Picking the Pittsburgh Steelers 1st round 2017 NFL Draft selection

The Pittsburgh Steelers are officially on the clock.

Every year the SB Nation NFL community does a 2-round mock draft for the upcoming selection process. The editors of the sites, or another representative, take a look at who is off the board and make the selection for the team they cover every day.

Last year, when we wisely selected someone who wasn’t Artie Burns, although we did take Javon Hargrave in the 2nd round...just a round off, we had some fans of the website wondering if next year we could sort of open it up to the community for some fun debate and try to come to a conclusion on who BTSC picks in the mock draft.

Well, it is time, and the decision isn’t easy by any stretch of the imagination. But before going into the specifics, let me throw out some ground rules:

• My pick is due by 4/5, so I will keep checking the thread periodically throughout the day, but will be writing up our pick around 3 p.m. ET. Any information after that won’t be considered.
• This is a general discussion, but ultimately I have to come to a conclusion on who to pick. This isn’t the real draft, nor is it life or death, so if I take someone other than who you suggested, don’t take it personal.
• Be ready to back up your selection with some reasoning why the Steelers would benefit from this player

Okay, with that out of the way, time to figure out who the Steelers should take, but let me show you who is off the board. Clearly the big guns of the draft are already gone, so I am going to show you players by position who have already been drafted. If you have a question about a player, ask and I will let you know who is still available, and who has been picked.

QB
DeShone Kizer
Patrick Mahomes
DeShaun Watson
Mitchell Trubisky

OLB/EDGE Rusher
Myles Garrett
Derek Barnett
Taco Charlton
Takk McKinley
T.J. Watt

LB
Haason Reddick
Zach Cunningham
Reuben Foster

RB/WR/TE
Christian McCaffrey
Corey Davis
Mike Williams
Dalvin Cook
John Ross
David Njoku
OJ Howard
Leonard Fournette

S/CB
Jabrill Peppers
Jamal Adams
Malik Hooker
Marshon Lattimore

...

For me, I try to put who the Steelers have met with multiple times with team need, and make my selection that way. With that said, I am leaning towards Derek Rivers from Youngstown State. I know the team rarely goes to a small school in the first round, but the team has met with him more than any other prospect and his skill is evident in his tape.

Also on my radar is LB Raekwon McMillan from Ohio State. He and Ryan Shazier could make for a very dynamic duo on the inside of the Steelers defense.

Okay, time for some feedback! Let the clock begin...