The 2023 NFL Draft looks like it was a good one for the Pittsburgh Steelers. First-round pick OT Broderick Jones looks like he could help anchor the offensive line for years to come. And second-round pick CB Joey Porter Jr. has all the makings of an elite shutdown corner.
But with everything we now know about the 2023 NFL season, how would the Steelers draft have gone? Ian Valentino of The 33rd Team did a 2023 NFL re-draft, and the Steelers would look vastly different. Valentino had the Steelers pick QB Bryce Young with the 14th overall pick.
“There’s no way around that Bryce Young struggled mightily as a rookie,” Valentino wrote. “But he would’ve had a higher chance of succeeding in a more stable environment with some playmakers. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh needed a more dynamic and fast-thinking quarterback to make anything Matt Canada drew up seem viable. Young still wouldn’t have been a star right away in Pittsburgh, but his talent would’ve been more on display in a better situation.”
It’s hard to think that the Steelers’ offensive situation in 2023 could have been considered “better” than that of any other team in the league. Yet that might just be true when looking at the 2023 Carolina Panthers.
When the Panthers drafted Young first overall, they pictured pairing him with head coach Frank Reich to help develop him. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Young, and Reich, the team lost its first six games and won only once in their first 13 games. Reich was fired after the Panthers’ 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 12. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor stepped in for the season’s final six games, and the Panthers would only win one more game.
Young finished his rookie season with a 59.8-percent completion percentage and threw for 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. It was an ugly season for everyone involved with the Panthers.
So yes, the Panthers were in a worse situation than a Pittsburgh team with Canada as offensive coordinator. Could Young have been more productive than former Steelers QB Kenny Pickett? Young’s top targets in Carolina were Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo, and DJ Chark.
Young would have been throwing to Diontae Johnson (who, ironically, he will be throwing to in Carolina during the 2024 season) as well as George Pickens and TE Pat Freiermuth. The Steelers, even under Canada, were a much better running team than the Panthers with Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders.
So perhaps Young could have had a much better rookie season in Pittsburgh versus Carolina.
As for the Steelers first-round draft pick in 2023, Jones only slipped two spots and was taken 16th overall by the Washington Commanders. As for Porter, he vaulted from the first pick of the second round all the way to the Top 10 but stuck around in Pennsylvania. Valentino had the Philadelphia Eagles selecting Porter ninth overall. Even second-round pick DT Keeanu Benton found his way into the first round, going 26th overall to the Dallas Cowboys. Evidently, Valentino thought the Steelers and general manager Omar Khan made some great choices with their first three picks in 2023.
It would be hard to envision the Steelers without Jones and especially Porter. Porter could be a cornerstone of the secondary for the next decade. But the Steelers do not have a long-term solution at quarterback. Could Young have been that? Who knows?
