Now that we have seven games in the books, we feel like we have a pretty good idea of what the Pittsburgh Steelers roster needs will be next offseason, regardless of how free agency goes. So we decided to update our five-round mock draft and see how the trends are looking in terms of where positions are the strongest and where are weak.
First round - OT Taliese Fuaga, Oregon State
At this point in the mock draft, the Steelers have to be looking offensive tackle, cornerback or safety. In this scenario the top corners and safeties are off the board so we opt for Fuaga who can be a dominant run blocker. But as you will see, this choice impacts the rest of this draft significantly in terms of cornerback and safety.
Second round - LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., Clemson
There’s a real chance the Steelers let multiple inside linebackers go again this offseason so we opted for Trotter here as not only the best player on the board but a guy who could fill a serious need.
Third round - DT T'Vondre Sweat, Texas
Another round and no value in the secondary so instead we opt for Sweat, a massive interior pass rusher and run stuffer.
Fourth round - CB Mike Sainristil, Michigan
We finally find some value in the secondary with Sainristil, who is a solid, aggressive off-man cornerback with nice athleticism.
Fifth round - QB KJ Jefferson, Arkansas
If Jefferson lasts this long, the Steelers have to draft him. Pittsburgh has its starter in Kenny Pickett but Jefferson would allow Pittsburgh to start fresh in building the depth chart.
Analysis
Keep in mind, that these are our picks in a simulation, not cherry-picked selections. So when we select a player, that has ramifications on the rest of them. Looking at how this mock draft played out, selecting Fuaga over Minnesota safety Tyler Nubin might have been a mistake as no safety was available in the second as we’d hoped.
Selecting Nubin instead would have let us select Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton in the second instead. Nubin and Guyton are probably a better tandem than Fuaga and Trotter for the long term.
In addition, the draft just isn’t going to be a strong one for the interior offensive line so none of them available for the Steelers third or fourth-round picks were worth the choice at the time.
