Mike Mayock’s latest positional rankings could provide map for Steelers draft

The positional rankings of NFL Network’s Mike Mayock could provide a map to the Steelers’ draft strategy.

By Jeff.Hartman@BnGBlitz Apr 13, 2017, 7:30am EDT

NCAA Football: California at Southern California

The NFL Network pays Mike Mayock money, probably a lot of money, to talk about the NFL Draft. He is at the combine, he is being interviewed nearly daily about the draft and he puts out his own positional rankings leading up to the big event.

Now, Mike Mayock is not some boy genius when it comes to the draft, and his rankings, but you could research any number of rankings and see the same names, in a slightly different order.

What is interesting to me about Mayock’s rankings is how they match up with the Pittsburgh Steelers team needs. Most would assume the Steelers team needs would resemble the following positions:

OLB/pass rusher
CB
RB
ILB
TE/WR/S

With those primary positions identified, you look at the rankings and try to distinguish who will be there, and who won’t, when the Steelers pick 30th in the first round. If we assume pass rusher is where the Steelers want to go with their first pick, there is a good chance the top 4 players on Mayock’s rankings are gone before Pittsburgh makes their pick.

So, would they want to take a second tier pass rusher, rather than a top tier player at a position like cornerback? When looking at cornerback, it isn’t unrealistic to see the team being able to snag the No. 2 or No. 3 defensive back off the board. This is where it seems the Steelers would be headed if the draft played out this way. Don’t just take a pass rusher to take a pass rusher, but take the best player at a short list of positions.

There are certainly other positions to keep an eye on, quarterback being one of those, but I’m not so sure there is a quarterback who will be available in the first round, who is worth the lofty draft pick. The Steelers draft needs might seem scattered, but in the latest Mike Mayock Positional Rankings you can see plenty of value in the positions of need for the black and gold.

Take a look at the latest rankings below, and try to decipher just what could, and possibly might, happen when the 2017 NFL Draft officially gets underway.