While the Pittsburgh Steelers 2023 season may have just gotten underway with a win in their preseason opener, the staff is already at work preparing for the 2024 NFL Draft. The Steelers had personnel at Western Kentucky University today watching their football team practice, per a tweet from the WKU Recruiting Twitter account.
The Steelers were one of three teams with personnel there, along with the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans.
Western Kentucky has five prospects listed in the Shrine Bowl 1000, those being QB Austin Reed, EDGE JaQues Evans, WR Malachi Corley, OG Quantavius Leslie and OT Wes Dorsey. The school also produced four players from last year’s team who are currently on NFL rosters, with the most notable being Detroit Lions third-round pick, DL Brodric Martin.
Of those prospects, Corley is the most intriguing. While Pittsburgh doesn’t have an immediate need at wide receiver, he put up big numbers for the Hilltoppers last season with 101 receptions for 1,295 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games.
We have no idea what the roster could look like heading into the offseason, with some depth guys due to hit free agency, so there could certainly be a need for a backup EDGE like Evans or offensive line depth with guys like Leslie and Dorsey.
The Steelers are an organization that likes to get boots on the ground when it comes to scouting, and going to WKU today is another example of that. General Manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin are among the most active coaches on the Pro Day circuit, and the rest of the scouting staff is clearly getting their work in early.
Every team around the league has its own ways of scouting, with organizations in recent years prioritizing and analytics with less of an emphasis on in-person scouting. But for the Steelers, they’ve stuck to their methods of wanting to get to know guys and see them up close and personal.
It’s worked for them, with the 2023 draft class returns looking promising, although it’s still admittedly very early. But as a whole, the Steelers have had strong draft classes, that if nothing else make them a deeper team and help them compete over the slog of a now 17-game season. In addition to their organizational stability, it’s a reason why they’ve managed to remain competitive despite inevitable yearly roster churn.
There are plenty more schools the scouting staff will hit, but getting an early start is always nice to see. Any intel is good intel, and getting a head start on some potentially underrated prospects at Western Kentucky could help Pittsburgh down the line.
