Based on how the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone about reshaping their roster this offseason under GM Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin, things are starting to become rather clear when it comes to needs entering the 2024 NFL Draft.
Wide receiver, offensive tackle and center are chief among those needs in the draft, but Pro Football Focus lead draft analyst Trevor Sikkema believes another position also requires quite a bit of attention for the Steelers. That would be cornerback opposite Joey Porter Jr.
Appearing on the Mina Kimes Show Wednesday, Sikkema stated that he’d love to see the Steelers land a Quinyon Mitchell or Cooper DeJean to give the Steelers a true No. 1 cornerback.
“I think the other spot on the defensive side of things is, of course, corner. This was a much older group last year. They bring in Donte Jackson, who they got for the Diontae Johnson trade, but there’s a reason why Jackson was available for trade,” Sikkema said regarding the Steelers and the cornerback position. “…They need somebody opposite Joey Porter Jr. In a perfect world, I would love Joey Porter Jr. to be their CB2. I would love if this team could get a Quinyon Mitchell or a Cooper DeJean or something like that, where I think they are the CB1.
“If you tell me that you’ve got one of those guys, your CB1 and then JPJ is your CB2, I think we got a good thing going on at that point, you got a really good situation in the secondary. And so that’s what I would be searching for. Not just any corner, but like a corner that’s going to truly change and upgrade your secondary room.”
After going through the 2023 season with plenty of issues at the cornerback position, the Steelers would be wise to try and upgrade at the position, particularly in the draft.
Pittsburgh did a decent job landing Jackson via trade, a player it has reportedly been pursuing since last year, but cutting Patrick Peterson, losing James Pierre to the Washington Commanders in free agency and letting Levi Wallace hit the open market has depleted the position.
Fortunately, the Steelers have a great building block to work around in Porter.
The Penn State product emerged after the Week 6 bye week and became a true lockdown cornerback for the Steelers, consistently taking away the opponents’ top receiver each and every week. He was quite impressive in the role as that physical, shutdown corner, though he did struggles with some penalties at times.
While Jackson has plenty of experience and has shown flashes in the NFL, he doesn’t exactly move the needle at the position.
A player like Mitchell or DeJean, two players the Steelers have been connected to heavily this offseason, would really change the trajectory at the cornerback position moving forward in Pittsburgh. That would require the Steelers using a first-round selection on the position and considering the larger holes on the roster at receiver and center, that might be a bit rich.
It is certainly fun to talk about and envision though. Who knows, the Steelers could stun everyone and grab one of the top corners in the draft, pairing them with Porter to form a dynamic duo for years to come at the position.
