The Pittsburgh Steelers can go in several different directions in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. Omar Khan can retain the pick and select the best available cornerback or tackle when it is the Steelers' turn to pick. Pittsburgh could also trade the pick. The social media consensus would be to trade down and acquire additional picks, which is a solid strategy to fill the multiple holes on the current roster.
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Steelers pulled off a surprise trade and selected Broderick Jones with the 14th overall pick.
On Thursday, CBS Sports released a mock draft by Josh Edwards that featured a trade by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Surprisingly, it was a trade-up, not down. Edwards feels strongly that Pittsburgh will complete a trade similar to the Broderick Jones deal in 2023. The CBS Sports writer has them trading up for the 16th overall pick in the draft with the Seattle Seahawks.
Edwards does not suggest the compensation, just that it will happen. The trade-up is not the biggest surprise. It is who Edwards believes that the Steelers will select with the improved position. He mocks Taliese Fuaga from Oregon State to Pittsburgh with the 16th pick. Fuaga is the fourth tackle off the board in his first-round simulation.
"Pittsburgh can ill afford to wait until its first pick to see if an offensive tackle is still available,” Edwards posits. “Especially with Cincinnati and Los Angeles ahead of Mike Tomlin's team. The Steelers move up to take Taliese Fuaga, who should be an impactful bookend opposite Broderick Jones for many years.”
Fuaga is a solid tackle prospect, but the Steelers have not selected a Pac-12 player since JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2017 and have only picked 13 players from the conference during Mike Tomlin's tenure as the Steelers head coach. Pittsburgh needs a tackle, but it is doubtful they will break the odd Pac-12 streak for Fuaga with Amarius Mims and Tyler Guyton available in Edward's mock draft.
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Steelers would pass on the opportunity to draft Jer'Zhan Newton in the CBS Sports mock draft.
The other bizarre twist in this mock draft is who the Seahawks would select with the 20th pick overall. Edwards has them selecting Jer'Zhan Newton from the University of Illinois. Newton is arguably the best defensive line prospect in the draft, and it is a position of need for the Steelers. It is hard to imagine if he is available with the 16th pick, given Cam Heyward's age and Larry Ogunjobi's inconsistent performance in 2023, Khan and Andy Weidl passing him by for Fuaga.
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The Steelers selected Taliese Fuaga after trading up in the CBS Sports mock draft.
The Oregon State redshirt junior is an impressive right tackle prospect. He has a very similar build to JC Latham from the Alabama Crimson Tide at 6'6" tall and 330 pounds. The First Team All-American is an excellent run blocker and has demonstrated an elite ability to find linebackers at the second level. Fuaga is not quite as athletic as Latham or Mims and has not faced the same level of competition.
Edwards also does not factor in several elite cornerback prospects into the equation. Pittsburgh struck gold with Joey Porter Jr. with the 32nd pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Steelers need a second cornerback to pair with Porter, and the CBS Sports writer has them passing over Nate Wiggins from the Clemson Tigers, Cooper DeJean from the Iowa Hawkeyes, and both of the Alabama cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Kool-Aid McKinstry. Edwards has all of them going later in the first round.
Steelers Absolutely Need To Explore Trading Down In 2024 NFL Draft
The Steelers would also pass over a fan favorite, Oregon Ducks center Jackson Powers-Johnson, in this mock draft. It is worth noting that in this specific scenario, if the Steelers did stay put, Mims and Guyton would be selected before the Steelers picked, but that is assuming they selected Fuaga at 16.
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Jackson Powers-Johnson was a top prospect at the 2024 Senior Bowl.
Newton might not be available if they don't pull the trigger on the trade, but the selection of several elite cornerbacks or Powers-Johnson would be in play. If any player can break the Pac-12 drought, it might be Powers-Johnson and his elite play at center. Based on how this mock draft plays out, it is hard to see what the Steelers would gain in trading up.
What do you think, Steeler Nation? Do you believe that the Steelers trade up for a Pac-12 right tackle? Please comment below or on my Twitter/X: @thebubbasq.
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