2021 NFL Mock Draft: Determining all 8 Pittsburgh Steelers selections

On Tuesday night’s BTSC podcast of The Scho Bro Show, we held a mock draft simulation where those in attendance as part of our live chat on YouTube or Facebook got to chime in to help make the Steelers picks. The simulation was done through thedraftnetwork.com and used their player rankings to select the other 31 NFL franchise’s picks while we chose those of the Steelers.

Before getting into the selections, we realize the chances of getting any, let alone all, of the selections correct is a very long shot. In last year‘s exercise where the Steelers did not have a first-round pick, we did not correctly select any players taken by the Steelers. The draft plays out in strange ways, and a player we selected in the fifth round was taken three spots before Alex Highsmith in the third round. This is what makes watching the draft so exciting and entertaining as you never know what is going to happen.

Additionally, remember that this was a simulation and that our options were based off of players who could have already been selected by other teams. One person was quick to comment on the podcast listing out all the players we should have taken in the simulation. To nobody’s surprise, the first five players they listed had already been drafted before the Steelers had the opportunity to take that player where they suggested.

As this draft played out, I became nervous as the Steelers were not addressing the needs of the offensive line in what would be the first two days of the draft. When it came time for us to make the Steelers pick, players who would be good value at the selection were already gone and others appeared to be too much of a reach. Fortunately, it worked out for the Steelers to get offensive linemen for both of our fourth-round selections.

So here are the eights selections taken by an attempted consensus of BTSC viewers in the live chat. Remember this draft was not including any possible trades.

NOTE: This simulation was done before the re-signing of Vince Williams. Whether or not it would have affected any selections is hard to determine.

Round 1, pick 24: Najee Harris, RB, Alabama

The only player available who was ranked higher than Harris was edge rusher Azeez Ojulari from Georgia. Running back to Travis Etienne had already been drafted, so even though there were some other lower-ranked players according to TDN, the consensus was to draft Harris since there wasn’t a surprise drop of another player in the first round.

Round 2, pick 55: Asante Samuel Jr, CB, Florida St.

As I was scouring through the different positions along the offensive line to see who is available, I was scolded by the live chat that I was even considering any other pick than Samuel at this position. Since he was available and the overwhelming majority voted for the selection, we had the Steelers going cornerback in the second round.

Round 3, pick 87: Cameron McGrone, LB, Michigan

This pick took some time as I was really struggling with what to do. As much as I wanted to draft McGrone, I was afraid of waiting too long to address the offensive line. After scouring through the possibilities and feeling any of the available linemen at that point would be a bit of a reach, I finally felt the live chat didn’t think it was crazy to take McGrone with this selection.

Round 4, pick 128: Walker Little, OT, Stanford

By talking things out in our little “war room” of our live chat, I felt the players we specifically were looking to add on the offensive line would be available when the Steelers were on the clock in round four. With both player still available, we selected the higher of the two and landed the Steelers an offensive tackle.

Round 4, pick 140: Trey Hill, C, Georgia

With the Steelers picking only 12 selections later, the other player we decided to target while making our third-round pick was still available. With next to no discussion, Hill became the Steelers final selection before the long break where they did not select again until the sixth round.

Round 6, pick 216: Shaka Toney, EDGE, Penn St.

Once getting to the sixth round, we begin to really narrow down our positions to ones that we felt Steelers were likely to add in the draft. It looking at edge rushers, Toney seemed to be the best fit as to what the Steelers would possibly be looking for at this point of the draft.

Round 7, pick 245: Tamorrion Terry, WR, Florida St.

It wouldn’t be an NFL draft unless the Steelers drafted a wide receiver. After some debate, it seemed like a good choice to take a flyer on Terry as there is a lot of potential. Plus, it allowed the Steelers to keep up the tradition of drafting multiple players from the same school in the same draft.

Round 7, pick 254: Luke Farrell, TE, Ohio St.

Last but not least, the Steelers could use some more players at the tight end position. Being a seventh round pick, it’s hard to say if Farrell could help the Steelers significantly in 2021, but as much as the Steelers like to draft Ohio State players it seemed better than the other choices.

So there are the eight selections from the live chat of The Scho Bro Show this past Tuesday. How do you think we did? How many of these draft picks could you see realistically landing with the Steelers? As always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

If you’d like to watch/listen to the entire show to see what other options were available, or just to hear me butcher the pronunciation of players’ names, the Youtube link and audio podcasts are below.

Part 1:

Part 2: