The Pittsburgh Steelers have a number of holes to fill, and with the 2024 NFL Draft just under a month away, there’s no doubt that they will be looking to get some impact players. The Steelers have four selections inside the top 100 picks, and in the latest mock draft for CBS Sports by Josh Edwards, he has the Steelers taking offensive players with their first three selections.
At No. 20, Edwards has the Steelers selecting Alabama OT JC Latham, who played 1,748 snaps at right tackle over the last two seasons for the Crimson Tide.
“JC Latham is great value at this stage of the first round and his presence allows Broderick Jones to flip back to the left side,” Edwards writes. “They could still use an interior offensive lineman at some point.”
Latham could provide a bookend at right tackle for the Steelers while they move 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones back to his natural home on the left side. Latham measured in at 6052 and 342 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, and he’s another really skilled run blocker to add to Pittsburgh’s offensive line. Not only would he help keep Russell Wilson or Justin Fields upright, but the Steelers could get back to really relying on a strong run game with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren to win.
In the second round at No. 51 overall, Edwards has the Steelers taking South Carolina WR Xavier Legette, whom the team recently hosted for a pre-draft meeting. Legette could play on the outside opposite George Pickens, although his lack of consistent separation stands out as a potential problem. Alex Kozora compared him to Quincy Enunwa, who had a solid career and some good seasons with the New York Jets, and Legette is certainly in consideration for a Day 2 pick. The Steelers don’t have a good option alongside Pickens currently, and it’s more than likely that they’ll look in the second round for another receiver after just signing Quez Watkins and Van Jefferson in free agency.
When we hit the third, we get the first curious selection of Edwards’ mock, as he has the Steelers taking Kansas OG Dominick Puni at No. 84 overall. Puni moved to left tackle last season after playing left guard in 2022, but he projects as more of a guard at the NFL level. But guard isn’t a major position of need, or one really at all, for the Steelers. Not only does the team have Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels as entrenched starters, but Nate Herbig and Spencer Anderson are solid depth options. The pick makes less sense when you see Georgia C Sedrick Van Pran-Granger still on the board, a player who would make much more sense given Pittsburgh’s need at center and failure to address it in the first two rounds.
Following the selection of Puni, the Steelers went with Miami S Kamren Kinchens with the No. 98 overall selection they acquired from the Eagles in the Kenny Pickett trade. Kinchens had legitimate first-round buzz before and during the college football season, but his stock has dropped a bit. The Steelers added DeShon Elliott in free agency but could be looking for additional safety depth and Kinchens is a high-risk, high-reward pick. The Steelers could take a flier on him, but with other positions of need, they’ll have a multitude of options.
I probably wouldn’t be too thrilled if this was how the first three rounds went for Pittsburgh, even though I’m a big fan of Latham and Legette. Unless the Steelers trade for a starting-caliber center prior to the draft, not taking one in the first few rounds would be pretty bad, and in this case, they fail to do so. But there’s no doubt that there’s a lot of paths the Steelers can take as they look to build up their roster through the draft.
