One of the top prospects linked to the Pittsburgh Steelers throughout the pre-draft process, and particularly over the last month or so, has been Duke OL Graham Barton. The Steelers had the option to take him at No. 20 but went with Washington OT Troy Fautanu. Graham Barton was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers six picks later at No. 26 overall.
He played left tackle for much of his time at Duke but logged 430 snaps at center in his freshman season back in 2020. Some have billed him as the top center prospect in the draft, and the Steelers have an obvious need there. This leaves Jackson Powers-Johnson and Zach Frazier as the two centers many expect to be next off the board.
With just a few picks left to be made in the first round, the board is setting up nicely for one of either Powers-Johnson or Frazier to be available in the second round. The only question is, will they make it to No. 51 overall when the Steelers are scheduled to make their next pick. The possibility of a trade up in the second round to secure one of them has been talked about a lot in the pre-draft process, and that seems more likely to happen now, especially if one of the remaining teams drafts a center.
There are a number of teams with center needs remaining and only a couple more top options projected to be early starters. The Philadelphia Eagles, who pick one spot before the Steelers in the second round, just had Jason Kelce retire, so they could be an option. The Dallas Cowboys are on the hunt for a center after Tyler Biadasz left in free agency. Those are just a couple examples, so the pressure will be dialed up to figure out the center situation in Pittsburgh.
