With the team not playing until Monday against the Cleveland Browns, the Pittsburgh Steelers sent members of the scouting staff out on the road in force Saturday in an action-packed day of college football across the country.
After reportedly having scouts at the Kansas State-Missouri game that ended in thrilling fashion with draft-eligible kicker Hunter Mevis nailing a 61-yard field goal as time expired to lift Missour over Kansas State, the Steelers also reportedly sent a scout to the Arkansas-BYU game at Razorback Stadium, according to a tweet from Times Record and USA Today Razorbacks beat writer Jackson Fuller.
Though neither team was ranked, Arkansas and BYU boast a number of 2024 NFL Draft prospects worth getting a close look at, especially with BYU being down south for a matchup against the SEC school.
BYU has potential first-round pick Kingsley Suamataia, who is playing left tackle this season for the Cougars after holding down right tackle in 2022 after transferring from Oregon. He checks in at 6-foot-6, 325 pounds and didn’t allow a single sack at right tackle in his first season with the Cougars. Per PFF, Suamataia earned an 80.9 pass-blocking grade thanks to 337 pass-block snaps in which didn’t allow a sack and surrendered only three quarterback hits.
Opposite Suamataia, right tackle Caleb Etienne transferred in from Oklahoma State after being a starter for the Cowboys. He has right and left tackle experience and is listed at 6-foot-7, 325 pounds.
Quarterback Kedon Slovis is also on draft radars despite flaming out at the University of Pittsburgh in 2022 after transferring there after losing his starting job at USC, and tight end Isaac Rex (6-foot-6, 255 lbs., Jr.) is a name to watch as a true dual-threat tight end, having hauled in 15 touchdowns the last two seasons while being a solid in-line blocking tight end.
Defensively, linebacker Ben Bywater (6-foot-3, 235 Lbs., Jr) is a name to get familiar with at the off-ball position. He’s a height/weight/speed guy with good range and impressive coverage abilities and is the best off-ball linebacker the Cougars have had since Fred Warner.
As for Arkansas, the Razorbacks have a bunch of NFL talent, led by big, physical quarterback KJ Jefferson. Jefferson has a similar build to Cam Newton and a similar play-style too, as a big, lumbering option in the run game that adds another element to the offense while not being the best of passers.
In 10 games in 2022, Jefferson threw for 2,648 yards and 24 touchdowns and just five interceptions to go along with a 165.2 QB rating. Jefferson completed 68% of his passes, averaging 8.7 yards per pass for the Razorbacks. The Arkansas quarterback added 158 rushes for 640 yards and nine touchdowns.
Running back Raheim “Rocket” Sanders is a name to remember ahead of the pre-draft process, too. He’s a true home run threat and should be one of the fastest running backs in the class. Sanders rushed for 1,443 yards and 10 touchdowns on 222 carries, adding another 271 yards and two touchdowns on 28 receptions. Sanders is listed at 6-foot-2, 242 pounds and graded out at an 87.4 overall from PFF last season. He has a track background dating to high school as well.
Arguably the best prospect for the Razorbacks though is interior offensive lineman Beaux Limmer, who moved from guard to center for the 2023 season to replace former All-American center Ricky Stromberg, now with the Washington Commanders. Limmer checks in at 6-foot-5, 300 pounds. He has nearly 2,000 career snaps at right guard in his career and has made the move to center look seamless for Arkansas.
Limmer was a second-team All-SEC last season and a third-team All-American.
