With just over three weeks remaining until the 2024 NFL Draft, the mock drafts are starting to kick into high gear. The pro day circuit is mostly finished, so all that is remaining are the pre-draft visits where teams get their last chance to speak with prospects in a formal setting. The Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be narrowing their focus to offensive tackles, wide receivers, and centers as three of the most urgent roster holes to fill early in the draft. NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein just published his latest mock draft and had Oregon State RT Taliese Fuaga falling all the way to the Steelers at pick 20.
“Pittsburgh adds a pass-protecting technician at right tackle, allowing first-rounder Broderick Jones to kick over to the left side and giving the Steelers a promising, young bookend set,” Zierlein wrote in his post on NFL.com.
During a media session at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, Steelers GM Omar Khan stated that Broderick Jones was drafted to be a left tackle and he will move back there eventually. Fortunately, there are a number of highly touted right tackle prospects in this year’s draft crop. Fuaga, Amarius Mims, Tyler Guyton, and JC Latham are all potential first-round picks who played on the right side in college.
With a number of offensive tackles projected to go in the top two rounds of the draft, it is difficult to determine in what order they will be drafted. Lately Fuaga has been going in the top 10 or 15 picks in many analysts’ mock drafts. If he is available at 20, it would be hard to pass up on him. With 25 starts at Oregon State, he has solid experience and is still relatively young, turning 22 on April 5. He would have a solid chance at being the Week 1 starter at right tackle. His floor is higher than a prospect like Mims, who has just eight college starts, and his ceiling is still plenty high.
In Zierlein’s mock draft, Joe Alt was the first tackle off the board at No. 7, followed by Latham at No. 13, Olumuyiwa Fashanu at No. 14, and Troy Fautanu at No. 18. In this scenario, the Steelers select Fuaga with Mims still on the board and without any centers yet selected. Graham Barton was the first center prospect off the board at No. 23. All of the top right tackle prospects I listed earlier were gone by the end of the first round in this mock draft exercise.
Fuaga measured in at 6056, 324 pounds, with 33 1/8-inch arms at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. He ran a respectable 5.13-second 40-yard dash with an impressive 32-inch vertical jump.
The Steelers have shown interest in Fuaga throughout the pre-draft process. They spoke with him at the Senior Bowl in Mobile at the beginning of the process and then sent OL coach Pat Meyer to his pro day at Oregon State.
To me, this would be a slam dunk pick at No. 20 overall, and if they like him enough, Fuaga could be a guy they consider moving up a few spots for via a trade.
