Respected Steelers Insider Believes Team Will Take One Of Four Players In Round One Of The 2023 NFL Draft

The Pittsburgh Steelers are less than a week away from the first night of the 2023 NFL Draft and it seems like the waters get less and less clear with each hour that brings us closer. Behind the doors of the facility, the team has their draft board filled with potential players, scenarios and everything that will be useful during those precious minutes that they are on the clock. Not everyone sees it through such a complicated lens, though.

Steelers Can Keep It Simple

According to Mark Kaboly, senior Steelers writer for The Athletic, there are only a few potential selections for the Steelers in the first round. In a tweet on Saturday morning, Kaboly narrowed it down to one of four possible players that Pittsburgh will likely be drafting when it's their turn to pick:

If you have been following the curving, twisting, often-blind road that leads us all to the NFL Draft, none of those four possibilities should be much of a surprise. It has been a long-held belief this offseason that when the Steelers have to hand their draft card in on the first night it will probably be with the name of an offensive tackle or cornerback written down, so why is this significant coming from Kaboly?

Can Steelers Shut Out The External Noise?

For every focused opinion (like the one held by Kaboly), there are five more that have gotten rather convoluted in the chaos and confusion that leads us to draft night. Rumors and whispers are traded like currency, and what was once an off-handed remark suddenly becomes headline news. 

While all of that noise seems to be beating down the door, moments like this give an opportunity to breathe and readjust one's thinking to what could be a more-informed, simpler perspective.

What Kaboly brings to the table with his four possible prospects is a narrower lens through which to view the situation. In a world where no one knows for sure, sources like Kaboly are vital to cut through the thick fog that surrounds every team around this time of year, especially when that particular team isn't necessarily used to a flurry of movement during an offseason. 

It is a reminder that all the words and rumors remain an unsure collection of guesses.

What Could The Steelers See In Them?

While Kaboly may not have specified any order in his tweet, it seems like the order found its way through anyways. It is the worst-kept secret in Pittsburgh that Penn State cornerback, Joey Porter Jr., is a prospect that would be welcomed with open arms thanks to a Steelers-esque size and a legacy in the city. His lack of takeaways and tendency to be handsy during coverage could come into play, though.

Ohio State offensive tackle, Paris Johnson Jr., has been at the top of many draft boards for months and nothing about the offseason has shifted him from that spot. These two could be almost interchangeable when the pick comes about, but that doesn't rule out anything about the other two mentioned by Kaboly.

Broderick Jones, offensive tackle out of Georgia, could either be an amazing consolation prize (if Johnson is off the board), but don't discount Jones jumping over a few prospects to find himself anchoring a Steelers' line for years. Jones is a big body that matches the vibe that the Steelers have been shooting for thus far in the offseason and if the coaches saw something in him that they didn't see in Johnson, it could be one of the surprises of the first round.

Some may see Maryland cornerback, Deonte Banks as the dark horse of these four, but Banks is a dynamic, physical corner who recently made it known on Twitter that teams should be on alert for him. If the Steelers see a higher ceiling in Banks along with his ability to be physical without drawing a flag, the idea of passing on a legacy player to bring a future star corner into the fold could be a welcome one indeed.

We are less than a week from the NFL Draft, and when the Steelers hand in that first round card it could be with any of these four names on it - or none of them! An ear to the ground like Kaboly, though, makes you take a breath and wonder if things really could just be this simple.

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