Mock draft season is upon us as you can't seem to scroll through any website that covers the NFL without seeing their latest and greatest 2022 NFL Mock Draft.
Each Monday, SteelerNation will be putting out their 3M's Mock Drafts by three writers (Mike Stiffler, Matt Papiernik, and Ben Michaelian) who will be rotating through three mock draft simulators. We all coincidentally have a name leading with the letter M, hence the catchy title.
The three simulators we will be rotating through are Pro Football Focus', Pro Football Network's, and The Draft Network's. By doing three different simulators and rotating through them all, it will give everyone a good feel of who will be available and how the Pittsburgh Steelers draft could shake out this April.
Below are the three mock drafts for this week. We started with Mike taking PFF, Ben taking TDN, and I took PFN. Here is a link to last week's as well.
Here is Mike's:
Mike wrote: "New linebackers coach Brian Flores gets a new toy with Devin Lloyd in Round 1. Lloyd has the chance to be the perfect duo with Devin Bush as Lloyd has the size (6’3” 235lbs) to make up for what Bush lacks but also has the athleticism to match. He may not have Bush’s speed but he is a good enough athlete to be an improvement over their current prospects. Lloyd can serve as a great safety net to be their athletic linebacker in case Bush has a repeat performance of 2021. John Metchie III in the second seems more like a luxury since he may not return in time for the season to start. Tearing his ACL in December, Metchie III will be unable to show off his talents in pre-draft workouts but that could be the true silver lining because that may be the exact reason he could drop to the Steelers in Round 2. He is a polished route runner and a true vertical threat that the Steelers will need well beyond 2022. Thayer Munford is a perfect choice for the Steelers as he brings positional flexibility to the offensive line playing both guard and tackle extensively. A 3 year starter at left tackle, Munford elected to slide inside to guard for 2021 so the team could but their best 5 lineman on the field. While tackle seems to be his more natural and better position, he has shown the capability to play both. Munford very well could be the type of player fighting for a starting position. The rest of the draft is rounded out with depth, the highlight being James Cook, Dalvin Cook’s younger brother. Cook would bring a dynamic skill set similar to Anthony McFarland’s but hopefully he could translate it to on the field results."
Now let's take a look at Ben's:
[incontent2]
Ben wrote: "First, I had Chris Olave available at 20 and it was a no brainer. I’m still under the assumption that JuJu Smith-Schuster will be gone, along with James Washington, and WR is going to be high on the Steelers list, so let’s lock that down first. Next I addressed the cornerback position by dipping into the Washington Huskies pond with Kyler Gordon. Washington seems to breed lock down cornerbacks lately and Gordon is no exception. Especially if Joe Haden doesn’t return, which I’m assuming in this mock, Gordon is a shoe-in to take over that role. Next I had Chad Muma to boost the inside linebacker group. This was a group that’s had a couple of tough years lately and they need a boost, which Muma brings. At 137th overall I love Noah Elliss. Steeler Nation loves big, physical, imposing defensive linemen and Elliss is exactly that. Plus seeing him available in the 4th round is a steal. Then with my final picks I added depth to the offensive line. I think the Steelers will be using free agency to bulk up the offensive front, so that’s why I waited longer to look at those areas. Both Goedeke and Howerton are physical and versatile prospects and can be groomed to be anchors at the line. Assuming the Steelers bring in veterans onto the offensive line, any rookies are going to benefit competing against them. Both Goedeke and Howerton have relatively high ceilings for 7th round picks as well; both are low risk high reward guys."
Lastly, lets take a look at mine:
What I had to say about my mock: "Going wide receiver in the first round may not seem like the most obvious choice, but with several departing free agents in that position group it shouldn't be discounted as an early selection. Treylon Burks is a like a combination of all the positive attributes Chase Claypool and Juju Smith-Schuster have. He has size/athleticism combination of Claypool, but the toughness and savviness of Smith-Schuster. He also has the largest hands I have ever seen, as he wore custom made size 5XL gloves in games. He would be an immediate threat out of the slot for whoever is at QB in 2022. I went with Roger McCreary in the 2nd round as he would likely normally not be available this late in the draft, but the cornerback position is incredibly deep this year. McCreary is going to get knocked for his length, but overall that doesn't effect him as he has exceptional quickness and great hips. He also has inside-outside versatility with physicality to match. Rasheed Walker in the 3rd round is the ultimate wild card, as he has potential to be a top 10 offensive tackle in the NFL. However, he has been very inconsistent with his technique which hurt him significantly this past season. Leo Chenal is a more NFL ready Vince Williams. Both have the old-school thumper mentality and are great blitzers, something the Steelers definitely missed in the middle of their defense last season. Both Noah Elliss and Connor Heyward being taken in the 7th offer versatility and some upside. Neither profiles as a year one impact player in my opinion, but both have the work ethic and skillset to be starters down the road."
All these simulators always obviously rank people in very different locations, but you can see trends in all of these as well as some overlapping names. These different simulators also have some different draft picks for the Steelers, as they all don't have compensatory picks factored in or in the same locations.
Let us know below what you think of all of our mocks we did this week and who you think would be good prospects to look into!
#SteelerNation
