The Pittsburgh Steelers certainly made the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft exciting when they traded with the New England Patriots to move up from 17 to 14, selecting Georgia offensive tackle, Broderick Jones. Coming into Day 2, the Steelers still have plenty of capital (the numbers 32, 49, and 80 picks) and while there are dynamic, playmaking prospects still on the board, the Steelers may be moving in a different direction.
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Steelers draft OT Broderick Jones
On a cold December night in 2020, NFL Films caught Mike Tomlin talking with Washington Commanders defensive end, Chase Young, about why the Steelers haven't had the chance to draft someone like him:
#Steelers Mike Tomlin to #WFT Chase Young: "I don't ever want to lose enough games to get a guy like you." 🤣pic.twitter.com/qEQFlfqHQV
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 8, 2020
Now, entering the second round of the draft, Tomlin may have found a way to walk back his words and snag Young after all.
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Steelers interested in Chase Young from the Washington Commanders?
Steelers Have Options On Day 2
With three picks on the second day of the draft, the Steelers are looking over a list of players still available that were easily expected to be gone by now. Joey Porter Jr., Will Levis, and Brian Branch are three names that are drifting around the NFL's collective minds - Levis would be bait for another team's desperate trade - but it isn't a draft prospect that may end up wearing black and gold.
Chase Young has been a steady force on the Washington defensive line for the last few years, but when the Commanders declined to pick up his fifth-year deal as part of his rookie contract, everything went out the window. Suddenly, you have a dynamic, young, locker-room-presence king of player that is poised to hit the open market (albeit with possible injury worries after an AC injury hampered his 2022 season). Mike Tomlin might not want it to ever come to that.
-544x306.jpg "Steelers Mike Tomlin")
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Steelers' Head Coach Mike Tomlin smiles through the team's pregame warmups in Pittsburgh, PA.
Will Steelers Use Capital For Young?
When TJ Watt went down with an injury at the beginning of Pittsburgh's last campaign, the team floundered to a 1-6 record without him. This could be a chance for the Steelers to bring in a player with the capability to not only be a bookend to the former Defensive Player of the Year, but to also slide seamlessly into that spot were a Watt injury to become an issue again.
On the other side of the coin as well, you have both Watt and Alex Highsmith ready to rotate into any situation if Young's injury problems came to the surface in an impactful way. The Steelers would have to give up one of their Day 2 picks, but with Washington obviously soured on Young already, there is the possibility that this particularly savvy Steelers front office could ensure that the Chase Claypool trade isn't the only Steelers-sided move made by Omar Khan in his early tenure.
It all comes down to the decision made when the Steelers are officially on the clock at 7 PM (EST), so join in with Steeler Nation as we hold our collective breath and hope that whatever happens, the future keeps looking bright in Pittsburgh.
