Pittsburgh Steelers: Situational three-round mock draft

Third-Round

Options 

• Ronald Jones 
• Jessie Bates
• Troy Fumagalli
• T.J. Barrett

As the draft begins to narrow, so does the Steelers’ prospect list. At this point, they’ve gotten two of their major needs out of the way and can now focus on rounding out their draft. With plenty of high-quality options still available, this round is Pittsburgh’s last to really make an impact in the 2018 NFL Draft.

They could look for a tight end in Troy Fumagalli, and add depth to their only position of weakness in the offense. But Vane McDonald isn’t going anywhere this offseason, and Jesse James is the many in Pittsburgh. So, drafting a tight end isn’t a strong option.

With Derrius Guice being picked 28th, Ronald Jones removes himself from consideration. Pittsburgh could use another running back in the depth chart, but that can come later in the draft.

Then, there’s the choice between quarterback and safety. T.J. Barrett visited Pittsburgh, and received plenty of interest from the team. The Steelers would love to add a strong armed quarterback to their depth chart to learn from Big Ben for three years.

But Barrett offers nothing more than Josh Dobbs. Both have accuracy issues and need time to develop into something Pittsburgh doesn’t even know the potential of. If that’s a franchise quarterback, the Steelers already have one. If it’s a backup, they have no need for another depth chart filler.

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This leaves Jessie Bates as the easy option. Bates is a steal in the third-round. He’ll come to Pittsburgh as the first man off the bench behind Sean Davis and Morgan Burnett. Then, in the next year or two, he could easily work his way into the starting lineup.