It’s not a lazy Friday for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ news cycle, that’s for sure. Though not hard news like Bud Dupree signing with Atlanta, KPRC’s Aaron Wilson tweeted Friday that Miami (FL) CB Tyrique Stevenson is viewed as a potential first-round pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers’ at #17. In his tweet, he noted the number of visits Stevenson has lined up and included a nugget suggesting how highly the Steelers reportedly think of him.
Wilson doesn’t specify on what’s telling him Stevenson is potentially in play at #17. Throughout the pre-draft process, he’s generally been viewed as a solid Day Two corner buried in a very deep class.
Pittsburgh’s certainly shown interest in him, bringing Stevenson in for a pre-draft visit, though neither Mike Tomlin nor Omar Khan attended his Hurricanes Pro Day. A man-coverage corner with size at 6’0, 198 pounds, Stevenson has modeled his game after Patrick Peterson, who Pittsburgh signed early in the offseason.
In our pre-draft scouting report, we noted Stevenson’s sticky man coverage ability on underneath routes and his eagerness as a press corner along with his special-teams value. On the negatives, his testing suggests some hip tightness and needing to clean up his press technique. There’s also some off the field questions, though Stevenson has said he’s matured over the years. A two-year player at Miami after transferring from Georgia, where he battled George Pickens in practice, Stevenson recorded 115 career tackles with three interceptions. Overall, we concluded:
“I can see the Steelers’ interest. This will sound like a curse word in church around here but he’s a little Artie Burns-like. Long, good straight-line speed, a little tight, needs to work on his zone and off-man. Burns finished more plays and wasn’t as physical or tough but some of the overall profiles match.”
We gave Stevenson a second-round grade.
According to Wilson, there’s a chance Stevenson is the guy at #17. Frankly, it sounds a little rich and draft rumors and reports are hard to trust this time of year. But like Artie Burns, Pittsburgh has surprised with a Miami corner in the first round before, and nothing can be ruled out knowing the extreme likelihood of the team taking a corner early, within their top two picks.
You can read our full report below.
