Make your pick for the Pittsburgh Steelers at 20: Graham Barton or Amarius Mims?
The Pittsburgh Steelers are on the clock at 20 and Graham Barton and Amarius Mims are tied as the highest players on their board; how do you break the tie? Do you take the versatile athlete in Barton who could be a great interior lineman? Do you opt for the extremely high-upside tackle who has a lower floor? And how do you feel about how the rest of the draft shakes out depending on which route you take?
The Steelers could plausibly face this scenario come draft time, as a matter of fact. While they’ll have Barton and Mims ranked in some fashion, they’ll have to consider the board in that moment. You don’t necessarily just draft the highest player on your board without weighing the shifting variables.
But this isn’t a question about what the Steelers do in this scenario, it’s a question about what you would do. Omar Khan calls you up and tells you, pick between Barton and Mims and we’ll draw up the card. Whose name goes from pen to paper?
For me, I’m increasingly leaning to Mims, because I’m moving away from the idea of a stalwart center as a priority. The tackle class may be deeper, but you don’t often get to draft an Amarius Mims at 20. The reason he would be available for you is because of the depth of the class. It reminds me of the ridiculous interior defensive line class of 2011 when the Steelers landed Cameron Heyward at 31.
I like a line of Jones/Seumalo/Van Pran/Daniels/Mims more than I do Jones/Seumalo/Barton/Daniels/Moore, or some Day Two rookie like Blake Fisher. Maybe you miss out on Barton, Zach Frazier, or Jackson Powers-Johnson if you pass in the first round, granted. But the Steelers can still land the sixth- or seventh-best center in the third or fourth round as opposed to the 14th- or 15th-best tackle in the second round.
But will both Barton and Mims even be on the board for this to be a discussion for the Steelers?
The Steelers’ 2023 season has been put out of its misery, ending as so many have before in recent years: a disappointing, blowout playoff loss. The only change-up lately is when they miss the playoffs altogether. But with the Buffalo Bills stamping them out in the Wildcard Round, they have another long offseason ahead.
The biggest question hanging over the team is the quarterback question. Does Russell Wilson make them a Super Bowl-caliber team, or are they wasting a year? Will he play just one season in Pittsburgh before moving on, or the Steelers moving on from him? How will the team address the depth chart?
The Steelers are swirling with more questions this offseason than usual, frankly, though the major free agent list is less substantial than usual. It’s just a matter of…what happens next? Where do they go from here? How do they find the way forward?
