run-blocking capability. He’s not a fit for every scheme with his athletic limitations, but he should be a perfect fit for the Steelers.”
Torrence is the beefy interior offensive lineman the Steelers like. Small guards don’t work well in Pittsburgh and Torrence is no one definition’s of tiny, weighing in at 6047, 337 pounds with 33 7/8 inch arms. Built with a huge lower half, he has great anchor and creates movement in the run game. But as Hasan notes, he isn’t a strong athlete who has tried to drop weight to increase his mobility. In one of our scouting blurbs during the week, we noted an issue he had moving laterally.
“But when he has to move laterally, he gets top-heavy and begins to bend at the waist. Still long and strong enough to stick but worry about that being an issue at the next level.”
In our scouting report, here’s what our Jonathan Heitritter said of Torrence’s game:
“Overall, O’Cyrus Torrence is a thickly-built offensive guard that has the size, strength, and experience you look for. He has the frame and sheer power to maul opposing defenders in the running game as well as the sturdiness in pass protection to sit in and anchor against the strongest interior defenders. Still, after watching more games of Torrence, I came away wanting more in terms of consistent nastiness to finish blocks in the running game as well as better overall punch and hand placement. He isn’t a terrible athlete relative to his size but losing 10-15 lbs could do him wonders in terms of working in space and being quicker on the move.”
And gave him a first round grade.
For the Chargers, they moved up to #17 to select Clemson LB Trenton Simpson.
This was just a one-round mock draft so we don’t know what the team would do with its extra picks. But the idea of trading down in the first is tantalizing. Colbert only did it once in his tenure, 2000 to 2022, moving down three spots in 2001. He only traded down at any point in the draft four times over his entire career and none over his final 12 drafts, an incredible streak. Odds are Khan and Weidl will be more active and while there’s almost never any trade movement – pick for pick, anyway – until the draft begins, it’s something to think about under a new regime.
Elsewhere in Hasan’s mock, he has the Indianapolis Colts trading up with Chicago to the #1 spot and selecting Alabama QB Bryce Young. Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud is the second QB off the board, going #2 overall to the Houston Texans.
