The 2024 NFL Draft just ended on Saturday evening, and the dust is still settling on the madness that was the three days in Detroit. Despite knowing that, it’s never too early to look ahead to this time in 2025.
Pro Football Focus’ Max Chadwick did just that Monday morning, releasing his way-too-early 2025 NFL Mock Draft.
Though there is significant projection here from Chadwick as things can change drastically in the next year — heck, I wrote this time last year a way-too-early mock with the Steelers landing LSU’s Maason Smith in the first round — it’s a bit fun to look forward a year and see how things could look.
In Chadwick’s mock draft, the Steelers address receiver early on, taking Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan at No. 14 overall, somehow six spots worse than where the Steelers picked this year.
“Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan could be the best receiver in college football in 2024. He has a Mike Evans-esque frame and finished 2023 with an 89.1 receiving grade and nearly 1,400 receiving yards,” Chadwick writes. “McMillan paired with George Pickens and Roman Wilson would create a dynamic receiving corps in Pittsburgh.”
After landing Michigan’s Wilson in the third round in the 2024 NFL Draft at No. 84 overall, the Steelers still have a major need at the position. Pittsburgh, as is well-known, traded standout receiver Diontae Johnson to the Carolina Panthers ahead of free agency, creating a major hole.
The Steelers added depth in free agency, landing Van Jefferson and Quez Watkins on cheap, one-year deals before then drafting Wilson to pair with Pickens. But there is still a real concern at the position overall.
The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly stated on 93.7 The Fan’s Morning Show Monday that the Steelers are snooping around the receiver market looking for help post-draft, but that wouldn’t bring in an elite-level player like a Brandon Aiyuk or Deebo Samuel, or a dependable veteran like Courtland Sutton.
Instead, it would be a serviceable veteran who would at least raise the floor some in the Steelers’ receiver room in 2024.
To really address the need at the position, the Steelers would likely have to wait until the 2025 NFL Draft, and McMillan would be quite the add.
PFF ranked McMillan as the No. 9 player on the way-too-early top 50 Big Board for the 2025 NFL Draft and had this to say about him.
“If you throw it McMillan’s way, there’s a very good chance he’ll come down with it. There are two main reasons for that. The first is that he presents a massive target to throw to at 6-foot-5, giving him a larger catch radius than anyone on this list. His 17 contested catches in 2023 were second among FBS receivers to only Rome Odunze,” PFF writes. “The second is that he also has excellent hands, finishing with the lowest drop rate among Power Five receivers with at least 100 targets this past season (2.1%).
“Only Malik Nabers and Odunze finished with more receiving yards than McMillan this year in the Power Five (1,396), and those two were the only FBS receivers who had more receiving first downs/touchdowns than the Arizona sophomore (63).”
McMillan, a native of Waimanalo, Hawaii, was a second-team All-Pac 12 player in 2023 and a second-team All-American by a number of outlets. He’s listed at 6-foot-5, 209 pounds and recorded 90 receptions for 1,402 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
