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With the drama surrounding wide receiver Antonio Brown reaching new levels on Tuesday, we will attempt to distract ourselves from this ongoing fiasco with our weekly look at the next generation of players who could be joining the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019.
Each and every Wednesday for the next 10 weeks, we will bring you a selection of the latest mock draft projections from around the NFL draft community. So far, we have looked at 30 contrasting offerings from some of the more well-known names in the business, with three different defensive players standing out from the pack as the most popular names to project to the Steelers over the last three weeks.
- Midweek Mock Draft Roundup 1.0 consensus pick - Devin White, LB, LSU
- Midweek Mock Draft Roundup 2.0 consensus pick - Byron Murphy, CB, Washington
- Midweek Mock Draft Roundup 3.0 consensus pick - Tie between Byron Murphy, CB, Washington and Deandre Baker, CB, Georgia
This week we have 10 more mock drafts worthy of review:
Maurice Jones-Drew, NFL Network - LB, Devin White, LSU
“White is the perfect fit for this Steelers defense. He can do everything exceptionally well.”
(Previous pick - First mock)
Chris Trapasso, CBS Sports - LB, Devin White, LSU
“Dream come true for Pittsburgh. While secondary may be a bigger need, White is the game-changing linebacker the Steelers also desperately must acquire on defense.”
(Previous pick - CB, Deandre Baker, Georgia)
Ryan Wilson, CBS Sports - WR, D.K. Metcalf, Ole Miss
“Yes, the Steelers need help at linebacker, cornerback and edge rusher but can they pass up the best wideout in this draft class, especially since it looks like Antonio Brown has played his last down for the Steelers?”
(Previous pick - CB, Deandre Baker, Georgia)
Dan Kadar SB Nation - CB, Deandre Baker, Georgia
“Although Pittsburgh’s offense seems to be crumbling, the team arguably has bigger needs on defense this offseason. The Steelers especially need talent in the back seven, where they’ll be picking from edge rushers, linebackers, and cornerbacks. Baker is the type of player who could come in and start straight away for them.”
(Previous pick - LB, Devin White, LSU)
Vinny Iyer, The Sporting News - CB, Trayvon Mullen, Clemson
“Mullen saw his stock go down in the middle of the Tigers’ season as he struggled at times as a No. 1 corner. But his size (6-1, 194 pounds), speed, length and physicality is allowing him to test well and get more attention from scouts. The Steelers should see him a strong complement and soon replacement to Joe Haden, who turns 30 in April and is a free agent in 2020.”
(Previous pick - CB, Byron Murphy, Washington)
Will Brinson, CBS Sports - DL, Jeffery Simmons, Mississippi State
“Don’t think he falls this far, but think Pittsburgh would be willing to grab him if he did, considering the struggles they’ve had on the defensive side of the ball in recent years. Please don’t @ me with a list of Steelers defensive line starters, because they are potentially losing a lot of depth in free agency.”
Note: Simmons tore his ACL during training a few days after this mock was written.
(Previous pick - CB, Greedy Williams, LSU)
Trevor Sikkema, Draft Network - CB, Byron Murphy, Washington
“Whew. Avoided disaster by the skin of their teeth with this one.”
“If Greedy Williams, Byron Murphy, and all five of the top edge rushers are off the board when Pittsburgh goes on the clock, just turn off the TV if you’re a Steelers fan. It would be the second year in a row where they would likely be making a massive reach for a player in the first round to help mask a massive need that likely won’t work out in the long run.”
“But, thankfully, if Murphy is still on the board, they won’t have to worry about that. They will get a true first-round cornerback.”
(Previous pick - LB, Jachai Polite, Florida)
Kristopher Knox, Bleacher Report - DT, Dre’Mont Jones, Ohio State
No analysis
(Previous pick - DT, Dexter Lawrence, Clemson)
Charlie Campbell, Walter Football - LB, Devin Bush, Michigan
“The Steelers grab an inside linebacker upgrade.”
“The 5-foot-11, 233-pound Bush is a very short linebacker by NFL standards, but he has received a lot of media hype as a first-round prospect. In 2018, Bush recorded 78 tackles with nine tackles for a loss, five sacks and six passes batted. As a sophomore, he totaled 101 tackles with 9.5 tackles for a loss, five sacks, eight passes batted and one interception.”
“Bush is a bit of a tweener linebacker/safety who might have to be used in a hybrid role in his NFL defense. He could fit as a Will - weak side - linebacker, which would let him use his speed and athleticism to defend sideline to sideline and cover in the passing game.”
(Previous pick - LB, Jachai Polite, Florida)
Luke Easterling, DraftWire - LB, Jachai Polite, Florida
“Corner is the bigger need for the Steelers, but there’s better value with Polite, who is one of the best pure pass rushers in this year’s class. His knack for bending the edge and forcing fumbles will end up helping a dismal secondary, and give the Steelers one of the league’s better edge-rushing tandems with T.J. Watt.”
Round 2 - Amani Oruwariye | CB | Penn State
Round 3 - Khalil Hodge | LB | Buffalo
(Previous pick - CB, Byron Murphy, Washington)
Just four weeks into this process and we are already seeing a shift in the names projected to the Steelers. Defensive line prospects have made their first appearance on our list this week, with no obvious consensus as we have seen in previously. Linebacker Devin White earns the top spot as the most popular player to mock to the Steelers by virtue of being the only player named more than once this time around.
We will add more mock drafts to our weekly roundup as they appear and we encourage you to let us know which experts you think we should be highlighting over the next 10 weeks.