The NFL combine has come and gone.  The Pro Day circuit is now complete.  All this gives us a clearer picture on what the Steelers might be looking for in the 2025 NFL draft.  Using all the clues at our disposal, here’s our best guess as to who the Steelers first round pick might be giving ourselves five cracks at it:

1. Emeka Egbuka: WR – Ohio St.

Emeka Egbuka checks most of the boxes you’d be looking for in a wide receiver.  A skilled route runner, a plus blocker, and tons of production at Ohio St.  The last piece of the puzzle was how would Egbuka test since he skipped the NFL combine.  Well, he passed that final hurdle as well running a sub 4.5 40 yard dash, and posted a 38” vertical jump.  Those are not overly impressive numbers, but good enough to not hurt his draft stock whatsoever.

The Steelers are clearly interested in Egbuka considering Ohio St. is one of only three schools both Mike Tomlin, and Omar Khan went to on the Pro Day circuit.  Combine that with the fact that Tomlin had a dinner exclusively with Egbuka, and he becomes one of the front runners to be the Steelers first round selection.

2. Mathew Golden: WR – Texas

Sticking with wide receiver, Mathew Golden landing at pick 21 would be somewhat of a dream scenario for the Steelers.  Golden was considered a top five receiver heading into the NFL combine.  His route running, and big play ability made him a very attractive wide receiver prospect.  But after positing a ridiculous 4.29/40 at the combine, Golden is now widely considered atop his position group.  This is probably just wishful thinking but if Golden were to fall, the Steelers would have a hard time passing on the Texas star.

3. Jahdae Barron CB – Texas

We stay in Texas for yet another combine phenom.  Jahdae Barron is a corner who can play in the slot, or out wide.  He spent most of his final season at Texas on the outside however.  Barron cemented himself as a top corner in this draft by running a 4.39/40, to go a long with a 35” vertical and a 10’3” broad jump.  It’s no surprise both Tomlin, and Khan attended the Texas Pro Day with this kind of talent on hand.  Barron is a very real candidate to be the Steelers pick in the first round.

4. Kenneth Grant: DT – Michigan

Kenneth Grant has two strikes against him in terms of being the Steelers first round pick.  First of all neither Tomlin or Khan attended the Michigan Pro day.  That however can easily be explained away.  They were busy meeting with Aaron Rodgers on his surprise visit to Pittsburgh on the same day Michigan was showing off their draft talent.

The second thing is not so easily explained away.  Kenneth Grant had a very mediocre day of testing at the Michigan Pro day.  Grant only managed to score a 7.12 on his RAS score.  While that’s nothing earth shattering, it does call into question whether or not Grant is a first round talent.  There is also the fact that this was a very inconsistent player throughout his college career.

Even with all this working against him, you still have to believe Kenneth Grant is very much an option at 21.  The Steelers have a major need at defensive tackle.  Grant is likely to be the best option left when it’s their turn to select, and there are enough flashes in his game to make the Steelers interested.  We had Grant as the front runner in our version one post on this topic: Steelers first round pick in 5 tries

5. Jalen Milroe: QB – Alabama

Colin Cowherd created quite the stir in the Steelers universe when he mentioned a source told him that the Steelers were considering Jalen Milroe in round one.  https://sports.yahoo.com/article/analyst-claims-steelers-jalen-milroe-143000849.html

Cowherd claimed a league executive told him that it was in play that Milroe would be the Steelers first round pick.  Now there is some evidence to support this.  Both Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan did attend the Alabama Pro Day, one box checked.  They also did take Milroe to a dinner along with a few other Alabama players, another box checked.  Combine all that with this team’s dire need for a quarterback, and Cowherd may be on to something.

We all know the knocks on Milroe.  He is a very inaccurate quarterback, who did not have the success we usually expect out of an Alabama quarterback.  The fact remains this is a player who is head and shoulders the best athlete at the position.  Milroe has plus arm strength, and by all accounts is a great leader.  We can see Mike Tomlin falling in love with the traits, and the intangibles associated with Jalen Milroe.  Tomlin even mentioned the value of having a mobile quarterback in his season ending press conference.

Without a second round pick, Pittsburgh would have to draft Milroe in round one if they really wanted this quarterback.  A trade down is also a scenario, but for now we simply can not rule out Jalen Milroe as this team’s first round pick.

We go into deeper detail about Jalen Milroe and other Steelers related content on the latest Steelers Sanctuary Podcast here:https://www.youtube.com/live/re5L_ba3LgY?si=-5EgacViBSmPAN8R