The Pittsburgh Steelers have a few avenues they can go with their first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with defensive line and quarterback the two most likely selections at this point. If the Steelers do go with a defensive lineman, ESPN’s Dan Graziano believes they would prefer to move down the board and pick up another Day 2 selection after trading their second-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks for DK Metcalf.
“If the Steelers are going to go DT in the first round, my sense is they would prefer to trade down a bit and add another Day 2 selection if possible. They might need it if they’re planning to address quarterback before the draft is over,” Graziano wrote in his insider news and notes column.
Trading down could make a lot of sense for the Steelers, especially if they feel they can still get an impact player. Oregon DL Derrick Harmon has long been thought to be a Steelers target, and he has a formal meeting with the team at the Combine while also coming in for a pre-draft visit with the Steelers. Harmon could reportedly slide due to medical concerns, meaning the Steelers could potentially trade down and still get the player many had pegged for them to take at No. 21.
A trade-down scenario could also see the Steelers potentially target someone like Ohio State’s Tyleik Williams or Toledo’s Darius Alexander, another pre-draft visitor, although the first round might be a touch too early for the latter. Regardless, the Steelers will have options if they want to move back, and doing so and adding another Day 2 pick might be one of the best paths for them to take.
An additional Day 2 pick could give them a chance to still add a quarterback, with Tyler Shough and Jalen Milroe potential options on Day 2, but in a deep draft class, it also gives them more capital to add elsewhere, whether it’s at running back, receiver or in the secondary.
It’s something that’ll be interesting to watch, especially if Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders is on the board at No. 21. If the Steelers really like Sanders, and it seems like they do given Mike Tomlin’s comments on him yesterday and reports saying his pre-draft visit went well, it might be hard for them to pass on one of the top quarterbacks in the draft and trade down. It’ll come down to how much the Steelers really do want to address their defensive line, but the option of trading down in a deep draft class is certainly alluring.
