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UPDATE: Pre-Draft Visits + Pro Day Dinners Speculation

Looks like Omar is not afraid to change things up for this whole GM approach and draft day scripting. Since my original post , (https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2023/4/10/23677900/connecting-the-steelers-draft-the-dots-pre-draft-visits-pro-day), some things have happened that are more than interesting, certainly unusual and we have some new information, which is prompting this update. I won’t repeat the original post; just the new input, (including an updated list) and a few thoughts.

Starting with the visits. Since they had done 26 of their 30 visits (plus 2 locals) and had the 5 remaining visits apparently scheduled, all previous years back to 2009 indicated those were the guys, so we all assumed the visits list was the list. Oops – not so fast! Monday, April 17th we get two surprise, visitors – Broderick Jones and Brian Bresee. They were not originally scheduled. (BTW – both also had Pro Day dinners with Tomlin). Two of what we thought were the 5 remaining pre-scheduled visits, Ringo (CB) Forbes (CB), Dexter (DE), Dawand (OT) and Tune (QB), will now need to be canceled, but I left them on the list because we don’t know who the cancellations will be. Unless we get MORE surprises!

Another really interesting tidbit showed up a couple of days ago. Andy Weidl and Pat Meyer showed up at Tennessee’s Pro Day. Reason given was that Kahn & Tomlin were at the NFL meeting. I am going to break my own visit/reported dinner premise here and add Tennessee OT Darnell Wright to the list. Wright didn’t come in for a visit and they may or may not have taken him to dinner while they were there, but regardless, he is one of the top tackles and that is high interest and those are some heavy duty stand-ins for Tomlin and Kahn and points to having expertise look at a highly rated trench guy, otherwise any scout would have been OK.

I also updated the list to reflect the guys who came in for visits that we didn’t know about for the original post and it includes all of the additions mentioned above, the updated names highlighted in bold. Gotta wonder if we will see more surprises over the next few days

Changing out two visitors is uncommon, especially this late in the draft cycle. More interesting when you look at the 2 additional/revised visitors, (both trench guys BTW), being ranked towards the top of the draft. You have to ask yourself why? A few thoughts:

  • Maybe Jones/Bresee weren’t available for a visit previously, but that is unlikely.
  • Steelers are really a pretty young team with a good nucleus and showed some life at the end of last season.
  • They are in pretty good shape for CAP $$ now and into the next few years, especially with flexibility to re-structure several contracts and get more if they need it.
  • They have what looks to be a pretty good QB and who is on a rookie contract.
  • Their Free Agent signings this year generally look pretty good for team depth and improvement.
  • Are they drinking the Andy Weidl trench domination Kool-Aid and thinking that using the Eagles method to dominate the trenches and therefore improve the guys playing behind the trenches?
  • And the one that doesn’t seem to get much discussion – this draft class is generally said to be above average for talent in rounds 2-3. They are focused on A LOT of the top guys; more than their three top picks might justify.

My mental Steelers draft blender gets me to a few possible conclusions to consider for what is all of this may mean:

  • Omar may be more aggressive than Colbert, maybe because Weidl is taking them down the Eagles draft trade extravaganza methodology path.
  • Why would they change directions and bring in two highly rated players this late. Are they looking to maximize this year’s dense talent pool and a favorable CAP position by making draft trades to get more picks at the top and their plans now open the door to consider these two new adds?
  • We may be thinking incorrectly about draft trades. Most of what I have seen discussed lately has involved using only THIS YEAR’S draft picks. What if they are considering using next year’s picks to trade up or get more picks this year. Or next year’s picks to trade back AND get more picks this year. Again - this year is densely talented in rounds 2-3. Imagine if they could get a couple more picks end of round 1 and round 2.
  • Trading to get 1-2 more starters than the (likely) three they might this year and fill major holes this year, rather than waiting until next year could be a great way to force-build a young team that can then grow together. Plus, a better team around Pickett will make him better faster.
  • Could they trade next year’s 1st for a 1st and 2nd this year? "Win now" is a thing.

Just a lot to consider. What are your thoughts? Updated list of visits & dinners:

RD Player Pos Rank Visit Dinner
1 Christian Gonzalez CB 6 4/6
1 Paris Johnson OT 11 DIN
1 Joey Porter Jr. CB 14 3/30 LOCAL
1 Myles Murphy DE 15 DIN
1 Lukas Van Ness DE 16 DIN
1 Broderick Jones OT 17 4/17 DIN
1-2 Darnell Wright OT 21 >PD ????
1 Deonte Banks CB 23 4/4
1 Brian Branch S/CB 24 DIN
1 Brian Bresee DE 28 4/17 DIN
1-2 O'Cyrus Torrence OG 29 4/5
1-2 Will McDonald IV OLB 31 DIN
1-2 Anton Harrison OT 32 4/5
2 Mazi Smith DT 33 DIN
2 Emmanuel Forbes CB 34 TBD
1-2 Kelee Ringo CB 37 TBD DIN
2 Dawand Jones OT 41 TBD DIN
2 Felix Aduke-Uzomah OLB 42 4/14
2 Trenton Simpson ILB 44 DIN
2 John Michael Schmitz OC 47 3/24
2 Keion White DE 48 4/6
2 Steve Avila OG/C 50 4/6
2 Cody Mauch OG 53 3/31
2-3 Julius Brents CB 55 4/3
2 Keeanu Benton DL 61 4/3
2 Tuli Tuipulotu OLB 62 4/3
2 Cedric Tillman WR 64 4/14
2 Siaki Ika DL 65 4/5
3 Gervon Dexter DE 70 TBD
3-4 Tyrique Stevenson CB 71 4/5 DIN
3 Luke Wypler C 77 DIN
3-4 Darius Rush CB 82 4/5
3 Zach Harrison DE 84 DIN
4 Jonathan Mingo WR 87 3/21
3 Karl Brooks DL 93 4/13
3-4 Jayden Reed WR/R 104 4/12
4 Riley Moss CB 116 DIN
4 Xavier Hutchinson WR 125 DIN
4 Chandler Zavala OG 126 4/4
5 Charlie Jones WR/R 142 3/31
5 Jaren Hall QB 153 4/12
5 Daniel Scott S 160 4/12 DIN
5-6 Bryce Ford-Wheaton WR 180 4/13 LOCAL
5-6 Clayton Tune QB 183 TBD
7 Robert Beal Jr. OLB 236 4/11 DIN
7 Tanner Ingle S/CB 250 4/4
7 Thayer Thomas WR/R 250 DIN




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