Picking late in the first round is nothing new for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but unlike the other teams in the bottom third of the draft, they felt no need to jump up or down the draft board. Their strategy ended up working alright.
There’s plenty of reason to think the Steelers might look at a quarterback on Day Two considering Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement speculation. I’m going to make this draft like they skip it, shoring up their depth and a few holes on both sides of the ball.
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Round 1, Pick 30: Actual Pick – T.J. Watt, OLB, Wisconsin
2016: 63 tackles, 15.5 for a loss, 11.5 sacks, one interception, four passes defended, one fumble recovery, two forced fumbles
Projected pick: Takkarist McKinley, OLB, UCLA
2016: 61 tackles, 18 for a loss, 10 sacks, six passes defended, one fumble recovery, three forced fumbles
I went 3-for-32 in my mock draft on Day One, but obviously did a lot better predicting the picks as they went along via my live blog. Either way, McKinely would have been correct pick No. 4 if the Atlanta Falcons hadn’t traded up to grab him right before the Steelers picks. As it is, Pittsburgh took T.J. Watt and if you look at those stat lines, you could believe they took practically the same player. With McKinley off the board, Watt was a natural fit for Pittsburgh and will probably be a pretty big jersey seller come August.
Round 2, Pick 62: Chris Godwin, WR, Penn State
2016: 59 catches, 982 yards, 11 touchdowns, one rush, 13 yards
I’m far from the only mock drafter who thinks the Steelers will add Godwin to the roster today. This is a deep group of wideouts and Godwin is one of the best. While the Steelers are getting Martavis Bryant back to likely start opposite Antonio Brown, they know they can’t trust him to stay on the field. Sammy Coats is probably still the No. 3, but Godwin will push him for playing time immediately. Godwin is 6-1 and 209 pounds and runs a 4.42 40-yard dash and showed up big when it counted the most, catching nine passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns against USC in the Rose Bowl.
Round 3, Pick 94: Gerald Everett, TE, South Alabama
2016: 49 catches, 717 yards, four touchdowns
Like Godwin, Everett makes so much sense for the Steelers, it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion they’ll take him if he’s sitting there in the third round. Jesse James is a decent NFL tight end, but really he’s a No. 2 guy forced into the No. 1 role. Ladarius Green couldn’t really get healthy last season, so Everett slides right into the rotation and pushes for a starting role late int eh season.
Round 3, Pick 105: Conor McDermott, OT, UCLA
The Steelers need to keep buffing up that offensive line and McDermott is a solid pick here in the third. He’s a former basketball player at 6-8 and 307 pounds. He’s got a brother already in the NFL, Minnesota Vikings long snapper Kevin McDermott.
Round 4, Pick 135: K.D. Cannon, WR, Baylor
2016: 87 catches, 1,215 yards, 13 touchdowns
The Steelers lost Marcus Wheaton and Eli Rogers this offseason. Picking Cannon here along with Godwin earlier, not only makes up for that, these two guys are better players.
Round 5, Pick 173: Jeremy Cutrer, CB, Middle Tennessee
2016: 63 tackles, four for a loss, three interceptions
Cutrer is a 6-2, 170-pound with good speed at 4.52 in the 40. He adds depth with good length at a position where the Steelers desperately need both.
Round 6, Pick 213: David Jones, Safety, Richmond
2016: 29 tackles, 0.5 for a loss, two interceptions, four passes defended
Jones is huge at 6-3 and 210, with decent speed and the physical nature to play close to the line of scrimmage or even sub in as a linebacker on passing downs.
Round 7, Pick 248: Riley Bullough, ILB, Michigan State
2016: 44 tackles, 5.5 for a loss
The Steelers are loaded at linebacker now with high draft picks so they can afford to wait until the seventh round to address their depth inside. Bullough is 6-2 and 226 pound, a little light for NFL inside linebacker, but he’s a solid overall player and leader, voted team captain in 2016.
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