In the first iteration of his mock draft, Peter Schrager had the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting LSU WR Brian Thomas Jr., and he is sticking to his guns in the final attempt this morning on the day of the draft. Here is what he had to say about the pick:
“I still think there’s a giant move to be made by Pittsburgh at WR. Could it be for Brandon Aiyuk? If not, Thomas is a special talent who helped himself at the NFL Scouting Combine as much as any player at the position. I had this match in my first mock and am holding steady here.”
With a new set of quarterbacks and a new-look offense under OC Arthur Smith, the Steelers definitely have a need to fill opposite WR George Pickens. It’d be a shame to have inadequate weapons to make the system work, and Thomas would provide the team with another dynamic target.
At 6027, 209 pounds, and with 32 3/4-inch arms, Thomas ran an impressive 4.33-second 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. In terms of measurables, he is the cream of the crop at the position outside of maybe Marvin Harrison Jr., who opted out of all testing in the pre-draft process. Pairing him with Pickens would give the Steelers two highly athletic options to stretch the field, which is perfectly suited for Russell Wilson’s talents as a deep passer.
The only hang up here is the fact that the Steelers did not demonstrate a ton of interest in him during the pre-draft process. It is rare that the first-round pick doesn’t come in for a pre-draft visit, or at the very least have one of Mike Tomlin or Omar Khan at his pro day, though assistant GM Andy Weidl was there. Thomas wasn’t at any of the All-Star games either, so the team really hasn’t had a ton of exposure to him in the process compared to many of the other prospects.
There is also the chance that the WR need is filled before the Steelers ultimately make their first-round selection, as Schrager noted with the possibility of Brandon Aiyuk in a trade. While the WR trade rumors have been in circulation for a month, things finally started to seem possible when the Steelers reportedly cleared cap space via an Alex Highsmith contract restructure on Tuesday. This is something our Dave Bryan wrote about as a signal that such a trade could be coming with previously inadequate salary cap space to accommodate many of the trade targets.
This mock leaves the Steelers in a precarious situation with their offensive line, with both center and right tackle being top needs for them. By the time the Steelers were on the clock, Amarius Mims, Taliese Fuaga, Olu Fashanu, Joe Alt, and JC Latham were all off the board. That left Troy Fautanu as an option, and all of the centers were still on the board as well. OL Graham Barton ended up off the board as the only center in Round 1.
This scenario could set the table for a Steelers trade up in the second round to acquire one of the two remaining centers or sweating it out as they hope one of the two falls to No. 51.
For an in-depth scouting report on Brian Thomas Jr. check out Alex Kozora’s post below:
