Buy Or Sell: The Steelers should just draft C Jackson Powers-Johnson 20th overall and not overthink positional value.
Explanation: Center is not a position at which teams often draft players in the first round. However, Jackson Powers-Johnson is regarded as the top center in the class, and the Steelers need one. If they drafted him, they likely plug their biggest hole for the next decade or so. Yet taking a tackle, for example, could prove even more valuable, though potentially less certain—and less an immediate need.
Buy:
The draft process is full of paralysis by analysis. We worry so much about “value,” whether positional or draft capital, that we forget about the primary goal. You draft players to add talent to your roster, ideally where you need it.
And Jackson Powers-Johnson could potentially be the best player available when the Steelers pick at 20th overall. So what if some raw tackle who’s barely played might also be on the board? Do you feel comfortable with Nate Herbig as your starting center?
Who cares if some “draft experts” say drafting a center in the first round isn’t a good investment? It’s worked out plenty well in the recent past, including for the Steelers with Maurkice Pouncey. The Ravens are also happy with Tyler Linderbaum, and the Cowboys had no regrets with Travis Frederick. Sometimes, you just need to do the obvious thing rather than the smart thing. And the obvious thing is drafting Powers-Johnson,
Sell:
Jackson Powers-Johnson might be the best center in this class, but it’s not like he’s the best center prospect in the past decade. There’s a reason most of the best centers are still available in the second and third rounds. They simply don’t do as much as guards or tackles beyond snapping the ball. As long as you have someone you can trust to snap, it’s the least physically and technically demanding line position.
And good luck finding the equivalent of even a Sedrick Van Pran-Granger at tackle by the 51st pick in the second round. You’re going to find better centers on Day Two than you are tackles, as well as most other positions. Would you rather have the sixth-best tackle and third- or fourth-best center, or the best center and the 16th-best tackle?
With the Steelers’ 2023 season in the rearview mirror following a disappointing year that came up short in the playoffs once again, it’s time to start asking more questions. Questions about the team’s future in 2024 and beyond. Questions about The Standard.
The rookie class of a year ago was on the whole impressive, but they need to step up into staple starters in 2024. And they likely need a strong influx of talent in both free agency and in the 2024 NFL draft yet again. In addition to a revisitation of the coaching staff.
These sorts of uncertainties are what I will look to address in our Buy or Sell series. In each installment, I will introduce a topic statement and weigh some of the arguments for either buying it (meaning that you agree with it or expect it to be true) or selling it (meaning you disagree with it or expect it to be false).
