The Pittsburgh Steelers need a starting center, only nobody seems to be where, when or whom. According to some local reports, they have their eyes set on only the top centers in the draft. However, they’d likely have to use their first-round pick or trade up in the second to get one of them.
A week removed from the 2024 NFL Draft, talk has increased about the viability of centers in the first round. Zach Frazier in particular and Graham Barton have gotten late boosts in perception, though perhaps Jackson Powers-Johnson has gone slightly in the opposite direction. Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah shared his thoughts on that top group recently during a conference call.
“I think they’re three kind of distinctly different players, but I think all three of them are excellent, and I think all three of them are ready to start right away”, he summed up toward the end of the discussion, via transcript. The Steelers need one who is ready to start, of course, after releasing Mason Cole. Jeremiah ranks them as Barton, Powers-Johnson, and then Frazier as his own preferences.
He called Frazier “a guy who’s got a tenacity and a physicality to and through the whistle”. The potential Steelers target is worthy of a pick in the latter stages of the first round, he said. Pittsburgh holds the 20th-overall selection in the first round.
Jeremiah called Barton “the best athlete of the three”, which is hardly a surprise. He also discussed his flexibility to potentially play all five positions, and he believes center is his best spot.
As for Powers-Johnson, whom we’ve heard connected with the Steelers throughout the offseason, Jeremiah acknowledged that he is a bigger prospect. “He’s going to be more set a firm pocket. You want more of a mauler/brawler in the run game”, he said. “He’s not a poor athlete. He’s just not the athlete the other two guys are out in space. But he’s a physical, strong, sturdy presence there in the middle who you’ll be able to set a nice deep pocket with him”.
The real question is if the Steelers should draft any of them to play center 20th overall. Historically, that’s pretty early to draft a center, even if they once took Maurkice Pouncey with the 18th pick. While first-round centers are somewhat uncommon, they do tend to have a higher hit rate. But just drafting a player in the first round doesn’t make him better than if you draft him in the second.
If the Steelers do not draft Barton, Frazier, or Powers-Johnson in the first round, they miss out on the lot. Most draft analysts anticipate all three will be off the board by Pittsburgh’s next selection at 51 in Round 2.
Passing on a center in the first round opens up the very strong possibility of losing out on all of their primary center targets. But they likely land a premium right tackle prospect if they do so, or perhaps a top cornerback. And in terms of positional value, at least according to the experts, that’s a fair trade-off. But they still need to get a starter-worthy center from somewhere.
