The NFL Draft has come and gone. Seven new Pittsburgh Steelers selected, and a host of free agents added. Did they make good decisions? Are they moving in the right direction? Time will tell but why not speculate a little and share some thoughts.
Post-NFL Draft Ten Takes
1. Bad Timing…Again – Being a quarterback needy team is obviously not a good place to be. The Steelers have completely swapped out their quarterback room for the second year in a row. Seattle joined them this year in doing the same thing.
How hard can it be to find a quarterback? Well, it’s extremely hard actually. From 2021 – 2024, there were 44 quarterbacks selected. Twenty-three on the first two days of the draft. Of those, 11 are starters with six of those starters coming from 2024.
Just one of those starters, Brock Purdy, was not selected in the first round. Four of those drafted were Steelers at some point. (Justin Fields, Kenny Pickett, Chris Oladokun, and Skylar Thompson). The Steelers have chosen to draft quarterback in two of the worst seasons to do so.
2. Keeping it Under the Speed Limit – In my opinion, team speed has been below average for a long time. Adding DK Metcalf helps the offense and wide receiver group. With the need for a running back this year, the team had a chance to add even more speed. However, it would seem to be they stuck with what they are comfortable. A big back with average speed. Of the 24 backs who ran the 40 at the combine, 18 ran a faster time than Kaleb Johnson. While Mike Tomlin seems very comfortable with his speed, I think there was missed opportunity here.
3. Relatively Speaking – There is not team in the NFL that loves bloodlines more than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Connor Heyward, Derek Watt, Trey Edmunds, and Karlos Williams are just a few names that come to mind. All relatives of more successful Steelers players. This draft adds another name to that list in Carson Bruener, son of former tight end Mark Bruener.
Will he buck the trend and a least play to the same level as his father? Or will he be another family footnote? In reality it’s a seventh-round pick, a place where you trust your scouting department to find players that can fill a role, so I can’t really argue about the selection but there is definitely a pattern.
4. Conference Confluence – Speaking of patterns, tell me you love the Big Ten without telling me you love the Big Ten. Their first six picks in this draft were all from the Big Ten. With the expansion of conferences in college football the “ten” in Big Ten is actually eighteen so that makes this number a little less surprising. But the Steelers now have 28 players on their 90-man roster from the Big Ten conference. Ohio State leads the way with five followed by Wisconsin with four.
5. Tis Better to Not Try Than Fail – Draft prospects are put through the ringer in the months leading up to selection. Many go through multiple measurements and physical tests along the way. For some, it can help. For others, it can be damning. The NFL loves speed. Xavier Restrepo, a productive receiver at Miami who, for most of the process, looked like a day two pick.
He fell out of the draft after running a 4.86 40 on his pro day. This brings me to Jack Sawyer who chose not to do any of the athletic testing other than bench press. While that choice worked in his favor, it does worry me a bit about his athletic ability.
6. The Henry Effect – Facing off against an explosive 247-pound running back twice a year can have an effect on how you build your defense. The Steelers wanted to get bigger up front and that is exactly what they did. Derrick Harmon at 313 pounds and Yayha Black at 336 pounds are now the two largest defensive players expected to make the 53-man roster.
Three of their first four selections were to help the front seven. They weren’t alone in the division. The Bengals added three defenders in the first four picks while Cleveland’s first two picks went to defensive line and linebacker.
7. Kiper’s Conniption – The man is an innovator. He essentially invented the “draft expert” role and has thrived in it for decades. The way he acted this weekend about Shadeur Sanders being drafted in the fifth round is embarrassing. I don’t know why he acted like this. It could be that he didn’t want to be wrong based on his evaluation of Sanders. It could have been conspiracy theory that the NFL blackballed him. It could have been ESPN doing what they do. Using overkill, talking about someone/something continuously for attention and ratings.
They did this with Tom Brady, Tim Tebow, the Dallas Cowboys and Lebron James and made ESPN unwatchable for me. I prefer Daniel Jeremiah’s analysis anyway.
8. Room To Improve – This draft has included many additions to the roster but there are still some holes. The team needs a better option as the number three offensive tackle. Same goes for tight end. If Darnell Washington or Pat Freiermuth is out of the lineup for an extended period, this offense is going to have an issue. Donald Parham is a red zone option but can’t handle the blocking or being a number one. Receiver number three. Calvin Austin proved he can get open last year and having a quarterback who will throw on time and over the middle would be beneficial. And we don’t know what will come of Roman Wilson. At the outside corner position, you can never have enough depth.
9. QB1 – I haven’t really talked about this too much because there isn’t much to talk about. If Aaron Rodgers signs, I think he will be a big boost for the offense. A couple of years removed from the Achilles injury should allow him to be back to full health. He will read the defense properly and he will throw the ball over the middle. Two things we haven’t seen in years. If he doesn’t sign, let the best man win.
Unless Will Howard really wows them, it would be a one-year gig for whomever wins the job. They didn’t sign anyone as a UDFA after the draft that plays quarterback so that may be a signal they expect Rodgers to sign soon.
10. Yinz Are on The Clock – One of the coolest decisions the NFL has made is to hold the NFL Draft in different cities. It was a nice operation in New York but now it has become a major event attracting hundreds of thousands of fans. Detroit holds the record with the highest attendance with over 775,000 fans.
I’m sure the “City of Bridges” will be an excellent host. And how great it would be for the team and city to find the quarterback of the future while they are hosting. You have a year to prepare, plan ahead, maybe drop a couple of those pounds you’ve been meaning to lose. You want to look good on TV.
