The off-season can be quite busy here at Steelers Depot. Typically, the offseason is expected to be a quieter time overall when it comes to the Steelers, but GM Omar Khan has made sure it hasn’t been over the last two years.
Add in the fact that there is plenty to do regarding Pro Day tracking, NFL Draft scouting and more, it’s quite busy time for the site. It’s also one of the best times, too.
One of the best parts about the pre-draft process surrounding the Pittsburgh Steelers is the work we do here at Steelers Depot, tracking the front office personnel and coaches at Pro Days, formal meetings at the Combine, and pre-draft visits to the South Side facility. It helps lead to some dot connecting, which is incredibly fun.
Over the years, it’s helped give us a very clear understanding of which players and what positions the Steelers are likely to target each spring in the NFL Draft.
This year, that process has seemingly never been more clear.
With a major need along the offensive line, the Steelers aren’t hiding their intentions in the trenches, especially at the offensive tackle position. Names like Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Alabama’s JC Latham and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga are the three most likely first-round picks at the position, simply based on the work the Steelers have put in from a Combine, Pro Day and pre-draft meeting perspective.
A little under a month ago, it appeared that Mims was the clubhouse leader for the Steelers’ likeliest first pick in April’s draft. He was checking a number of boxes for the Steelers and what they typically do when it comes to potential first-round picks.
Then, on Wednesday, during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo revealed that Mims also recently visited the Steelers’ facility on the South Side as an official pre-draft visit. That means Mims was a Senior Bowl meeting, a Combine formal meeting, a Pro Day visit from head coach Mike Tomlin and GM Omar Khan, and now a pre-draft visitor.
If it wasn’t clear then, it’s clear now: Mims is lapping the field as the most likely first-round pick for the Steelers.
The hulking Georgia product checks all the boxes the Steelers like: size, athleticism, Power 5 experience, and he also checks the important pre-draft process boxes: Senior Bowl meeting, Combine formal meeting, not to mention Tomlin and Khan at the Georgia Pro Day. Though he didn’t workout at the Pro Day, he has an April 10 workout for teams as he recovers from injury. If the Steelers are there in full force, look out.
But right now, based on all the information that we have, all of the dots connect when it comes to Mims and the Steelers, and he lines up at a major area of need, that being right tackle.
As we sit here today in late March, Mims being the pick for the Steelers at No. 20 overall feels like it’s getting closer and closer to being a lock come late April. That might sound a bit absurd because things can change dramatically once the draft rolls around, and of course it all depends on if he’s on the board when the Steelers are up.
But the interest is very clear. The Steelers don’t try and hide their intentions. When they see a guy they like, they do their due diligence and don’t try to hide it. That’s what is happening with Mims.
They’ve very clearly identified their guy. Now it’s time for Khan and company to make sure they go and get him in late April and make him a Steeler.
