So far in the pre-draft process, the Pittsburgh Steelers have made it pretty clear that they are heavily scouting the offensive tackle class ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft, a class that promises to be very deep with some high-end players in it.
Though Pittsburgh sits at No. 20 in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, there’s a good chance that one of the top offensive tackles it covets — such as Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Alabama’s JC Latham and Georgia’s Amarius Mims — will be on the board when it picks, giving the Steelers the opportunity to land one of the hulking building blocks at the position.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo, that player very well may be Fuaga.
Appearing on the “North Shore Drive” podcast for the Post-Gazette Monday with host Christopher Carter, Fittipaldo stated that his “gut feeling” is that the Steelers like Fuaga the most out of the three, including Latham and Mims. The challenge becomes if Fuaga will be on the board or if the Steelers will need to trade up to get him.
“If I had to prioritize right now, I would say just based on the pre-draft process, how I saw them react to guys at the Senior Bowl, at the Combine, and then the pre-draft visits, my gut feeling right now tells me they like Fuaga the best,” Fittipaldo said of the trio of tackles the Steelers have been connected to, according to video via the Post-Gazette’s YouTube page. “…I want to wait to see if JC Latham comes in for a visit. I think Latham is really talented; I think he’s got a chance to be really special. And then Amarius Mims. Steelers went to his Pro Day. He was in for a visit as well, along with Fuaga.
“So, for me right now, if I had to take an educated guess on where their big board was, I would say Fuaga number one, then Latham and Mims two, three. But I just don’t think Fuaga is gonna be there at 20.”
Questioning if Fuaga is going to be there at No. 20 is nothing new for Fittipaldo. In fact, just last week during an appearance on the 93.7 The Fan PM Show with co-hosts Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, Fittipaldo stated that the Steelers would most likely have to trade up to land Fuaga, much like they did last year to get Broderick Jones in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
That might be true, but it’s not unthinkable that he’d be there at No. 20 overall. NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zierlein paired Fuaga with the Steelers at No. 20 overall in his latest mock draft, calling him the most technically sound, pass-blocking tackle in the class, too.
All that said though, Fuaga doesn’t check all the boxes in the way that Mims does. The Steelers only sent offensive line coach Pat Meyer to Oregon State’s Pro Day, where he put Fuaga through position drills, whereas head coach Mike Tomlin and GM Omar Khan attended Mims’ Pro Day at Georgia. Though the big offensive tackle didn’t do anything at his Pro Day while still recovering from the hamstring injury suffered at the Combine, the fact that Tomlin and Khan were there is notable when it comes to Mims and the first round.
Of course, this could be the year that the Steelers shake the trend of needing Tomlin and the GM to be at a prospect’s Pro Day. They’ve gone against the grain quite a bit this offseason.
There is obviously quite bit of interest in Fuaga though. He’d plug a major area of need at right tackle, allowing Jones to move back to the left side, giving Pittsburgh two strong bookend tackles to work with.
We’ll see what direction the Steelers go later this month in just 17 days.
