The best player available when the Pittsburgh Steelers select in the first round may well be a player they’ll never draft: Georgia TE Brock Bowers. Pro Football Focus’ Steve Palazzolo thinks they or any team should do it anyway, even if he knows they won’t.
“I don’t think any team actually does this, [but] I am a big believer in literally taking the best players available and almost ignoring your current roster if you do it the right way and avoiding the bias”, he said on 93.7 The Fan recently, describing the Steelers’ first-round options. “You can make Brock Bowers work. I mean, he’s immediately your number one slot. I think he’s a top-10 player in this draft”.
A 6-3 pass catcher out of Georgia, Bowers is clearly a receiver before he is a blocker. Over three seasons for the Bulldogs, he caught 175 passes in 40 games for 2,538 yards and 26 touchdowns. He’s coming off his least productive season, though that’s because he only played in 10 games. He undeniably has the potential to be an elite pass-catcher out of the slot, and the Steelers need that.
“You make it work with Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington. You just make it work”, Palazzolo insisted. “And I think the tight end name and label with Brock Bowers is similar to what Buffalo did with Dalton Kincaid. They said, ‘Hey, he’s our slot receiver’. They fed him the ball. Bowers is a better prospect than Kincaid, and he is an absolute weapon and playmaker. I would sprint to the podium to make that move anywhere 15 or later in this draft”.
The Bills drafted Kincaid in the first round in 2023 and he had an immediate impact. As a rookie last season, he caught 73 passes for 673 yards and two touchdowns during the regular season. He added another eight receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown in two playoff games, including a win over Pittsburgh.
The Steelers already have a full tight end room, however, including Brock Bowers’ college teammate in Washington. Freiermuth is already their receiving tight end who hasn’t developed sufficiently as a blocker. They also have Connor Heyward, Rodney Williams, and MyCole Pruitt to serve various roles.
In truth, the Steelers drafting Bowers is not a bad idea at all, in a vacuum. He is likely a far better receiver than Freiermuth will ever be, and accordingly, you can letter the latter walk. Freiermuth is due to hit unrestricted free agency in 2025, so if you draft Brock Bowers, you don’t have to extend or re-sign Freiermuth.
Then you have Washington as your lead blocker, who has extensive experience already playing with Bowers. You’ll have a host of Bulldogs, actually, with OT Broderick Jones and WR George Pickens on the same championship team.
The problem with that is the Steelers simply have bigger concerns—literally—elsewhere of equal value. They need multiple starting linemen, and the value is there with the 20th overall pick. Brock Bowers deserves to go in the top 20, but for Pittsburgh, it’s just not the logical move. Palazzolo can run all he wants, but it’s not happening, not in Pittsburgh, even if it’s fun the think about.
