Overall, the 2024 NFL Draft class for the Pittsburgh Steelers has drawn rave reviews. The Steelers beefed up the offensive line in a major way, landed a wide receiver who fits their overall play style and mentality, and added a linebacker who has draw some comparisons to a future Hall of Famer.
But despite some of the rave reviews, not every selection that Steelers’ GM Omar Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl made over the weekend has been met with applause.
For CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards, the selection of Iowa defensive lineman Logan Lee at No. 178 overall in the sixth round was the Steelers’ “most questionable” pick of the draft.
“Pittsburgh leaned into its physical identity with the selections of offensive linemen Troy Fautanu, Mason McCormick and Zach Frazier. They do a good job incorporating hybrid defensive linemen capable of fulfilling multiple roles but Lee lacks the physicality that I have come to associate with the Steelers front,” Edwards writes.
The Steelers leaned into the physical identity along the offensive line with the additions of Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick, and then added depth with Lee. While the three offensive linemen meet the physicality identity the Steelers are learning into, Lee doesn’t exactly fit that.
But context matters.
The Lee selection makes sense overall because he checks all the boxes — literally — that the Steelers look for along the defensive line, from size, weight, length and athleticism to experience. Outside of Lee, names like Missouri’s Darius Robinson, LSU’s Maason Smith and Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro checked all the boxes for the Steelers.
Great company to be in for Lee.
Lee might not be the biggest, strongest or fastest, but he does all the little things well, can play up and down the line of scrimmage and just fits the “Steelers mold” that defensive line coach Karl Dunbar talked about shortly after his selection.
When you take all those things into consideration, he’s not a questionable pick by any stretch. He needs to add just a bit more weight to hold up in the NFL as that true 5-tech defensive end in the Steelers’ scheme. While he might not have been the early addition to the defensive line that many wanted for the Steelers, who are aging rather quickly in that position group, Lee is a player who should be able to step in right away for the Steelers from a depth perspective, assuming he makes the roster, potentially giving the Steelers some decent snaps.
