The Pittsburgh Steelers have hit a proverbial home run through the first two days of the 2024 NFL Draft, adding two key pieces to their offensive line in Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier while adding Roman Wilson to the wide receiver room and quality linebacker depth in Payton Wilson. On Good Morning Football this morning, former NFL cornerback and current analyst Jason McCourty said that the Steelers are a team that he can’t wait to watch this season following their strong draft through the first two days of it.
“A team that I’m looking at also in the AFC is the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mike Tomlin caught a lot of flack last year, but he still got his team to the playoffs and went through multiple quarterbacks. This offseason, obviously the talk has been Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, the two new quarterbacks that are going to be leading that organization,” McCourty said. “You look at their draft, they go two offensive linemen in Zach Frazier and Troy Fautanu and they trying to shore up, and we already talked about it, you got these quarterbacks, but we already know what their bread and butter is. You have two running backs in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren, you’re going to run the rock right at people.”
McCourty also praised the move to draft Roman Wilson in the third round and said he’s “fired up” to see the Steelers take the field this season.
Russell Wilson will likely get the first crack to start for the Steelers, and while the Steelers are going to focus on being a ground-and-pound team with a heavy dose of play-action under Arthur Smith, he’s going to be an upgrade at quarterback. Shoring up the offensive line with Fautanu and Frazier will help protect him and give him time to throw, and both of those guys are also maulers who should help improve Pittsburgh’s rushing attack.
We saw the run game improve after Broderick Jones was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 9 last season, and the Steelers now add two guys who should excel in the run game and could both be Day 1 starters on the offensive line. Wide receiver was a major need for the Steelers heading into the draft and Roman Wilson fell to them in the third round. His versatility is something that should play really well in Arthur Smith’s offense and he can be a weapon in the slot or outside.
The Steelers still have needs to address to become a more well-rounded team, and with three picks on Day 3 the team will likely address defensive line and cornerback in some capacity. They also could look to add more in free agency, especially with veterans getting released after the draft, with this team built to win now. It’s going to be a fun team to watch this season, and the Steelers will look to build off their 10-7 campaign in 2023 and try to make some noise in the postseason with a new-look roster.
