2022 NFL Mock Draft: Determining all 7 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 predictive 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 made eight selections, we correctly chose Najee Harris in the first round, but that was it. The draft plays out in strange ways, and a player we selected in the fourth round was taken ten spots before the Steelers selected Pat Freiermuth in Round 2. 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. Last season, 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, there were a lot of times players a lot of Steelers fans may have looked for in certain rounds were already gone, despite their rankings being lower than where the Steelers were picking. For example, Conner Heyward was gone before either of the Steelers’ seventh-round picks which had him taken much sooner than expected.

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

Round 1, pick 20: Chris Olave, WR, Ohio St

There weren’t a lot of options here the way this draft played out. Malik Willis went second overall to Detroit, but there wasn’t a big run on quarterbacks which put other players in play for the Steelers. Given the options, and after a lot of debate, this was the pick that won out.

Round 2, pick 52: Travis Jones, IDL, UConn

This one was a little bit more clear-cut by the live chat. Although the Steelers did not send anybody to UConn‘s Pro Day, this is still a pick many fans would like and therefore Jones what is the Round 2 selection.

Round 3, pick 84: Abraham Lucas, OT, Washington St.

It figures this is how the draft plays out. All the top players that were remaining seemed to be either wide receivers, defensive lineman, or running backs. With the Steelers already picking two of those positions, and using their first pick on a running back in 2021, the best offensive tackle remaining ended up being who the viewers went with.

Round 4, pick 138: Coby Bryant, CB, Cincinnati

This pick had a pretty good consensus with most of the live chat. The fact that we were even discussing it had some people frustrated. Needless to say, it was an overwhelming response.

Round 6, pick 208: Tyquan Thorton, WR, Baylor

At this point, it was drafting as much for position as anything based on the top players that were left. This was a tough call, but ultimately the Steelers took their second wide receiver in the draft.

Round 7, pick 225: Isaiah Pola-Mao, S, USC

One thing that was definitely wanted in the live chat was some Steelers bloodlines. As previously mentioned, Connor Heyward was off the board. The next top priority was Troy Polamalu’s nephew coming to Pittsburgh.

Round 7, pick 241: Noah Burks, EDGE, Wisconsin

There was no need to add Quentin Lake as the Steelers just took a safety with the previous pick. This final selection ultimately came down to the Steelers having success picking Wisconsin edge rushers in recent years, so taking a flyer with their last pick was as good as anything.

So there are the seven 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.