Boise State EDGE Ahmed Hassanein has been one of the most productive pass rushers in football over the past two seasons, registering 12.5 sacks in 2023 and 9.5 sacks last season. Hassanein was a standout during the four East-West Shrine Bowl practices, and Hassanein had a meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which came after he had a meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I met with the Raiders and Steelers as well. We were talking about Maxx Crosby when I was with the Raiders. I talked about playing with a great pass rusher and following in their footsteps. I want to be great like that. The Steelers overheard and they were like I guess you want to play for the Raiders (laughs). I ended up having a good meeting with the Steelers, though. They were impressed with my story. I’m just going to keep attempting to prove myself,” Hassanein told The Draft Network’s Justin Melo.
At 6024 and 273 pounds, Hassanein has good size but he’s also a fluid mover, and if the Steelers want to bolster their EDGE depth, he’s not a bad option in the middle rounds. While the Steelers have T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig solidified as their top three at the position, Jeremiah Moon didn’t make much of an impact when he got defensive snaps last season (although he does have special teams value) while Preston Smith is likely to be cut this offseason. Finding another impact pass rusher might be an underrated need for Pittsburgh.
Hassanein told Melo that he grew up in Egypt and didn’t start playing football until he was 18, and while it was a “sloppy” start, he started watching Aaron Donald and learned to fine-tune his game. Learning how to play football and excel late in life isn’t easy, and that work ethic to get to the point of being someone who could wind up being drafted in April is impressive.
Hassanein also mentioned that he had meetings with the Seahawks, Cowboys, Colts and Chiefs that he felt went well at the Shrine Bowl. He was clearly one of the better EDGE rushers during practices. His speed to power was impressive, and he also had a decent array of moves, including an impressive swim move that he broke out a few times, that made him hard to stop.
Given Ahmed Hassanein’s production over the past two years at Boise State and good size and tools, it’s not surprising that the Steelers are interested in him. While EDGE isn’t even close to their top need, it’s a position they may look to address later in the draft, and Hassanein could certainly be a fit.
