Another day, another mock draft. This time, we are checking out The Ringer’s 2024 NFL Draft written by Danny Kelly.
The Steelers have several needs along the offensive and defensive line and secondary. However, due to the Diontae Johnson trade, the team may now look at receivers early in the draft.
That’s exactly where Kelly has them focusing in this mock, pairing the Steelers with LSU receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
“After the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson for peanuts but signed Patrick Queen (to a substantial deal) and Russell Wilson (to a veteran minimum deal), I don’t really understand what they’re up to,” Kelly writes. “So I have them taking a wide receiver in the first round, which they haven’t done since 2006. (Five points to Gryffindor if you know who!) Thomas is my favorite WR of the second tier, as he has speed, height, length, and ball skills. While his skill set is a little redundant to that of George Pickens, I don’t think it’s too much of an issue—nor is there a dramatically different receiver worth a pick at no. 20.”
First off, the answer is Santonio Holmes (take that Slytherin). As for Kelly’s selection of Thomas, it’s hard to not see the fit with Arthur Smith’s play-action offense. Both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields thrive on deep-action passing, something Smith has made a living off of. Please see A.J. Brown Titans highlights if you disagree.
When Wilson was at the top of his game he was launching moon balls to the combination of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, two of the great deep threats in the league.
If the Steelers were to draft Thomas and pair him with Pickens they would immediately have one of the top vertical passing duos in the NFL.
However, Kelly does make a good point about overlapping skill sets between Pickens and Thomas. While I think he is underrated, Pickens is not a route-running savant yet in his career. Per NFL receiver tracking metrics, in his rookie season, Pickens earned a 48 open score. Compare that to Johnson, who is one of the league’s top route runners, at 99.
The reason I bring this up is because Thomas, like Pickens, enters the league without much refinement on his route tree. It’s unrealistic if the Steelers believe he can fill same type of role as Johnson, winning constantly in the intermediate areas of the field.
Instead, he would be a bit of a one-trick pony early on like former Steelers wideout Martavis Bryant. Bryant benefited from a loaded offense led by Antonio Brown, which opened up one-on-one deep shots to the Clemson product.
Thomas benefited in a similar way at LSU. Malik Nabers, the team’s No. 1 receiver and a likely top-10 selection in this year’s draft routinely drew double coverage throughout the year. This tremendously helped the 6-4 Thomas, who with 4.3 speed flew by helpless defensive backs. It is the reason he led college football with 17 touchdowns in 2023.
That would call on Pickens to continue his improvement in getting open, which seems to be trending in the right direction. Last season, he was tied for 19th among receivers, with a score of 70. If Pickens would continue in that direction, allowing Thomas to see more one-on-one looks, the duo would make for a deadly combination.
I like the idea of a Thomas-Pickens pairing, it gives me DK Metcalf-A.J. Brown vibes at Ole Miss, but I’m not sure if it would be my first choice.
Despite his freakish showing at the NFL Scouting Combine, I worry about the long-term projection of Thomas.
I personally would rather see the Steelers draft Adonai Mitchell, should they go receiver early in the draft. He tested and measured very similar to Thomas and has silky smooth hip movements in his breaks making for a rare mover at his size.
Either way, the team would be lucky to add an offensive weapon like Thomas or Mitchell this draft.
