Steelers 4-Round Mock Draft

Yinzer Crazy Contributor Anthony DiCerbo. Follow him on Twitter @snarfvenom

Free agency has been open for roughly a week, and many of the bigger-name free agents have found their new homes. As they do so all around the league the draft needs are becoming more and more clear, and in the case of the Steelers, that is certainly no exception. 

Omar Khan, Andy Weidl, and company have been active in free agency up to this point. Adding Patrick Peterson, Isaac Seumalo, Nate Herbig, Cole Holcomb, and Elandon Roberts. The Steelers have also taken care of a couple of interior housekeeping items, releasing Myles Jack, restructuring the contract of Minkah Fitzpatrick, and resigning Larry Ogunjobi and Damonte Kazee. 

While there are still some question marks remaining, the needs and likely targets for the Steelers in the first few rounds of the 2023 NFL draft are much clearer than they were a week ago. That means it is the perfect time for a mock draft.

Round 1, Pick 17: Joey Porter Jr., CB, Penn State 

Around the holidays I wrote that one of the biggest needs, and one of my biggest wishes for the team, was to acquire a true number one corner. That box gets a clear checkmark with the selection of Joey Porter Jr. At this point, one of the bigger questions with this pick is if the son of the former Steelers linebacker will even be available by the time the Steelers are on the clock in the first round. In this simulation he’s available, so it’s an easy call for the Steelers. 

Porter Jr. projects as a great cover corner in the NFL, with his main weakness in college being a lock of ball skills. That issue doesn’t concern me in the slightest, slot him in on the Steelers defense and I have faith someone will come up with the ball. 

Round 2, Pick 32: Dawand Jones, OT, Ohio State 

Having a second pick in the top 32 of this draft puts the Steelers in a great position to grab themselves two top prospects at their greatest positions of need, and after grabbing a corner with their first pick OT is the next position up. The Steelers free agency moves have cemented the interior of the offensive line, and that leaves the two tackle spots, and they begin that process with a mountain of a man in Dawand Jones. 

The massive player projects as a right tackle in the NFL, but I believe he can come in and at the very least provide some healthy competition to Chukwuma Okorafor and Dan Moore Jr. right off the bat. At worst his year one would give him a chance to develop at the NFL level as well as give the Steelers a swing tackle and much-improved depth at the position. 

Round 2, Pick 49: Mazi Smith, DL, Michigan 

This pick might be the hardest to call out of all the Steelers selections in this draft. It feels like there are a million ways the draft could play out up to this point, but in this specific scenario, it comes down to Mazi Smith out of Michigan or Daiyan Henley from Washington. It is an incredibly tough choice, but I went with Smith here for a couple of reasons, the main one being that I like some of the inside backers that went later than I do the defensive lineman. The Steelers also have a documented interest in Smith, and even with the return of Larry Ogunjobi, a need for youth on the defensive line. 

Mazi Smith would give the Steelers another option in the middle of their defensive line, and at just 21 years old, Smith would also give the Steelers a long-term piece to play with. 

His production at Michigan is admittedly puzzling. He looks the part and flashes the things you’d want to see, but one sack in college is not great. That being said if there was a staff and a mentor I’d want to see Mazi Smith work with it would be with Cam Heyward and the Steelers. 

Round 3, Pick 80: Noah Sewell, LB, Oregon 

I mentioned earlier that I passed on Daiyan Henley because I liked the backers later on, and later on is now. The Steelers will basically have an entirely new crop of inside linebackers this year, with Mark Robinson being the lone holdover. 

Devin Bush, Robert Spillane, and Myles Jack are all gone. In their place, the Steelers have added Cole Holcomb and Elandon Roberts, but I would still like to see the team add a piece they can develop from within, and Sewell fits that bill. 

Sewell is a hard guy to project draft-wise, but in the Steelers case, there is an easy line to follow. If he is available at 80 and they want to add him, they’ll have to get him there, because he probably won’t be there at 120. 

He was there, so I added him to the mix. The younger brother of the Lions’ lineman fits what I’d be looking for at this point in the draft. There won’t be a ton of pressure on him early with the aforementioned free-agent signings, giving him time to adjust to the speed of the pro game. 

Given time to develop Sewell could be an internal answer to the inside linebacker position, which is something the team has been searching for since Ryan Shazier.

Round 4, Pick 120: Zack Kuntz, TE, Old Dominion 

When I do my mock drafts for the Steelers I don’t tend to shy away from picking skill positions, namely wide receiver, but I naturally avoided them in this one, instead focusing on other positions. That ends here with the Steelers adding a weapon in tight end Zack Kuntz. At the time of writing Zach Gentry remains unsigned, and as much as it pains me to break up the duo of Pat Friermuth and Zach Gentry adding a weapon like Kuntz can help ease the pain. As a bit of a bonus, Kuntz attended Penn State before transferring to Old Dominion, overlapping for a period with Pat Freiermuth. 

Zack Kuntz came into the NFL combine and lit it up, showing off his athleticism. The 6’7’’ tight end ran a 4.55 40 at the combine and certainly caught my eye while doing so. In a stacked tight end class, and with the luxury of addressing other needs earlier on in the draft, he falls into the Steelers lap here. 

His stats from college are certainly not great, but his build and athleticism are things that you simply can’t teach. Adding a player like Kuntz to the Steelers roster would give the offense another potential safety blanket for Kenny Pickett, and it might also give the Steelers the best tight end room in the NFL with Kuntz slotting in alongside Muth and Connor Heyward. 

Conclusion 

All mock drafts are a bit of a shot in the dark. With a million ways that teams can go, I usually get pretty excited if I ever make a mock draft that has two picks correct. With the hustle and bustle of the first bit of free agency over, needs become a little clearer, and the mocks a little easier to predict. 

I think the scenario above is an ideal one for the Steelers. They get to address many of their top needs and develop players for the future. Ideally, I would have liked to address the slot position on offense, but it is impossible to hit every position with just five picks.

Let me know what you think of this mock! Is there anything you would have done differently? Any prospects on this list you’d like to team to avoid?