As the 2024 NFL Draft draws closer, it becomes easier to form expectations of how teams will approach the draft. Between pro day visits, NFL Combine meetings, and top-30 visits, teams make apparent what positions they are most interested in drafting. The Pittsburgh Steelers enter the draft with several needs. Their pre-draft activity helps paint a picture of what positions they may want to address first. Here are the top five Steelers draft needs two weeks from the first day of the draft.
Top Five Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Needs Ranked
5: Defensive Line
Interestingly, the Steelers have been very active in meeting with defensive line prospects leading up to the draft. While the remaining positions are bigger needs and have gotten a lot of attention among pundits, the defensive line is an under-discussed need for the Steelers. Cameron Heyward is nearing the end of his career and Larry Ogunjobi is a free agent after the 2024 season. Pittsburgh could be looking to find a young player to pair with 2023 rookie standout Keeanu Benton to form their defensive line of the future. Based on the Steelers pre-draft activity, this need could be addressed earlier in the draft than fans and analysts are expecting.
4: Offensive Tackle
Pre-draft meetings and visits point to the Steelers being most likely to take an offensive tackle in the first round of the draft. That is due to tackle being such an important position rather than it being the biggest of the Steelers draft needs. Broderick Jones had a promising rookie season at right tackle. Dan Moore Jr. struggled at left tackle, but he is serviceable for the time being. Long-term, Jones should slide to his natural left tackle position and Moore should be replaced as a starter. That is not an immediate need, though. At some of the positions yet to come, the Steelers don’t even have starters on the roster. The same can’t be said of offensive tackle.
3: Cornerback
Pittsburgh has shown interest in several first-round cornerbacks. Seeing them select a cornerback with their first pick would not be a shock. However, it is not their biggest need ahead of the draft. If the season started today, they know who their starting cornerbacks would be. The same cannot be said about some other positions. Of the biggest Steelers draft needs, cornerback is challenging to predict their strategy because it is a very deep class. They could address the position in the first round, or wait until the third round and find a potential starter. Specifically, the Steelers need a slot corner. If they draft a player to only play in the slot, they can probably wait until the middle rounds of the draft.
2: Wide Receiver
As their roster currently stands, George Pickens is the only starting-caliber receiver on the Steelers. It is a very pressing need for them. They are in luck, as just like cornerback, this draft class is loaded with talent at wide receiver. There’s a decent chance they draft two receivers. Due to their draft position, they are unlikely to select a receiver in the first round. They should have no problem finding a starter-level talent in the second or third round. Between the draft and the post-draft free agency window, the Steelers will ideally acquire a true slot receiver and an outside receiver to line up opposite of Pickens.
1: Center
It is not their most likely first-round pick, but center is by far the most pressing of the Steelers draft needs. The reasoning is simple; they don’t currently have a center on their roster. They are in a weird position where selecting a center with the 20th pick would be a reach, but waiting until their second-round pick might result in all starter-ready centers being off the board. There’s a chance they trade up into the late 30s to draft Jackson Powers-Johnson of Oregon. They could wait and hope to select Zach Frazier of West Virginia at 51. If he’s off the board, though, they’d find themselves in a very tough spot. However they go about it, there’s no doubt the Steelers need to draft a center.
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