If you were to ask 100 Pittsburgh Steelers fans what the ideal top two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft would look like, I would wager that at least 80 percent of them would be hoping a defensive lineman is one of them. Without a second-round pick, things will start getting pretty thin by the time they are selecting in the third round.
NFL.com’s Chad Reuter didn’t get that memo.
He went through an exercise naming all 32 teams’ “ideal top two picks” and had the Steelers adding to their offense with both of them. He has North Carolina RB Omarion Hampton in the first round and Syracuse QB Kyle McCord in the third.
“Hampton can be a one-man source of offensive identity for the Steelers, who have not finished in the top 10 in passing or rushing yards in a season since 2018; with his strength between the tackles, his receiving ability and his open-field speed, he profiles as a bell-cow back,” Reuter wrote via NFL.com.
Hampton isn’t the top back in this draft class. That distinction goes to Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty, but there seems to be a consensus on him being RB2. I am of the mindset that the only way the Steelers should go with a running back in the first round is if Jeanty somehow falls all the way to No. 21. Especially given what happened with Najee Harris, who had four okay but not great years after being the team’s first-round pick in 2021.
The Steelers haven’t shown much reported interest in Hampton. We were only able to spot area scout Jarrod Highberger at UNC’s Pro Day, and there hasn’t been a pre-draft visit reported for Hampton yet. That could change, but that would be a crucial and necessary step toward possibly drafting him in the first round.
With Harris out the door, Hampton would fill the team’s need for a big-bodied back. The Steelers have been known for them over the years. Though Kenneth Gainwell and Jaylen Warren run bigger than their size would indicate, they are both smaller guys. Hampton is nearly 6-feet tall and weighed in at 221 pounds at the NFL Combine. He eclipsed the 1,500-yard mark in each of the last two seasons with over 15 TDs per year as one of the top backs in college football.
There’s little doubt to me that he would improve the offense, but would I call his selection ideal? Probably not with the significant depth at the position in this class.
Check out our scouting report on Hampton below.
As for McCord, he’s one of the few quarterbacks that the Steelers seemingly haven’t shown interest in during the pre-draft process. That could change with a few weeks left of pre-draft visits, but they only sent scouting intern Anthony Rooney to Syracuse Pro Day.
“The team still needs a young quarterback. Keeping Syracuse’s McCord in the Rust Belt makes sense; he is a potential starter with the arm arrogance to throw into tight windows and the mobility to make throws on the run and pick up first downs with his feet,” Reuter wrote.
Our Josh Carney wrote glowing reports from the East-West Shrine Bowl week on McCord’s performance, but the buzz just hasn’t been there for the Steelers to potentially select him in the third round. Not with some of the other needs they have to address.
McCord measured in at 6030, 218 pounds at the Combine and threw for nearly 5,000 yards in his lone season at Syracuse. He even received some Heisman votes in the process. I do think he has some intriguing traits, but not for this price tag. Again, far from an ideal pick in my eyes.
Check out our scouting report on McCord below.
Where would this leave the Steelers’ d-line? Is it really worth punting on one of the best d-line classes in years to get a quarterback who is probably viewed as a long-term backup?
