Technically, Pro Football Focus wrote a Day 3 mock draft for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But really, they’re picks that should be mocked instead. Spinning the mock draft dial one last time heading into Saturday, Rounds 4 through 7, the Steelers’ selections are so bad that if they became reality, GM Omar Khan must’ve stepped down from his post last night. And been replaced by a blindfolded man throwing a dart at the team’s draft board.
Author Gordon McGuinness gives the Steelers two running backs and another wide receiver over Pittsburgh’s trio of Day Three selections. I understand Arthur Smith’s offense likes to be deep at running back. But everyone has to have a limit.
At No. 119 in the fourth round, Pittsburgh drafts Kentucky RB Ray Davis. A short but stocky back, he was a double transfer, beginning his career at Temple in 2019, transferring to Vanderbilt in 2021, and finishing out Kentucky in 2023. Davis has rushed for over 1,000 yards in the SEC the last two seasons and broke out with 14 rushing scores. At the Combine, Davis weighed in at 5083, 211 pounds and ran a 4.52 40 with a 35-inch vertical and put up 21 reps on the bar at his Wildcats Pro Day.
Pittsburgh doesn’t pick again until early in the sixth round at No. 178. Here, they take Oregon State WR Anthony Gould. A small wideout at 5083, 174 pounds, he ran 4.39 at the NFL Scouting Combine and jumped 39.5 inches in the vert with a 10’9″ broad. His shuttle times were solid at 4.16 in the short shuttle and a 6.94 three-cone. A playmaker, he averaged over 16 yards per catch his last two years for the Beavers, combining for nearly 1,200 yards and five scores the past two seasons. But another small receiver feels redundant in a room with Calvin Austin III and the newly drafted Roman Wilson, who is bigger but not a big wideout.
Coming in at No. 195, the team’s final pick, is a second running back. Troy’s Kimani Vidal. Why a second running back? His mock offers no explanations for the pick and good luck brainstorming one. Vidal is a fine prospect regarded as a sleeper by some, highly productive with over 1,600 yards in 2023, but like Davis, is short at 5-8 with questions about his pass protection.
Drafting Davis and Vidal would give Pittsburgh five running backs, excluding Future contract names like Aaron Shampklin, in addition to Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren, and Cordarrelle Patterson. Maybe, and this is a crazy thought, a cornerback would be nice to have. Or as a goof, for laughs, a defensive lineman.
Instead, this mock draft is the “oops, all running backs” breakfast cereal.
I assume McGuinness, in his haste to post a mock draft at 1 AM, didn’t realize he had already given the Steelers a running back when he mocked them Vidal. I’ve been there with seven-round mock drafts, leaving out names and scrambling to make all the pieces fit on the fly. It’s a bad time. But this was the published copy and if this is how Pittsburgh’s final three picks play out, Khan is going to have some explaining to do.
