Where do the Pittsburgh Steelers rank Georgia T Amarius Mims among tackles in the 2024 NFL Draft?
Almost everybody assumes the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to draft a new starting tackle in the 2024 NFL Draft. Many of those same people strongly suspect the tackle they draft will be Amarius Mims. The incredibly talented but inexperienced young tackle out of Georgia most perceive as a mid- to late- first–round selection.
And that just so happens to fit with where the Steelers pick at 20th overall, aside from their confirmed interest. But the real question is, where do they actually rank him among tackles in this year’s class? We can’t even assume that the Steelers intend to draft a tackle in the first round, but if they do, and they have their pick of several options, where does Mims fall within that?
The interesting thing about this year’s tackle class is that there are some divergences of opinion. The tackles are differentiated enough that many suspect teams will rank them very differently from each other.
Still, there is largely a core cluster of players that outsiders perceive near the top of the class. Almost everybody puts Joe Alt at the top, with other names like Taliese Fuaga, Troy Fautanu, and Olumuyiwa Fashanu following. You also have Tyler Guyten, J.C. Latham, and Mims rounding out the top—and Graham Barton if you consider him.
Outside of Alt, you can make an argument for most of these players potentially falling to or near the Steelers. They traded up a few spots last year to make sure that they got Broderick Jones. Is there a prospect in this cluster for whom they would trade up, if there is a sufficient run on the position?
Mims arguably has the most talent and highest upside of all the players listed above. He also perhaps quite possibly has the lowest floor, or among the lowest, largely ascribed to his inexperience. So how do the Steelers juggle these qualities relative to their positional rankings?
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?
