Most mock drafts at this point have the Pittsburgh Steelers going with either Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders or Derrick Harmon in the first round. Todd McShay threw a wrench into things with his latest mock draft and had the Steelers going in a completely different direction.
“If Shedeur Sanders were to slide here, he could be in play as a pick for the future. With Sanders and Jaxson Dart off the board, though, I don’t see Pittsburgh taking Jalen Milroe or any other quarterback,” McShay wrote via The McShay Report. “I put DT Derrick Hermon here in Mock 2.0, and it makes sense in terms of need. But don’t be surprised if [Nick] Emmanwori is the pick. In this division, you need great safety play to deal with the offensive attacks of Cincinnati and Baltimore.”
A safety might come as a surprise to some, but our Alex Kozora has been writing about this possibility for weeks.
The Steelers’ division is loaded with some of the best quarterback play in the league. Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow are among the elite, and they aren’t going away anytime soon. You could argue that safety isn’t a need with Minkah Fitzpatrick, DeShon Elliott and now Juan Thornhill on the roster. But Elliott and Thornhill will be free agents next year and Minkah Fitzpatrick’s future with the team seems uncertain given his high salary.
Emmanwori is the ultimate chess piece for a defense, and one that I think Mike Tomlin would love to have. He measured in at 6031, 220 pounds with 32 1/2-inch arms at the NFL Combine, and ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash. That 40 time was the least impressive part of his workout with 20 reps on the bench press, a 43-inch vertical and a whopping 11-6 broad jump. That type of athleticism is special and doesn’t come around too often.
Emmanwori has experience playing free and strong safety as well as slot corner. He can be used much like Minkah Fitzpatrick at times where the Steelers would move him around as a chess piece. In 37 college games, he had 244 total tackles, four tackles for loss, six INTs, two pick-sixes, and 11 passes defensed.
“Emmanwori just visited the Steelers on April 4—and there aren’t many first-round guys on their ’30 visits’ list,” McShay wrote. “The Steelers don’t draft many guys in the early rounds that they haven’t had for visits or worked out at pro day or privately. Just call it a hunch.”
There are 26 players (excluding local prospects) on the Steelers’ reported pre-draft visit list so far. By my calculation, the first-round prospects on that list include two QBs, one RB, one WR, one DT, one EDGE, one S and a CB. That is eight of their 30 visits spent on what I would call first-round prospects. It’s possible a couple more could be coming over the final four visits.
McShay is absolutely right that the Steelers do not hide their interest. Last year five of their seven draft picks were pre-draft visitors and WR Roman Wilson was up close and personal with Mike Tomlin at the Senior Bowl as well as at Michigan Pro Day.
Because there is a safety among the short list of first-round prospect visitors, that possibility has to be taken seriously.
Check out our full scouting report on Emmanwori below.
