We rarely hear from Pittsburgh Steelers Assistant GM Andy Weidl but he spoke with reporters Friday afternoon to give his thoughts on the team’s 2023 draft class. This was his first draft with the team in his current capacity though his NFL career started as a Steelers intern in 1998 and 1999.
Pittsburgh started 2023 off with a bang, trading up three spots in the first round to select Georgia OT Broderick Jones, the first offensive tackle the team has selected in Round One in nearly 30 years. Weidl praises Khan’s decision to make the move.
As tweeted out by 93.7 The Fan, Weidl called it a “brilliant move.”
According to the team transcript, Weidl noted the team making the decision to jump on left tackles that are typically difficult to nab.
“They saw an opportunity to go up and get a player that typically – left tackles, if you are going to get them, let’s say, in free agency or in a trade, you’re going to pay a lot of resources,” Weidl said per the team. “To give up a fourth-round pick to get a player of Broderick’s caliber, I thought it was a brilliant move by Omar and seizing the moment.
Pittsburgh didn’t have to give up much to get Jones, sending only a fourth-round pick – #120 overall – to New England to get them to move down three spots in the first round. A win-win for both sides, the Steelers getting their tackle while the Patriots got another draft pick (which funny enough, they then traded to the New York Jets) and still grabbed Oregon CB Christian Gonzalez, one of the top players of the class.
Moving up three spots to get Jones was a shrewd and smart move from Khan. But what made it better was his ability to recoup that fourth rounder given up by trading back from #80 to #93 with the Carolina Panthers, picking up #132 in the process. At #93, the Steelers still took TE Darnell Washington, a tremendous value selection, and got LB Nick Herbig at #132. Weidl, like Khan, believes Herbig could play inside or outside linebacker.
For the Steelers to get Jones, they effectively only had to move down 13 spots in the third round and 12 in the fourth round. That’s called a bargain. It’s also called a great draft haul, on paper, at least, for Pittsburgh. They drafted big, physical, upside players at positions of need and prospects who should be able to make immediate contributions.
Time will tell if this class looks as good down the road as it does right now, the 2008 draft class also initially looked impressive, but it’s hard to be upset with much of what Khan did in his first draft as the Steelers’ GM. Weidl surely approves.
