The Pittsburgh Steelers have been aggressive this offseason, adding quite a few impact players to their roster despite their limited cap space. One analyst thinks that adding Amarius Mims would make an even bigger impact.
April’s NFL Draft is looming, and the team still needs to fill quite a few holes before training camp. The team could address three main positional groups in the first round: offensive line, wide receiver, or cornerback.
There are no clear options for a second starting offensive tackle opposite Broderick Jones. They also lack a starting center, cornerback depth, and a WR2 opposite George Pickens. Those should be their priorities in this draft.
While many have them taking a center with the 20th overall selection, considering they don’t even have any options on the roster right now, former NFL offensive lineman Brian Baldinger suggested they go a different direction on The Best Football Show.
“What if they went back to Georgia and took Amarius Mims? Just a mammoth-sized human being,” Baldinger proposed. “What if they went and put Broderick Jones at left tackle, Amarius Mims at right tackle and said ‘let’s go pound the rock. Let’s go run the ball. Let’s go crease these teams the way Baltimore does.’ And then in the second round, go draft yourself a wide receiver?”
With a guy like Mims (6076, 340) in the fold, the running game would take a huge leap, and as Baldinger suggested, it would probably result in the team committing to pounding the rock. Mims and Jones at each tackle spot would give the team some real stability there and two building blocks for hopefully the next ten years and beyond.
The path for the Steelers to be a good football team this season looks similar to how it has over the past few years. Control the trenches with your defense and running game, and ask your quarterback to do just enough to get the job done. The problem with this last year is that Kenny Pickett and Mitch Trubisky rarely did enough to give Pittsburgh a chance.
And that’s all the team needs and wants to be different this year with Russell Wilson. If he can just give them a chance, the rest of the strong roster can hopefully do the rest.
The Steelers did bring Mims in for a pre-draft visit, a strong indication that they are at least considering him at pick number 20. It’s often been predicted who the Steelers will take based on which pro days the staff attends, and it is worth noting that quite a large group of Steelers personnel attended Georgia’s pro day this year.
