In the lead-up to the 2024 NFL Draft, which kicks off in 13 days in Detroit, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been connected to a number of players in the first round, including players along the offensive line, wide receiver and cornerback.
Much has been debated about regarding the direction the Steelers should go in at No. 20 overall, whether that’s getting another running mate for cornerback Joey Porter Jr., adding a high-end receiver to give new quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields another weapon opposite George Pickens, or landing a building block at center or offensive tackle.
For ESPN’s Louis Riddick, who appeared on The Fan Morning Show with hosts Adam Crowley and Dorin Dickerson, the Steelers need to do one thing and one thing only: get another bully.
“I think building that team inside out and making sure that you get another bully is what is what I like to call,” Riddick said of what he’d do in the first round for the Steelers, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “And really, that’s kind of how the players and even even the coaches at Pittsburgh, like to kind of term it when they’re talking about a guy like Broderick Jones, getting someone who can kind of dictate what they want to do. I think that’s probably where, if I was there, that’s what I would be thinking.
“I’m sure that’s kinda along the lines of what Mike [Tomlin] is thinking and what Omar [Khan] is thinking. And honestly, with Arthur Smith being there as the new OC and considering where he comes from, especially going all the way back to one of his days in Tennessee when he was offensive coordinator, that’s what I would think that they would try to do.”
Adding another bully would be big for the Steelers, who are very clearly building a certain identity, at least offensively.
Late in the 2023 season, the Steelers leaned heavily into the ground-and-pound style, beating up on teams as the run game became one of the best in the NFL in the second half of the season as running backs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren simply took over games. But, the offensive line still needs work overall.
There is no center after the release of Mason Cole in late February, and the tackle position still has concerns as Dan Moore Jr. was the worst pass-blocking tackle in football last season and Broderick Jones hit a rookie wall late in the year. In a deep and exceptionally talented offensive tackle class in the NFL Draft, the Steelers would be wise to get into the mix there.
So far in free agency, the Steelers haven’t addressed the trenches on the offensive side of the football, outside of signing depth tight end MyCole Pruitt, who is known more for his blocking. The Steelers missed out on a number of center options like Lloyd Cushenberry III, Aaron Brewer, Matt Hennessy and more, though they very clearly didn’t want to dive into a center market that was a bit outrageous from a financial perspective.
For Riddick though, it’s all about getting a bully and continuing to build through that identity. That can come through the draft.
To do that, selecting Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson would play perfectly into that, at least from Riddick’s perspective, even over a guy like Georgia’s Amarius Mims, who appears to have a high ceiling and would provide the Steelers with a terrific bookend at tackle with fellow former Georgia teammate Broderick Jones.
“Look, Amarius is a freak of nature with his size and his athletic ability. So having a bookend for Broderick and having those two guys on the edges would be beautiful. But Jackson Powers Johnson, if you watch this tape at Oregon, this is a dude who was just straight up nasty,” Riddick said of Powers-Johnson. “And he would probably, he would be the guy who Pittsburgh has always had that center. That has been kind of like the fulcrum, kind of been like the anchor of the offensive line all through its best days. Going back to the days when I was in Cleveland, where Dermotti Dawson was the center then, and they Pouncey recently, they need that guy.
“…And it’s a great team building discussion and just because of, again, because of their history and their identity and what it’s been and what that position has meant to them to nail that position down and continue to build this team right up the middle and make sure that they’re taken care of right up the middle, that’s a position they have to solidify. And it would be something I would seriously consider and probably, maybe, where I would go provided that the player, I think, fits everything that we want to do from a cultural perspective.”
That’s a well thought out response from Riddick regarding the question between Mims and Powers-Johnson at No. 20 overall, should both be on the board when the Steelers are on the clock. Riddick’s comments about Powers-Johnson also match comments that former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz made Thursday regarding the Oregon center being a “Pittsburgh guy.”
From a positional value perspective, the center position simply doesn’t have that value in today’s NFL like tackle does, which can be considered one of the premium positions in football, period.
But even though center might not have a high value overall, it still holds some significant importance in today’s game. Some of the great teams in today’s NFL have outstanding centers, like the Kansas City Chiefs and Creed Humphrey, the Baltimore Ravens and Tyler Linderbaum, most recently the Philadelphia Eagles and the now-retired Jason Kelce.
Even names like Frank Ragnow in Detroit and Connor Williams most recently of the Miami Dolphins (still an unrestricted free agent) are among the high-end centers in the NFL for very good teams. You have to have that player that not only fits your culture, but your scheme offensively. The Steelers haven’t had that at the position, even for all the leadership Mason Cole brought to the team the last two seasons.
Getting a guy like Powers-Johnson could help fix that for the Steelers, at least in Riddick’s view.
It is coming up on four seasons since Maurkice Pouncey retired following the 2020 season, ending a terrific 10-year tenure in the Black and Gold. In that 10-year career, Pouncey earned nine trips to the Pro Bowl and five First or Second Team All-Pro accolades, making him a realistic candidate for enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
One day, he’ll be in the Steelers’ Hall of Honor, too, and should be considered in the discussion as one of the best centers in franchise history with Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson.
The Steelers haven’t come close to replacing that, going with Kendrick Green for the 2021 season in a failed experiment, and then leaning on Cole for the last two seasons. Now, the 2024 NFL Draft offers serious options to potentially plug the hole at center in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future, and at a high level, too.
Find the bully.
