On April 9, the Pittsburgh Steelers hosted two players for official pre-draft visits at their South Side facility. One of those prospects was a big-name player in Texas wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, but it was the little-known Mississippi State defensive lineman in Jaden Crumedy who piqued interest.
Crumedy, who is projected by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler to be a fifth or sixth rounder in the 2024 NFL Draft, was a bit of a surprise official visit, considering his projected draft status, as well as being a sixth-year senior coming out of Mississippi State.
Turns out, his official pre-draft visit to the Steelers was the only top-30 visit he had during the pre-draft process.
In an interview with The Draft Network’s Justin Melo, Crumedy only visited the Steelers in person, while holding Zoom interviews with the Tennessee Titans, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, Seattle Seahawks, and Minnesota Vikings, among others.
For Crumedy, he started to receive more attention from teams after the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. But he only had one official pre-draft visit and that was with the Steelers, which is rather noteworthy.
“I’ve been on phone calls with coaches. I went to Pittsburgh for a 30 visit with the Steelers,” Crumedy said regarding the interest he’s received in the pre-draft process. “I’ve also hopped on Zoom with almost every team. I was with the Titans, Commanders, Patriots, Raiders, Seahawks, and Vikings come to mind. It’s been a great experience for me.”
Crumedy checked in at 6040, 301 pounds with 33-inch arms. During the Combine, Crumedy clocked a 4.97 40-yard dash, registered a 29 1/2-inch vertical and an 8’9″ broad jump. Last season at Mississippi State, Crumedy recorded 35 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and 16 quarterback hurries.
The Mississippi State defensive lineman was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. He had some solid production in the SEC, finishing with 119 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.
But Crumedy will be 24 years old as a rookie, raising some concerns. He spent six seasons with the Bulldogs, redshirting in 2018. He played in 53 career games with 47 career starts.
In his scouting report for Steelers Depot, Jonathan Heitritter had this to say about Crumedy:
“Jaden Crumedy is a physical interior defender with the size, strength, and experience you look for at the position. His production as a pass rusher has been underwhelming during his college career, but he does flash moments of impressive closing speed and power as a rusher while also providing quality run defense to the equation as a defender that can start out in a rotational role on first and second down as a base 3-4 DE or 4-3 DT and work his way into a larger role with time.”
There is a real need for depth along the defensive line, and if the Steelers don’t address it early in the draft, the two picks in the sixth round at No. 178 overall and No. 195 overall are ideal spots to address it. Crumedy could be that guy, especially with the Steelers being his only official visit.
Along with Crumedy, the Steelers hosted Northern Iowa’s Khristian Boyd and Iowa’s Logan Lee, both of whom are projected to go in the same area of the draft as Crumedy. Maybe that’s the sweet spot for the Steelers in the draft to address the defensive line. We’ll find out this weekend.
