Omar Khan has done a nice job plugging holes for this team during the free agency process. There are still several spots that need depth, or even a starter. Here are the top five positions the Steelers must address in the 2023 NFL draft:
1. Corner:
Your starting corners for the 2023 Pittsburgh Steelers are the very average Levi Wallace, and the very old Patrick Pederson. Behind them is a less than inspiring group consisting of names like Akhello Witherspoon, and James Pierre. Not to mention Arthur Maulet stands to be the starting slot corner. This is less than ideal to say the least. Pittsburgh has to come out of this draft with at minimum one corner, ideally two.
2. Tackle depth:
As we stand today the Steelers have three offensive tackles on the roster, Chuks Okorafor, Dan Moore jr., and the immortal Le’Raven Clark. This team absolutely will add at least two more bodies before the start of training camp. We’d prefer that one of those be a relatively high draft pick who can push the very average starters.
3. Edge Depth:
Someone rally needs to explain what exactly the Steelers’ plan is for edge depth. Having just Quincy Roche as a backup just isn’t going to cut it. We saw what happened last season when the lack of depth cost them dearly. After TJ Watt went down with his injury, the pass rush all but disappeared from this defense.
Now that they let Bud Dupree get away over the length of contract snafu, this team has pretty much painted themselves into a corner. They almost have to take an edge rusher early in this draft. We added a talented pass rusher in our latest mock draft here:Steelers mock draft 4.0: The Jalen Carter trade
4. Defensive Line Depth:
Omar Khan has done a pretty good job stocking this team with serviceable defensive lineman in free agency. He’s added names like Arman Watts and Breiden Fehoko as depth pieces for the position. What’s needed now is a young talent who the team can groom behind the now the soon to be 34 year old Cam Heyward. Pittsburgh can not expect Heyward to keep up his stellar play much longer. Having a replacement on hand is key for this team going forward.
5. Slot Receiver:
We may be in the minority here, but the recent Allen Robinson acquisition does nothing for us. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1981237/12686899
This offense still lacks a serious big play threat. Being that slot receiver being the only position open on this unit, we were hoping for much more than just a beat up aging player like Robinson. Hopefully the Steelers won’t pass up on a talented receiver in this draft, as it still is a low key major need for this team.