The Pittsburgh Steelers look to be on the path of improving as a team in 2024, with some major additions, including Russell Wilson and Patrick Queen. But the team still has a number of needs that need to be addressed in the 2024 NFL Draft, namely at center, cornerback, wide receiver and potentially offensive tackle. ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller wrote for ESPN.com today that a team source told him that the Steelers are going to focus on their offensive line needs in the first round, and Miller believes it could be with a right tackle.
“I can’t tell you the player, but I can tell you it’ll be an offensive lineman,” said one team source. There has been buzz about Pittsburgh adding a wide receiver at No. 20, but the feeling I got in making calls to teams this week is that the Steelers believe they’re an elite team at drafting receiver talent outside the top 32 picks, and history backs that up. So someone like Georgia’s Amarius Mims or Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton might make sense here. Either right tackle prospect would allow last year’s first-rounder Broderick Jones to move to his more natural position after a strong rookie season on the right side.”
The Steelers haven’t drafted a wide receiver in the first round since Santonio Holmes in 2006, and since then, they’ve managed to find quality receiver talent on Day 2 or later. With a receiver class this year that’s deep with lots of talent, it would make sense for the Steelers to wait until Day 2 to target the position to try and replace the loss of Diontae Johnson, who the team traded to the Carolina Panthers.
While cornerback could then become a priority in the first round, Miller seems to think and has been told that the Steelers are going with an offensive lineman. Whether that player is a tackle like Mims or Guyton, as he suggests, remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a possibility. The Steelers got their bookend tackle of the future in Broderick Jones in the first round last season, trading up to select him, and rebuilding the trenches has been a priority. With Jones playing out of position at right tackle last season, drafting someone the team can stick on the right side and move Jones back to the left side, something Omar Khan said is in the cards eventually, would make sense.
But with a dire need at center, it can’t be ruled out, either. Jackson Powers-Johnson had a pre-draft visit with the team yesterday, and he and Graham Barton are potential options in the first round if the Steelers address center. While taking an offensive tackle in the first round means the Steelers are getting a talented player and future starter at a position of need, pushing both center and wide receiver down the line could end up being a risky decision. But with the depth of the receiver class and a number of intriguing mid-round centers, such as Penn State’s Hunter Nourzad or Arkansas’ Beaux Limmer available, it’s a path that the Steelers could consider and is one that is realistic.
Pittsburgh can attack this draft in several different ways. After the way he handled it in 2023, I don’t think anyone doubts that Omar Khan will find a way to make this Steelers team better with a nice injection of talent.
