Steelers Look To Intense Local Rivalry For Multiple Potential Future Players

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be sending their top scouts all over the country to search for the best talent at the collegiate level throughout the season. Previously, they had traveled to Ann Arbor to take a look at many top prospects from a pair of ranked teams, including a potential franchise quarterback option. There will be multiple insane games for the Steelers to check out as time goes on, especially as more top teams face off against each other as opposed to games where they paid a lesser school to visit them. 

However, Steelers scouts got a break from traveling this week, as they are stayed at Acrisure Stadium to watch the Backyard Brawl and scout out some local prospects from the Pittsburgh Panthers and the West Virginia Mountaineers to see how they fair in a heated rivalry matchup. 

The Steelers have dipped into the local prospects a number of times in recent years. Two of their rookie starters, Zach Frazier and Beanie Bishop, both came from West Virginia. The Steelers also tried to stay in-house to find their franchise quarterback, but Kenny Pickett didn't work out for them. There's a good chance that they draft a player from either team to be a future star for them, just like Frazier. 

Steelers' Options From West Virginia

With the Steelers' aging defensive line, as well as Andy Weidl's philosophy of building in the trenches, they may want to try and get younger there. Sean Martin seems like a guy that would get their attention. The Academic First-Team Big 12 player has already drawn the recognition of coaches across the conference for his play on the field, and it helps that he got to work against Frazier in practice, so the Steelers' rookie center can give some inside information to the scouts.

Martin earned All-Big 12 Honorable mention from the head coaches across the conference as a junior after starting every game for the Mountaineers. While he doesn't tack up a lot of snaps, he still disrupts the offense while playing on the interior. He has also blocked a field goal, which the Steelers always love to see. In fact, that was a big reason why they drafted Logan Lee in the 2024 draft. 

Steelers' Options From University Of Pittsburgh

It's no secret that the Steelers' receiving core is weaker than usual. Because of that, they are likely paying close attention to Konata Mumpfield. The former Freshman All-American started his career with the Akron Zips, where he put up 751 yards and eight touchdowns on 63 receptions in his first year in college. He transferred to Pittsburgh after that, but that hasn't been a very smooth transition for him. 

After a rough 2022 and 2023, he has started to truly break out for the Panthers. He had a monster game against the Cincinnati Bearcats, where he had 123 yards and two scores on five receptions. He has performed well in the Backyard Brawl as well, as he got his chance to impress scouts from all across the NFL, including the Steelers. He entered the season under many scouts' radars, but Mumpfield is looking to prove that he belongs in the NFL.

With an overall weak slate of games for Week 3 of college football, the heated matchup in Acrisure Stadium seemed to get more scouts than a game between two unranked teams normally would. This was most likely the best chance for each and every player from both teams to show out this season. If any of them get drafted high, especially by the Steelers, they can point to this game as a big reason why they made it.

What do you think about the Steelers scouting out the rivalry game between Pittsburgh and West Virginia, as well as other players that they have scouted and drafted from both teams? Let us know in the comments.

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