The 2024 NFL Draft is just one day away, which could generate quite a few headlines as teams continue to finalize their draft boards, check in with teams regarding potential trades, up or down, and largely cross their I’s and dot their T’s.
Buckle up, because the next 24-48 hours will be crazy.
For Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness, the window between right now and the start of the draft in Detroit Thursday night was the perfect time for final predictions for each NFL team.
In his piece for PFF.com, McGuinness predicts that the Steelers will trade up in the first round for the second year in a row, doing so for another offensive lineman.
“The Steelers made a small jump in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft to land tackle Broderick Jones. He flashed enough as a rookie, with six starts of earning a 60.0-plus PFF grade, that they should feel good about that move. Pittsburgh owns the 20th overall selection in this draft, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the team trade up three to four spots to grab another offensive lineman,” McGuinness writes as his prediction for the Steelers.
Last season, Pittsburgh moved up from No. 17 overall to No. 14 with the New England Patriots, landing Georgia offensive tackle Broderick Jones. Jones went on to start 11 games in the regular season and then started the Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills for Pittsburgh as well.
Now, entering the 2024 NFL Draft, the Steelers still have a major need at offensive tackle and have been connected heavily to names like Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, Washington’s Troy Fautanu, Alabama’s JC Latham, and Georgia’s Amarius Mims, not to mention centers like Duke’s Graham Barton, Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson and West Virginia’s Zach Frazier.
Steelers GM Omar Khan has shown an aggressive side in the trade market, obviously having moved up last season to get the guy they coveted. He also has done some wheeling and dealing this offseason, trading wide receiver Diontae Johnson and quarterback Kenny Pickett, and acquiring the likes of quarterback Justin Fields and cornerback Donte Jackson in trades.
Though the offensive tackle class is pretty deep, if the Steelers truly covet a specific guy, Khan and Co. could pull the trigger again to move up and land him. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities, and even Steelers beat reporters like the Post-Gazette’s Ray Fittipaldo and The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly believe that a trade up in the first round is likely from the Steelers’ perspective.
We’ll see how the board shakes out Thursday night. If there is a run on tackles, or a player that the Steelers clearly like falls, don’t be surprised if Khan makes a move up the board.
