Today is the big day, and several of the top names in NFL media are dropping final iterations of their predictive mock drafts. With the Pittsburgh Steelers picking at No. 20, the draft board could break a number of ways. One team zigging when everybody expected it to zag could change the whole dynamic of the first round, and that is what happens in Cris Collinsworth’s mock with six quarterbacks in the first round. With five signal callers off the board by No. 20, Collinsworth has the Steelers landing Alabama OT JC Latham.
GM Omar Khan didn’t dance around the question at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine—Broderick Jones was drafted to be a left tackle, and that is eventually where he will end up playing. With that goal in mind, there are only a few right tackle prospects who would have a chance to move Jones to left tackle in Week 1 of the 2024 season, and Latham is one of them. Here is what Collinsworth had to say of the pick:
“Not many 342-pound men can move like Latham. His arms are over 35 inches, and he has massive hands that are in the 90th percentile. Many will see him as the second-ranked tackle in this draft, and I can’t disagree.
Latham has quick feet that he uses to jump rushers outside, but that can also get him into trouble on inside moves. It is a thing of beauty when he gets his long arms extended and those big hands locked on the target. You don’t always see his power until he has a down block or a double team, but he is just 21 years old and still has tremendous upside. With Chukwuma Okorafor and Mason Cole gone, this would be a dream pick for the Steelers.”
I agree that it would be a dream pick for the Steelers as arguably the top right tackle prospect in the entire draft. Latham may not have the ceiling or high-end athleticism that Mims has, but at 6052, 342 pounds, with 35 1/8-inch arms, he still has ideal size to play tackle at the NFL level. Unlike Mims, he has plenty of experience at the college level with 1,748 right tackle snaps at Alabama.
He didn’t come in for a pre-draft visit, which would be a rare occurrence of that happening for a Steelers first-round pick, but there was a very large contingent of Steelers personnel at the Alabama pro day including Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, VP of player personnel Dan Rooney Jr., and others.
Troy Fautanu, Olu Fashanu, and Joe Alt were the only three tackles off the board in Collinsworth’s mock by pick 20, so the Steelers would have their pick of Taliese Fuaga, Amarius Mims, or any of the centers in this scenario. By the end of his mock, both Graham Barton and Jackson Powers-Johnson were off the board, which could create a sense of urgency to trade up in hopes of landing C Zach Frazier in the second round.
For an in-depth scouting report on Latham, check out Jonathan Heitritter’s post below:
