With most of the pre-draft process in the books, the dot connecting and blue’s clues of it all suggests that Georgia OT Amarius Mims is the favorite in the clubhouse to be the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first-round pick in a little under two weeks from now. They had a large contingent at his pro day, brought him in for a pre-draft visit and had a formal meeting with him at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. He fits a position of need at right tackle with a desire to move Broderick Jones back to the left side.
But the second-most popular name for the Steelers in draft analysts’ minds is Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson. It’s an even larger immediate need than at tackle, and GM Omar Khan talked about finding the next great Steelers center at the combine last month.
Steelers insider Mark Kaboly of The Athletic appeared on 93.7 The Fan this afternoon, and discussed who the pick could be at 20th overall if not Mims.
“Looks like Mims will be there at 20. That doesn’t necessarily mean that will be the guy,” Kaboly said. “I would be pretty much putting my money on a tackle over Mims at this point right now. I mean if there’s a JC Latham around, I would love to have him, but as it looks like right now…he’s probably gone at the top 12 or top 15, but the Steelers move up to get him?”
While Mims may have unmatched potential among tackles in this draft class, he only has eight college starts to his name, and that inexperience is reason for pause in the first round. The essence of what Kaboly is saying is that if it isn’t Mims, it will be another tackle — not a center.
The value is much better at tackle in the first round. Rarely more than one or possibly two centers go on day one of the draft, and when it comes time to give these players their second contracts, centers come much cheaper than tackles do.
“Those guys don’t grow on trees,” Kaboly said. “You’re not gonna go spend $18 to $20 million on a tackle in free agency. Those guys, if they’re good, don’t really come on the free agency market. So if you’re gonna address that position, you do it high in the draft and you keep ’em around for 10 years.”
Drafting a tackle in the first round could create an uncomfortable situation at center, but the Steelers have some extra draft capital to move up in the second round, if needed. They could also conceivably move up in the first, as they did last year, to grab a guy like Latham if he is around after the 15th pick or so. If you don’t get a right tackle, you delay the transition of Jones to the left side and risk stunting his development when he inevitably moves back over to the left.
Other right tackle options that could go in the first round include Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga and BYU’s Kingsley Suamataia.
