Leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, there will be plenty of players from various positions connected to the Pittsburgh Steelers as they aim to get back to the top of the mountain in the NFL. One of those position groups that will see a significant focus is the offensive line, especially after the hiring of Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator.
The Steelers want to play a physical brand of football centered on running the football. Though they had success in the second half of the season, averaging nearly 150 yards per game on the ground, the offensive line still needs some work.
And as of now, the player most often connected to the Steelers is Georgia RT Amarius Mims. On a heavy Mock Draft Monday, ESPN’s Matt Miller and NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein have the team selecting Mims at No. 20.
In fact, Miller has the team double dipping on the line. In the first round, he paired the Steelers with Mims, and then doubled up on offensive line in the second round, pairing them with West Virginia center Zach Frazier at No. 51 overall, shoring up the trenches offensively.
“In the 2023 draft, the Steelers found a solid first-round lineman in Broderick Jones. Let’s do it again in 2024 with another Georgia tackle. Mims started only eight games in college because of injury and the great depth on the Bulldogs’ offensive line, but scouts were raving about his tape throughout the season,” Miller writes, according to ESPN.com. “There isn’t a better mover at tackle in the class, and he backs that up with 330 pounds of power. With Jones able to play left tackle, Mims could come in as the team’s starter and future on the right side.”
Zierlein has a similar thought, also mocking Mims to Pittsburgh with its first-round pick to bolster the Steelers’ offensive line. He did not include a second round in his mock.
“Mims is a high-end talent and has the body type for his position that teams covet,” Zierlein writes. “Pairing him with fellow former Georgia Bulldog Broderick Jones could be a home-run decision.”
Mims has massive size, checking in at 6-foot-7, 340 pounds on the Georgia roster. While Mims lacks starting experience, having started just eight games in his collegiate career due to the depth and talent Georgia had ahead of him and then an injury in 2023, the hulking lineman has plenty of upside, which has the NFL very intrigued.
At Georgia, Mims started the final two games of the 2022 season, which was in the College Football Playoffs that ultimately led to another national championship for the Bulldogs. He entered the 2023 season as the starter at right tackle but suffered a high ankle sprain in mid-September, undergoing tight-rope surgery before returning later in the year. He got hurt again in the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, playing a total of just six games on the year.
Here’s what Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora had to say about Mims in his scouting report for the site:
“Overall, Mims’ potential is off the charts. He could be the next great offensive tackle. The physical tools and traits are just absurdly good. But knowing he’s viewed as a first-round pick, it’s a large investment on someone who simply hasn’t played much football. That creates uncertainty, which creates risk. If drafted by Pittsburgh, he would make for a pair of impressive bookend Georgia tackles opposite Broderick Jones, who could shift back to left tackle.”
Adding a player of Mims’ caliber would be a good start in the draft. Landing Frazier would put the cherry on top for a rebuilt offensive line.
Frazier’s name has been a popular one for the Steelers in the pre-draft cycle, not only due to playing close to Pittsburgh while at West Virginia but center being a position of need as well. Mason Cole really struggled throughout the 2023 season and appears to be at the end of the road as a starter in Pittsburgh.
Frazier could be that next in a long line of great centers in the Black and Gold.
“A season-ending leg injury kept Frazier from participating in the Senior Bowl, but scouts have still been buzzing about him,” Miller writes for ESPN.com regarding Frazier and the Steelers pairing at No. 51 overall. “He was a four-time state champion wrestler in high school and brings that toughness, quickness and leverage to the football field. The Steelers’ offensive line can continue to get a makeover in this draft, with Frazier fitting as the new starting center as a rookie.”
The wrestling background, toughness and athleticism are all appealing traits. Frazier certainly fits the mold of the new-age centers in the NFL who are dominating, guys like Baltimore’s Tyler Linderbaum, Kansas City’s Creed Humphrey, and more.
He’s going to be a popular name throughout the pre-draft cycle for the Steelers, much like Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson and Georgia’s Sedrick Van Pran-Granger. They need a center — badly. It’s looking like a good draft to get a high-end one.
Here’s what Kozora had to say about Frazier in his scouting report for the site:
“Overall, Frazier is a solid player with a well-rounded game. His floor is high, and in a man/inside zone scheme, he should thrive. While he lacks the physical traits to potentially be a high-end center — he doesn’t have the athleticism of a Creed Humphrey — Frazier is a strong prospect. It’d be great to see him become the next Nick Mangold, but my NFL comp will settle on Ben Jones, a tough and rock-solid dude in the middle but never an All-Star.”
Landing those two pieces in the trenches would be quite the start for the Steelers in the 2024 NFL Draft. Right now, it seems like that’s a realistic haul, too.
