With the NFL season almost over, football fans now start turning their attention to the draft.  It’s still very early in the process with the Senior Bowl still days away.   The first mock draft is always an exercise in feeling out where prospects fit in the draft.  There’s still tons of work to do figuring out who the Steelers might be interested in, and where the players will fall. With all that in mind, it is time for our Steelers mock draft 1.0:

Round 1 (21) Jaxson Dart QB – Ole Miss

If you paid close attention to the Art Rooney press conference, quarterback was a position that seemed to way heavily on his mind.  Lost in all the talk of Russell Wilson vs Justin Fields talk was the quote “We’ve got a whole quarterback room to fill, so there’s jobs open in there so I wouldn’t be surprised if we look to the draft as well.”

Jaxson Dart is the solid QB3 in this draft.  There is even some buzz he may end up QB2 by the end of this process.  Dart threw for over 4,000 yards in his final year at Mississippi, with 29 touchdowns and only 6 interceptions.  He stands a solid 6’2”, with above average athletic ability.  He’s not in the Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson level of athleticism, but still a good athlete for the position.  If the Steelers are looking for a possible future franchise quarterback in this draft, Jaxson Dart is the best bet.

Round 2 (52): Savion Williams WR – TCU

The Pittsburgh Steelers simply HAVE to come out of this draft with a wide receiver…..have to!  The problem here is this is probably the worst draft for that position in the last five years.  Savion Williams is a bit of a “betting on the traits” type player here in round two.  Williams is big (6’4”/225), and fast (4.45 proj) athlete who has the explosive play potential this team badly needs.  He is a bit raw in his route running, and will need to be coached up at the next level.  Steelers wide receiver room: The worst in the Mike Tomlin era

Round 3 (83): Dylan Sampson RB – Tennessee

What the Steelers really lacked on offense in 2024 was speed at the running back position.  If it’s speed you’re looking for, look no further than Dylan Sampson a former track standout who’s been clocked at 4.32 in the 40 yard dash.  Sampson has decent size to go along with that speed at 5’11”, 200 pounds.  He lead the Volunteers in rushing in 2024 with 1491 yards, and a whopping 22 touchdowns.  This is exactly thre type of back Pittsburgh needs to juice up their anemic offense next season.

Round 4 (122): Zy Alexander CB – LSU

Zy Alexander is a long, athletic corner who seems to have been made in a lab for specifically what the Steelers seem to look for in their corners nowadays.  He is a 6’2” corner long armed corner with 4 career interceptions and 11 passes defended.  Alexander is a little on the lean side, and will need to bulk up some.

Round 5 (163): Jordan Phillips – DT Maryland

A massive defensive tackle from Maryland?  How could we possibly leave this player off our Steelers mock draft 1.0??  Phillips is a 6’2”/320lbs nose tackle with some significant athletic upside.  He would make an excellent addition to the Steelers defensive line room.

Round 7a (225): Yahya Black DT – Iowa

With three seventh round picks we expect the Steelers to double dip on some positions of need.  One such position is defensive tackle which is among the deepest in this draft.  Yahya Black is a Massive defensive tackle who measured at 6’6” and 340 pounds at the Senior Bowl.  The thing that will really attract the Steelers is his 35 inch arms.  This late in the draft the Steelers could do worse than throwing darts at thr type of traits like Yahya Black possesses.

Round 7b (238): Jaylin Lane WR – Virginia Tech

A good YAC receiver with returner skills. Lane has two career punt return touchdowns in college to go along with 39 career kickoff returns.  The Steelers could use an upgrade for their return game after a subpar 2024.

Round 7c (247): Dan Jackson S – Georgia

Dan Jackson is the prototypical late round special teams prospect.  Jackson is a high football IQ player, with limited athleticism.  This is a player we can see Danny Smith pounding the table for late in the draft.

Summary:

As with any early mock draft, we can haggle if a player will be available where we have them projected to go.  There is still a long way to go with the combine, and pro days still ahead of us.  What we tried to do here is hit on all the areas of need, and upgrade the big play ability on offense for our Steelers mock Steelers mock draft 1.0.

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