The Pittsburgh Steelers grabbed Jack Sawyer early on Saturday, taking him near the end of the fourth round. For most NFL players, regardless of where they go in the draft, simply hearing their name called can be a dream come true.
That’s exactly how Sawyer is feeling as he heads to Pittsburgh.
“Oh, I love it,” Sawyer said of coming to Pittsburgh, speaking with the media in a conference call shortly after being drafted. “It’s a dream come true. You know, to be able to play in the National Football League, and for such a storied franchise like the Pittsburgh Steelers and a coach like Mike Tomlin. I mean, it’s just a dream come true.”
Sawyer is joining a defensive line in Pittsburgh which is gaining a ton of depth. Before he was selected, the Steelers took DL Derrick Harmon in the first round Thursday. Then, shortly after Sawyer’s selection, Pittsburgh again took a defensive lineman in Yahya Black out of Iowa. Sawyer is more of an edge than those two, but he’s another addition to that line in general. He’s coming off a pretty productive 2024 season in which he had nine sacks.
Sawyer’s fit with the Steelers should be a good one. There are a number of things he does well, and Pittsburgh’s defensive coordinator Teryl Austin claimed Saturday that his run defense was one way in which he could help Pittsburgh. In totality, Sawyer had several different roles at Ohio State. At times, he simply played on the edge, his natural position. However, he also has experience dropping into coverage and lining up on the interior.
He doesn’t do all of those things especially well just yet, but he does have experience. That in itself will be valuable in terms of depth for the Steelers, especially in a year when they plan to move T.J. Watt around more.
Notably, there is now a lot of depth in that OLB room. Nick Herbig is already looking for more opportunities, and the Steelers obviously have T.J. Watt, although he’s heading into the final year of his deal. Julian Welschof and Jeremiah Moon are two more names to keep in mind, too.
Austin thinks things will sort themselves out in terms of the depth chart. No matter how much of a role Jack Sawyer plays in his rookie year, he’s quality depth to add to the roster. It sounds like he’s pretty excited about becoming a Steeler.
