As we like to do around here, the post-draft lull before rookie minicamp and OTAs offers a chance for self-reflection. To review my final Pittsburgh Steelers mock draft to see what I got right. And, of course, what I got wrong.
If you missed it, here’s the final edition of my 2025 Steelers’ mock draft.
What I Got Right
Derrick Harmon At No. 21
It’s not always the case that I nail the first round—either the wrong player or sometimes the wrong position. In 2023, I went with Tennessee OT Darnell Wright instead of Georgia OT Broderick Jones. In 2024, I mocked Duke C Graham Barton instead of Washington OT Troy Fautanu.
A miss in the first round can have a domino effect capable of ruining the rest of your mock. In 2025, I got it right by predicting Oregon DL Derrick Harmon. Hardly sticking my neck out, I know, but a player we identified back in January as a potential Steelers’ selection. Of the 70 scouting reports I personally wrote for the site, Harmon was the first I published for a reason.
Creating my final mock, I nearly pivoted from Harmon to Michigan NT Kenneth Grant. We’ll never know who they would’ve taken if forced to choose; Grant went off the board at No. 13 to the Miami Dolphins. Harmon was the last top defensive lineman on the board, and Pittsburgh took him, showing their “Blue’s Clues” along with Harmon’s strong system fit, which were true predictors in making him the pick.
It was the first time I correctly predicted the first-round pick since RB Najee Harris in 2021 (whose selection was the world’s worst-kept secret).
RB In Third Round
While I didn’t predict the correct player, mocking Tennessee’s Dylan Sampson instead of Iowa’s Kaleb Johnson, I did predict the right position at the right spot. Throughout the draft, I called the third-fourth round range the sweet spot for when Pittsburgh would draft a running back.
In my final mock, I tilted to the third round. Given the team’s extreme homework, bringing nine running backs in for pre-draft visits, it made sense that the Steelers would address the position immediately after taking care of the defensive line.
Johnson was surprisingly available at No. 83, and Pittsburgh got good value. I wonder who they would’ve taken had he been off the board. Sampson or someone else like Virginia Tech’s Bhayshul Tuten?
QB Taken Late Day Three
It was clear as day, Pittsburgh was going to leave the draft with a quarterback. It was less obvious who and when they would select.
My final mock draft had the Steelers selecting Texas’ Quinn Ewers in the fifth round. I certainly didn’t nail that perfectly, but Pittsburgh followed a similar track, selecting Ohio State’s Will Howard in the sixth round. Howard is a late-round developmental option to serve as the No. 3.
I was on the right path that 2025 wouldn’t be the year for the big swing at quarterback, a prediction common throughout the national media. Even Adam Schefter thought it was a good bet Shedeur Sanders would be the team’s pick at No. 21. They passed. Repeatedly.
Mocking Carson Bruener
It truly felt like the mock draft bingo card free space. Despite a lack of overt interest and need, Bruener made too much sense here. I put him in the sixth round of my mock. Instead, he went with the first of the team’s seventh-rounders.
Mike Tomlin downplayed the storyline, but Pittsburgh loves its bloodlines. And that can be helpful in the evaluation. Teams must understand the player and person they’re getting, and knowing his father has been in the organization for decades, and his son likely in the building for part of that time, makes for a cleaner projection.
Bruener certainly can play, too. A productive full-time starter in 2024, he boasts a strong special-teams background and will push Mark Robinson for a roster spot.
What I Got Wrong
Missed on EDGE
Dave Bryan and I discussed the possibility of the Steelers taking an EDGE on Day Three, but I failed to include it in my mock draft. It’s an area of emphasis in the Omar Khan/Andy Weidl era, and Pittsburgh addressed it with Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer in the fourth round.
It marks the second time under Khan that the Steelers have selected an EDGE rusher in the fourth round, joining Nick Herbig in 2023. Sawyer was a fine pick to give Pittsburgh quality depth and insulate against injury, which they suffered multiple times last season.
No WR Taken
My biggest miss. Based on how busy WRs Coach Zach Azzanni was this Pro Day cycle, I was adamant Pittsburgh would draft a receiver. Ultimately, they punted on the position, though they signed veteran WR Robert Woods shortly after the draft.
Passing on receiver is an agreeable decision. It wasn’t a need, and the class was weak. Once Tennessee’s Dont’e Thornton, the prospect I mocked to Pittsburgh, went off the board early in the fourth round to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Steelers’ options felt empty.
D-Line Double Dip
Entering the draft with just six picks, I was skeptical Pittsburgh could and would double-dip on d-line. But they did, taking Oregon’s Derrick Harmon in the first round and Iowa’s Yahya Black in the fifth. Granted, it helped they acquired an extra selection by trading down in the fifth round but still, it was clear the Steelers went all-in on fortifying the front seven. And I didn’t properly see that.
